We have all entered into an agreement or contract in our lives.  We have purchased a car and signed a contract. We have rented an apartment and signed a lease.  We went somewhere and bought an ice cream cone.  Whenever we purchase something, we have entered a contract with the person selling or leasing that item.  A contract legally binds us to another person or company.  There is an offer, an acceptance, and a consideration.  Some business offers to sell cheeseburgers for $9.00.  We accept their offer and give them $10.00 in consideration for them handing us a cheeseburger.  It is a business deal.  If we try to pay them $7.00, the seller will not give us our cheeseburger.  If we pay $10.00 for our cheeseburger and the seller attempts to provide us with chicken nuggets instead, we will not refuse the nuggets and demand our cheeseburger.  We had a deal!

            I have met many people who treat their relationship with God like a business deal, like a contract.  They approach God as though He is offering a trouble-free life in exchange for being good and attending church.  When things are good, God is good.  When they fail to do their part of the contract, they say, “Sorry God.  Please forgive me.”  However, when things don’t go their way, there is a sense that God did not uphold His part of the contract.  There is anger toward God, as though they received chicken nuggets instead of their cheeseburger.  We do not have a business contract with God.  God never made business contracts with anyone.  Instead, God made covenants.

            What is a covenant?  A covenant is a promise.  In Biblical terms, a covenant begins with a promise from God to humanity.  God has offered several covenants to humanity. God’s five key covenants in the Bible were made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the New Covenant of Christ. God established covenants with humanity to advance His plan of redemption and to establish the relationship between Him and humanity, enabling people to receive His blessings and become part of His spiritual family.  God’s covenants only benefit humanity.  God does not require a covenant with us to gain any benefit for Himself. 

            God’s first covenant was with Adam and Eve.  God placed Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, where they had all the beauty and sustenance they could want or need.  Adam and Eve were sinless, and so there was no need for a redemption plan. God promised them eternal living and fellowship with Him.  To keep this covenant alive, Adam and Eve needed to show faith or trust, if you will, in God.  Showing faith means that we believe God’s promises and trust that God has the power to fulfill them.  God told Adam and Eve that there was one tree, bearing one fruit, that Adam and Eve must not eat.  God said that eating that fruit would destroy the covenant.  Eating the fruit would be a sign that Adam and Eve had lost faith in God. Eating the fruit would mean they either did not trust God’s promises or did not trust God had the power to keep His promises, or both.  We know that Adam and Eve decided they did not trust God because they ate the fruit and broke the covenant.

            Today, we read about God establishing another covenant, this time with Abram.  God had made promises to Abram, and Abram followed through, leaving his father’s home, people, and country for the Promised Land.  Abram’s battle to continue to trust God centered on his lack of children.  Abram had a large household of people, but did not have a son or daughter.  Abram and his wife, Sarai, were getting older, with Sarai now past the age of bearing children.  God spoke to Abram in a vision and said, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Genesis 15:1b).  God’s words to Abram essentially say, “I am your very great reward,” formed the core of God’s relationship with Abram and God desired that thought, God is your greatest reward in life, to be at the heart of Abram’s relationship with God.  God was Abram’s ultimate reward for life on earth and eternity.

            However, Abram was very human.  And in his humanness, Abram said 2  “Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 3 And Abram said, ‘You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.’ 4 Then the word of the Lord came to him (Abram): ‘This man (Eliezer) will not be your heir, but a son who is your own flesh and blood will be your heir’(Genesis 15:2-4)…  8 But Abram said, ‘Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?’” (Genesis 15:8). Abram was saying, “Yes, Lord, you are my greatest reward, but what about these lesser rewards like descendants? Will you give them to you?”  “Yes, I will,” was God’s reply.  To which Abram responded, “How can I know you will follow through on your promise?”  Abram was looking for a sign of commitment by God to God’s word.

            9 So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat, and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.”  10 Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two, and arranged the halves opposite each other” (Genesis 15:9-10a).  What is going on here with this butchering of animals?  In biblical times, a pact between two people was sealed in the following manner: they would sacrifice a particular animal, dividing it into two parts. They would lay down the parts facing each other, leaving a passageway between them. Each of the two parts of the animal represented one of the parties in the covenant.  Next, the two people would walk between the two halves of the animal. In doing so, they would affirm before each other that if they did not keep their part in that covenant, the other person would have the right to do to them the same that had been done to the animal.  God following this ancient custom would provide a sign of the covenant God offered to Abram. Scripture says, “12 As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him…17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day, the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, ‘To your descendants I give this land’” (Genesis 15:12, 17-18a).  Abram had his sign of God’s commitment to the covenant.

            We learn here that God had Abram set things up for the covenant ceremony, presumably with Abram expecting that he and God would pass between the animal halves. But that is not what happened. Instead, God, represented by a smoking firepot with a blazing torch, passed between the animals, making the covenant.  God and God alone would offer the covenant and accomplish the fulfillment of His covenant. Did that mean Abram had no responsibility in fulfilling the covenant?  Certainly not.  But God, by Himself alone, sealed the covenant, making it clear that Abram, in his own strength, could not fulfill it.  For Abram to fulfill his part of the covenant with God, Abram would need to remain dependent upon God for strength and wisdom.  Abram’s dependence upon God required him to follow God’s lead in settling the Promised Land and becoming a great nation. 

Moreover, in creating the sign of the covenant sealed by God alone, God was making clear that the covenant was an unmerited gift to Abram.  A gift is just that, it is a gift.  It cannot be earned.  God did not say to Abram. “You have done such a great job with the Promised Land that I am going to reward you by becoming your shield.”  Instead, God gave Himself to Abram as a sign of love and commitment to Abram and his descendants.

            What then do we take from this story of Abram’s faith journey that is important for us?  Let’s look at just two things here.

            First, God works through covenantal relationships, never through business deals. As I mentioned earlier, there are five key covenants in the Bible with Adam, Noah, Abram/Abraham, Moses, and the New Covenant through Jesus Christ.  In each case, God was the initiator of the covenantal relationship with humanity. Each covenant was for the benefit of humanity alone, not for God, because God requires nothing from us. While not requiring anything from us, each covenant required something of us, namely, to follow God’s word. 

Now, some people view the requirements under each covenant as a list of dos and don’ts that must be followed; otherwise, God will punish rather than bless those under the covenant.  Looking through such a lens tends to create the belief that we are entering into a business relationship with God as equal partners.  It is as if we are saying, “God, I will keep Your commandments, so You better keep Your promises to me.”  And, of course, we won’t keep His commandments, but we will expect God to keep His promises.  When we think this way, we turn God’s covenant into a contract.

            To illustrate this point, I read a commentary about the covenant God established with Adam.  The idea put forth by the writer was that when God said to Adam, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16b-17), God was issuing a death sentence to Adam as a punishment should Adam disobey God.  That sort of thinking reduces God’s covenant, made for humanity's benefit, to a tough business contract. 

Instead, I believe God was telling Adam that the covenant works, so long as you don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  If you, Adam, eat that fruit, the covenant will not work because the act of eating that fruit will change the way you see the world, the way you see Me, and will lead to your death.  Changing the way you see things, the way you see Me, and you dying fractures the very foundations of the covenant.

I like to think of it this way.  You are looking to buy a brand-new car.  On the test drive, it runs perfectly.  It accelerates nicely and rides smoothly. You say to the salesperson, “I want to buy the car.”  The salesperson says, “That is wonderful.  However, before you buy it, I'd like to know what you think about the brakes.  We are very proud of the brakes we put on our cars.  What did you think?”  You feel a bit puzzled by this question because no salesperson has ever asked you what you thought about the brakes on the car.  Usually, they are excited about the paint colors, the roomy interior, the sound system, and the ride it gives.  The brakes?  So you respond, “The brakes worked well.  They did what they were supposed to do.  They slowed the car down to a stop.”  The salesperson shakes their head and says, “I'm sorry, but you're wrong.  The brakes on our cars are not there to slow the car down. The brakes on the car are there so that you can drive fast.”  The salesperson continued, “You see, you were comfortable driving the car 65 or 70 miles per hour because of the excellent brake system we installed in this car. If I were to sell you a car that had no brakes, how fast would you be willing to drive that car?”  And, of course, you answer, “I would not drive a car that had no brakes.”  And the salesperson says, “So you see the brakes on the car are not there to slow you down but to allow you to drive fast.”  This poor analogy may give us some insight into our responsibilities under the covenant with God.  The things God says we must do or not do are said to slow us down or stop us from enjoying the blessings of life.  The things He tells us to do and avoid are said so that the covenant works and we can live life to the fullest.  “Adam, you can live a life of abundance and fullness unless you eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”  Adam chose otherwise, and using the analogy, he cut the brake lines on that new car when he ate the fruit, and could no longer go fast and live life fully. 

In a later covenant, God would say, “Do not murder or steal.”  Get caught murdering someone or stealing from someone, it is like you cut the brake lines on that new car, and you can no longer live free as you could before. When we receive God’s unmerited gift with the expectations that come with it and disregard those expectations, we are simply destroying the gift one piece at a time. Using the car analogy one last time, we are taking the brakes off that brand-new car and going nowhere fast.

