Guest Speaker: Taylor Brown
- Jesus's story: FRUITLESSNESS leads to destruction. (Mk 12:1-9)
- God's plan in the story: REJECTION leads to exaltation. (Mk 12:10-11)
- Audience reaction: HARDHEARTEDNESS leads to rebellion. (Mk 12:12)
Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above with your cursor for answers!
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00:00-00:05
Just to give you a quick update on me, I'm sorry if you don't really know me, you don't really care about an update, but I'm going to make you sit through it anyway.
00:06-00:10
Well, for those of you who know me, I just got married three months ago today, actually.
00:10-00:11
Thank you, thank you.
00:12-00:14
So I pretty much have this whole husband thing down.
00:15-00:17
I think I have it pretty well down.
00:17-00:18
And yeah, Kate's just like...
00:20-00:24
Yeah, but it's been a great three months, and we've been living in Louisville, Kentucky.
00:24-00:26
I'm going to seminary, we're both working.
00:26-00:33
It's been challenging, but we've been enjoying ourselves, and we are hoping to be able to back to Pittsburgh in the near future because who doesn't want to live in Pittsburgh, right?
00:34-02:01
Okay, let me just ask you a question. Have you ever put your heart and your soul into a relationship, a career, or a life dream only to be rejected? Maybe for you it was a romantic relationship. For weeks or months or even years you put all you had into that person and they break your heart and they cast you aside. Or maybe for you it was your dream job and you leave that interview thinking, "I really nailed that interview. They're definitely to hire me. You're waiting by the phone for the next couple of days and you finally get the call or you get an email and they say that you're not what the company is looking for and they're going to go in another direction. As human beings we live in fear of and experience rejection on a daily basis and many of us have been so damaged by others or our past experiences that we close ourselves off from the world because we don't want to feel that pain and that rejection that we felt before. You know, personally I've been denied from dozens of ministry opportunities and jobs and every single email or call or letter of rejection like stings and leaves a mark on my soul. And those of you know me, well I love to read, I love to go to bookstores and my dream job a couple years ago was to work at Barnes & Noble. So I get, I'm pretty sure I wore this shirt. I wore my nicest pants, wore my nicest tie and I go in and I'm talking to them and stuff, "What's your favorite books?" I'm like this, "Oh that's great, we like that too." And I'm like, "Wow "Wow, this is going really well." And so I go home expecting to get a call back from Barnes & Noble and a couple days later I'm going through the mail and there's a postcard in the mail.
02:02-02:05
I turn it over, it's from Barnes & Noble and it's a rejection postcard.
02:06-02:16
And okay, that sounds bad enough but it wasn't like a personalized, like they read out like, "Oh, Taylor, it was really nice to meet you." It was like a typed, formatted rejection postcard with a little blank where they wrote in my name.
02:17-02:23
So if you wanna let somebody know that you don't really care anything about them, Send them a rejection fill in the blank postcard.
02:23-02:25
That's pretty much the best way to show them you don't care about them.
02:26-02:30
No, but in all seriousness, we all know what it feels like to be rejected or not considered worthy enough by someone.
02:31-02:40
While all of us actively live in fear of rejection, we serve a God who came to this earth and sought it out so we could be accepted into his presence.
02:40-02:50
We all deliberately rebelled against God and sinned against him, but he sent his son to this earth to experience the ultimate rejection so we could have salvation and the church would be built up.
02:52-03:03
Today we're going to be continuing our series in the Gospel of Mark, and we're going to be diving into Mark 12, 1 through 12 today, which details a parable that Jesus told to religious leaders while he was in the temple.
03:04-03:12
In this parable, Jesus reveals that through his soon-to-be rejection and crucifixion, he would accomplish the Father's plan of redemption.
03:13-03:17
Anyone who refuses him will experience judgment and everlasting punishment.
03:18-03:23
As you'll see, this is a parable and this is a story of both extreme hope but also severe judgment.
03:24-03:37
I've just been praying over this message for weeks and I'm just praying that God would use this story in our life, my life, your life, to cast a spotlight on Christ and his position as the foundation of our lives.
03:38-03:48
As we're going to see in this passage, if Jesus isn't the foundation and the center of your life, you'll never experience true life and you will be lost.
03:49-03:52
Please stand in reverence for God's word as we read Mark 12, 1-12.
