Read Matthew 21:33-40. Key Verse: "Finally he sent his son to them, saying, "They will respect my son.'"
How much God trusts us! In this passage of the landowner with the wine press and the watch tower, Jesus is using a common connecting point story to tell of His father's desire to be in the right relationship with all people, yet, as the listeners of Jesus' day well knew, the story of God having sent the prophets served for a time and later the people disobeyed God and so it went, a cycle of obedience and trust and disobedience and doubt. Finally, as John 3:16 reminds us, God sent His Son. The purpose of Jesus' coming was all positive. Jesus came not in wrath and anger, rather with love and compassion, to save the world, even a world that did not and sometimes does not want to be saved. We just celebrated the end result of that mission. As Jesus foretold in this story, He was grabbed and killed. Those who reject Jesus, the story says, will face their judgment when the landowner returns.
As General Conference approaches we face the question of how much we truly respect the "son," and how much we are truly respecting the son's purpose and plan for our lives as a church. How are we reaching others and sharing the story of the Son's first visit? How much are we putting into practice those teachings and lessons we learned from Jesus? Are we a church that truly loves one another as Jesus said in His new commandment?
May we pray for obedience to be ours. May our prayers also ask for a deeper, stronger faith to truly be those who are known because of our love for all the world.
PRAYER: Loving God, may we be aware that it is harvest time and there is much work yet to be done. Grant us strength and boldness to do the work yet to be done. We pray in Christ Jesus' precious and powerful name, amen.
