“Taste and See…”

Really, what would you do? You have this wonderful piece of land in the Napa Valley, out in California, you inherited from grandfather. The grapes it yields are legendary and much in demand world-wide. You live on the other side of the country now though, and so you’ve leased the vineyard to a little family operation to oversee. It’s really quite a nice life for those folks. They get to live in one of the prettiest places on earth, tend one of the best vineyards in the country, and be the first to sample the vintage the land produces. A great deal, and you, being the kindhearted soul you are, don’t even charge them rent. You just get a share of the proceeds from the wine sales. And not even a big cut at that.

When the vintage time draws near, you are eager to hear how this year’s crop looks. Rumors in the grape growing field are that this could be a prime year and produce some really excellent wines. You’re eager to hear all about it, share in the excitement. So you send your favorite personal assistant out to California (he always enjoys that trip) to check on how things are going.

But you get a text message from his Blackberry that as soon as he pulled up to the estate house and headed up to the door, they let loose these Dobermans on him who mauled him. He tried to get away, but they were too quick for him—they came out of nowhere! He was lucky to make it back to the rental car, torn and bleeding badly, and to get 911 on his Blackberry before he passed out. He’s going to be in the hospital for weeks and the medical bills will be ridiculous.

What do you do next? You’re furious. You think about calling your attorney, but you want to think well of your tenants. They are old family friends after all. Maybe there was some mistake. You send another personal assistant. This one they shoot at with a sawed off as soon as he gets out of his rental car. He’s wounded, but manages to escape. He wants to call the law on them, but you still think you want to give them another chance.

So you send your son; your only son, the apple of your eye, fresh out of college, priming him one day to take over the family business. He knows these people and they know him, from way back. So you figure, yep, I’ll get my son on the next flight to San Francisco and have him drive down. Surely they’ll recognize my son and we’ll sort out this whole sordid affair, and enjoy the wine together still…

But the news hits you like an anvil the next day. They recognized your son, alright. And they said “He’s the only heir to the company. If we kill him, we can launch a hostile take over of the whole enterprise with the other shareholders and inherit the whole thing and keep the estate and all the rest of his business to ourselves…” And they carried out their terrible plan. As soon as your son walked up to the porch, they set on him like savages, beat him, knifed him, and finally shot him dead. Then they threw his body into an empty lot. When the police arrived, they said your son was breaking into the house and they were only defending themselves. Your attorney goes: “Hey man, it’s California, you know? Stuff like that happens out there. They’ve got a slick lawyer too, and probably will be acquitted in court…” What do you do?

Really, what would you do?

That’s the question in our Gospel lesson this morning. Jesus is asking you this question. It’s His story. And really, He wants to know: what would you do? The first people who heard this story, the chief priests and Pharisees of 1^st century Israel, have a quick answer—if they were the landowner, they’d destroy those wretched men wretchedly, and give the vineyard to others who’ll respect the boss better. Aside from overuse of the word “wretched”, that seems like a pretty popular answer down through history to those who’ve been asked the question. And what do you say? It’s your only son, remember. Isn’t that what you’d be inclined to do?

You can answer that for yourself and you should answer honestly for yourself. Here’s Jesus’ answer though, when He hears how they’d bring those wretches to a wretched end: He says cryptically, “Have you never read the Bible: “The Stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes”? Then He adds the kingdom will be taken from them, just as they suggest and be given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. And whoever falls on this stone will be broken, and on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder…”

And then they figured it out. They are the tenants in the story. And they didn’t like the story anymore. Not one little bit.

Have you figured it out? You and I are the tenants in the story too. This is exactly what we have done to God and His Son. We live in His vineyard rent free. He comes to visit only to share a little taste of the wine with us, a little vintage party for all to enjoy. But when He sends His servants: the prophets, the apostles, we went all red-neck on them with the dobies and the sawed-off. And when the Son Himself showed up, we nailed Him to a cross and killed Him. And what should God do to us?

Well He doesn’t bring us wretches to a wretched end, as He should, as we would if it was our son treated this way. Instead, He turns to us with a smile and says: “I knew you would do that. And I was ready. So I said long ago in your Scriptures, “The rejected stone is the one on which I build My Kingdom, forever. This is My doing, I take full responsibility, and it is marvelous in Our eyes…”

And we say: “Huh? What’s He talking about?” Well, He’s talking life and salvation. He’s showing you how different His ways are from yours. See, God takes responsibility Himself for the murder of His Son that we callously committed. He says: “It was My doing. It had to happen this way. In fact, I planned from eternity to make His death your salvation; and by His blood I wash you clean…” It’s crazy. It’s not how we do things. It’s outlandish.

Luther once said: “If it was a human work or word, I could understand it. Because it is a divine word and work, it is a mystery we can only kneel before, and adore…” Jesus shows up in our vineyard. He says: “Hey, about a little taste of the wine, and we party together?” But we killed Him in order to take what is His. Yet the Father simply raised His Son from the dead and sent Him back to us saying: “Peace to you. There. You’ve gotten all that out of your system. You want what is Mine? I give it to You by My Son! The Table is set, you see. Come, have a taste…”

The stone we rejected has become the chief cornerstone. It’s the Lord’s doing. It’s surely not the way we would do it. But when this is marvelous in your eyes, all you want to hear, the story of your life, then you’ve been captivated by Christ Jesus, brought into His Kingdom—where the party is just starting, too. The wine is poured… so come on up, taste and see that the Lord is good, share the joy of His Kingdom. And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Forever. Amen.