03:55-03:57
And he, Jesus, began to speak to them in parables.
03:57-04:06
A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country.
04:06-04:15
When the season came, he sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard, and they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed.
04:15-04:20
Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
04:20-04:22
And he sent another, and him they killed.
04:23-04:26
And so with many others they beat and some they killed.
04:26-04:29
He still had one other, a beloved son.
04:29-04:36
Finally, he sent him to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But those tenants said to one another, 'This is the heir.
04:36-04:43
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.' And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard.
04:45-04:46
What will the owner of the vineyard do?
04:47-04:50
He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.
04:50-04:51
Have you not read this scripture?
04:52-04:55
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
04:56-04:58
This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.
04:59-05:02
And they were seeking to arrest him, they were seeking to arrest Jesus.
05:03-05:04
But they feared the people.
05:04-05:07
For they perceived that he had told the parable against them.
05:08-05:09
They left Him and went away.
05:10-05:10
Let's pray.
05:11-05:15
Lord, I thank You so much for this awesome opportunity I have to preach Your Word.
05:15-05:19
Lord, I pray that You would just have me behind Your cross and all the words that I speak would be Your words.
05:19-05:22
Lord, I pray that I remember my place in this message.
05:22-05:26
My place isn't to convince, it isn't to convict, it isn't to transform.
05:26-05:28
Only Your Holy Spirit can do that.
05:28-05:30
All I can do is faithfully declare Your Word.
05:31-05:37
Lord, I pray I just preach it with boldness and I pray that everyone in this room will receive it and use it in their lives.
05:37-05:39
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
05:41-05:45
So first we're going to start out in this passage with the parable that Jesus tells.
05:45-05:50
So Jesus' story, which shows us that fruitlessness leads to destruction.
05:52-06:03
So we enter into the story today, two days after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, and also the day after his cleansing of the temple, both of which death has been preaching about over the past several weeks.
06:03-06:14
In this passage we see Jesus engage in arguments with the Pharisees and the Sadducees and all the other religious leaders as they severely question his authority and his identity as the Son of God.
06:16-06:25
All throughout chapters 11 and 12, Jesus answers ridiculous question after ridiculous question by the religious leaders that are meant to trap him and make him look like an idiot.
06:26-06:31
But Jesus offers a perfect answer at every single turn and he makes the religious leaders fall in their own trap of foolishness.
06:32-06:33
It makes them look stupid.
06:35-06:49
But in this passage, Jesus takes a break from the question and answer for him, and he decides to tell a story or a parable that is meant to reveal the hard-heartedness of the Pharisees and also reveal his identity as the foundation of God's kingdom at the same time.
06:50-06:56
So in order to properly understand this parable, I'm going to have to unpack the different key characters and setting of the parable.
06:56-07:40
So first we see Jesus say that a man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press and built a tower and leased it to tenants and went into another country. So first and foremost the owner of the vineyard represents God himself and the vineyard he plants stands in for Israel or God's blessing upon his chosen people. It kind of loses its impact for us as 21st century listeners but upon hearing this parable and this parable about a vineyard every single Jew in the audience would automatically picture the words of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 5 in which Israel is compared to a vineyard that God carefully grows up and attends to and cultivates, but instead of producing good and healthy fruit, they produce wild and undesirable filth.
07:41-07:49
And this yielding of undesirable fruit represents Israel that constantly disobeyed the Lord and didn't obey His commandments and worshiped false gods.
07:50-08:01
And for years and years, God sent prophets to them to give them gracious but stern warnings that judgment is coming if they don't turn away from their sin and be fruitful.
08:02-08:16
After all these years, God finally uses pagan nations to destroy them and exile them to foreign nations as slaves. So every single Jew in the audience would automatically know that Jesus is saying that there is judgment coming for those who aren't fruitful or unfaithful.
08:18-08:26
The owner carefully and methodically builds up and cultivates his vineyard. It says he puts a fence around it to defend it. He digs a pit for the wine press and builds a tower.
08:26-08:29
He puts his time, his money, his effort into it.
08:30-08:34
And he decides to lease it out to tenants who are still worth the land and give him his share of the harvest.
08:36-08:42
As we see, instead of being faithful and fruitful servants of the owner, the tenants decide that they owe him nothing.
