A Parable of a Parable

Once upon a time, there was a group of people called the Swoonots.  They worked their rented vineyard day in and day out and were relatively happy, especially after stomping their crop into a magical beverage.  But the Swoonots suffered from a rare disease.  One by one, they passed away.

King Swafta owned the vineyard.  One day, he decided to send a servant to the Swoonots.  The king wanted his share of the crops, but more importantly, he had the cure to the Swoonots’ lethal disease.  But the last thing the Swoonots wanted to hear was how to live in order to prevent death, and they especially didn’t want to share what was rightfully the king’s.

“Let’s beat the servant,” they said.  And they did.

King Swafta sent a second and a third servant, who both met the same fate.

“What shall I do"?” King Swafta asked.  “I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.”

But when the Swoonots saw the prince, they said, “This is the heir.  Let’s kill him and the inheritance will be ours.”  So they threw him out of the vineyard and. . .

hung him on a cross.

I, too, like the Swoonots of Luke 20:9-16, am living on rented land.  Everything I have and everything I’m capable of has been given to me by King Swafta.  God.  Am I willing to share the crops of my life with God, or will I horde them, believing I am the one who makes the fruits in my life grow?  I also suffer from a deadly disease: sin.  If left untreated, it will separate me from God, forever, and cause my death.

Will I allow the Prince into my vineyard and trust him with my life, or will I, too, throw him out?