All Along the Watchtower

Jesus said, “Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally 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 get his inheritance.” So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when 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 lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;

this was the Lord’s doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes’?

Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet. Matthew 21:33-46

All Along the Watchtower

We cannot help ourselves sometimes

we want what is not ours so fiercely

we plot and scheme to overthrow

fighting and whining to all who hear.

Blessed with rich soil and good work

we find so much to turn to worry

thinking our burdens are too great

we try to undermine what is not ours.

The gentle gardener the one who holds all

walks with us row by row and daily

watches as we unhappily fret and toil

returning to safe homes and full cupboards.

The loving Creator of all that is good

walks and sings to us tho' we listen not

hums to us as we shake with anger

calls softly to us as we struggle.

This rich vineyard, this sweet garden

can be lost and found in a breath

we can rest in love as we share this

as we lean in and care for all.