08:43-08:47
And they decide to hoard the harvest for themselves and their own purposes.
08:48-08:58
And it becomes abundantly clear in this passage, Jesus isn't very subtle about it, that he has cast the religious leaders he's speaking that story to in that moment, as the wicked tenants in the story.
08:59-09:05
As they constantly used the temple to sell goods and make money off of people, and they paraded themselves around as religious superheroes.
09:06-09:08
They had taken God's good gifts and abused them.
09:09-09:18
Going back to the story, the owner in his mercy and his patience with the unfaithful tenants, sent servant after servant to collect what was owed to him.
09:19-09:25
We see in verse two, when the season came, the owner sent a servant to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
09:26-09:29
They took him and beat him, sent him away empty-handed.
09:30-09:35
He sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully.
09:36-09:41
He sent another, and him they killed, and so with many others, some they beat and some they killed.
09:42-09:53
These servants in this parable stand in for the many prophets and messengers that God sent to Israel, called them to repent, to turn from their sin, and turn back to God or that judgment is coming.
09:55-10:03
Even John the Baptist, who we discussed earlier on in this gospel, who prepared the way for Jesus, he was beheaded for confronting sin and calling people to repentance.
10:04-10:15
After many of his servants are beaten and killed in his frustration as a last ditch effort, the owner of the vineyard decides that he will send his one and only son to collect what was owed to him.
10:16-10:21
He says in verse six, He still had one other, a beloved son.
10:21-10:25
Finally, he sent him to them saying, they will respect my son.
10:27-10:33
But upon seeing the son approach the vineyard, we get to listen in on the conversation of the tenants.
10:33-10:36
They say amongst themselves, this is the heir.
10:37-10:39
Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.
10:40-10:48
Now as I was reading this, which wasn't really tracking with me, I didn't really understand why, if they killed the owner's son, that they would somehow magically get ownership of the vineyard.
10:48-14:05
really work itself out in our lives today? Like, Kate and I as landlord, do we like, I murder his son and then I get the house? Like, it doesn't really make sense, but as I was studying this out, I read that the tenants would assume that the arrival of the son to collect their debt was a symbol that his father had died. So he as the one and only son, the sole heir, would be in possession of the vineyard and all that his father had. And the ownership of the vineyard would fall to those who been working the land for years. So in hopes that they can legally take hold of the vineyard, they take the son and they murder him and they shamefully deny him a burial by throwing him outside the vineyard like a worthless piece of garbage. I think it's obvious to all of us in this room today that the son in this story obviously stands in for the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came to do the Father's will, was cast out of the gates of Jerusalem to be publicly beaten, mocked and crucified. How will the owner of the vineyard respond to this? How will he respond to the shameful killing of his one and only son? Jesus asked the same question in verse 9. What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenant and give the vineyard to others. So finally the owner of the vineyard, his patience has finally run its course. He's given these evil men chance after chance after chance do the right thing, but they have repeatedly disgraced him. They now even killed his one and only son. So he gathers the remainder of his servants together and he goes to the vineyard to deal justice and kill the men who repeatedly made him look like a fool. I feel like if my son had been murdered of this vineyard, I just wanted to just destroy it and just get rid of it and not deal with it at all. But the owner decides he's going to hire out more reliable and faithful tenants to work the land and who will actually pay him what he is owed. In the same way, God took away his blessing from the religious leaders who failed to properly steward what had been entrusted to them. Now God has given his blessing, his acceptance into his presence and into his family to those who instead of reject his son, reject Jesus Christ, they place their faith and trust in him. Now God calls that as his church, those who have been into his vineyard, those who have been accepted into his presence to be fruitful, to fulfill his purposes, and to give him the honor and the worship that he alone deserves. Anyone who does not do so and rejects God's Son will be cast out of the vineyard, cast out of God's presence for their unfruitfulness and their unwillingness to submit to him. You know, while I was studying this passage, I was greatly impacted. I was greatly moved by the owner's patience toward these men. How would all of us respond in our human nature? You know, after the first servant comes back, you know, bloody, beaten, and empty-handed, how would we respond? I know I would want to get all my guys together, go to the vineyard, and just get what was owed to me and punish those who made me look like a fool. That's not what he does, is it? The owner of the vineyard shows these sinful tenants great mercy and and compassion by sending servant after servant after servant to collect what was owed to him.
