Two Sides

The Fifth Sunday In Lent

SERMON TEXT:  Luke 20:9-19

He began to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, leased it to some tenant farmers, and went away on a journey for a long time. When it was the right time; he sent a servant to the tenants to collect his share of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenant farmers beat the servant and sent him away empty-handed. The man went ahead and sent yet another servant, but they also beat him, treated him shamefully, and sent him away empty-handed. He then sent yet a third. They also wounded him and threw him out. The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What should I do? I will send my son, whom I love. Perhaps they will respect him.’
“But when the tenant farmers saw him, they talked it over with one another. They said, ‘This is the heir. Let’s kill him, so that the inheritance will be ours.’ They threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. So, what will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and destroy those tenant farmers and give the vineyard to others.”
When they heard this, they said, “May it never be!”
But he looked at them and said, “Then what about this that is written:
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
“Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush the one on whom it falls.”
That very hour the chief priests and the experts in the law began looking for a way to lay hands on him, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them. But they were afraid of the people.

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Bible Readings

FIRST LESSON:  Isaiah 43:16-21

This is what the LORD says,
who makes a road through the sea
and a path through mighty waters,
who brings out the chariot and the horses,
the army and the strong warrior.
They will all lie down together.
They will not get up.
They are extinguished.
Like a wick they go out.
Do not remember the former things.
Do not keep thinking about ancient things.
Watch, I am about to do a new thing.
Now it will spring up. Don’t you know about it?
Indeed, I will make a road in the wilderness.
In the wasteland I will make rivers.
The wild animals, the jackals and ostriches, will honor me,
because I am providing water in the wilderness,
rivers in a parched wasteland,
to provide water for my chosen people to drink.
This people that I formed for myself will declare my praise.

SECOND LESSON:  Romans 11:11-21

So I ask, “Did they stumble in order to fall permanently?” Absolutely not! Rather, by their trespass, salvation came to the Gentiles to make the Israelites jealous. Now if their trespass meant riches for the world, and their failure meant riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their fullness mean! I am speaking to you Gentiles. For as long as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I am going to speak highly of my ministry. Perhaps I may make my own people jealous, and so save some of them. For if their rejection meant the reconciliation of the world, what does their acceptance mean other than the dead coming to life? If the part offered as first fruits is holy, so is the whole batch. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you—a wild olive branch—were grafted in among them and share in the rich sap from the root of the olive tree, do not boast that you are better than the branches. If you do boast, remember that you are not supporting the root, but the root is supporting you. Then you will say: “Branches were broken off so that I am grafted in.” That is true—but remember that they were broken off because of unbelief, and you remain in place by faith. Do not be conceited but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you.

VERSE OF THE DAY:  Mark 10:45

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

GOSPEL: Luke 20:9-19

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