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Who
or what
have I overlooked,
thrown out,
turned away?
Who
or what
have I decided is irrelevent,
not of God,
not what we should be doing here?
That was trying to show me God,
bring his word,
show his ways,
but I wouldn’t hear,
couldn’t see,
so I wanted rid?
How many times Lord,
have I missed you,
through my fixed ideas
and ended up
rejecting your work?
Rejecting you?
Forgive me Lord,
for not looking beyond,
taking the time
to hear,
listen,
see;
and suppose,
just suppose,
that you might be in
something different
to what I expect.
Forgive me Lord,
for missing you;
the opportunity to be a part
of what you are doing;
and trying to stop you.
Open my eyes to see you,
my ears to hear you,
my mind to be ready
and my heart to love
– whatever guise you come in
Matthew 21:33-46 (CEV)
Renters of a Vineyard
33 Jesus told the chief priests and leaders to listen to this story:
A land owner once planted a vineyard. He built a wall around it and dug a pit to crush the grapes in. He also built a lookout tower. Then he rented out his vineyard and left the country.
34 When it was harvest time, the owner sent some servants to get his share of the grapes. 35 But the renters grabbed those servants. They beat up one, killed one, and stoned one of them to death. 36 He then sent more servants than he did the first time. But the renters treated them in the same way.
37 Finally, the owner sent his own son to the renters, because he thought they would respect him. 38 But when they saw the man’s son, they said, “Someday he will own the vineyard. Let’s kill him! Then we can have it all for ourselves.” 39 So they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.
40 Jesus asked, “When the owner of that vineyard comes, what do you suppose he will do to those renters?”
41 The chief priests and leaders answered, “He will kill them in some horrible way. Then he will rent out his vineyard to people who will give him his share of grapes at harvest time.”
42 Jesus replied, “You surely know that the Scriptures say,
‘The stone that the builders
tossed aside
is now the most important
stone of all.
This is something
the Lord has done,
and it is amazing to us.’
43 I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken from you and given to people who will do what he demands. 44 Anyone who stumbles over this stone will be crushed, and anyone it falls on will be smashed to pieces.”[a]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. 46 So they looked for a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to, because the people thought he was a prophet.