14:07-14:25
The owner's compassion may seem foolish and naive to us, but doesn't his behavior reflect how God relentlessly pursues us as sinners every single day? We constantly rebel, reject, and sin against God. He patiently pursues us and lovingly calls us back into relationship with him.
14:26-14:41
Like the tenants in the story, we so often believe that all the gifts that God has entrusted to us are to do with as we please. We owe God nothing. He has given us life, He has given us breath, He has given us all that we have. Who does God think He is to demand anything from me?
14:42-15:09
This is my life, this is my finances, this is my family. You know, a lot of us in this room would say, "I would never say that." Yes, how often do we live like that? Instead of humbly serving God in his church, our time, our talents, our treasures, our finances, we focus upon ourselves and lose sight of what is truly important. We reject God's plans for our lives and instead live however we want to live.
15:12-15:28
You know, for years and years I rebelled against God in high school. I lived how I wanted to live. I constantly pushed down the conviction I felt over my sin. Every I would lay my head down on my, lay my head to my pillow, and the busyness of the day would end.
15:29-15:33
And all these conviction, all these feelings of guilt would just fill my mind.
15:33-15:38
And some nights it got so intense that I would have to put on an audio book or music just to drown that out.
15:38-15:50
I was stubborn, I didn't want to change, and this self-hatred took itself out at school where I would belittle those who were weaker than me and make fun of people who were really, truly hurting behind closed doors so I can get a laugh from my friends.
15:50-15:57
You know, my friends thought I was hilarious, I was a quick-witted guy who can always make fun somebody really fast, but on the inside I was miserable.
15:58-16:03
You know, after years and years of patient waiting and calling, God finally got my attention.
16:04-16:10
I was able to, with His grace, with His help, I was able to rid myself of several consistent routine sins in my life.
16:12-16:24
You know, I really am a living testament to the faithful and relentless pursuit of a loving father for his lost child as he gave and continues to give me chance after chance after chance.
16:25-16:34
It really is true, brothers and sisters, as Paul says in Romans, that it is the kindness of God that is meant to lead us to repentance, that is meant to lead us to turn from our sin and trust in Christ.
16:36-16:45
While this parable shows the amazing patience and long-suffering of God, it also demonstrates his anger and his wrath toward human rebellion and sin.
16:45-16:54
So for those of you who do not know Christ in this room today, do not test his patience any longer by continuing to walk in sin and failing to trust in Christ.
16:55-17:02
But the tenets and the story of God's wrath and judgment is coming for those who reject him and fail to give him what he is due.
17:04-17:10
Don't live one more day in rebellion against a merciful God who offers us a chance to repent every single day.
17:12-17:18
For Christians in this room today, God has saved you, He has forgiven you, He has given you new life.
17:19-17:27
Please don't abuse the grace of God any longer by continuing to walk in that consistent and unrepentant sin you're living in, whatever that may be.
17:28-17:33
Maybe some of you in this room today are harboring a secret sexual sin that you don't want anybody to know about and you're ashamed.
17:33-17:43
If anybody found out, you'd be completely ashamed for the rest of your life, but today Today is a day to confess that to someone, to repent of it, and seek healing from family and from friends.
17:44-17:46
Maybe for some of you, you've been hoarding your resources.
17:48-17:50
You're failing to steward the money that God has given you.
17:50-17:53
Don't wait another day to be faithful.
17:53-17:54
Don't wait another day to give.
17:55-17:56
Don't make another excuse.
17:56-18:01
Please just give generously to the church today or help that person that God has brought across your path.
18:02-18:04
And maybe for some of you, it's your marriage.
18:05-18:08
Maybe you've been living in bitterness and anger for years and that person's wrong.
18:08-18:10
I'm not, I'm right.
18:10-18:11
They've been wronging me.
18:11-18:12
I don't want to change.
18:13-18:15
Please stay just release that bitterness.
18:16-18:18
Repent to God and say, "What have I done wrong?
18:18-18:28
Own what you have done wrong." Whatever your situation or sin pattern is, don't wait another day to repent and turn back to God.
18:29-18:31
Because God has forgiven us.
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He set us free.
