Mid Week Faith Lift
May 10, 2023
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Reflection
May 1, 2023
May Day or mayday? On May 1, do we celebrate spring, honor the workers of America, or send out a distress call? May Day – May 1 – is the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. May 1 is also International Workers’ Day, which grew out of the 19th-century labor movement. And mayday (no space) is an internationally recognized distress signal, named as such because it sounds like the French word, m'aider, which means “help me."`
“It is spring again. The earth is like a child who knows poems by heart.”
- Rainer Maria Rilke
“At a time of distress, the rush of mighty spring waters shall not reach you. You are safe from trouble. I will instruct you and teach you the way.” - Psalm 32:7
Affirmative prayer: Infinite Presence, I am ready to do the hard work to confront, heal, and release that which is giving me grief. Just as I welcome the change of seasons, I embrace the change in my thinking. All distress is released; my life is made new. Thank you, God, forever. Amen.
How interesting that there are three different perspectives on the first day of May! I was not aware the May 1 is the halfway point between the spring equinox and the summer solstice; there is a vantage point for you. This fits our parable for today, which is fairly complex, unfamiliar and somewhat menacing in the story line. It is from Matthew 21: 33-44 and it reads like this:
The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. 37 Then he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?
43 “Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”(NRSV-UE)
What are the elements of this parable that can give us a sense of direction with it? If we are all the characters in this story, then we pay attention to the first three elements: the wall, the winepress and the watchtower. First we consider the wall, which represents protection and gives a sense of safety so that all that we have achieved in our human journey is secured. Then we have the winepress whereby all that is in our “vineyard” or consciousness is actually converted into the good we desire to manifest in our lives. We have done the emotional and spiritual work and now we are free to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Then finally we have the watchtower, which represents our higher self, our higher consciousness and our ability to see and know from a higher perspective.
Then what happens? In the story, the owner of the vineyard, having invested in his land, is absent, disconnected and disengaged, allowing his vineyard to be taken over by tenants (ideas, feelings, and beliefs) which trash the place and wreak havoc everywhere. And it happens more than once, so his solution is to send someone else, his son to put things back in order, but that also does not work. The vineyard owner has some real delusions about how his good will continue to manifest and some misperceptions that he can rely on others to maintain the consciousness that will continue to manifest his good.
Well, haven’t we all been there? Just think of how often your thoughts have included the words, “If only…..” If only my health was better, if only my children got along with each other, if only my spouse made more money, if only I didn’t have a temper and lose my cool, if only I could resist chocolate and cupcakes, if only my sibling could understand me and on and on and on. We have been vigilant in our spiritual and emotional growth processes and have experienced the peace, love, wisdom and understanding that come with that work. If only there were no more growth opportunities that challenge us to go even deeper so that we can come up higher!
I was recently on a zoom call with a 56-year-old woman who was sharing her current challenge about needing to speak up and step into the full authority of her leadership position. One of her beliefs was that at 56, she should no longer be so flummoxed by the need to speak up. As Martha Creek once said to me, “Deb, do you have a pulse?” Well, yes, Martha, I do, so I guess I will continue to have ongoing growth opportunities, which can often present with the chaos and conflict that is described in this story. And no one else can resolve these but me, right?
Well, yes, and no. What did Jesus say to his listeners about this? Well, he talks about the “stone the builders rejected” and the cornerstone as integral to the solution to this dilemma. The only structure requiring a “cornerstone” is the watchtower, which is our higher consciousness or Christ consciousness. In building a structure there is the cornerstone, which is the first stone and the capstone, which is the final stone. When constructing a building the most critical stone laid is the first one, or the cornerstone. All other stones are oriented to that fixed point, the cornerstone, which is the foundation. The capstone is the final achievement, the crowning glory so to speak
What Jesus is saying is that the capstone has to become the cornerstone for the Kingdom to be made manifest in a sure, strong and healthy way. Otherwise, you will continue to stumble and falter. Well, it is not possible for a stone to be a combination cornerstone and capstone because there is no stone in a building that can be both the highest and lowest stone. Now what? Well, Jesus tells us that this has actually happened and that it is amazing or marvelous; it is a marvel. It is a mystery how this comes about and it is really all about each one of us, as a builder of consciousness.
We have built our consciousness in the vineyard and we continue to hold the high watch so that our work expands and deepens our consciousness. This is essential to our continued fruitfulness is the message from Jesus. The stone that was at the bottom is now at the top. As Dr. Michael notes on p. 275 of Hidden Parables:
The stone therefore represents not just perception, but a heightened perception a highly evolved perception of abundance. It symbolizes the ability to understand where your increase originates, it is the ability to perceive the Source of your overflowing prosperity, your spiritual and material blessings. And that is God, to be sure, but the beneficial circumstances that manifest in your life also represent the sum total of your thought forms as co-creators with God.
Unlike the vineyard owner in the story who seeks assurance and success from external sources, we are challenged by Jesus to continually remember where our good and all that is manifest in our lives is in co-creation with God as Source. When we are continually mindful of that as our practice, then our capstone or highest and best thinking, feeling and being becomes the true cornerstone of all that we are.
However, we are like the May Day story that was shared at the beginning. We are the workers who celebrate our work and want recognition and remuneration for it. And we demand to be “paid what we are worth!” We often truly function only from our human perspective. What happens then is that we are also often is distress, crying out for help- mayday, mayday! And that is when the third part of the May Day Story comes into play. That is the observer, the pivotal part that is right in the middle between the Equinox and the Solstice. This is the part of us that can see our human predicament, looking to the past and toward the future and then make the choices and decisions that bring about our highest and best good. This is the part of us that can truly and honestly see and admit where we went off track and lost our connection to God as Source.
I love the Rilke quote about the earth because it reflects how we also “know” things by heart and the result of that for us can be a kind of mindlessness that doesn’t take time to reflect and truly see what is there. Our assurance comes in the Psalm which tells us that in the midst of great turbulence, the mighty waters of overwhelming emotions, Spirit, or God is always there to show us and teach us a new way, if we will only listen and learn!
I close with the words of Gary Eberle~
“Sacred time is devoted to the heart, to the self, to others, to eternity. Sacred time is not measured in minutes, hours or days.”
May the path before you be filled with grace…..
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb