Devotional – October 3, 2014

[Jesus said] “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard.  He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower.  Then he rented the vineyard to some [tenants] and went on a journey.” [i]

The lessons for this coming weekend focus on a vineyard as a metaphor for several situations in the life of Israel.  However, even though vineyards are starting to appear all over our state, most of its agricultural concepts, such as pruning, are not yet part of our common culture.  If only there was a Parable of the Corn Detasselor!
But we are familiar with Tenants and Landlords, either personally or from the news.  Too often the stories focus on high rent, tenant misbehavior, or landlord neglect.  Instead, I’d like to focus on a more historical context:

The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.[ii]

Yes, God is the land owner (Creator) and we are the tenants.  We are here to do the physical labor in this physical world.  In fact, I’d even like to replace the word “Tenant” with “Steward.”

In a recent online article[iii], Hugh Whelchel stated that “stewardship expresses our obedience regarding the administration of everything God has placed under our control”.  Stewardship is not simply “paying the rent”.  It involves our time and talents as well; using our varied skills to tend and nurture the fruit around us.

As good and faithful stewards we accept our responsibilities to care for our church (building), church (family), and the Church (in worldwide communion).  We are thankful for the gifts God has provided to us each day, and we gratefully serve others with these gifts.

As we again speak of “Stewardship,” I challenge you to think broadly.  God has a lot of work that needs to be done and we are the hands.

Thanks be to God!
David Krueger

---