18:32-18:39
He's assigned to us certain gifts, talents, and resources to use for His kingdom, for His glory, and for other people's good.
18:41-18:44
Don't waste the resources and salvation that God has given you.
18:44-18:48
Do not keep refusing to give the Lord what He has owed.
18:49-18:54
First we talked about Jesus' story, which shows us that fruitlessness leads to destruction.
18:55-19:02
And secondly, we're going to talk about God's plan in this parable, God's plan in the story, that rejection leads to exaltation.
19:04-19:07
We see in verse 10, Jesus says, have you not read this scripture?
19:08-19:10
The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.
19:11-19:12
This was the Lord's doing.
19:12-19:13
It is marvelous in our eyes.
19:15-19:16
This passage is kind of strange.
19:16-19:19
Jesus says a complete 180 and he's just like, I'm gonna talk about a vineyard.
19:19-19:21
No, wait, I'm gonna talk about a building and a bunch of stones.
19:21-19:22
That's okay, I'll follow you.
19:23-19:31
But Jesus quickly changes metaphors and he goes on to quote from the same Psalm The crowd shouted upon his entrance into Jerusalem.
19:32-19:32
Psalm 118.
19:34-19:39
Those who were listening to the parable would automatically picture the temple, the religious center of worship in that time.
19:40-19:45
As Psalm 118 details, people going up in the temple to worship God where his presence dwelled.
19:46-19:55
And amazingly, while standing in the temple, Jesus declares to the religious leaders that a new structure, a new temple is gonna be built and he will be the central point of it.
19:56-20:01
Yet again, this doesn't really impact us as 21st century hearers, and this doesn't really mean a lot to us.
20:02-20:10
But this would have shocked his listeners and greatly angered the religious leaders, because as we saw before, they were using the temple for their own selfish gain.
20:12-20:19
Jesus states that through his rejection by the religious leaders, he will become the cornerstone of this new temple or this new building.
20:20-20:23
So in all honesty, we're in church today, who really knows what a cornerstone is?
20:23-20:24
Like, raise your hand.
20:24-20:25
I know exactly what you're talking about.
20:26-20:27
Okay, thank you for your honesty.
20:28-20:40
Now, for the rest of us who are really honest, who says, "I kind of know what you're talking about, but not really, like I kind of understand the concept." Yeah, 'cause I was pretty fuzzy on this too, I really didn't truly 100% understand what he was talking about.
20:40-20:41
So I brought pictures.
20:41-20:45
So, first and foremost, we can get the first picture on there.
20:46-20:55
Okay, so some people believe that this cornerstone is talking about the keystone or capstone in an arch, whereas other people think it means the large stone at the corner of the building's foundation.
20:56-20:56
So that'd be the next picture.
20:57-21:02
So for the corner of the foundation, every single stone is built in reference to that stone.
21:03-21:10
So if that is laid down improperly, the structural integrity of the building is in question, and it could just completely fall apart.
21:12-21:17
So where this passage is pointing to a cornerstone or a keystone, the meaning remains the same.
21:18-21:27
Jesus is boldly stating that he is the most essential piece to the plans of God, and without him, this new temple, this new building will fall apart.
21:28-21:29
I know this is a lot, but please stick with me.
21:30-21:39
Jesus is shockingly telling these religious leaders that their center of worship, where they believe God's presence dwelled, will be completely destroyed and rendered useless.
21:40-21:47
He's saying that through his rejection, crucifixion, and resurrection, he would build up a new temple, his church.
21:48-21:55
No longer would people have to make a journey to the temple to worship their God, but he would finally dwell in their hearts and be with them always.
21:56-22:02
Through Jesus, God was building up a new kingdom and a greater way to experience relationship with him.
22:03-22:07
Here it talks about this in 1 Peter 2, 4 and 5.
22:08-22:14
He writes, "As you come to him, Jesus, a living stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious.
22:16-22:24
You yourselves, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.
22:25-22:32
So we as Christians are being built up upon Christ the cornerstone to build up a new temple where God will dwell with us always.
22:32-22:36
He wants to do life with us and empower us for ministry.
22:37-22:38
Such a beautiful and amazing picture.
22:40-22:42
But the religious leaders wanted nothing to do with this.
22:43-22:53
Because Jesus' building plans drastically differed from their own blueprints of arrogance and pride and self-centeredness, and Jesus found no place in their building plans.
