History: His Story
Sermon
SERMONS ON THE GOSPEL READINGS
Series I, Cycle A
There have been many who have sought to write a history of the world. Cavemen painted the story of their civilization on the walls of their home. Around 70 A.D., a Hebrew soldier named Josephus surrendered to the Roman army rather than die. Dead men tell no tales, and he said he wanted to live to tell the story of the fall of Jerusalem. Today, his history of the Jewish wars is an invaluable tool to historians.
Many of you are familiar with Will Durant. For half a century, he and his wife wrote the multi--volume History of Civilization. The finished product is over two feet thick!
And, of course, there is Hollywood's zany History of the World by clown prince Mel Brooks, that depicts man as a bumblesome ninny stumbling his way through history.
But did you know that Jesus Christ is something of a historian, too? That's correct! In our text for today, Jesus adroitly sums up, in eleven verses, all of the pertinent facts in the sweep of human events. So let us now turn to Christ's history and study its meaning for our day.
The Lease Of Creation
The first part of the text tells us that history, the world, is like a man who planted a vineyard and then leased it out to tenants. Christ goes on to point out, the people began to act irresponsibly. They began to act like the vineyard was theirs and refused to give the owner his due. History is like that, Jesus said. The creation is trying to wrestle itself away from its Creator.
If you think about it, the history of the world does strongly parallel this story. Satan did not want to serve God, so he rebelled and tried to overthrow God so he could have it all for himself. Caesar after Caesar loudly proclaimed, "I am god! And all this is mine!" Frenchman and military emperor Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Jesus may rule men's souls, but I rule their destinies."
The Beatles, Britain's pop singing group of the '60s and '70s, preened, "We're more popular than God!" In case you haven't heard, modern humanist scholars have now determined, "The world is nobody's, so I'll take it!" Yes, Jesus said, history is like that. The creation tries to wrestle itself away from the creator.
Did you hear about the visitor to the insane asylum? He walked in the front door and immediately met a man with his hand in his coat who claimed to be Napoleon. "Who told you you were Napoleon?" the visitor inquired. "God did," the man testified. Whereupon a man in the other room said rather angrily, "No, I didn't either!" History is like that. Humans are mad! They claim to be more than they are and in the end, they become less than they were.
Put here to be creatures, we try to be self--made. Put here to be under authority, we try to live answerable to no one. Made as stewards, people become usurpers. Created to be children of God, they become depraved offspring of the devil.
The Rent Collectors
But now, on with history! In the story Jesus said the owner sent his rent collectors to the tenants to collect what was due, but the renters didn't want to pay up. They beat the collector and sent him away empty--handed. When the owner sent another, they treated him shamefully as well. So, finally Jesus said, the owner sent his only son, thinking, "Surely they well respect my son, the heir." But when they saw him, they killed him, gloating, "Now the vineyard will be all ours!" Yes, Jesus said, history is like that.
There is something in our bent, sinful nature that will not be owned, will not be ruled, will not accept orders, will not worship, and Jesus said the history of civilization is but the working out of that sin.
Years back, I caught my two pre--school--age sons in my Jeep. They had been told not to get in there. They could get hurt if it started to roll, but they were disobeying me. So I crept close by, they didn't see me, and I was able to hear their conversation. Bryan, my older at five, said, "David, we better get out of here! Daddy said for us not to get in here!" To which David replied, "It's not Daddy's Jeep, it's my Jeep!" That's when I stood up, and grinning, said to David, the wee three--year--old, "Oh, it's yours now, is it?" Startled, he jumped up and tried to push me away, yelling, "Go away! You can't come here!" In that childish outburst we have the character of humanity. History bears it out over and over again as God sends his "rent collectors" to the tenants to collect what is due, to remind them of who they are and who God is, and we treat them shamefully and send them away empty--handed. Isaiah was sawn in two. Jeremiah was stoned. Amos was murdered with a club. John the Baptizer was beheaded. And the Son sent from God? He was Jesus, and him we impaled upon a cross outside the city near a garbage dump.
