Isaiah 5:1-2 and Mark 12:1-12
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; he expected it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes. – Isaiah 5:1-2
Then {Jesus} 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. Have you not read this scripture: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’?”
When [the Temple authorities] realized that [Jesus] had told this parable against them, they wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowd. So they left him and went away. – Mark 12:1-12
The Parable of the Vineyard
I am Jay Warner and I am a farmer, not a pastor here at McPherson FUMC. I am also one of your Certified Lay Servants. Today’s joke is a wealth joke, so it is about a social faux pas.
It is set in a corporate boardroom as the CEO says, “We always look out for the stockholders!” Then another board member says, “SHHH! Here comes one now.” The easiest way to identify wealth jokes is they are not funny. Looking out for the interests of the owners does not mean hiding from the owners. Moving on.
Let’s pray. Lord, may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight. Amen.
I have attended a lot of training sessions about farm management. One that hit me several years ago was about “the three spheres of family-owned business.” It could be any family-owned business: a local store, an automotive dealership, a manufacturing company, or even a farm that has been in the family since the late 1800’s. We often think of it as a single thing, but it is actually three distinct entities: family, ownership and business.
“Family” is the people we invite over for a Thanksgiving meal. We sometimes think of family as linage and marriage, but that falls short. I often talk about “my herd” instead of “my family” because I know too many individuals whose family of origin was not a safe and healthy place. Divorce happens. Parents and siblings leave. We may be emotionally abandoned, even while physically present. Youth may be disowned. Conversely, we might find support and connection with our comrades in arms or at NA and AA. For today’s sermon, I am using an inclusive definition of family.
“Owned” is about holding title or deed for cars and property. It also includes tools, personal property and household items. Despite the quip that “possession is 90% of the law,” ownership is a legal right to utilize, buy or sell something. Borrowing, leasing or renting something gives possession to another, but it does not change ownership.
“Business” is about operations, management and production. There are many ways this might be structured. It could be a single individual, a partnership, or a more complicated legal structure such as an LLC or Cooperation. The business is the entity in charge of day to day activities. It does the actual work.
The K-State Extension agent who first presented the three spheres concept to me noted that every farm failure they knew of was rooted in one or two of these spheres being poorly defined and fused into another.
When “family” is the dominant factor, both ownership and business are neglected. The family members who are not involved with the farm may require that things are done a certain way. Perhaps a nostalgic item or system needs to be kept, even after it has served its time and a new system is needed.
For example, when I started farming with Amy’s parents, we had a large wheat harvest crew. At its peak it included three combines, a grain cart, six single axle dump trucks, three truck drivers and a meal provider with the chuck wagon van shown in this photo. It was a grand experience where family from out of state would visit in order to participate along with local friends. With children included, we were feeding a dozen people in the field. We now harvest more wheat per hour with just three people. If that family time dominated, we would not be able to run harvest the way we do now. Family dominance can also drain working capital when too much cash is used to buy stuff for the family. More people might get hired than the farm can support, draining away operating capital, not just profits. Family dominance can work for a hobby or lifestyle farm, but not for earning a living.
When “owner” dominates, all resources go one place: the owner. The family sphere is abused to justify neglecting the business sphere. The child that helps keep the farm running does not receive equitable compensation. The parent may let the child live in one of the farm houses and give the child a side of beef or tires for the car as the owner sees fit, but the owner is in control of all things. Even after the next generation is actively operating the farm and the owner is “retired,” they still dictate all activities. This is perhaps the most common form of farm transition. That next generation doesn’t get paid because, “this will all be yours someday.” When “someday” comes, the next generation may or may not actually receive equitable compensation for their unpaid labor.
When “business” or management has all of the power, ownership and family are both neglected. Again, the family sphere is abused to justify neglecting the ownership sphere. I know of a farm where the elder generation received nothing for several years on land they owned. It was not a voluntary gift on their part; rather the hints and requests for payment were ignored. If the elder generation pushed more, they feared it would ruin Thanksgiving.
The better we are able to define and separate the family-owned business roles, the better it is for each role. When done right, the junior generation can quit or be fired from the farm and still be welcomed at Thanksgiving dinner. Since all are treated equitably in real time, resentments and assumptions are minimized.
With this in mind, we can now consider this morning’s scripture in its broader context. The previous chapter (Mark 11) starts with Palm Sunday. Jesus rides a colt into Jerusalem while the crowds place their garments and leafy branches cut from the fields and cry out, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the kingdom of our father David that is coming! Hosanna in the highest!”
The next day we have the source for the famous meme: “If anyone ever asks you ‘What would Jesus do?’ remind them that flipping over tables & chasing people with a whip is within the realm of possibilities.” As I was searching for this meme, I did find a couple others that missed the point.