22:53-22:58
They went to whatever, they went to the most evil of extremes to cast him aside.
22:59-23:08
And it's kind of funny, ironically by trying to cast Jesus aside, they actually secured his place as the cornerstone, as the foundation in God's new building plan.
23:09-23:29
By attempting to craft their own building of arrogance and pride, they unintentionally helped Christ accomplish his plan of redemption because their rejection of Jesus was essential to the Father's plan to exalt Him and make Him Lord, King, Christ, and Savior, because this plan could not be accomplished apart from the rejection and murder of Jesus Christ.
23:30-23:35
As we see in verse 11, this rejection, Jesus says, this was the Lord's doing.
23:36-23:51
So unlike the parable where the owner of the vineyard didn't intend or in his wildest dreams expect that his son would be murdered, God the Father sent his Son into the world for the sole purpose of being rejected and murdered, salvation could be possible and the church could be built up.
23:53-24:01
A couple hundred years before, Isaiah prophesies of the Messiah's death and declares that it was the will of the Lord, it was the will of the Father to crush him.
24:03-24:07
And Jesus says in the Gospel of John, "I lay down my life and I may take it up again.
24:07-24:14
"No one takes it from me." So Jesus wasn't murdered by accident, wasn't unintended on his behalf.
24:14-24:18
He wasn't yet another young brilliant mind who was killed before his time.
24:18-24:21
His death was purposeful and planned by the Father.
24:21-24:27
Jesus actively pursued rejection for our sake and for the glory of his Father.
24:29-24:35
Going back to what I was talking about, being in the message, all of us in this room today, we do whatever we can to avoid rejection at all costs.
24:36-24:46
But if Jesus, our Lord, our example, as we've seen now, our cornerstone and foundation, If he was hated and rejected, why would we expect to be treated well by others?
24:47-24:56
I dare you to find one passage in the Gospels where Jesus promises his disciples that they will enjoy a life of ease, where they'll enjoy the praise and acceptance of others.
24:56-25:00
I dare you to find that because I've been looking for it for a long time and I can't find it.
25:01-25:05
But Jesus says later on in the Gospel of John, "A servant is no greater than his master.
25:05-25:22
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you." If you think about it logically, we serve a Savior who is hated, he had the flesh ripped from his body and he had three nails driven into his hands and into his feet, yet we expect the world to love us and think we're great.
25:23-25:31
I just think it's so funny that we think, we're almost surprised when people don't like us, we're surprised when the news casts us as the villains in the story, because you know what?
25:31-25:32
People don't like being told that they're sinful.
25:33-25:37
People don't like being told that they're broken and need Jesus' help and need His mercy and need His forgiveness.
25:38-25:39
People don't like that.
25:40-25:43
But they're going to do whatever they can to suppress the truth that we're proclaiming.
25:46-25:48
You know, I used to work as a debt collector.
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People are already laughing, but as I can't even begin to describe to you the ridicule and the rejection I face on a daily basis, if you don't really believe that people are sinful and messed up, work at a debt collection call center, and you'll see what people are really like when you tell them, "Hey, you owe money." People will just transform right in front of you.
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who had the nicest old woman transform into a monster on the phone.
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I mean, I was cussed out like 10 times a shift.
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I was called names I didn't even know existed, like, "Oh, wow, that's a new one." And to be honest, you know, some nights the rejection really got to me, got under my skin, and it became a heavy burden to go to work.
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I knew every single call would be hostile.
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And there's one call, this guy was like, "Do you know who I am?" I'm like, "No." He says, "I'm a lawyer, and I'm going to ruin your life.
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I'm going to take every cent you have." "Okay, well all you know is my name is Taylor, so I don't really know how you're gonna do that, but okay." But that still does hurt though.
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You notice every single call is gonna be hostile, and people are gonna hate you, they don't even know you.
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But I remember one day I had to come to terms with the fact that people weren't really rejecting me.
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Not really, they weren't rejecting me as Taylor the person.
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They were rejecting the company I represented and the message I was delivering to them.
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So when people reject us in this life because of our faith, They're not really rejecting us as people.
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They're not really rejecting us as human beings.
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They're rejecting us, they're rejecting the Lord that we serve and the message that we are proclaiming.