It still has not stopped. Which of the original apostles escaped persecution and death? Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. James was put to the sword. Stephen was stoned to death. History goes on down through the twenty centuries of Christendom. Huss was burned at the stake. Wycliff was exiled. Luther was thrown out of the church. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot.
In our churches it still happens. I once pastored a church that had a reputation for "eating its pastors alive." This church had a 35--year history of chewing up God's "rent collectors." One they falsely accused of adultery. Another they overworked until he was a broken man, divorced, and defeated. Another they criticized and pressured until he had a heart attack. Like Hosea the prophet said, "All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers" (Hosea 7:7).
It's a dangerous job to be a rent collector in the employ of the Lord! There's a long history of shameful treatment for such laborers. And Jesus said history is like that. History is God creating the world like a fine vineyard and then leasing it out to humanity. History is God sending his workers into the world to call all humanity to give God respect, to give him his due worship. And history is the chronicles of our shameful treatment of those prophets in God's employ.
The Eviction
There is a fable about the Angel Gabriel who has just come from surveying the earth and its inhabitants when he reports to God. "Lord, it's my duty to inform you that you're the possessor of a choice piece of real estate known as planet earth. But the tenants you've leased it out to are destroying it. In another few years, it won't be fit to live in. They have polluted your rivers. The air is fouled with the stench of their over--consumerism. They frequently kill one another, and all the prophets you've sent to them calling for an accounting have met with violence. By any rule of sound management, Lord, you've got but one option." Then raising his trumpet to his lips, Gabriel asked, "Shall I sound the eviction notice now, sir?"
And God said, "No, Gabriel! No, not just yet. I know you are right, but I keep thinking if I just give them a little more time they'll quit acting like they own the place!"
Aye, that's what the text, Christ's world history, is all about. God owns the place, but we've been acting like we do. That brings us to the end of the text, the part where the owner of the vineyard has had enough, and so it is that he destroys the wicked tenants and leases his vineyard out to others who will keep faith with him. Again, this is but the tale history bears. Consider, if you will, the history of the Mediterranean nations. One--by--one they have risen to power in the vineyard. One--by--one they have turned their backs on God. One--by--one they have been evicted: Egypt of the pharaohs, Israel of David and Solomon, Greece of Alexander, Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, Persia of Cyrus and Xerxes, Rome of the Caesars, the Ottoman Turks, Spain, and on and on. Creation, employment, irresponsibility, warnings, more irresponsibility, and finally eviction.
Again, consider yet another recent page of human history. World War II. Mussolini of Italy said, "If the church gets in my way, I'll hang God in Italy!" They found Mussolini dead, hanging upside down from a steel beam. Russia's Stalin said, "I'll run God out of Soviet Russia!" Now they curse Stalin's name, and you can't even find the place where he is buried. Adolf Hitler mocked, "No anemic Galilean is worthy of a German's worship," and they found Hitler a smoking cinder in a German gutter. Fact is, our arms are too short to box with God! Jesus Christ said, "I'll build my kingdom and the gates of hell won't stand against it!" History proves him true: "The meek shall inherit the earth!" They have; the rebellious, bloodletting, God--hating grabbers always, always, always are evicted. But the God--fearing, responsible stewards, the meek, always inherit the earth.
The Smallest Kingdom
One of the world's smallest kingdoms is the nation of Liech--tenstein, a constitutional monarchy of only 61 square miles found between Austria and Switzerland on the Rhine River. Yet, I tell you there is a kingdom smaller than that, and that kingdom is your life. I'm talking about the vineyard God has planted in your life and leased out to you. I'm talking about that small mound of flesh over which you have jurisdiction. How are you behaving toward the God who put you here to tend his vineyard and give him his due? Have you mistreated his rent collectors sent to receive what is due? Or more importantly, what have you done with God's Son, the man Jesus? Have you crucified him anew as you've made a grab for it all, or have you honored him with the worship of faith and obedience?