So, as to our first point, we need to understand that God designed the covenants to bring people into a whole relationship with Him.  Any conditions of the covenant were there to protect us from ourselves, not to deny us anything we needed in life. 

            Second, God completes the work needed for the covenant.  In the case of Abram, we saw that God finished the symbolic work of the covenant by Himself, passing through the animals alone.  In the covenant with Moses, God established the commands for keeping the covenant and instituted the sacrificial system for the people to atone for the inevitable moments when they strayed from the covenant.  God put everything in place for the people to live in covenant with Him.  And yet the people managed to find ways to fracture the very foundation of the covenant by worshipping other gods and living contrary to the covenant itself.  Yet, despite the people's repeated failures to uphold the covenant and refrain from self-destructive behaviors, God said, "I will give them a new covenant."

            This time, in establishing a new covenant, the sign of the covenant would be plain, and the manner of living needed to uphold the covenant would be clear. What was different this time? This time God did not come as a voice or as a smoking firepot with flames.  God came wrapped in human flesh.  The truth and grace of God came in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus lived the perfect life and called upon His disciples to “Follow me.”  And to all who would follow, He gave the right to enter a new covenant and become children of God.  Children who were not born of human will but were born again by God.  But God knew there was still a problem that needed to be resolved under this new covenant.  God desired eternal life for His people.  That life would be comprised of time upon the earth and eternity with Him in heaven.  The problem is that to be in God’s presence, to live in heaven, requires perfection. The standard of heaven is not good, very good, or exceptionally good.  The standard for heaven is perfection.  The Apostle Paul put the problem this way: “None is righteous, no, not one” (Romans 3:10b). Not a single person is perfect.  What was God to do about the people’s inevitable sins? 

            God had a plan.  God, through the person of Jesus Christ, would take upon Himself the sins of the world. Jesus would bear the sins of all people who believed in and followed Him.  And instead of just a blank slate wiped clean of sin, God, through Jesus, would give each person Jesus’ unblemished, perfect record.  “This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:22a).  The work to justify us and give us the perfect record before God was given to us as a gift by Jesus.

What is the condition of that covenant?  That we put our faith in Jesus.  “So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ” (Galatians 2:16).  Living the new covenantal life is to live by faith in Jesus Christ, that is, to believe in His promises and in his power to fulfill his promises and then follow Him.  This is the gift of salvation.  None of us is worthy of receiving salvation through our own efforts.  None of us is perfect.  But Christ makes us perfect as a gift for having faith in Him.

God offers a covenantal relationship with you for your benefit.  God wants you to have peace in your life, assurance that He will see you through difficult times, and that your life can be one of profound joy now and forever. God did all the work needed for you and me to have such a relationship with Him by sending Jesus to lead us and by Jesus dying for our sins.  Jesus put it this way, “Trust in God, trust also in me.”  This day, let us trust God and embrace His covenant.  Amen and Amen. 

          When was the last time you were surprised?  To be surprised is to experience an unexpected or astonishing event, fact, or thing.  It has been said that there are three types of surprises we will experience. We are surprised when:

• Something happens that we don't expect.
• We expect something to happen, but something else happens instead.
• Expect something to happen, but nothing happens.

Surprise is one of seven universal human emotions that transcends language, regional, cultural, and ethnic differences.  The other six universal human emotions are anger, contempt, disgust, enjoyment, fear, and sadness.  We can tell by a person’s facial expressions which emotion they are experiencing, even if we do not know them or share their cultural history.

          What are the sources of surprise?  We can be surprised by some environmental conditions. We smell a flower and might be surprised at how sweet and attractive its scent is.  We can be surprised by people.  You step into a room and people shout, “Surprise – Happy Birthday!” Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we can be surprised by God.  But is it God’s nature to surprise us, or is it our nature to be surprised by him?  I would like us to consider that question today.

          Our scripture reading today, from Chapter 14 of the Book of Genesis, concerning the life of Abram, contains a few things that might surprise us.  Let’s take a moment and set the stage.  War had broken out in the region near where Abram lived.  Unfortunately, war is not an unusual occurrence.  The war was described as being between five kings and four kings.  The five kings represented the cities of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim, and Bela. The four kings represented the cities of Elam, Goyim, Shinar, and Ellasar.  A climactic battle occurred in the Valley of Siddim, resulting in the defeat of the five kings by the four.  We would read, “10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom” (Genesis 14:10-12).

          We now see that Lot, Abram’s nephew, had been taken captive in the war, likely to become enslaved.  “14 When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people” (Genesis 14:14-16).  We see here some potential surprises. First, we are surprised because we did not expect Abram to have such an enormous household.  There were at least 318 men born into the household who had been trained in warfare to accompany Abram in his effort to retrieve Lot. This means his household could have been a couple of thousand people.  Secondly, we are surprised because we did not expect to see that when Abram attacked, he divided his forces.  Usually, armies of that time did not divide because it was hard to maintain communications between army elements.  Thirdly, we are surprised because we did not expect to see that Abram attacked at night. Armies at that time did not attack at night because it was too hard to understand what was happening and who was a threat and who was an ally.  Nevertheless, Abram attacked and was successful in rescuing his nephew, their possessions, and all the other people who had been taken captive.  This brings about a happy ending to the story of Abram, the warrior and savior.

          Then we read earlier, “17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer (K-door-lay-o-mor) and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley)” (Genesis 14:17).  That does not seem like a surprise.  Now that the battle has been won, the king of Sodom, the king of a wicked city, reappears to meet Abram, who has recaptured the possessions and people of Sodom along with his nephew, Lot.  The king of Sodom was likely coming to take back from Abram what the king believed belonged to him.  And so we expect that the next thing we will read about is the encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom.

But we are surprised because that does not happen.  Instead of the encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom, we read, “18 Then Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High” (Genesis 14:18). We expect something to happen, but something else happens instead.  And what is the nature of our surprise?  We want to know who Melchizedek is.  What does it mean that he was the king of Salem?  Where is Salem?  And what does it mean that Melchizedek was a priest of God?  Up until this point in the story of Abram, the only person associated with God was Abram.

What we learn is that Melchizedek is a name comprised of two Hebrew words: Melek, מֶלֶךְ, meaning “king,” and Tsedek, צֶדֶק, meaning "righteousness.”  And so we learn that a person known as the “king of righteousness” sought out Abram.  This king was from Salem.  The ancient city of Salem, scholars believe, was the name of the place later and now known as Jerusalem.  The king of righteousness came from Jerusalem.  What does it mean that Melchizedek was a priest of the God Most High?  In ancient times, there were three religious offices.  There was a king, a priest, and a prophet.  A king was to represent God to the people.  A priest was to represent the people to God.  A prophet was a messenger of God delivering words of divine revelation to the king, priests, and people.   Melchizedek, as a priest, served as an intermediary between the people and God. He may also have served as an intermediary between God and the people as a king.

The priest Melchizedek's interruption of the expected encounter between Abram and the king of Sodom and Melchizedek’s existence as another authority under God must have surprised Abram.  This was not what he expected.  There would be more surprises coming for Abram.

The scripture says, “19 And he (Melchizedek) blessed him (Abram) and said: 'Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth” (Genesis 14:19).  Melchizedek was acknowledging that he and Abram were spiritual brothers serving the same God Most High.  God had called Abram into the Promised Land and had called Melchizedek into the priesthood, bearing the concerns of the people to God.  This Melchizedek blessed Abram as a brother in faith.  Abram was surprised as he had never been blessed by any earthly being before in his life.

Melchizedek had a little more to tell Abram.  Scripture says, Melchizedek said, “And blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your (Abram’s) enemies into your (Abram’s) hand” (Genesis 14:20a). Well, that might have been a surprise to Abram.  The victory of Abram over Kedorlaomer (K-door-lay-o-mor) and the kings allied with him did not come about because Abram divided his forces and attacked at night.  The victory came about because God gave Abram the victory.  God surprises people who are open to Him.  God surprised Abram with a victory, and God surprised Abram with the presence of another called to God, a priest named Melchizedek.

Melchizedek had one more task to do, and that was to bring bread and wine to Abram. Bread and wine were the staples of life. As the faith practices of the Chosen People developed, a traditional prayer was offered for the bread: https://youtu.be/3gYwg9HOzb4?feature=shared  "Blessed are You, Lord our God, Ruler of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.”  And a traditional blessing of the wine was also offered: https://youtu.be/GH0ILq9vKao?feature=shared "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, Who creates the fruit of the vine.”  Melchizedek had instilled in the minds of Abram and all his descendants the significance of the bread and the wine as offerings to God.

Abram must have been overjoyed at the presence of Melchizedek and the institution of God’s praise in the form of the bread and wine.  Scripture tells us that after spending time with Melchizedek, “And he (Abram) gave him (Melchizedek) a tithe of all” (Genesis 14:20b).  In Abram’s giving of the tithe to Melchizedek, there is a suggestion that Abram saw Melchizedek as superior to himself.

