November 21st

Parable of the Vineyard

             Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.  When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted.  Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed. He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’  So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.  What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others. Have you not read this scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?”

Mark 12:1-11

             One of the strongest rebukes that Jesus directs towards the religious leaders of His day was this:  you have been poor stewards.  Jesus tells multiple stories about people who took what they had been given and wasted it or lost it or betrayed the trust of the One who gave the resources to them in the first place.  The Pharisees always left these conversations seething and looking to silence the prophet, and with good reason.  Jesus was publicly stating that these men had failed to take care of the people that God had entrusted into their hands.

            We are called to be stewards of the treasure that God has given to us.  That includes our talents.  That includes our bodies.  That includes our time.  That includes our children. 

            We are stewards of our children.  They, like the vineyard in the story, belong to God.  We are called to watch them and guard them.  We are called to help them grow and develop.  We are called to protect them and help them yield good fruit.  And then when God returns for them, we are called to release them back into His hands.  For some of us, that return will be after we have gone home.  For some of us, God comes to claim His children before it is our time to go.  Neither scenario is free of anxiety.

            Those of us whose children are called home first are left with a gaping hole in our hearts and an entire sea of mixed emotions.  There is the unimaginable sadness of losing our children and the joy of knowing that they are free to run and laugh with Jesus in ways that they never could here on earth.  There is the relief of daily life being easier and the guilt of having those thoughts go through our heads.  There is a loss of identity as we have been special needs parents for so long that we are not sure what else remains when that is gone.

            Those of us who go home first live through our days wondering if we have done enough to make sure our kids will be okay after we are gone.  Will they have enough money for their care?  Who will look after them to ensure that they have the supports that they need?  Who will love them after we are gone?  What contingencies have we not thought of?  These thoughts have been running through my head for over a decade and I have not come up with suitable answers for most of them.

            The one hope that we all have is that these children are God’s.  He not only knows them.  He not only loves them.  He has also set plans in place since long before they were born so that they would have stewards and supports throughout the course of their lives.  That has been primarily us, be it also involves others.

            The invitation is to be good stewards of these treasures.  Make a plan for their care.  Find the resources that they need.  Fill them with love and hope and joy in every single day that you get to be with them. 

            This is a holy calling that you have received.

A moment to reflect:

How can you be a good steward of your children today?