Suggested Prayer
Lord Jesus, teach me to give you first place in my life. Amen.
Stephen M. Crotts
Many of you are familiar with Will Durant. For half a century, he and his wife wrote the multi--volume History of Civilization. The finished product is over two feet thick!
And, of course, there is Hollywood's zany History of the World by clown prince Mel Brooks, that depicts man as a bumblesome ninny stumbling his way through history.
But did you know that Jesus Christ is something of a historian, too? That's correct! In our text for today, Jesus adroitly sums up, in eleven verses, all of the pertinent facts in the sweep of human events. So let us now turn to Christ's history and study its meaning for our day.
The Lease Of Creation
The first part of the text tells us that history, the world, is like a man who planted a vineyard and then leased it out to tenants. Christ goes on to point out, the people began to act irresponsibly. They began to act like the vineyard was theirs and refused to give the owner his due. History is like that, Jesus said. The creation is trying to wrestle itself away from its Creator.
If you think about it, the history of the world does strongly parallel this story. Satan did not want to serve God, so he rebelled and tried to overthrow God so he could have it all for himself. Caesar after Caesar loudly proclaimed, "I am god! And all this is mine!" Frenchman and military emperor Napoleon Bonaparte said, "Jesus may rule men's souls, but I rule their destinies."
The Beatles, Britain's pop singing group of the '60s and '70s, preened, "We're more popular than God!" In case you haven't heard, modern humanist scholars have now determined, "The world is nobody's, so I'll take it!" Yes, Jesus said, history is like that. The creation tries to wrestle itself away from the creator.
Did you hear about the visitor to the insane asylum? He walked in the front door and immediately met a man with his hand in his coat who claimed to be Napoleon. "Who told you you were Napoleon?" the visitor inquired. "God did," the man testified. Whereupon a man in the other room said rather angrily, "No, I didn't either!" History is like that. Humans are mad! They claim to be more than they are and in the end, they become less than they were.
Put here to be creatures, we try to be self--made. Put here to be under authority, we try to live answerable to no one. Made as stewards, people become usurpers. Created to be children of God, they become depraved offspring of the devil.
The Rent Collectors
But now, on with history! In the story Jesus said the owner sent his rent collectors to the tenants to collect what was due, but the renters didn't want to pay up. They beat the collector and sent him away empty--handed. When the owner sent another, they treated him shamefully as well. So, finally Jesus said, the owner sent his only son, thinking, "Surely they well respect my son, the heir." But when they saw him, they killed him, gloating, "Now the vineyard will be all ours!" Yes, Jesus said, history is like that.
There is something in our bent, sinful nature that will not be owned, will not be ruled, will not accept orders, will not worship, and Jesus said the history of civilization is but the working out of that sin.
Years back, I caught my two pre--school--age sons in my Jeep. They had been told not to get in there. They could get hurt if it started to roll, but they were disobeying me. So I crept close by, they didn't see me, and I was able to hear their conversation. Bryan, my older at five, said, "David, we better get out of here! Daddy said for us not to get in here!" To which David replied, "It's not Daddy's Jeep, it's my Jeep!" That's when I stood up, and grinning, said to David, the wee three--year--old, "Oh, it's yours now, is it?" Startled, he jumped up and tried to push me away, yelling, "Go away! You can't come here!" In that childish outburst we have the character of humanity. History bears it out over and over again as God sends his "rent collectors" to the tenants to collect what is due, to remind them of who they are and who God is, and we treat them shamefully and send them away empty--handed. Isaiah was sawn in two. Jeremiah was stoned. Amos was murdered with a club. John the Baptizer was beheaded. And the Son sent from God? He was Jesus, and him we impaled upon a cross outside the city near a garbage dump.
It still has not stopped. Which of the original apostles escaped persecution and death? Peter was crucified upside down. Paul was beheaded. James was put to the sword. Stephen was stoned to death. History goes on down through the twenty centuries of Christendom. Huss was burned at the stake. Wycliff was exiled. Luther was thrown out of the church. Martin Luther King, Jr., was shot.
