Thought for the Week 15 March 2026

Welcome to our service today. We will be reflecting on an alternative lectionary reading from Luke 20 about the wicked tenants in God’s vineyard. It’s a provocative parable aimed at the leaders of Israel in Jesus day, and it got him into a lot of trouble. The main criticism is that the tenants acted as if they owned the place and refused to give the true owner (God) what was due. The result was violence inflicted on God’s representatives, understood to be the long line of prophets sent to Israel to call the nation back to obedience to God.

When I look at the current state of the world, I wonder what God must make of those in charge. The leaders of Russia are trying to own Ukraine; Netanyahu’s government is    trying to own Gaza and the West Bank; the Trump administration is trying to own Iran (and Venezuela, Greenland and who knows where next). But none of these places belong to them; it all belongs to God, who has a very different vision for how we should live on this good earth. Not conquest, but peace. Not a power grab, but fair distribution and    opportunity to flourish.

Jesus finishes the parable with this enigmatic statement: “Everyone who falls on that stone (the cornerstone) will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed” (Luke 20:18).  There is an invitation to be willingly broken by the cornerstone, which leads to humble dependency upon Jesus.  But for those who refuse this path there is the prospect of being crushed by the stone, of being on the wrong side of history. History will judge the actions of the current leaders. And so too I think, will God!

Nga mihi nui, Brent.