After the surprise encounter between Abram and Melchizedek ended, Scripture returned to the story of Abram and the King of Sodom.  “21 Now the king of Sodom said to Abram, 'Give me the persons, and take the goods for yourself.’  22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, ‘I have raised my hand to the Lord, God Most High, the Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that I will take nothing, from a thread to a sandal strap, and that I will not take anything that is yours, lest you should say, ‘I have made Abram rich’” (Genesis 14:21-23a).  Abram would have nothing to do with the wickedness of Sodom.  He wanted to be clear that any blessing he had in life was due to his relationship with God.  This is faith.

What then do we make of Abram’s developing faith?  How does what Abram experienced and demonstrated relate to us? There are three things for us to consider today.

First, God does not intend to surprise us, but we are surprised by Him.  Why is that?  Historically, God has revealed to people what He is going to do before He does it, so that they know that what happened was because He ordained it.  God had called Abram to the Promised Land and made Abram seven promises before Abram moved one inch toward that Promised Land.

1. I will make you a great nation.
2. I will bless you.
3. I will make your name great.
4. You will be a blessing.
5. I will curse those who curse you.
6. I will bless those who bless you.
7. By you, all families will be blessed.

So when Abram’s nephew Lot was enslaved, a curse against Abram, it should not have surprised Abram that God would bless Abram with a successful rescue mission. So, when God later said, "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17) upon Jesus' baptism, and then said, “This is my Son, listen to Him” (Matthew 17:5) upon Jesus' transfiguration, we ought to believe God.  We should not be surprised, then, by what Jesus was able to do and what Jesus promised.  When Jesus promised salvation to all who would believe in Him, He meant it.  So, when we see a man named Saul who persecuted Christians repent and receive forgiveness from Jesus, we should not be surprised that Jesus will forgive us.  But many people do not consider themselves worthy of God’s forgiveness, and so, they do not accept God’s invitation.  Don’t be surprised that God has said that He loves you and wants to bless you just as He had blessed Abram.

Second, we ought to expect God to bring into our lives people who will excite our faith, even if we did not expect them.  Abram was journeying through the Promised Land, believing that he alone had a relationship with God.  Surprise! Along came this mysterious character, Melchizedek, who interrupted Abram’s meeting with the king of the wicked city of Sodom.  The joy Abram must have felt, knowing he was not alone, that there was another believer, must have strengthened Abram's faith.  Every so often, I take the time to reflect on all the believers God has brought into my life through church, Bible studies, counseling sessions, lay study courses, fellowship dinners, funerals, weddings, and even fellow passengers on airplanes.  God has used each one of them and each one of you to encourage me in my faith.  The first Bible study I ever participated in as a student used the book by Charles Swindoll entitled “Hand Me Another Brick.” It is the story of Nehemiah, who led the effort to rebuild the wall around Jerusalem.  I appreciate the imagery that each Christian God sends into my life and into yours, as a means to hand another brick to build up my faith and make me stronger.  We ought to expect God to do that because he desires that we would be strong in our faith.

Third, we ought to expect God to speak to us using ordinary things in extraordinary ways.  In our story today, Melchizedek brought ordinary things to Abram.  He brought bread and wine to sustain Abram and those with him.  Jesus used the same ordinary things — bread and wine — in an extraordinary way with his disciples.  The bread and wine represented Jesus’ own body and blood.  Jesus invited his disciples to eat the bread and drink the wine in advance of his death, so they would know that his death was not accidental; it was part of God’s plan to bless them.  That in Jesus’ death, redemption was assured and forgiveness of all sins would be granted.  Jesus served as the intercessor between them and God, representing them to God and fulfilling the office of a priest.  The New Testament Book of Hebrews tells us, “7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered 9 and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him 10 and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek” (Hebrews 5:7-10).  In a few minutes, we will take the ordinary bread and cup and remember the extraordinary things Jesus has done for us.

Abram’s faith and his sense of hope soared because of the provisions God had given to encourage him.  That same God wants your faith and sense of hope to soar high through the believers and ordinary things of life that he will use in extraordinary ways in your life. Amen and Amen.

          The shooting death of Charlie Kirk has brought about many reactions across the United States and the world.  Some of those reactions are quite passionately displayed, whether expressed in grief or glee.  In time, many of those passionate people will find something else to be passionate about.  One of the enduring questions that comes from the murder of Charlie Kirk is whether we, as a nation, can be civil with one another or whether there will be a permanent state of strife.  I think the answer is that there will always be a state of strife, so long as there are believers and non-believers, because there is a boundary between light and darkness. The idea that there is a difference between believers and nonbelievers is not my idea, and it is certainly not a new one.  Our scripture reading today featured a man named Abram, whom God called to follow Him. The first step God called Abram to take was to separate himself from his land, his fellow citizens, and his father’s house.  Abram would be the father of many nations, but mostly Abram’s full story is told through the accounts of God’s Chosen People found in the Old Testament.  They were God’s Chosen People.  Isaiah 42:6 says, "I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles."  In being called by God, God expected His people to live without strife among themselves.  God anticipated strife to exist with those outside the faith.  In view of the Charlie Kirk assassination, we must then ask, “Can those who claim Christ live without strife regardless of their personal political views, no matter how passionately they hold them?”  How then are we to understand strife as Christians?

          To begin understanding our response to that question, let’s start with a look at our scripture reading today about Abram. God had called Abram to a land that God would show Abram.  Abram arrived.  Abram’s nephew, Lot, came with Abram.  They traveled the land.  Thereafter, a famine struck the land, and Abram and Lot left the land to go to Egypt. 

Egypt was the land of many gods, ruled by the Pharaoh, but it had an abundance of food.  Abram’s faith seems to have faltered, believing that if he stayed in the land that God showed him, God would let him die of hunger in that land.  So Abram felt that he must go to Egypt to escape death in the land that God had shown him.  While in Egypt, Abram experienced great difficulty.  Pharaoh saw Sarai, Abram’s wife, and believed she was beautiful. Abram and Sarai had pretended they were only brother and sister, not husband and wife, so Pharaoh took Sarai to be part of his harem.  Pharaoh gave Abram “16 Many gifts because of her—sheep, goats, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels” (Genesis 12:16). Before Pharaoh married Sarai, God intervened and sent plagues upon Egypt until Pharaoh came to understand that Sarai was Abram’s wife.  When Pharaoh understood, he sent Abram and Sarai away with all their wealth.

Abram had not remained in the land God had set aside for him.  Instead, Abram decided he knew better than God and left the land to go to Egypt.  Abram lied to the Egyptians, believing God would not protect him and Sarai from harm. God intervened, causing the Egyptians to release Abram and Sarai with their wealth intact.  God was faithful even when Abram stumbled.  God is slow to anger and steadfast in faith.

From our text today, we would read, “1 So Abram left Egypt and traveled north into the Negev, along with his wife and Lot and all that they owned. 2 (Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold.) 3 From the Negev, they continued traveling by stages toward Bethel, and they pitched their tents between Bethel and Ai, where they had camped before. 4 This was the same place where Abram had built the altar, and there he worshiped the Lord again.  5 Lot, who was traveling with Abram, had also become very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle, and many tents” (Genesis 13:1-5).  Abram and his nephew, Lot, were back in the land God had shown Abram.  Abram was very rich in livestock, silver, and gold (13:2). Lot was very wealthy, possessing sheep, goats, cattle, and tents (13:5).

Everything was going well. “6 But the land could not support both Abram and Lot with all their flocks and herds living so close together. 7 So disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot” (Genesis 13:6-7a).  Disputes and strife had entered the land, but not between Abram and the Canaanite inhabitants.  That one would expect.  God had called Abram, but the Canaanites had not been.  The strife and disputes were between the families of Abram and Lot and were played out through their herdsmen.  Many of you, from personal experience, know that inter-family strife can be a challenging experience.  Loyalties are tested and sides are chosen.  In serving people with grief counseling, it is not uncommon for strife to enter the family after the last parent dies.  When both mother and father are dead, sibling rivalries that have simmered beneath the surface for years explode.  Why?  What causes us to have difficulties within our families?  What caused the strife between Abram and Lot?

Most likely, the cause was jealousy that led to resentment.  Abram was rich with cattle, silver, and gold.  Lot was wealthy with livestock, but no mention is made of precious metals such as silver and gold.  Envy and jealousy led to disputes over the best grass and water for their herds.  The “mom liked you best,” or “your piece is bigger than mine” attitude causes significant discord in families.  How are such disputes settled righteously?

From our text today, we would read, “8 Finally Abram said to Lot, ‘Let’s not allow this conflict to come between us or our herdsmen. After all, we are close relatives!’” (Genesis 13:8).  Abram, the one called by God, took the first step.  Abram approached Lot and appealed for unity, not by force or using his superior wealth.  Abram’s appeal was that we are family, and we must not let strife separate us.  Abram was learning how to be a great nation by understanding that strife within the family weakened everyone.

