Jesus tells a sad story in Matthew 21:33-43. A landowner planted a vineyard, put a wall around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower so that watchman could oversee the vineyard for protection. Then he rented it out to those who knew how to care for such a vineyard, and went on a journey. At some point, and for reasons not given, the renters took on an unhealthy ownership of the vineyard, and started acting like it was really their vineyard. When the real owner came back the renters decided to fight for the vineyard and killed everyone the owner sent to receive what was his, even his son.

Those who heard Jesus' story said that the renters were worthy of judgment because of their actions, going so far as to called them, "wretches." Jesus agreed and then explained to them that they were the very renters they had just judged. Israel was the vineyard, and the spiritual leaders were given the responsibility to care over the vineyard, but they rejected their stewardship and, in the end, killed the very son sent by the Father. They killed the "chief cornerstone," and because of it the kingdom would be taken away from them and given to those who would be faithful overseers, "producing the fruit of it."

There are some people in the world who actually embrace God and what God is doing in the world. For them, the rejected cornerstone, Jesus, is God's response to the human situation and what God does in Jesus, they consider to be "marvelous in our eyes."

Those of us who dare call Jesus, "Lord," need to pay careful attention to Jesus' story. We dare say that He has turned His vineyard over to the Church. If He really has, then it demands an honest, humble, faithful, and courageous stewardship of what has been given us. It's not our vineyard, our Church; it belongs to God. Let us clock in, on time, and fulfill our stewardship of the Church that doesn't belong to us, but God.