In our churches it still happens. I once pastored a church that had a reputation for "eating its pastors alive." This church had a 35--year history of chewing up God's "rent collectors." One they falsely accused of adultery. Another they overworked until he was a broken man, divorced, and defeated. Another they criticized and pressured until he had a heart attack. Like Hosea the prophet said, "All of them are hot as an oven, and they devour their rulers" (Hosea 7:7).
It's a dangerous job to be a rent collector in the employ of the Lord! There's a long history of shameful treatment for such laborers. And Jesus said history is like that. History is God creating the world like a fine vineyard and then leasing it out to humanity. History is God sending his workers into the world to call all humanity to give God respect, to give him his due worship. And history is the chronicles of our shameful treatment of those prophets in God's employ.
The Eviction
There is a fable about the Angel Gabriel who has just come from surveying the earth and its inhabitants when he reports to God. "Lord, it's my duty to inform you that you're the possessor of a choice piece of real estate known as planet earth. But the tenants you've leased it out to are destroying it. In another few years, it won't be fit to live in. They have polluted your rivers. The air is fouled with the stench of their over--consumerism. They frequently kill one another, and all the prophets you've sent to them calling for an accounting have met with violence. By any rule of sound management, Lord, you've got but one option." Then raising his trumpet to his lips, Gabriel asked, "Shall I sound the eviction notice now, sir?"
And God said, "No, Gabriel! No, not just yet. I know you are right, but I keep thinking if I just give them a little more time they'll quit acting like they own the place!"
Aye, that's what the text, Christ's world history, is all about. God owns the place, but we've been acting like we do. That brings us to the end of the text, the part where the owner of the vineyard has had enough, and so it is that he destroys the wicked tenants and leases his vineyard out to others who will keep faith with him. Again, this is but the tale history bears. Consider, if you will, the history of the Mediterranean nations. One--by--one they have risen to power in the vineyard. One--by--one they have turned their backs on God. One--by--one they have been evicted: Egypt of the pharaohs, Israel of David and Solomon, Greece of Alexander, Babylon of Nebuchadnezzar, Persia of Cyrus and Xerxes, Rome of the Caesars, the Ottoman Turks, Spain, and on and on. Creation, employment, irresponsibility, warnings, more irresponsibility, and finally eviction.
Again, consider yet another recent page of human history. World War II. Mussolini of Italy said, "If the church gets in my way, I'll hang God in Italy!" They found Mussolini dead, hanging upside down from a steel beam. Russia's Stalin said, "I'll run God out of Soviet Russia!" Now they curse Stalin's name, and you can't even find the place where he is buried. Adolf Hitler mocked, "No anemic Galilean is worthy of a German's worship," and they found Hitler a smoking cinder in a German gutter. Fact is, our arms are too short to box with God! Jesus Christ said, "I'll build my kingdom and the gates of hell won't stand against it!" History proves him true: "The meek shall inherit the earth!" They have; the rebellious, bloodletting, God--hating grabbers always, always, always are evicted. But the God--fearing, responsible stewards, the meek, always inherit the earth.
The Smallest Kingdom
One of the world's smallest kingdoms is the nation of Liech--tenstein, a constitutional monarchy of only 61 square miles found between Austria and Switzerland on the Rhine River. Yet, I tell you there is a kingdom smaller than that, and that kingdom is your life. I'm talking about the vineyard God has planted in your life and leased out to you. I'm talking about that small mound of flesh over which you have jurisdiction. How are you behaving toward the God who put you here to tend his vineyard and give him his due? Have you mistreated his rent collectors sent to receive what is due? Or more importantly, what have you done with God's Son, the man Jesus? Have you crucified him anew as you've made a grab for it all, or have you honored him with the worship of faith and obedience?
Suggested Prayer
Lord Jesus, teach me to give you first place in my life. Amen.
Stephen M. Crotts