Abram continued, “9 The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left” (Genesis 13:9).  Abram, reaffirmed in his standing with God after his trials in Egypt, was willing to allow Lot to choose what would resolve the strife.  Abram now knew God would take care of him no matter what Lot decided.  That is faith.  Faith in God assured Abram that he did not need to concern himself with earthly riches and wealth.  Abram knew he was leading a new life under God's authority.

Lot, on the other hand, had a more worldly view.  The scripture said, “10 Lot took a long look at the fertile plains of the Jordan Valley in the direction of Zoar. The whole area was well watered everywhere, like the garden of the Lord or the beautiful land of Egypt… 11 Lot chose for himself the whole Jordan Valley to the east of them. He went there with his flocks and servants and parted company with his uncle Abram” (Genesis 13:10-11).  We see here that Lot made his decision based upon pure logic.  Lot saw a fertile plain and a great deal of water, and he chose those lands for himself.  Whatever jealousy Lot had toward Abram was satisfied by taking the best lands available.  Lot then left Abram for his new lands and settled near the city of Sodom, which at that time was known for its wickedness.

Abram, comfortable in placing his life under God’s authority, was unconcerned with the lesser lands he now occupied.  What was important had been achieved.  The strife within the family had been resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. Scripture tells us, “14 After Lot had gone, the Lord said to Abram, 'Look as far as you can see in every direction—north and south, east and west. 15 I am giving all this land, as far as you can see, to you and your descendants as a permanent possession. 16 And I will give you so many descendants that, like the dust of the earth, they cannot be counted! 17 Go and walk through the land in every direction, for I am giving it to you” (Genesis 13:14-17).  God had spoken again to Abram and affirmed God’s blessing upon Abram.

          What then do we take away from this exchange between Abram and Lot?  There are three things we should see here for ourselves.

          First, Abram had been tested by the Lord and failed. The Lord had called Abram and promised to bless him.  Abram responded and stayed close to God as God unfolded before Abram the vast lands that would become those of Abram and his descendants.  However, when famine hit that land, Abram’s faith faltered, and he abandoned those lands in favor of Egypt.  Abram left the promised land of God for the land of the world. Oftentimes, we do the same.  When life is good, God is good.  Following our faith journey and giving glory to God comes about with a certain ease.  However, when things do not go our way and issues arise in our personal lives, the first thing many Christians do is abandon their faith practices.  They stop coming to church.  They stop reading the Bible.  They stop engaging Christians.  Instead, they move closer to the world.  I have seen this happen repeatedly.  Such responses are born of human logic, not faith.

          However, the story of Abram shows us that, although we may move away from God due to circumstances, God does not move away from us. God still has a plan for us and a desire for us to love Him.  Abram experienced the steadfastness and love of God.  When Abram returned to God and the promised land, Abram understood the blessing of being under God’s authority.  In that understanding, Abram confidently expressed his faith in God and found inner peace.

How about you and me?  Do we understand Jesus’ promises to us?  Jesus said of salvation, “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).  Jesus will not forsake us when things are not going our way or even if we, for a time or season of our life, set our faith aside.

Jesus’ apostle Peter gave us a spectacular example of personal failure followed by restoration.  When Jesus was arrested, and things looked bad, Peter immediately retreated from his faith and denied knowing Jesus.  Peter stepped out from under God's authority.  Yet, Jesus would later restore Peter.  It is essential that when things don’t go our way, we not retreat from our faith but press on all the harder.  The Apostle Paul put it this way, “But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14).  We must not retreat from our faith, but if we do, we must also remember that God will restore us if we return to our faith.

          Second, Abram, in faith, under the authority of God’s Word, understood God’s desire that we be united.  Abram understood that strife, division, and conflict between believers were behaviors outside of God’s Word.  It was wrong for Abram, and it remains wrong for us.  We cannot be at odds with other believers.  Abram and Lot conflicted over pasture lands and envied each other's wealth.  They had put their self-interests above the interests of God.  Believers of any political persuasion choosing to demean or otherwise denigrate believers of another political persuasion have placed their self-interests above the interests of God.  Abram said to Lot, “Let there be no strife between us.” They resolved the strife and then tended to their own self-interests, but did so without attacking each other.  We will see in the weeks ahead that Abram would seek Lot’s rescue twice, even though they had differing self-interests.

          Jesus had apostles and disciples who came from diverse backgrounds.  They too had self-interests, but Jesus' call upon their lives was a call to prioritize their walk with Him over their self-interests and, in doing so, “to love one another.”  When we consider matters such as the murder of Charlie Kirk and the subsequent public debates or other emotionally charged topics, we cannot introduce strife by attacking other believers.  Let there be no strife between us.

          Finally, we see from this scene between Abram and Lot that Abram understood the bigger picture.  We will enjoy specific blessings in this life.  But the Apostle Paul said this about our material blessings, “7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith” (Philippians 3:8).  Abram had the view of eternity as did Paul that joyful things on earth are incomparable to the joys of eternity. 

In addition to joys, we will also experience difficulties in our lives. Paul here again shares with us the view of eternity.  “18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Romans 8:18).  Whether in joy or trial, our lasting and enduring view must be of eternity with God.  Having this view of the full breadth of our lives helps us avoid strife in our lives.

Dear brothers and sisters, let there be no strife between us.  Amen and Amen.

            Why are we here today?  If we relied solely on logical thinking, we might have concluded, as millions of others have, that it would be better to have slept in today, gone to brunch, or participated in a sporting event rather than coming to church. If we used logical thinking alone, we might have concluded that it makes more sense to put the money from our offering in the bank or use it to buy something nice to wear or to pay for another premium television service.

            Think for a moment about the first instance in human existence in which someone relied solely on logical thinking.  Do you know where that scene comes from?  That scene is found in Chapter 3 of the Book of Genesis.  The place was the Garden of Eden.  There were only two people in the world, Adam and Eve.  Eve had been speaking with a serpent who suggested to her that she would eat the fruit from the knowledge of good and evil for then she would become as wise as God.  The serpent said, 5 “‘God knows that when you eat from it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’  6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it” (Genesis 3:5-6).  The logical thinking was presented in verse 6.

• The fruit of the tree was good for food.
• The fruit of the tree was pleasing to the eye.
• The fruit of the tree was desirable for gaining wisdom.

The fruit of the tree was good, pleasing, and desirable.  Logically, the correct answer is to eat the fruit, and so the man and woman ate the fruit.  But we know the results were disastrous because sin entered the world in the eating of that fruit.

            What we learn from this scene is what Augustine, a 4th-century Christian theologian, once said, “We are too frail to find truth by pure reason alone, we need the authority of God’s Word” (Confessions, pg. 116).  God had told Adam that to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would result in his death, and it did.  The first couple had the authority of God’s Word and chose instead to rely solely on logical thinking.

            Why are we here today?  We are here today because we desire the authority of God’s Word. We are here today to praise God in song for the authority of His Word, given to us in the form of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and the Bible.  We are here to listen to God’s Word proclaimed.  Why?  Because it is the authority of God’s Word that changes lives, not the logic of humanity. And we want our lives to changed to become more and more like that of Jesus Christ.

            And so, today, we began by seeing that God’s authoritative word was given to humanity at the beginning, specifically to Adam and Eve. We now fast-forward to God’s authoritative word given to another man, who would begin the story of God’s Chosen People.  We move to the story of a man called Abram.

            Abram, later known as Abraham, is known to us. His story is a familiar story. The story of Abraham and his descendants spans the Old Testament, from Chapter 12 of Genesis to the final verse of the Old Testament, found in Malachi.  How did this massive story of Abram and his family begin?  Abram’s story started in the ancient city of Ur. The city of Ur was located on the southern banks of the Euphrates River in modern-day Iraq.  The city of Ur was then on the shores of the Persian Gulf. But with the actions of winds, waves, and the sea, the location of the city is now 10 miles from the sea.  The inhabitants of Ur worshipped the moon god as well as other deities.  Abram was one of three sons of a man named Terah.  The Bible tells us that, “31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there” (Genesis 11:31).  For reasons not given, Terah moved some of his family toward Canaan, think modern-day Israel, following the ancient trade routes, but decided to stop and settle in a place called Harran in modern-day Turkey.  Harran was also one of the cities that worshipped a moon god.  Perhaps logically, Terah concluded that the city of Harran was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and good for gaining wisdom. Whatever the reason, Terah stopped the family from moving further.

            Into the sedentary life in Harran, God sought Abram and intervened in his life.  God spoke to Abram.  We do not know the way God chose to speak to Abram.  We only know that God's way of speaking was overwhelming to Abram.  The revelation from God was so clear and powerful that Abram’s beliefs in the moon god and other lesser gods were destroyed. This God who spoke to Abram was like no other experience of Abram, and what God had to say to Abram was like nothing Abram had ever heard before.  This God was calling Abram into a new life and promising Abram more than he ever thought possible.

