What a Marvel!

We humans need a marvel to bring us to heal us from the delusion of ego!

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Christ is born!

I love these days of the Christmas Feast. Each day has significant meaning, and today is no different. We remember St. Stephen, the First Martyr of the Christian Faith. St. Stephen was the first to be made a deacon by the Apostles in Acts 6. And then he was killed for his effective witness of Jesus as Messiah to the people in Jerusalem. And the Church attaches our Gospel passage to this commemoration of this great witness to the Faith.

By the way, it's really important for us to embrace the deeper logic of the Church in ordering these daily readings. There is true wisdom preserved for us in the very choices the Spirit led His Church to make in giving us this precious "tool" to form us into Normal Orthodox Christians.

And what a passage to keep us focused on the very purpose of God becoming flesh for our salvation.  The passage insists we embrace the wisdom of the dual truths that we are "tenants" in God's creation and that we never reject His Son! If I am ever going to take Christmas seriously as a follower of Jesus, I have to pay attention to this story Jesus tells!

Look at our Lesson today in Matthew 21:33-42:

The Lord said this parable, “There was a householder who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge around it, and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and let it out to tenants, and went into another country. When the season of fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants, to get his fruit; and the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than the first; and they did the same to them. Afterward he sent his son to them, saying ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and cast him out of the vineyard and killed him. When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner; this was the Lord’s doing, and it was marvelous in our eyes?'”

Jesus tells stories in the Gospels to teach us deep and profound truths. And this story is no exception. He relates to His hearers in a way that leaves them with more work to do after He speaks. So there are so many layers of meaning! So much wisdom! And so much challenge. If we genuinely have eyes to see; it really is marvelous!

First, God is the Lord. You see, our lives are chaotic until we discover Whose we are; not just who we are. That’s why there is such a distinction between people who live their lives as if there is no God and those who live as if there IS a God. If all of this is random and meaningless, then why bother with self-sacrifice and caring? But if there is a “householder,” that makes a difference. A big difference. Especially if that Householder wishes you to know Him! And He does! Plus, He is also your maker and knows you better than you know yourself.

Next, We are Tenants. I’ve rented houses before as both a landlord and a renter, and I can tell you it matters a great deal how you care for Someone else’s property. How you care for Someone else’s property says a great deal about yourself. If there is a God, and if that God wishes to be known, then even my very life is “rented property!” I am a tenant in the Lord’s Vineyard and, how I care for this rented place reveals who I really am. This is why judgment is NEVER an attack but a revelation! And an invitation to correct my destructive way of living.

Next, We are Servants. There are those whom the Landlord has chosen to go into His Vineyard and “reap” what is truly His! How we treat those servants, and how we embrace those servants, also reveals who we are. When we mistreat God’s servants, we show our disbelief in the Landlord. We assume this life is ours and ours alone. We prove to be functional atheists. If you have someone who cares for your spiritual formation, please allow yourself to be grateful and cherish such a great gift.

Finally, We have received the Son. God loves His vineyard, His creation. And He will not hesitate giving everything, even His very Son, to make His vineyard what He intends it to be! The whole power of the Nativity Feast is the celebration of the Lord Who was initially rejected and treated as a Stranger in His own world. Even His own people rejected Him. But we wisely refuse to follow the bad example of those short-sighted choices.

Today, as we continue to celebrate the Nativity, no wonder the Church has us say “This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” God’s judgments are His Light revealing who we are. That’s the only way ever to be formed so that I have a Normal Orthodox Life!!

P.S. O Stephen, a crown of royalty was laid on your head. For contests, you courageously endured for Christ, our God, as first among martyred saints. You stood in accusation of the raging Judeans, and you saw your Savior at the right hand of the Father. Entreat Christ our God to save our souls.