A Lesson From The Landlord" 15-Mar-2026 10AM

It raises the question, how does this happen just because it's time to pay up? And be clear, violence wasn't the first sin. The first sin was the decision that the harvest belong to them. Their gratitude ended their entitlement began and they didn't resort to violence immediately. They became wicked the moment they forgot who built the vineyard in the first place. [01:33:55] (25 seconds)  #GratitudeVsEntitlement

Having a tower built is not uncommon in the ancient day. It's responsible to build one over the vineyard. So, if someone is attempting to come and scale the wall, they would be warned of the trouble. The landlord is deliberate. The landlord is detailed and his vineyard is now complete. Everything they need for success is already placed in the vineyard before they ever arrive. Stewardship, dear friends, does not begin with what we do but by recognizing what was done for us before we ever showed up. [01:30:59] (32 seconds)  #StewardshipBeginsWithGrace

May not be the first or the fifteenth, but the bill is on the way. There's good news though nestled within the context of the warning, Amen. Amen. Distance between who we are and who God called us to be. Question Amen. Left for you and me to wrestle with is will we pay up? Will we try to hold on to what God gave us? [01:40:35] (37 seconds)  #WillWePayUp

Here's my rooted reflection. My little thesis is this, when we forget that god owns the vineyard, we begin to live if we own the harvest. Hear the tension. Landowner, entrust the land to the people. Giving them everything they need to work and produce. They just needed to pay the rent when it was due. Instead of paying the rent, they decide to beat and kill those who come to collect on behalf of the landowner. [01:26:43] (33 seconds)  #FalseOwnership

God has graciously provided everything the vineyard needs and the provision is a portrait of his character, not a product of our deserving. When everything you need has already been provided, the only thing left is to reveal your character. Yeah. And hear how the story turns, pride makes stewards become thieves. [01:32:43] (26 seconds)  #ProvisionRevealsCharacter

You are simply being entrusted to be a good steward of what someone else has built until the landlord decides to come and collect what's theirs. Just had a rent on the first and the fifteenth, and all will be right in the world. Such as the tension we find when we lift the parable of the vineyard from the text before us. Jesus takes Isaiah five and flips it to an illustration that causes us to sit and think about what's really going on. [01:25:22] (28 seconds)  #LeaseAndReturn

That's the dream, but most of us, at least one time or another, have lived on the other side of that dream. Renting is a different kind of life. You can't tear down a wall to let light in. You can't always repaint the walls. You can't run your side hustle out the garage without checking the lease first. There are rules about noise. There's rules about guests. There are rules about who can live there. There are rules about how many people you can have in the house at one time because at the end of the day, no matter how much it feels like home, you don't own it. [01:24:47] (35 seconds)  #RentersReality

We're wants to own something. It's woven into the very fabric of who we are. It's this idea that if you work hard enough, if you work long enough, if you work smart enough, one day you'll have something to show for it with your name on the deed. Buy dirt, build a house, build equity, set your family up for financial freedom, make all the decisions. The layout of the interior, the color on the walls, the garden out back. Nobody tells you what you can and can't do because it's yours. [01:24:10] (37 seconds)  #DreamToOwn