“The kingdom of God will be taken from you”:
Protecting against Spiritual Redundancy
In the corporate world, often people are laid off from jobs in the name of ‘redundancy’ when the company wants to downsize its operations. Hence redundancy cannot be taken to be a statement on the ability of individuals. However, one needs to be smart enough to fight redundancy in the competitive world, for instance, by updating oneself. And what about the spiritual world? Are you protected against spiritual redundancy?
Three parables of the Vineyard. In chapters 20 and 21 of the Gospel of Mathew we come across three parables; and all the three use the image of the vineyard. These parables, which we have heard read in these three Sundays (25th to 27th Sunday), have a sequence of teachings of Jesus.
1) Parable of the labourers in the vineyard (Mt 20:1-16) shows us how God deals with us, human beings. His grace is equally available to everyone.
2) Parable of the two sons (Mt 21:28-32) demonstrates how we could be responding to the invitation of God. We could respond with a ‘yes’ or ‘no’, not merely in words, but in our commitment to his grace. And,
3) Parable of the wicked tenants (Mt 21:33-43) – the gospel text of today – tells us of the consequence of our lack of response to the opportunities offered by God.
Avoiding Spiritual Redundancy. The parable of the wicked tenants could be interpreted at different levels: In the immediate context of his impending passion and death, Jesus seems to be foretelling through this parable how he will be thrown outside the city walls and be killed, as the tenants did with the son of the owner of the vineyard (Mt 21:38-39). He is also affirming that the Father will vindicate him in time.
At yet at another level, the parable is addressed to the leaders of the Jews, and its message could be extended to those who have responsibility for the believing community today. The Church is the New Israel and the new vineyard. So, if those in responsibility use the gifts that they have been endowed with for their own benefit, then the care of the community will be given to others.
Finally, the parable could carry a deeper and relevant meaning for each one of us. The parable invites us to consider our own response to the Grace of God. It warns us that we will become victims of our own choices. It is important to note that the words of condemnation come from the mouth of the listeners of the parable. At the end of the story, Jesus asks his hearers what they think the owner of the vineyard will do (Mt 21:40). It is they who say: those wretches will be put to a wretched end, and the vineyard will be leased to other tenants who will give him the produce at harvest time. Jesus then turns their own judgment against themselves: in the same way, “the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit” (Mt 21:43). And it is a consequence of our own choices.
The way of avoiding the situation of the Kingdom of God being taken away from us – what I am referred to as ‘spiritual redundancy’ – is to show enthusiasm and passion about our Christian vocation. This could be by going beyond the fulfilment of the bare minimum. It could be by keeping ourselves abreast in spiritual matters. It could be by living the words of St Paul:
“Fill your minds with everything that is true, everything that is noble, everything that is good and pure, everything that we love and honour, and everything that can be thought virtuous or worthy of praise…. Then the God of peace will be with you” (Phil 4: 8-9).