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Even if and when our coworkers, our friends, and maybe even our family reject us because of our faith, we can take hope in the reality that Jesus faced the ultimate rejection so we could be accepted into the family of God.
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Next time someone belittles you or mocks you, he maybe even harms you for your faith, your Christ-like behavior, just remind yourself, Jesus was rejected so I could be accepted.
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Jesus was cast aside so I could be drawn in to a relationship with the Father.
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Jesus was killed so I could have true and everlasting life.
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Knowing and trusting and living in light of this reality will free us from the opinion of others which so constantly enslaves every single one of us.
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This will empower us to be bold in our witnessing.
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It'll empower us to be courageous in our evangelism 'cause no matter what, that person rejects us.
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God loves us.
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God accepts us.
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So first we talked about Jesus' story that fruitlessness leads to destruction.
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Then we talked about God's plan in the story, God's plan in the parable, that rejection leads to exaltation.
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I'm gonna close out the sermon.
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we're going to talk about the audience's reaction to the story, which shows us that hard-heartedness leads to rebellion.
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I don't know if you noticed, but Jesus wasn't exactly subtle in this message.
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It was very obvious to the religious leaders that he had cast them as the wicked tents in the story, and he had spoken the parable against them.
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We see in verse 12, "And they, the religious leaders, were seeking to arrest him, but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them, So they left him and went away.
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Instead of allowing conviction to settle in their hearts and respond with humble repentance, they shut off their hearts from Jesus, they held him at arm's length, and they grew very bitter towards him.
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They desperately wanted to shut him up and throw him in a jail cell.
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They knew that if they did so, they'd have a ride on their hands 'cause the crowd at that time couldn't have enough of Jesus.
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You know, as I was studying this passage and meditating upon the religious leader's dismissal of Jesus, I couldn't help but think about my high school graduation.
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And just to be transparent with you, I was a very socially awkward teenager.
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And some of you think you still are, but even more so, 10 times more.
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And I used to always find myself in the most embarrassing public situations.
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I feel like I still do.
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I'm always like, why does this always happen to me?
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But my graduation proved to be no different.
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Now I went to a small Christian high school and there was 18 of us graduating and seven of us went to the same college together.
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So any small little mistake will be seen and scrutinized and mocked and remembered for years to come.
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We had about 200 people in the auditorium and we even had a stealer named Daniel Sepulveda.
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I don't know if you remember him.
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He played for the Steelers and we had him come and speak.
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So we actually had a practice the day before and to tell you how small our school was, we actually sat in folding chairs on the front of the auditorium, on the front stage they built.
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It was that small.
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18 of us in about three rows.
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We practiced the day before and we're supposed to sit there, and then we have to call our names, just to walk across the stage, go over to our principal, shake his hand, grab the diploma, smile for the camera, turn to the commencement speaker, shake his hand, and finally turn to our school president and shake his hand.
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Then I go back to my seat, I sit down.
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It's pretty simple, right?
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Well, it proved to be very challenging for me, apparently.
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So I'm sitting there, I'm so excited, I just want to get out of there, get out into the real world and I hear my name called. I stand up, go to my principal, grab the diploma, shake his hand, smile for the camera, turn to our school president, shake his hand, go back to my seat. And I'm going back to my seat, I see my friends laughing hysterically and I'm like, "No, please, what did I do?
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Not again. Why today?" And my friend, my one friend leaned in and said, "Bro, you stiff Sepulveda." And my heart, like, my heart just stops as I realized I had forgotten gotten to shake our commencement speaker's hand, I had stiffed a player from the Steelers.
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And that's like the worst thing you can commit living in Pittsburgh, right?
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You know, my friends still make fun of me, and it got worse a couple weeks later.
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We were at my friend's house, and we watched the replay video, and you actually see him, like, he's like right here, and he's just like super happy, and he's holding out his hand, and I'm just like this.
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Go to the third guy and just walk back.
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I just completely blow past him and ignore him.
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You're thinking, "Taylor, this is a funny story, but why are you telling us this?" On a much greater way, how often do we just completely ignore and blow past Jesus, Lord of all, when he offers us his loving embrace and his forgiveness? He reaches out his hand to us and we just completely ignore him and blow past him and go about our daily lives. You, some of you in this room today, like the religious leaders in this story are ignoring or trying to ignore the conviction you you feel over your sin, you've completely sidestepped Jesus.