            The Bible tells us in Chapter 12 of the Book of Genesis that, “1 The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you.  2 I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.  4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him’” (Genesis 12:1-4a).  This God, whom Abram had not known, called to him in some dramatic way and told him to leave his country, leave his people, and leave his father.  God called Abram to leave his old life behind and accept a new life guided by God.  God promised seven things in return for Abram’s obedience to God.  God said:

1. I will make you a great nation.
2. I will bless you.
3. I will make your name great.
4. You will be a blessing.
5. I will curse those who curse you.
6. I will bless those who bless you.
7. By you, all families will be blessed.

And “4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him” (Genesis 12:4a).  It was precisely at this moment in time when Abram followed God that God approved Abram. Had Abram considered God speaking to him solely through logical thinking, he would never have followed God. Abram was safe, comfortable, cared for, and secure where he lived with his father in Harran.  Now this God, whom Abram did not know, was calling him to leave everything behind and go to some land that Abram knew not.  Ancient people were deeply rooted in their lands, their fellow citizens, and especially their fathers.  They did not break from them.  Logically, the answer from Abram would have been “No thanks.  I am fine where I am.”

But there was authority in God’s Words that Abram had never experienced before. Abram understood through that encounter that God’s sovereignty and authority were above all, and it overwhelmed the logical thinking of humanity.  And so, Abram followed God.  In that instant of following God, Abram showed faith.

            We speak of faith often.  Someone might ask you, “Are you a person of faith?”  But what is faith?  The Bible says, “1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).  This is a fine statement, but what does it mean?  The primary idea of faith is trust.  Abram demonstrated faith in God, that is, trust in God, when he acknowledged two things.  First, Abram acknowledged God's promises.  Second, Abram trusted in God’s power to fulfill His promises.  Faith, then, is believing God’s promises and trusting in His power to fulfill those promises.  By faith, by trusting in God, Abram set out for the land of Canaan and began a new life, chronicled for us in all the remaining pages of the Old Testament.

            What then can we come to understand about our life in the context of the life of Abram?  We start again at the beginning with the question, “Why are we here today?” We are here because we recognize, as Abram did, and as Adam and Eve discovered, that we are too frail, too susceptible to selfish motivations, to navigate through this life solely on logic alone.  We have come to recognize that we need God's authority in and over our lives.  We need God’s authority, as given to us in the stories of Abram and his descendants, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, and Malachi, and numerous others who formed God’s chosen people.  They were God’s chosen people, not because they were the strongest, but because God called them into a covenant with Him, through which He could invest His wisdom and authority in them to be a light to others. God invested His Word into the lives of the people of the Old Testament, calling them, correcting them, and loving them as a nation.  And when the time was right, God sent His own Son, Jesus, to fulfill among the chosen people what they could not achieve on their own, and for Jesus then to establish a new covenant not with a nation but with each person.

            In recognition of the new covenant, the followers of Jesus compiled the next chapter in God’s story, the New Testament, providing understanding of the work of Christ and the faith, the trust, that people placed in Him.  We would read from that New Testament these enduring and powerful words, “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all humanity. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it…14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth…17b Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:1-5, 14, 17b).  Jesus came as the powerful, authoritative Word of God.

            As we said earlier, we do not know how God appeared to Abram and called Abram to follow God into a new life.  But we do know how God appeared in the New Testament to call people to himself and into a new life.  He appeared in the flesh, fully God and fully human, in the person of Jesus of Nazareth.  The message of Jesus was consistent and straightforward.  “The time is now.  The kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). 

This time, there would be no need to move to a new land for a new life with God. Now was a time to live that new life apart from yet among the corrupt traditions of one’s country, fellow citizens, and father’s household. People did not need to physically separate themselves from the land or their father’s household, but separation would still occur. Jesus said, “34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—36     a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’  37 Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:34-39).  The cost of discipleship—the cost of living under God's authority—would be high.  But the first promise of Christ to those who would obey him was life for whoever “loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39b). 

There would be more promises of Jesus to those who would follow Him.

Salvation - “All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away” (John 6:37).

Usability - “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19).

 Guidance - “I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice” (Luke 6:47).

Rest and Renewal - “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

The Holy Spirit - “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever" (John 14:16)

Eternity in Heaven - “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:3).

Like Abram, when we acknowledge the promises of God through Jesus Christ and trust in His power to fulfill what He has promised, we have shown faith.  In our showing of faith, we are, in the moment, approved by God.  We have entered the kingdom of God through the promises and the completed work of Jesus Christ, God in the flesh.  We do not solely do this by logical thinking.  We do this because of the authority of God’s word.

If you have accepted Jesus and his promises, you have received the good news and entered the kingdom of God.  You must therefore live as one who is following Jesus and the new life He has given you.

However, if you have not accepted Jesus and his promises, if you have not yet trusted Jesus, I invite you today to place your life under God’s authority. Consider how impossible it is to live your life guided by your own thinking and your own ways.  Instead, accept God’s promises through Jesus for salvation, rest, and guidance, and acknowledge that God, who created the heavens and earth and all therein, certainly has the power to fulfill His promises.  That is why we are here.

For all of us, let us live by faith and let God, through Jesus Christ, show us how. Amen and Amen. 

Today, I would like to conclude our summer review of the parables of Jesus, as presented in the Gospel of Mark.  Throughout the summer, we have seen that Jesus had a very simple message: “The time is now.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe the good news” (Mark 1:15). Jesus preached this message repeatedly across Galilee, Judea, and in Jerusalem.  After the Jewish religious leaders said Jesus was Satan, Jesus began teaching in parables. The parables were short stories that were intended for the faithful to understand the good news and, at the same time, riddles that would confound the wicked and adulterous listeners.

Jesus strongly suggested that the parable of the sower was key to understanding all parables.  Jesus said, “If you don’t understand this parable, how then will you understand any parable?” (Mark 4:13).  The parable of the sower was about casting seed, which Jesus later said was the Word of God.  Jesus cast the Word of God far and wide.  Some, hearing the word, were like hard soil and immediately rejected God’s Word, the spoken word, and the word that had become flesh, Jesus.  Satan consumed those who rejected Jesus.  Some, hearing the word, were like shallow soil.  They reacted with joy but remained shallow in their acceptance, withering away like a plant without water under the scorching sun. Others, hearing God’s Word, were distracted by worry and the cares of this world.  The thorny things of this world choked them.  Still others heard God’s Word and received it, producing fruit God desired, 30-fold, 60-fold, and as much as 100-fold.  God desires that we would bear the fruit that evidences God’s love for us and our love for God.  If we understand this parable, we can gain a deeper comprehension of the other parables.  Jesus' parables teach us that God desires only good for us, and part of that good is that we would listen to Him and follow His word.

We saw Jesus teach the message that the time was right for the harvest God desires, as conveyed through the balance of the parables Mark recorded.  The parables of the seed growing, the mustard seed, the vineyard and the tenants, and the lesson of the fig tree all point the same way. “Now is the time.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).

But. There is always a but.  But someday, either in our individual lives or in the life of the world, time will be no more.  There will not be a time to bear fruit.  Our posture toward God will be in that moment either good soil that produces many fold, or Satan will have devoured us, withered because we withdrew from God, or choked by the thorny things of this world, like worry and wealth. There is an end time for each of us and for the world.

Jesus told his apostles, “32 But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32). Jesus was talking about the end of all time, but his words apply just as well to the time we have on earth.  About that day or hour, no one knows.  The timing for that moment is reserved for God the Father alone.  Jesus said, therefore, “33 Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come” (Mark 13:33).  Jesus wanted his apostles to be ready, alert, and on guard for opportunities to share the good news and for the movement of God.

Then, according to Mark’s gospel, Jesus offered this final parable.  “34 It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch.  35 “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. 36 If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’” (Mark 13:34-37).

What do we make of this parable, which begins with the words, “It’s like a man going away” (Mark 13:34)? This parable has similar tones to that of the tenants and the vineyard.  In that parable, Jesus spoke about a vineyard owner who “moved to another place” (Mark 12:1b).  The idea in both parables is that the owner of the house or vineyard was setting expectations for others whom he was placing in positions of responsibility for his possessions.  As we came to understand the parable of the vineyard, the owner represented God. Therefore, in this parable, the owner of the house likewise represents God.

With that explanation, we go back to the parable.  “34 It’s like a man (God) going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch” (Mark 13:34).  The parable has a second character, the man’s servants.  It is important to note that the man put his servants in charge.  The servant is someone who has already agreed to follow the man’s instructions.  The servants know the man and are doing their best to carry out the wishes of the man.  The man did not hire someone he did not know.  He did not ask the neighbor to look after things for him.  The man chose people who were already bonded to him.  We also note that each servant was given a task that they knew was theirs to perform.  There was accountability for specific tasks for specific people. 

One of those people was the one at the door whom the man told to keep watch. The man at the door was the doorkeeper. A doorkeeper in ancient Israel, as represented in the Old Testament, was both a trusted and humble servant.  In Psalm 84, we would read, “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of God than dwell in the tents of the wicked” (Psalm 84:10).  It was better to be outside the door of God’s house exposed to the elements than to ever spend a moment in the physical comfort of the wicked. 

