The Gift of Scripture and the Work of God’s People

Devotional

Day 1: The Vineyard’s Abundance and the Tenants’ Greed

The parable’s vineyard thrives with a fence, winepress, and watchtower—a picture of God’s meticulous care. Yet the tenants hoard the harvest, attacking messengers sent to collect what is owed. Their violence reveals hearts clinging to control rather than stewarding blessings. This story mirrors how abundance can harden us when we forget it’s all on loan. The problem isn’t the vineyard’s fruitfulness but our refusal to yield it back. Where might we grip God’s gifts like possessions rather than offerings? [34:21]

“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit.”
(Matthew 21:33-34, ESV)

Reflection: What abundance in your life feels most like “yours” to control? How might returning it as an offering loosen greed’s grip?

Day 2: Rejecting the Son to Seize the Inheritance

The tenants’ fatal miscalculation: killing the heir to steal what isn’t theirs. They mistake the son’s arrival as a threat rather than an invitation to partnership. Their violence exposes a hunger for power that blinds them to grace. Jesus’ question lingers: do we resent God’s interruptions to our plans? The rejected son becomes the cornerstone—a stumbling block to the proud, a foundation for the humble. [35:13]

“They said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. […] Jesus said to them, ‘Have you never read in the Scriptures: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”?’”
(Matthew 21:38-39, 42, ESV)

Reflection: When has God’s call felt disruptive to your agenda? How might that disruption be saving you from smaller dreams?

Day 3: Women’s Work as Holy Tenancy

For decades, women’s groups have tended the church’s vineyard—funding ministries, studying Scripture, binding community. Like the faithful tenants who finally honor the harvest, their labor proves stewardship isn’t about titles but towel-and-basin service. The work continues not because it’s glamorous but because the vineyard needs hands, not heroes. WELCA’s legacy asks: what ordinary acts cultivate extraordinary fruit? [42:03]

“She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. She is not afraid of snow for her household, for all her household are clothed in scarlet. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and she laughs at the time to come. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.”
(Proverbs 31:20-21, 25-26, ESV)

Reflection: What unnoticed act of service in your community reflects God’s quiet faithfulness? How might you join it?

Day 4: Bibles on Shelves, Psalms in Hands

Heavy study Bibles gather dust while lighter psalms wait to be whispered. The gift of Scripture in our language—fought for by reformers—is often shelved like a trophy rather than wielded like a tool. Psalms give voice to our rawest cries and loftiest praises, modeling prayer as honest conversation. To read them is to walk a vineyard where every emotion bears fruit. [46:27]

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season.”
(Psalm 1:1-3, ESV)

Reflection: Which psalm verse have you memorized without trying? What might that reveal about your soul’s deep needs?

Day 5: The Heir’s Inheritance Given to New Tenants

The kingdom’s transfer isn’t about replacement but repentance. New tenants receive the vineyard not because they’re better, but because they remember the harvest isn’t theirs. The church inherits this paradox: we’re both unworthy tenants and graced stewards. Our task isn’t to guard the vineyard but to give its fruit away—again and again, until the Owner returns. [40:05]

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.”
(Matthew 21:43, ESV)

Reflection: What fruit are you tempted to keep for security that God might be asking you to distribute?

Sermon Summary

Matthew’s parable of the wicked tenants starts with a vineyard that is doing what it is supposed to do. God’s vineyard is producing, God’s blessing is there, and the people of God are doing God’s work. The trouble is not the vines. The trouble is the people who have rented God’s place and decided that the abundance belongs to them.

The vineyard has long been an image for the people of God. Isaiah and the Psalms use that image when the vines are not doing well, when the people are not living as God’s people. Matthew’s story turns the picture a little differently. The vineyard is fine, but the people at the top of the heap are the problem.

Jesus points this parable toward the chief priests and Pharisees, and they know it. The religious leaders recognize that Jesus is speaking about them, even if they do not believe he is the Messiah. The leaders know that the people hear him as a prophet, and they still want to arrest him. The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone, and the kingdom belongs to people who produce its fruit.

Matthew’s extra words can sound like God threw out the Jews and brought in Christians, but God does not say that. Jesus does not say that. The warning is not against a people because of who they are. The warning is against leaders who take God’s vineyard for themselves and refuse to give God the fruit.

Women of the church show what it looks like when people gather to do God’s work. WELCA began because there was a lot to do, money was needed to make it happen, and Bible study mattered. Those things still matter. The work of the church, the community, and the world still needs people who gather, give, study, and serve.

The Bible remains one of God’s amazing gifts, even when many copies sit on shelves or tables somewhere. Luther helped place Scripture in the language of the people, and that gift should not be taken for granted. The Psalms give a good place to start because they tell the truth. The Psalms say that God is great and wonderful, and they also say, “I hate my life and I hate God.” God receives the whole reality of human life.

God’s good news is that the people of God are at the highest level and the gifts are present. God’s abundance remains in the vineyard. God calls God’s people to open the gift, listen for God’s voice, and bear the fruit of the kingdom.

