Stewardship is required of all (The tenant farmers Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12)

Stewardship is required of all (The tenant farmers Matthew 21:33-45, Mark 12:1-12)

“I will help but I don’t want to lead,” I have heard these words spoken so many times by individuals in the church. It seems that our churches are full of people who see the need for the ministry but are unwilling to accept any responsibility for its success. They are willing to help but they do not want to be held accountable, commit to always being there, or even be responsible to telling others what needs to be done. In the parable of the tenant farmers Jesus tell us of a landowner who sets up a vineyard and then leases it out to some individuals to run it for him while he is away. When harvest time rolls around, he sends servants to collect his harvest but the individuals running the vineyard have decided they are going to keep it for themselves. Finally, he sends his son, and they decide to kill his son and just totally keep the vineyard for themselves. After finishing the story Jesus asks the crowd what the owner of the vineyard would do after his son was slain by the vineyard worker, the crowd answer and says that he will go and destroy the wicked ones and allow someone else to work the vineyard for him.
We must understand that Jesus is letting the crowd know that the Jewish people was given stewardship from God, yet they squandered it away and rejected the prophets that God sent to wake them up. He was also speaking of how He would be slain by them as the only begotten Son sent from the Father and how God would open to the gospel to the gentiles because of this rebellion. As the body of Christ, what can we take form this? God expects those who He has left in a position to be good stewards of what He has entrusted them with in this life. One day Jesus will return for His church and each one of us will have to stand before Him and be held accountable for what we did with what He entrusted us with. We can not be afraid to use the talents He gave us to expand and grow His kingdom and we can not hide them away and expect Him to be happy when he returns. We can not say “I will help but I don’t want responsibility” because Jesus expects us to be responsible, expects us to lead, and expects us to be obedient to the mission and purpose he has for our lives. We are all stewards, but we must ask ourselves, are we obedient stewards or are we rebellious ones?