To this humble and trusted servant, the man said, “Keep watch.”  It is this servant, above all others, that Jesus expounded about the importance of their role and the need for vigilance.  We might ask, “What was the purpose of the doorkeeper?  Was the doorkeeper there to open the door for the owner when he returned and to allow no one else into the owner’s home until the owner returned?”  The answer to those questions seems clear.  Had the owner wanted no one admitted to his home in his absence, the owner could have locked the door upon his departure.  The presence of a doorkeeper suggests that the owner intended for others to enter his home in the owner's absence.  Hence, the doorkeeper must be alert and discerning to ensure the owner’s wishes are carried out.

In this simple story, the doorkeeper was there to receive and allow into the owner’s home those whom the owner sent to him.  Those arriving could come at any time of day or night.  We know this because Jesus said the doorkeeper must be alert to the return of the owner himself at any time of the day or night.

We might now ask, “If in the parable, the man represents God, who then does the doorkeeper represent?”  It seems clear that the doorkeeper in the parable represents Jesus’ apostles.  Jesus was telling these servants of God that they must remain alert and watchful to do what God is calling them to do.  God was inviting people to come to his house, and apostles must be at the door, ready to receive those who accepted God’s invitation and welcome them into their master’s home.  And that, at a time when they never could know, the owner would return, and they would not want to be found asleep at the door.  When the owner returned, the time for issuing invitations had passed.

When Jesus finished the parable, he said to his disciples, “37 What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’”  All of Jesus’ followers must be alert and responsive to the movement of God, to receive those He has invited.

Of course, we would later see that the apostles struggled with remaining alert even for a few minutes.  Mark, who often writes from the perspective of things occurring in three, recorded that in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said to Peter, James, and John, 34 “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch” (Mark 14:34).  Jesus then went a little further to pray.  But three times Jesus came back to the apostles only to find them asleep. The apostles had not kept watch.

What then do we do with this final parable of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark? Let’s follow Mark’s pattern and consider three things.

First, Jesus told his apostles that a day would come when He would return. Jesus said people would see, “The Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:26-27). Jesus’ return will be unmistakable. If we are living at the time of Jesus’ return, we will know it.  The evidence will be visible in the skies and in the activities on Earth.

Some groups believe Jesus has already returned.  Most notably, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that Jesus Christ’s “invisible return” or his spiritual presence began in 1914, marking the start of the “last days” of the current world system. This belief stems from their interpretation of biblical prophecies, particularly Daniel 4:10-17 and Revelation 12:12, combined with a chronological calculation based on the “seven times” prophecy.  I think Jesus was clear, his return will not be invisible.  It will be one of great power and glory.  When will Jesus return?   Jesus was clear about that as well.  “32 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

Jesus' point to his apostles is the exact point we should take away today. He will return.  When?  When the time is right.  Therefore, please do not waste time and energy speculating and arguing over the day or the hour of his return.  Instead, be ready.  Focus on what can be done in the present.  Keep watch.

Second, in the parable, Jesus said the owner of the house called his servants together and assigned each their task.  The orderly running of the owner’s house required that each person do their assigned task.  The same is true for each person here.  God has given you talents and spiritual gifts that are to be used to His glory.  He has assigned you a task and equipped you to complete it.

The Apostle Paul likened the assignments we have received to the parts of a body. “12 There is one body, but it has many parts. But all its many parts make up one body. It is the same with Christ. 13 We were all baptized by one Holy Spirit. And so we are formed into one body. It didn’t matter whether we were Jews or Gentiles, slaves or free people. We were all given the same Spirit to drink. 14 So the body is not made up of just one part. It has many parts…18 God has placed each part in the body just as he wanted it to be…27 You are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:12-14,18,27). Collectively, we are part of the body of Christ, or we are servants in the house of God, and each one of us has an active part or role to play.  For each of us, we must ask, “What is my role in the body of Christ right now? Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?  Am I using my time, talent, treasure, or tears to accomplish for God’s glory what He has equipped me to do?”  If your answer is “Yes, I am doing what God has tasked me and equipped me to do,” then “do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).  If your answer is “No, I do not think I am doing what God has tasked me and equipped me to do,” then start today.  Don’t wait for tomorrow.  Start today because “you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn” (Mark 13:35b).   Be ready.  Do not lament the past, but focus on what can be done in the present.  Keep watch.

Finally, our third point.  Jesus said to all that we must keep watch.  Keep watch for those God has invited to enter his house and will use you to welcome them.  Keep watch on each other, not as a tattletale would do.  But keep watch over each other, helping to protect each other from the temptations of this world, or the tiredness of life’s challenges.  In using his analogy of a body, the Apostle Paul put it this way, “But God has put together all the parts of the body. And he has given more honor to the parts that didn’t have any. 25 In that way, the parts of the body will not take sides. All of them will take care of one another. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part shares in its joy” (1 Corinthians 12:24b-26).  Keep watch. 

Keep watch for those God sends.  Keep watch over those God has already sent and incorporated into the body of Christ. Pay attention to what God is doing in the present moment.  Moments are just that.  They occur, and then they are gone.  Keep watch and act.

Let us then be found ready.  Actively and eagerly awaiting Jesus’ return or our going to him.  But let us not wait idly.  Let us do what God has equipped us to do in this present moment.  Do it to His glory.  Let’s all keep watch.  Amen and Amen. 

I want to begin today with a little video clip. After the clip, we can talk about it. [Video Clip from Five Man Electric Band – 1971].  The words to the video were: “And the sign said, 'Long-haired freaky people need not apply.’  So I tucked my hair up under my hat, and I went in to ask him why. He said, ‘You look like a fine upstanding young man, I think you'll do.’  So I took off my hat, I said, ‘Imagine that. Huh! Me workin' for you!’  Whoa-oh-oh. Sign, sign, everywhere a sign, Blockin' out the scenery, breakin' my mind, do this, don't do that, can't you read the sign?”  This clip was from the Five Man Electric Band with their hit single, “Signs,” from 1971. The song’s inspiration came from the ugly signs the lyricist saw on a road trip on Route 66 in California that obscured the beautiful scenery.

Our scripture reading today also speaks about signs and the significance of those signs to Jesus’ disciples and us.  Signs, in the broad context, are described throughout the Bible.  We still know some of them.  For example, God set the rainbow as a sign of His covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood.  We might recall that Jesus turning water into wine was the first sign in the Gospel of John of Jesus’ power and divine status.  The religious leaders came to Jesus and asked that he do a special sign for them to prove his claims of standing with God.  Jesus told the religious leaders that this “wicked and adulterous generation” would receive only the “sign of Jonah” (His resurrection) as the ultimate sign of Jesus’ testimony (Matthew 16).  Even though we might complain about signs, as the opening video clip spoke about, people still want signs.

            The desire for signs became the topic of conversation between Jesus and the inner circle of apostles just before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  Mark wrote, 1 “As Jesus was leaving the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher! What massive stones! What magnificent buildings!’  2 ‘Do you see all these great buildings?’ replied Jesus. ‘Not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.’ 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4 ‘Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are all about to be fulfilled?’” (Mark 13:1-4).  The destruction of the Temple that Jesus described represented a disaster that the apostles could not comprehend.  The Temple of Jerusalem was seen as the symbol of God’s presence and the means of atoning for the sins of the people of Israel through the sacrifices.  The loss of the Temple would be seen as the end of time.

            Jesus then described for these four apostles the events that would precede the destruction of the Temple.  Jesus said there would be false prophets claiming to be the Messiah.  There will be wars in the land of Israel.  There will be persecution against the righteous people seeking to follow Jesus.  There would be “an abomination that causes desolation standing where it does not belong” (Mark 13:14).  At that, the people should flee the city of Jerusalem.  These were Jesus’ words given to the apostles in the year 30 AD. 

Mark published Jesus' words around 58 AD.  By the time of Mark’s gospel, the persecution of Christians, especially the apostles, was well underway, first by the Jewish authorities and then by the Romans.  The apostles James and Philip had been murdered.

            Eight years after Mark’s gospel, the nation of Israel erupted in rebellion against the Romans.  Nero, the emperor of Rome, ordered legions of his soldiers to attack the rebels.  The final Roman conquest of Israel happened in 70 AD when the Roman general, Titus, took the city of Jerusalem and then entered the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  Titus, a Roman conquering general, was an abomination that caused desolation, and now he was found where he should not be, in the Holy of Holies. Shortly thereafter, the city of Jerusalem was burned, and the stones of the Temple were knocked down.  Christian historians note that Christians in the city of Jerusalem fled the city before its destruction.  All the signs Jesus told his disciples to observe had happened.

            In revealing the signs to his apostles, Jesus ended with a parable, a short story.  Jesus said, “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 29 Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that it is near, right at the door. 30 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away” (Mark 13:28-30).  What was the lesson of the fig tree?

