The Parable of the Vineyard Tenants – Who Is Lord of Your Life?
Pastor Tan Thai · Oct 9, 2022
This sermon uses the parable of the vineyard tenants in Matthew 21 to affirm that God alone is the true Lord and owner of human life. Every person is merely a steward of what God has given, not the master of their own life. The sermon challenges listeners to examine their hearts regarding God's lordship and calls them to receive Jesus Christ.
The sermon opens with a contemporary illustration of atheist billboard campaigns in New Mexico urging people not to attend church, labeling biblical teaching as 'fake news' and Christmas as mere mythology. The preacher identifies the core message behind these campaigns: if God does not exist, then humanity is completely the master of the world and of its own life. However, the question 'Who is Lord of your life?' is not only for atheists—it is equally urgent and practical for believers in Jesus Christ.
Using the parable of the vineyard tenants (Matthew 21:33-46), the preacher explains the relationship between the vineyard owner (God), the tenants (Israel's religious leaders and, more broadly, all humanity), and the vineyard (God's people). The owner invested greatly in his vineyard, yet the tenants behaved as though they were the owners, seizing, beating, and killing the servants sent to them. This reflects the deep sinful nature of the human heart: the desire to be lord of one's own life rather than submitting to God. The preacher applies this to everyday life, noting that material wealth, ability, time, and opportunity are all talents entrusted by God (Matthew 25:14-15), making every person a steward rather than an owner.
The preacher then argues that life's failures, hardships, and losses are themselves messengers God uses to remind people that they are not the masters of their own lives. Citing Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, the preacher highlights Solomon's observation of fourteen contrasting seasons in human life, none of which can be fully controlled or predicted. Therefore, the argument 'I cannot believe in God because life is too hard' is actually the clearest evidence that one needs God, for only He is the true owner of the vineyard.
The final section focuses on God's patience and mercy, demonstrated in sending not only many servants but ultimately His own Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). To reject Jesus Christ means forfeiting the final opportunity for salvation and reconciliation with God (Matthew 21:44). The preacher affirms that even when people deny God's lordship, God remains the owner of the vineyard, and all events—including the crucifixion itself—unfolded according to His eternal plan of redemption through Christ (Acts 2:23-24).
The sermon closes with a practical call to decision: each person must choose between allowing God to be Lord or insisting on self-lordship, the latter carrying the fearful consequence of God giving them over to their own desires as warned in Romans 1:24-28. This is an invitation to repentance and to receive Jesus Christ, so that one may live under the loving lordship of God.