“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.  Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way.  Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son, ‘ he said.  But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.'” (Matthew 21:35-38)

“Really?!  Another red light!  Come on!”  “You did what?!  Again?!  I don’t know how long I can put up with this!” How much patience do you have?

The vineyard owner in Jesus’ parable had unreal patience. The tenants who rented his vineyard refused to pay him his rent, murdered the first batch of servants he sent, murdered the second batch of servants he sent, and then…he sent his son!  Who would do that?  Does Jesus’ story not go beyond the bounds of reality?

There’s a purpose.  Think about our lives.  We live our entire lives at God’s expense.  Everything that we need to live belongs to God.  Everything that we enjoy in life belongs to God.  Everything that we call our own really belongs to God.  God has every right to expect our complete devotion, service, and praise.  Yet, what do we so often give Him?  Using His things for our own selfish gain, giving Him our half-hearted attention, taking His gifts for granted?

And what does God say to us?  “Come on!  You did what?!  Again!  How can I seriously put up with you!”  Nope.  To a world full of sinners who so often turn their back on Him, what did God do?  He sent His one and only Son to die on a cross to cleanse them from all of their sins.  To you and me who so often sin against Him, in Jesus God’s given eternal life as a free gift!

That’s patience, incredible patience, patience that goes beyond the realm of this world’s reality.

Awed at the mind-boggling patience of my God, just like you,

pastor