            The fig tree was the most important tree of ancient Israel.  The fig tree is prominent in the Old Testament, first appearing in Genesis 3, where Adam and Eve’s nakedness was covered with leaves of the fig tree.  In the Old Testament prophecies, healthy fig trees were seen as a sign of God’s blessing, anticipating God's peace, prosperity, and happiness.  On the other hand, withered trees were a sign of God’s judgment.

            In the New Testament Gospel of Mark, the health or lack of health of a fig tree, or fruitfulness in general, is to be viewed symbolically or as a sign.  We saw that symbolism in the parables from Chapter 4 in which seeds, symbolizing God’s Word, were cast upon different types of soil.  Some produced in abundance, while birds devoured others, withered in the sun, or choked by weeds and thorns.

            Just before Jesus’ conversation with the apostles, Jesus gave a sign of things to come through his encounter with a fig tree.  Mark wrote, “12 The next day as they [Jesus and the Twelve] were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13 Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14 Then he said to the tree, ‘May no one ever eat fruit from you again.’  And his disciples heard him say it.  15 On reaching Jerusalem, Jesus entered the temple courts and began driving out those who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves, 16 and would not allow anyone to carry merchandise through the temple courts. 17 And as he taught them, he said, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it ‘a den of robbers’” (Mark 11:12-17).   The imagery of Jesus cursing the fruitless fig tree and then chastising the religious leaders speaks to the unfruitfulness of being separated from Christ.

            And so to all that Jesus had said, he added, “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree” (Mark 13:28a).  Jesus said, “As soon as its [the fig tree's] twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28b).  The apostles understood that the second batch of figs from a tree came about when the leaves of the tree began to sprout.  It was summer.  But summer here does not necessarily refer just to a period on the calendar.  Summer refers to the time of coming fruitfulness and harvest.  The presence of the tender twigs and leaves of the fig tree meant everything was ready and the time was right for the fruitfulness of the fig tree, a symbol, a sign, of God’s presence.  While the apostles were concerned with the calamities coming to Jerusalem, Jesus did not want them to forget the lesson of the fig tree.  Jesus did not want the apostles to lose sight of the fact that the time had come for them to bear fruit for the kingdom of God.

            We saw Jesus share this message in other parables.  The parable of the sower was about casting seed, God’s Word.  But for what purpose?  That the seed would fall upon good soil and produce 30, 60, or 100 fold.  The parable of the farmer who planted seed that grew in secret.  What was the purpose of that growth? “ 29 As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts the sickle to it, because the harvest has come” (Mark 4:29).  The point was that the time had come for the harvest.  And there was the parable of the mustard seed planted in the garden, being like the kingdom of God.  Why? “ 32 it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade” (Mark 4:32).  It was time for the kingdom of God to explode from a small, seemingly insignificant thing, to something that would dominate the earth.  Finally, we saw last week in the parable of the tenants that, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. 2 At harvest time, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard” (Mark 12:1-2).  The purpose of planting the vineyard was to come to the time of the harvest.

            Jesus' point was that there would indeed be all these signs of calamity coming and being fulfilled in the apostles’ lifetime, including the destruction of the Temple.  But Jesus did not want them to forget the lesson of the fig tree, “As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28).  Regardless of the chaos that surrounds, Jesus wanted them to remember that the time for harvesting had come.  This again was Jesus’ opening sermon, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God is near.  Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15).  And so what was the lesson of the fig tree for the apostles as they faced the reality of dangerous and chaotic times among the nations, within their families, and for them?  Jesus told his apostles two things.

            First, while Jesus revealed to them that the days of chaos were coming and that even people from this generation would experience those days, the apostles should avoid concluding that this chaos meant that it was the end of all time. Jesus described these events not as the dying of the world but rather as “These are the beginning of birth pains” (Mark 13:8b), not the end of all time.  As to the end of all time, Jesus said, “32 But about that day or hour [of the end of time] no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).  We will have more to say about this point next week.

            Secondly, Jesus told his apostles this, “You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit” (Mark 13:9b-11).  The chaos and upheaval of war and persecution would give the apostles an extraordinary opportunity to be witnesses for Christ.  Rather than only speaking to ordinary people like themselves, the coming of destructive forces would provide the apostles with a chance to share their testimony with governors and kings.  The apostles were to understand the coming pain as not the coming of death but the coming of life, birth pains.  The life that comes would be called the church, comprising followers of Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  In this moment of history, the apostles would have great concern about what to say.  Jesus said, “Fear not, for the Holy Spirit will give them the right thing to say at the right time and place” (Mark 13:11). This was the season, the time for harvest, as though the twigs on the fig tree were tender, and its leaves were coming out (Mark 13:28b).  And, as we would see in the Book called the Acts of the Apostles, and the letters from Paul, Peter, James, Jude, and John, the apostles understood the lessons of the fig tree.

            What then are the lessons of the fig tree for us today?  There are two lessons I would like us to explore today.

            The first lesson of the fig tree for us can be summed up in a single word: opportunity.  The chaos, destruction, and persecution Jesus described to the apostles were very specific to the end of Jerusalem and the Temple.  But rather than seeing it as the end of times, Jesus said it was the birth of a new beginning.  We might say it was the beginning of the end.  The true end would be when Jesus returned.  Jesus described the true end as, “26 “At that time, people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens” (Mark 13:26-27).  When will that end occur?  We don’t know and should not spend time speculating. 

In general, though, we see today other chaos, destruction, and persecution all around.  There are today real wars with real bullets and people dying.  There are culture wars with real people being disrespected and persecuted.  Divisiveness abounds.  All these events are of the nature that parallel those Jesus spoke about to His apostles.  We should not be discouraged by what we see, but should see it as a time when the twigs of the fig tree are tender and the leaves are coming out.  It is the time, the season, the opportunity for Christians, you and I, to be noticed as different from the world.  Like the song, Make Me a Channel of Your Peace, we are to be different from the world of chaos, destruction, and persecution. 

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there's doubt, true faith in you.

Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there's despair in life, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, only light
And where there's sadness, ever joy.

We should not retreat from the chaos we see today but should seize the opportunity to shine for Christ.

            The second lesson of the fig tree for us can be summed up in one word: mission. Jesus told his apostles and us the most essential thing they and we could do would be to hold fast to this truth: “10 The gospel must be preached to all nations” (Mark 13:10).

            Today, not tomorrow, but today, is the day that you and I must preach the gospel. What is the gospel?  Jesus Christ, fully God and fully man, lived a perfect life, died for our sins, and rose again, offering forgiveness and eternal life to all who believed in Him.

            It is the very existence of today’s chaos that makes the gospel more attractive, more stark in contrast to the world, more of a place of peace.  Your mission, my mission, then, is to preach the gospel to someone every day.  Why? Because it is the time for fruit to be collected for harvest for the kingdom of God.

            “28 Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near” (Mark 13:28).  The opportunity and the mission to present the gospel of peace, hope, love, and light to a world of chaos, war, and destruction is before us.  The time is right.  The fruit is ready.  Are you? Am I?  Let us pray that the answer is yes and yes.  Amen and Amen.

          In my life, I have been a renter of two apartments.  I want to think I was a good tenant.  I never had the desire to purchase property to rent to others, primarily because I did not want to deal with problems some tenants can cause.  We have all heard stories of apartments and houses left by tenants in disrepair or full of trash.  Tenants who would do such things would be called bad tenants.

          Our parable today from the Gospel of Mark brings the idea of bad tenants to another level.  The tenants in this parable were so bad that they were called wicked tenants. The dictionary says that to be “wicked” is to be “evil or morally wrong.”  It is one thing to be called a bad tenant, but it is altogether something else to be called a wicked tenant.  What happened in the parable that these tenants were called wicked for an eternity?  What can we learn from their mistake to avoid being thought of as evil?

          This parable comes to us shortly before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion.  Jesus had crisscrossed through Galilee and Judea, including visits to the city of Jerusalem, sharing a simple message, “15 ‘The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!’” (Mark 1:15).  What was the good news?  Mark said it simply at the very beginning of his gospel, “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1b).  The presence of these simple statements is one reason I like reading the Gospel of Mark. Mark is precise and easy to understand. The long-awaited Messiah of Israel was present among the people.  And what’s more, the Messiah was no ordinary person; He was God’s Son, talking, preaching, teaching, and healing the people.  And the Messiah had a name, Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus’ message was plain: the kingdom of God is among you; repent, that is, turn toward it now, believe, and live.

