Daily Worship

Perspective

Liz Crumlish August 03, 2015 0 0

Lk 20: 9-18

The Parable of the Tenants

9 He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. 10 At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 11 He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. 12 He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.

13 “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’

14 “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? 16 He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”

When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”

17 Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone’[a]?

18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”

When the death of Cecil the lion
provokes more outrage 
than the deaths of countless unnamed children
Lord, forgive us
When we rage and rant at our local authority
because our refuse is not collected
yet ignore those forced to seek sustenance in rubbish heaps 
Lord, forgive us
When our sense of entitlement
means we disregard the rights of others
Lord, forgive us.
Forgive us and open our eyes 
to see the inhumanity that pervades our world
Open our hearts to weep for those broken and discarded 
Open our hands to reach out with love
And open our minds to honour and respect
all your beloved children
May we see you, who knew rejection
sitting alongside those rejected today
and may we choose to hunker down beside you.
God grant us your perspective on this world that you love.