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Some of you may blatantly say you're not a Christian, you don't believe in Jesus.
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Others might say, you know what?
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I've known Jesus my whole life.
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I read my Bible, I do good things.
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I go to small group.
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But your heart is hardened.
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Your heart is closed off from Jesus.
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In all these years, you've been trusting in yourself and your own works and what you do.
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And you try to add Jesus onto your life instead of making him the foundation that it's built upon.
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You kept him at arm's length and never trusted him as your savior and as your Lord.
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Please don't go another day without turning to Jesus for salvation and restoration today, because we don't know if we get tomorrow.
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Maybe some of you in this room are realizing that this parable is spoken against you.
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You read the Bible and heard many gospel presentations, and you've shut off your heart from Jesus and deemed him as unimportant to your life.
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Even now as I'm preaching this sermon, you're going angry and resentful towards me.
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And you're doing whatever you can to push down that conviction that you feel.
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And you're not going to listen.
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You don't know what you're talking about.
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But I beg you today, don't make the horrendous mistake that the religious leaders made in this story.
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Not harden your heart against Jesus and reject him as they did.
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Because the Bible says, today if you hear his voice, not harden your heart.
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Please turn to Jesus, the one who was rejected, so you could be accepted into the family of God.
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So in conclusion, the question that this text asks each and every one of us in this room today is simply this, is Jesus the foundation and center of my life, or isn't he?
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It's really that simple.
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Other religious leaders have you cast Jesus aside and deemed him as not useful to your life and try to add him onto your own building project, whatever that may look like for you.
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Or have you made him the foundation that your life is built upon, that your life is all about Jesus and for Jesus?
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A lot of people claim in this country and in the church they believe in Jesus, but they attempt to add him onto their lives, which are centered upon themselves, other people, and the things of this world.
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But Jesus is Lord.
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Jesus is the cornerstone who demands to be the center of our lives, and he refuses to be an extra addition to or an extra room in our own building project.
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He demands to be the foundation.
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It's only Christ, the foundation and cornerstone, can handle the weight of our lives, our expectations, our trials, and all that we go through on a daily basis.
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Everything else will crack under the immense pressure.
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Please don't leave this room today thinking about this message or asking yourself simple question, is Jesus the foundation of my life? And if he isn't, what is?
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I promise you this, if I know anything in this life, whatever that thing is, that person, that job, that money that you have, it will fail you. Because Christ is the only sturdy foundation for our lives to be set upon. Please do not reject him today. Please do not blow past him or ignore him. Place your faith and trust in him and make him your foundation.
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Let's pray.
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Dear Lord, thank you so much for all that you've done in our lives today.
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I pray that this message wouldn't stay in this room, but it would impact lives and transform hearts, Lord.
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I thank you that it's not my job to convince, it's not my job to convict, it's not my job to transform.
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I thank you that your Holy Spirit does that.
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Lord, I know that there must be people in room this size who do not truly know you.
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I pray that your Holy Spirit would be moving and working in their lives and opening them up to the gospel and I trust in your Holy Spirit for that.
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I pray for Christians in this room today who have been living in sin and not living for you and they're living in shame right now, God.
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I pray that they would come back to you today, Lord.
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They would turn from their sin and turn to Jesus.
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I pray that every single one of us would take a personal inventory today and ask ourselves, is Jesus really the foundation of my life?
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And if he isn't, we would take steps by your grace to make sure you are.
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Thank you for your grace.
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I thank you for your mercy.
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I thank you that you pursue us even when we've rejected you.
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In the name of Jesus, amen.
Small Group Questions (Whole Group):
Read Mark 12:1-12
Like the wicked tenants in the story, why do we so often hoard the resources God has given to us and live as if we don’t owe God anything? Discuss some steps that you as a small group can take to be more faithful stewards of your time, talents, and resources on a daily basis.
Why do we live in fear of rejection so much as Christians? What are some ways you can begin to experience freedom from the enslavement of other people’s opinions of you?
Is Jesus the foundation of your family, your career, and every other aspect of your life? If Jesus isn’t your foundation then was has taken His place as the central point of your life?
Breakout Questions:
Pray that Jesus would be the foundation your lives are built upon.