God's Will be Done

18th Sunday after Pentecost

Today's scripture: Phil. 3:4-14; Matthew 21:33-46

Grace and peace to you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In today’s gospel lesson we get another parable from Jesus. This time he tells a story that sounds eerily to us like a foreshadowing of his crucifixion. A landowner created a beautiful vineyard and entrusted it to some tenants; God created a beautiful world and entrusted it to human stewards. When God, the landowner, sends harvesters to those entrusted to produce the ‘good grapes’ on the vineyard, they are not received with hospitality, but with violence.

As Lutherans, we read the scriptures through the lens of law and gospel. The law here is the reality that God’s entrusted people failed to live up to their duties - to God’s will. The gospel, the good news, however is that the landowner does not choose to respond to violence with violence. Those who heard the parable assume that the landowner will kill those bad tenants, but Jesus responds with the good news that is still to this day hard for us to comprehend.

In the parable the landowner sent his son to the vineyard, thinking the tenants would have to show him respect, but they killed him too. In the narrative of God, God sent the Son to the world, to those who were not living up to their entrusted duties, and the Son too was killed… BUT this is where the violence ENDS. ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’ (v.42). The dead Son is not resurrected to kill those who murdered him, but rather to be the cornerstone in the new order, the new life of the vineyard. Instead of perpetuating violence, a cornerstone has laid a NEW foundation to build on love, grace, mercy, peace and LIFE.

Jesus goes on to say, “The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls” (v.44). Here’s the reality, none of us get it right. None of us are perfect, as Christ was perfect. None of us have lived up to the lives which God entrusted to us; none of us have been dutiful, obedient servants like Christ. We have all or will all stumble and fall, crushed by the stone. BUT, the good news is that instead of condemnation, we will receive restoration. In the very act of being crushed by the stone, we are broken to pieces, therefore broken open.. not for death, but for new life. When we stumble over the stone that is Christ, what breaks in us is our sin (our greed, pride, prejudice, idolatry, guilt, etc.) and when that is shattered, our new lives are able to be built anew on the very cornerstone that broke us open.

I have to laugh a little as I read Paul’s letter to the Philippians that we heard in our first reading. Paul is basically saying that he HAS gotten it right, he HAS lived up to his duties as a child of God, and yet it means nothing. Whether we do everything right or whether we feel we are always doing things wrong, it doesn’t matter. It’s not about US, what we do or don’t do, it’s about GOD and what GOD does in Christ Jesus (Phil. 3:4-14). Elsewhere, Paul says he knows nothing but Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). It ALL comes down to this one thing – we are saved through the life, death, and resurrection of God incarnate, Christ Jesus. If we know this and only this - if we are broken open, surrender our being to God vowing to know nothing but Christ alone - we can do God’s will on earth as it is in heaven, building our life on the cornerstone, which “was the Lord’s doing and is amazing in our eyes” (v.42).

I often imagine what would happen if we ALL knew nothing but Christ and him crucified. I envision the world would look a look less like it does today and a lot more like the kingdom God intended. This is extremely challenging and we, as human beings, will always fall short. But thankfully, we worship a God of unconditional love, forgiveness, and mercy. When we fall and are crushed to pieces over the stone, our God does not condemn or punish us, but rather restores us, rebuilding us back up with Christ himself as our backbone. When we stumble and fall we may be broken open and feel exposed, but God does not leave us there. God meets us there and gives us another chance (an infinite number of chances), to be the people God created us to be – to be people built on Christ the cornerstone – to be people empowered by the Holy Spirit – for in God we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

God calls us to do God’s will, this is a challenge, and certainly one we have to commit to every single day. So where do we even begin? Perhaps with prayer, the prayer Jesus himself taught us. In the Lord’s Prayer we are taught to say, “thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” By praying this daily, our hearts and minds are shaped and empowered by God’s will rather than our own. If we daily align our will with God’s will, perhaps we will indeed harvest the good fruits of the vineyard the landowner planted.

God has created all things and entrusted humanity as stewards over this creation. We will fail, we still stumble and fall, but God, with infinite grace, will build us up on the Son who is our cornerstone. The vineyard will produce good fruit, for that is what God created it to do – the will of God will prevail despite our failures and shortcomings. “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes” (v.42). May we break ourselves open to the will of God above our own. May we live, move and have our being in the Lord. May we step aside and gaze in awe as we see God at work in our neighbor. May we watch and faithfully participate as God restores the earth to reflect the kingdom of heaven. Not that we have already obtained this or reached this goal, but we make this goal our own because it is the goal of Christ Jesus who lives in us. We (like Paul) press on, forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, knowing confidently, that the future is in God’s hands (Phil 3:12-14).

Amen.