"Letting Go[d]" - Sermon for the 18th Sunday after Pentecost

 Letting Go[d]
Pentecost 18A
October 4, 2020
Grace, Waseca, MN
Matthew 21.33-46; Philippians 3.4b-14

When I was a boy, my Aunt Elaine and Uncle Vern had a dog. His official name was “Fritzie von Grensing,” but we call him Fritz or Fritzie. A Weimaraner, Fritzie was a big dog that we got to “dog-sit” occasionally, much to my delight. Whenever he came, Fritz always brought a beat-up rug with which he loved to play Tug-of-War with us (and we with him). Of course, Fritz could hang on to that rug, never letting go, until we got tired and gave up. That often happened when he’d work his way up the rug coming perilously close to our hands. When we gave up, then he’d drop the rug, look at us, and beg us to play again. But, as soon as we reached for it, he would snatch it up again, holding on for dear life.

In our Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about tenants in a vineyard who couldn’t let go, of produce and of their position as temporary renters. Now, as a reminder of the story’s context, Jesus is in Jerusalem and has cleansed the temple. The tension between him and the religious leaders is palpable. Clearly, Jesus is not happy. He indicates that they’ve abused their God-given responsibilities. On their end, they’re not happy with him either and they are even afraid of his popularity with the crowds. Last week we heard how they’ve failed the pop quiz about John the Baptist and Jesus’ authority. They also got zinged by a parable about two sons: one son said he was going to work in the vineyard and didn’t; and the other son said he wouldn’t go but did. In today’s follow-up parable about the wicked tenants, they get snookered into condemning their own behavior.

I’ve been amazed at the various responses to this parable and its aftermath. Some readers wonder if the tenants revolted because of the landowner’s oppression. Some are appalled at the violence that seems to be promoted in the text. Other readers thought the landowner naïve, believing the wicked tenants could change their minds by sending his son. Still others want us to be cautious about being anti-Semitic, to remember Jesus is talking to the elites of the day and not all Jewish people. Of course, the religious leaders are furious, especially since they’re hooked by their own words.

Clearly the text operates on us differently and multiple levels as Bible stories often do. But (ironically), I have not been able to let go of the issue of letting go, like the monkey whose hand is trapped in a coconut. (Some hunters put bait in a hollowed-out coconut attached to a stake. The coconut has a hole just large enough for a monkey to put its hand through. When it grabs the bait, the monkey cannot remove its hand, not even to save its life.) The religious leaders have not been able let go of their favored position and status. More importantly, they’ve not been able to let go of their ideas about how God is working in the world through Jesus. For us, the text holds up what may be an uncomfortable mirror: it asks, “What are we holding onto, not letting go?”

This is an important question for us, both as individuals and as a community of faith. We need to acknowledge that there are things that we cling to that get in the way of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ. In the Second Reading from Philippians, the Apostle Paul tells how has had to let go of key pieces of his former identity. He reminds us that we are on a journey of faith that opens us up to what God is doing in us and there are things we cling to that may be holding us back. That’s also true for Grace Lutheran in discerning God’s mission and ministry as you seek a new senior pastor. What are you hanging onto that you need to let go?

Yet, even as we contemplate about letting go, we are always reminded that God never lets go of us. We need to acknowledge that the violent response offered by the religious leaders is not God’s response. For God keeps coming to us, inviting us into a life-giving relationship. We may be like monkeys with our hands trapped in a coconut, but God is like Fritz with his rug, never letting go. As the Apostle Paul notes, we press on in the journey because God has made us, his beloved, his own. In Jesus Christ, God wants us to know that he will never give up on us, no matter what. Thanks be to God! Amen.

To watch a video version of this sermon, click on here.