          Some people did turn toward Jesus and held close to him.  Some followed Jesus for a time and then faded away.  Others who were torn between living in the worldly kingdom and wanting to live in God’s kingdom flinched and stayed in the earthly kingdom.  Finally, there was one group that had been called to be the caretakers of Israel for the very moment of the Messiah’s coming. They were the religious leaders of Israel: the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the scribes.  All were very knowledgeable of God’s Word and very strict in following the rules of worshipping God.  But these men of religion collectively shared one big problem. They had a peculiar spiritual blindness. They could read God’s Word without a problem and could recite much of it flawlessly.  They could lead worship and sacrifices in the temple without hesitation or error.  They could pray excellently for the coming of God’s Messiah.  But when they turned their eyes towards Jesus, they saw only an uneducated man from a backward province of ancient Israel.  As a group, they rejected the idea that God, who created the universe, would appear as a man, humbled by having to eat food, drink water, sleep, and relieve himself.  God would never submit Himself this way.  Moreover, this man did not applaud their religious efforts.  Instead, He said, “Repent, turn from your ways, and ‘Follow me.’” How dare he say the way to right standing with God was not through the sacrifice of animals in a temple, but would be found in humble living, serving others in love?  Even pagans understood that sacrifices to the gods in temples were the only way to please the gods.  But there was one thing about Jesus that the religious leaders of Israel could not deny.  Jesus could make supernatural things happen.  Jesus could and did heal people of disease.  He could drive out demons from people.  Jesus could multiply bread and fish to feed thousands.  There must be an explanation for this power that does not rely upon Jesus being God.  The religious leaders thought and thought and then settled on the idea that Jesus’ power was supernatural, but instead of coming from God, that power came from Satan. There.  They had their story.  After about the first year of Jesus’ ministry, the idea was put forth that Jesus was of Satan, and he must not only be personally rejected, but he must be opposed and stopped using the full weight of the religious and political system of Israel.

          After the religious leaders denied that Jesus was from God but rather was of Satan, Jesus changed his approach and began teaching in parables.  Jesus’ parables were short stories told in a manner that permitted the faithful the opportunity to understand what the kingdom of God was like and, at the same time, remain a riddle to the nonbelievers, especially the religious leaders. Jesus taught in this manner because he knew the last thing the religious leaders wanted to do was to repent and be saved by Jesus.  Mark said Jesus used this style of public teaching until shortly before his arrest, when he told a parable about the religious leaders in such a way that the religious leaders would understand it.

          The parable that Jesus told is called a juridical parable.  Such parables are intended to bring about self-condemnation and repentance.  A most eloquent example of a juridical parable is found in the Old Testament involving a story told by a prophet named Nathan to a king named David.  David had taken Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, one of David’s generals.  David then had Uriah killed on the field of battle. Nathan said this to David, “‘There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.  4 Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.’  5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.’  7 Then Nathan said to David, ‘You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9 Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own…13 Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’” (2 Samuel 12:1b-9, 13a). The parable, the story told by Nathan to David, caused self-condemnation and repentance in David.  This is a juridical parable.

          Jesus began a juridical parable with the religious leaders this way, “1 A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place” (Mark 12:1). The religious leaders listening to this story would have immediately recognized Jesus’ opening words two ways. First, they would have recognized the elements of a vineyard that were visible throughout Israel, and that many of those vineyards were cared for by tenant farmers under contract to the owner. Second, and more importantly, the religious leaders would have recognized that Jesus began this parable using the imagery from the Hebrew scriptures, specifically, Chapter 5 of Isaiah, which states, “I will sing for the one I love, a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard, on a fertile hillside.  2 He dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines.  He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well” (Isaiah 5:1-2). The religious leaders recognized that Isaiah was conveying that the vineyard was Israel, created by God with the watchtower as the temple and the winepress as the sacred altar.  As Jesus spoke, the leaders’ ears would have perked up a bit that, finally, Jesus was telling a story they could understand. And that story recognized God’s expectation in His creation, Israel.

          Jesus continued, “2 At harvest time, he [the owner] sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard. 3 But they [the tenants] seized him [the owner’s servant], beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then he [owner] sent another servant to them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 He sent still another, and that one they killed. He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed” (Mark 12:2-5). The behavior of the tenants in the parable parallels the story of Isaiah.  God had chosen Israel to be his own.  We saw that in the first couple of verses of Isaiah Chapter 5.  Isaiah wrote of God’s disappointment in the religious leaders of Israel, “Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit.  3 ‘Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and people of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard.  4 What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad?’” (Isaiah 5:2b-4).  The religious leaders saw the bad and wickedness in the tenants of the story Jesus was telling, but likely did not see themselves reflected in the parallel narrative from Isaiah upon which Jesus based the parable.  And like David before them, the religious leaders would have been incensed at the behavior of the tenants, believing the harm the tenants did to the owner’s messengers warranted the tenants’ death.

          Perhaps thought Jesus was done with the story, but he was not. Jesus went further and said, “6 He [The vineyard owner] had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  7 But the tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 So they took him [the owner’s son] and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard” (Mark 12:6-8).  The tenants were evil and morally wrong, appropriately earning them the title “Wicked Tenants”.

          Jesus asked, “9 ‘What then will the owner of the vineyard do?’”  It seems most likely the religious leaders responded, “He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others” (Mark 12:9).  The parallel story from Isaiah 5 provided God’s judgment, “5 ‘Now I will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge, and it will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled.  6 I will make it a wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there.  I will command the clouds not to rain on it.’  7 The vineyard of the Lord Almighty is the nation of Israel, and the people of Judah are the vines he delighted in.  And he [the owner of the vineyard, God] looked for justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress” (Isaiah 5:5-7).

          The Word of God from Chapter 5 of Isaiah was about expectation, disappointment, and judgment against the rulers of Israel for their refusal to seek justice and righteousness.  The Word of God from the lips of Jesus, given to us in the Gospel of Mark, was about expectation, disappointment, and judgment against the rulers of Israel for their refusal to seek and accept the justness and righteousness of Christ.  While the religious leaders believed harsh judgment was in order, they did not yet see themselves in the story told by Jesus.  They only saw the tenants of the story as wicked people, unlike them.

          So, Jesus went one step further and said to the religious leaders, “10 ‘Haven’t you read this passage of Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; 11 the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”  (Mark 12:10-11, cf. Psalm 118:22).  Here, Jesus referred the religious leaders to a Psalm of David, Psalm 118.  Jewish interpretations of this passage of Psalm 118 at the time of Jesus equated the “builders” to the religious leaders and the “stone” to the “son,” David.  When Samuel came to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the new king of Israel, David, the youngest, was rejected by his father and left watching the sheep while David’s brothers were presented to Samuel. Therefore, the religious leaders would have understood Jesus as saying, “The son that you, the religious leaders of Israel, rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes!”  At this, the religious leaders understood Jesus' parable, drawn from Isaiah, was making them out to be the wicked tenants who rejected the prophets and the Son of God, and that God’s judgment of destruction would be upon them.  Thus ends the juridical parable of Jesus.  Rather than see the opportunity for self-condemnation and repentance as David had done when confronted by Nathan, the religious leaders seethed with rage, looking for the opportunity to arrest Jesus safely and put an end to his accusations of them.

          What then can we learn from this juridical parable? Let's examine the lessons derived from the three parts of the story and the Old Testament prophecy upon which the parable is based.  The three parts of the story are expectation, disappointment, and judgment.

          When we consider expectations, we need to think about God’s expectations.  God cleared the land, provided the vineyard, the vines, the watchtower, and the winepress. God then sent His Son, Jesus, to show all who would listen how to care for what God had provided so that they could give to God the good fruit.  Paul described the good fruit of God’s desire as the fruit of the spirit, which is “23b love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23a gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22b-23a). This parable teaches us that God has expectations for our lives.  He desires something of us and for us.  He desires the good fruit of justice and righteousness from us.  How then do you and I become partakers of God’s expectations? Jesus gave us the answer most simply, “Repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15b).

          But.  There is always a but.  But there remains for each of us an opportunity to disappoint God.  How do we disappoint God?  We disappoint God when we reject His Son.  God sent His Son to do the work we could not do ourselves, to have the ability to produce the good fruit.  God even said in Isaiah, “4a What more could have been done for my vineyard than I have done for it?” (Isaiah 5:4a).  The hard work to meet God’s expectations has been done by Jesus upon the cross.  God did it all and cannot do any more.  All we need to do is accept the work of Christ.

Why then do people still reject Jesus and disappoint God?  They do so because they do not want to yield anything from their life or any part of their life to God.  Most people accept Jesus as someone who lived and walked on this earth.   But the non-believers today, like the ancient religious leaders, do reject that Jesus was God’s Son, having authority over their lives.  For those who repent and accept the good news, we must accept the simplest of statements, “Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  If we accept and believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and make him the chief cornerstone of our life, then rather than disappointment we will fulfill God’s expectations and desires for us.

          So, we have talked about expectations and disappointments, leaving us to talk about judgment.  For those who refuse to acknowledge God or His expectations and bring disappointment to him, they will stand judged and condemned.  There will be destruction for them.  But in Christ, rather than judgment, condemnation, and destruction, there is forgiveness and salvation.  Rather than destruction, there is equipping.  Rather than death, there is life.  The parable reveals to us that we shall either be judged by Jesus or saved by Jesus.

          The parable teaches us that before God, we will face His expectations, disappointments, and judgment, or we will face His expectations, fulfillment, and salvation.  God has done everything for us to meet His expectations, be fulfilled, and be saved.  All we need to do is to receive the grace of Christ and make Him our chief cornerstone. Today, you and I stand at the intersection of destruction and life, between being wicked tenants or good tenants. Let us choose life.  Amen and Amen.