Daily Worship

Tears

Liz Crumlish August 06, 2015 0 0

Luke 20:9-18

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

9 Then Jesus told the people this parable: “There was once a man who planted a vineyard, rented it out to tenants, and then left home for a long time. 10 When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent a slave to the tenants to receive from them his share of the harvest. But the tenants beat the slave and sent him back without a thing. 11 So he sent another slave; but the tenants beat him also, treated him shamefully, and sent him back without a thing. 12 Then he sent a third slave; the tenants wounded him, too, and threw him out. 13 Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my own dear son; surely they will respect him!’ 14 But when the tenants saw him, they said to one another, ‘This is the owner's son. Let's kill him, and his property will be ours!’ 15 So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

“What, then, will the owner of the vineyard do to the tenants?” Jesus asked. 16 “He will come and kill those men, and turn the vineyard over to other tenants.”

When the people heard this, they said, “Surely not!”

17 Jesus looked at them and asked, “What, then, does this scripture mean?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless
    turned out to be the most important of all.’

18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be cut to pieces; and if that stone falls on someone, that person will be crushed to dust.”

The tears of God continue to flow
watering parched lands
greening dry buds
healing deep fissures
with a love that bridges the widest gaps
and the impossible divides.
Tears that flow on
as natives are cleared from their lands
and forests are torn down
to make way for progress.
Tears that fall soft as rain
on tender shoots of hope and promise
that the world can be different,
that resources can be shared.
Tears that turn into rivers 
as innocents are violated
in the quest for land and for oil, 
for greed and for power.
As we add our tears to God's 
may the cleansing we know
in the hopeful and healing release of tears 
water the dryness in us
and bridge the gaps in our compassion.