Tenant or Owner
By Matt Yamamoto, Director of Youth Ministry
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’” (Matthew 21:33-38)
With the Story of More sermon series that we’re on right now, I thought it would be interesting to revisit the Parable of the Tenants. The first thing that is apparent to me is that the land owner really cares for his property. He builds a wall, the vineyard, a wine press, and a watch tower. I especially find the watch tower interesting. I don’t know of a single vineyard that has a watch tower. This tells me that he is keenly interested in the protection and care of his property.
He then loans out the vineyard to some tenants. Their attitude is very telling and shows that they really don’t understand their place in the vineyard. They beat and kill several of the servants that the land owner sends as his representatives. In a last ditch effort, the land owner sends his own son, but the tenants’ response was worse! They hatch a plan that reveals to us their attitude towards the property. As the tenants see the land owner’s son coming, they reasoned with themselves, “Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.” (verse 38)
The truth is, no matter what they thought and what they did, they would never own the vineyard and would always have to answer for their actions.
Five years ago, God blessed me with the opportunity to purchase a brand-new apartment. It was nothing short of a miracle, and it was undeniable that God had orchestrated everything along the way, from being picked in the lottery process, all the way to securing the loan. I didn’t even have a credit card when the whole process started.
It was apparent to me that this really wasn’t my apartment, but it was God’s. I felt especially blessed to be the Lord’s tenant, and right from the beginning I decided that I was going to use the apartment for whatever God wanted. Since I’ve moved in, it has been used for ministry meetings, events to serve the houseless community, shelter high-risk individuals, allow for the weary to have a place of refuge, and a space where others could quarantine from COVID.
If I didn’t take care of my apartment, if I let it turn into a garbage dump, or didn’t take care of my appliances, none of those things that God used my apartment for would have been possible. The only thing that it would have been useful for was for me to stay in. And if I turned around to sell the apartment, its value would be depreciated.
Regardless of your thoughts about the environment, the question is–– what is your understanding of your role in this world? Do you believe yourself to be the owner of the apartment or the tenant? If I am the owner, then I can do whatever I want with no concern about repercussions. If I am the tenant, then I have to answer for the condition and use of the apartment.
We are extremely blessed to live in one of the most beautiful spots in this world. God wants to do so much good through our islands, but are our actions going to enhance what He wants to do? Or will it only be good for us to live in now but will lose its value for those who are going to come after us?
Our 40-Day Fast started yesterday, but it’s not too late to be part of it! If you don’t know what to fast from, how about fasting from something that will help you be a better steward of our islands?
Prayer: Lord, please show us how You want us to view our role in the world. Help us to recognize that we are tenants in Your vineyard and help us to be good stewards. We recognize that there is a lot of good that You want to do through our islands. Please help us to keep Hawaii in such a state that You can continue to use it for your good works. Amen.
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