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Key Takeaways

1. The vineyard is not the problem. The vineyard produces because God’s blessing is still at work. The tenants reveal the real danger when people entrusted with God’s gifts begin acting as owners. God’s abundance does not excuse those who misuse authority within it. [38:44]
2. The warning targets stolen authority. Jesus directs the parable toward leaders who know they are being named. The kingdom is not a possession secured by religious status, history, or office. The fruit of the kingdom matters because God’s gifts are meant to be returned to God in faithfulness. [40:41]
3. WELCA still serves a real need. Women gathering for mission support and Bible study is not leftover church life from another era. That gathering puts hands and resources behind the work of the church, community, and world. God often keeps the vineyard fruitful through ordinary people who show up and do what needs doing. [43:11]
4. Scripture is a gift to open. A house full of Bibles cannot replace time spent reading one of them. Scripture in the language of the people is a gift that earlier generations did not always have. The Bible becomes living bread when it is opened, read, and allowed to speak. [46:27]
5. The Psalms tell the whole truth. The Psalms hold praise, grief, anger, joy, and despair together before God. God does not require polished religious language before God listens. The honest words of the Psalms teach hearts to bring real life into God’s presence.

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Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[34:03] - The Parable of the Wicked Tenants
[37:23] - The Vineyard as God’s People
[38:44] - The Problem Is the Tenants
[39:49] - A Warning Against Replacing Israel
[40:41] - Jesus Confronts Religious Leaders
[41:43] - Women’s Sunday and WELCA
[43:11] - Gathering for Service and Bible Study
[44:21] - Bibles on the Shelf
[46:27] - Scripture in the People’s Language
[47:20] - Start With the Psalms
[49:06] - God’s Gifts and Good News

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 21:33-46
“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.” When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. And although they were seeking to arrest him, they feared the crowds, because they held him to be a prophet.” [34:03]

Psalm 118:22
“The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” [35:55]

Isaiah 5:1-7
“Let me sing for my beloved my love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He dug it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. What more was there to do for my vineyard, that I have not done in it? When I looked for it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes? And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard. I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured; I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down. I will make it a waste; it shall not be pruned or hoed, and briers and thorns shall grow up; I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!” [37:50]

Observation questions

What care did the landowner provide for the vineyard before leasing it to the tenants, and what did he expect at harvest time?
How did the tenants respond to the landowner’s servants, and how did they respond when the landowner sent his son?
Who realized that Jesus was speaking about them, and what did they want to do in response?
In Isaiah’s vineyard image, what is wrong with the vineyard, and how is Matthew’s parable different in where it places the problem? [38:44]

Interpretation questions

The vineyard is productive, yet the tenants refuse to return its fruit to the owner. What does this show about the difference between receiving God’s gifts and acting as though those gifts belong to us? [39:02]
Jesus says that the kingdom will be given to people who produce its fruit. What kinds of “fruit” might faithful stewardship look like in a congregation and community?
Why is it important to hear this parable as a warning to unfaithful leaders and those who misuse God-given authority, rather than as a rejection of Jewish people? [40:41]
The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone. How does this image help explain both the rejection of Jesus and God’s continuing work through him?

Application questions

Where might it be tempting to treat a responsibility, ministry, resource, or position as “mine” rather than as something entrusted by God? What would it look like to return the fruit to God? [38:44]
God’s abundance is still present, even when people misuse it. Where do you see signs of God’s goodness and fruitfulness in this congregation, community, or your own life? [39:26]
What gifts, abilities, or resources has God placed in your care? Is there one practical way you could use one of them this month for the work of the church, the community, or the world? [43:11]
Many Bibles can sit unused on shelves and tables. What usually keeps you from opening Scripture regularly, and what small, realistic rhythm of reading could fit into your week? [46:27]
The Psalms make room for praise, anger, grief, joy, and despair before God. What honest feeling or situation do you most need to bring to God without trying to make it sound polished? [47:35]
If you are unsure where to begin reading Scripture, what might change if you read one psalm a day for the next week and noticed which words stay with you? [47:15]

Sermon Clips

49s

#ChurchLeadership

“There's a problem with what we're doing. There's a problem with who we are. But this particular story shows up twice. And, Mark has it almost word for word. There's a little bit added here. But the the the problem in it is not the vines. It's the people who have rented God's place. It's the people who are in charge where the problem arises. It's not that the vineyard is having a problem because the vineyard is producing. The vineyard's doing everything it's supposed to do. But it's the people at the top of the heap where there's a problem.”

41s

#PsalmsOfLife

“Start at one. You can read a Psalm every day, and you've got a couple years of it. But that sense of opening the Psalms were the songs back then. We don't know the music that matches them, but they're the songs. they are everything you can imagine. They say things that are, God is great, God is wonderful, God is amazing. And they say things like, I hate my life and I hate God. And that's the reality of what the humanity does and says when we're sharing what we're going through.”

36s

#ReadThePsalms

“It's in our language. Thank you, Luther, for deciding we didn't have to all learn Latin. To be able to read, we instead have this gift. It is an amazing gift, and we take it for granted. We take an awful lot of our gifts for granted, but this is a gift I hope that you will all open and think about and read. And if you don't know where to go and you don't know what you should do next, start in the Psalms.”

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