December 10, 2022 – Devotions to Prepare Us For Christ’s Coming

“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.” Mark 12:1-9

The Parable of the Wicked Tenants begins with these words, “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it…”.  We are instructed in this day and age to put up a fence when we dig a pool or have some other ornamentation that might injure wayward children. Of course it makes us wonder why so many people put a fence around them and refuse to share their fruit with others? Just last week, the second Sunday in Advent, we heard John the Baptist shouting for us to “Bear fruit, worthy of repentance.”  Do people put up fences to protect themselves from others stealing their fruit, or damaging their fruit? Or perhaps they just have a general feeling that they would rather keep their fruit and hoard it? I know that at times we pray for God to put a hedge of protection around us so that we are protected from our enemies. But this hedge of protection can become a wall that separates and isolates us from the “others” in our lives and around the world. 

In Advent we should be preparing for Jesus to come, but also preparing to share out of our abundance.

Let us pray: Dear Lord, help me to grow in love and faith and trust to be more giving and loving and forgiving. Amen.

Pastor Dave