The Sledgehammer of Entitlement

Read Mark 12:1-12

But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. What then will the owner of the vineyard do?” –Mark 12:7-9

Years ago, when my wife and I first moved to Indianapolis, we thought we had found the perfect house—at least it appeared that way on the internet. It had the square footage and the number of bedrooms we needed. It was in the neighborhood that we had targeted. And best of all, it was twenty thousand dollars cheaper than any comparable house we’d seen in the area.

When we actually visited the house, though, we saw why it was listed below market price. The previous residents had been foreclosed upon by the bank, and they had not left peacefully. Instead, they took a sledgehammer and punched a hole in virtually every wall in the house. Additionally, multiple appliances (stove, refrigerator, etc.) were damaged beyond repair. Needless to say, it did not become our next home. It does stand out in my memory, though, as an example of what can happen when tenants turn against the owner of a property.

The tenants in Jesus’ parable, though, engaged in much more than some property damage. The owner of the vineyard provided all they needed for a healthy harvest—he planted the vineyard, he put walls around it for security, he built a watchtower, and he dug out a winepress. All the tenants had to do was harvest the fruit that he had provided. When the owner sent his servants, though, to receive a portion of the fruit that they harvested, the tenants refused. In fact, they beat the first two servants he sent and killed the third.

The owner was patient beyond any reasonable expectation. He sent one servant after another, until finally he decided to send his very own son. But instead of respecting the authority of the son, they decided to kill him in order to take his inheritance for their own. What, Jesus asked the Pharisees, did they think the landowner would do to these wicked tenants?

This parable was clearly a “targeted teaching”—Jesus was speaking directly to the Pharisees, who were already plotting to have him killed. The rejected servants who came before clearly represented the prophets who had come before and foretold Jesus’ coming. Jesus was warning the religious leaders about the judgment that would follow if they carried out their plan to kill him.

But this parable should continue to raise for us the questions of “ownership” and “stewardship.” Psalm 24:1 declares: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein.” We are all tenants of God’s vineyard. Whatever we “own”—our homes, our jobs, our influence—it’s all from God. God rejoices to share His bounty with us; all He asks is that we share our bounty with Him in turn.

When we insist that we have a right to all the things we possess, we will develop a spirit of entitlement. But if we can remember that it’s all pure gift, that cultivates within us instead a spirit of gratitude and generosity. Which is exactly how the owner of the vineyard wants us to relate to Him!

I do not wish, O Lord, to be like the wicked tenants in Your story. Convict me, O God, of the ways I hoard Your blessings. Loosen my grasp, that I may share more freely with others the good things you have gifted to me. May I return to You a harvest that pleases and honors Your Son. Amen.