Sometimes, it is easy to forget who the vineyard belongs to. Like the unworthy tenants, we can start to think of our lives, ministries, or church as belonging to us. We can get caught up in wanting to bear fruit and keep that fruit all to ourselves. But the vineyard belongs to God, and all of its fruit (that he chooses to share with us) also belongs to
God.
God entrusts us with work to do. Each of us is cultivating a different part of the vineyard. God respects us enough to allow us autonomy and creativity in how we approach what we do. But God is not disinvested. God is in a partnership with us. He is the owner, and we are helping to cultivate his land. God desires for there to emerge juicy, choice fruit. We should remember that though God shares the fruit with us, everything
belongs to God.
Unlike the tenants in the story, who may not have been able to have regular contact with the owner, we find ourselves in a privileged position. We can have moment-by-moment contact with God. We can ask about how much to water, where to plant, what to allow to lie fallow. God has a vision for his vineyard, which he longs to share with us. There is a relationship here. In the parable, there was only a business
relationship between the owner of the vineyard and the tenants – a business relationship which they abused. God offers us so much more.
God offers us a partnership of love and mutual concern for the vineyard. God wants to be included in our thinking and planning so that what we plant and how we plant fits with God’s overall vision for the vineyard. God also wants to involve us and for us to use our God-given talents in investing our
minds and hearts in thinking with him about this vineyard and how it may best be tended to give fruit that will last.
Can I spend time with God, the vineyard's owner, asking what his desires are for his vineyard and sharing my hopes and dreams with him?
Reflections by Annemarie Paulin-Campbell
