The Owner of the Vineyard
The Owner of the Vineyard
Our good God compared His Church to a vineyard, and the shepherds to its vinedressers, while the Scripture calls Him “the owner of the vineyard” (Luke 20:15).
Thus, the Holy Church belongs to God Himself—He is its owner. It does not belong to this or that shepherd; it is the Church of Christ.
The shepherds are merely stewards, acting on behalf of the Owner of the vineyard. They are to manage it according to His will, not their own.
Their authority is not absolute, but limited to what the Owner has commanded through His holy laws and the canons set by His apostles and saints.
Pity the shepherd who imagines himself to be the owner of the vineyard—acting according to his own desires: appointing whom he wills, removing whom he wills, forbidding whom he wills, not according to the law or Scripture, but simply because he has decided so.
When a bishop appoints someone, he is bound by the Scriptures and the canons of the Church regarding the qualities of the person and the proper way of appointment. As a steward, he must carry out the instructions of the Owner. And when he judges anyone, he must do so within the limits permitted by the Owner of the vineyard—otherwise, as the Apostolic Canons declare, the judgment he pronounces will turn against himself.
When the Owner entrusted him with stewardship, it was not to grant him a position of honor, but so that he might care for and labor for the vineyard.
Thus the Lord said:
“Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes!” (Luke 12:42–43).
He was made a steward to care, labor, and watch day and night, bearing the cross at all times, “to give them their food in due season.” He is a shepherd to serve the people, not to be served by them.
So labored the apostles in ministry. And St. Paul said:
“If a man desires the office of a bishop, he desires a good work” (1 Tim. 3:1)—
that is, if he desires to toil for God, to endure and to give himself for others.
But if he uses his authority to oppress others, to dominate and humiliate, then he becomes like the servant of whom the Lord said:
“If that servant says in his heart, ‘My master delays his coming,’ and begins to beat the menservants and maidservants…”
What did the Lord say of such a steward?
A fearful saying—one writes it with trembling:
“The master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.” (Luke 12:46).
Because of the importance of this parable, the Church placed it in the Agpeya, to be prayed in the third watch of the Midnight Prayer, that we may remember—and fear.
Wretched is the shepherd who thinks the Owner of the vineyard “delays His coming.”
He is ever-present, seeing all, watching all. He is the Almighty.
If He delays toward the vinedressers, it is only to give them time to repent and correct their ways, not to live carelessly and without concern.
Otherwise, what does the Scripture say of those who acted as though they were the owners—who beat some of His servants, insulted others, sent some away empty, cast others out, and killed others?
Yes, what did the Scripture say?
“He will come and destroy those vinedressers, and give the vineyard to others” (Luke 20:16).
And the Lord said:
“The kingdom of heaven will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it” (Matt. 21:43).
How dreadful are these words!
May everyone who hears them awake, and fill his lamp with oil before the Bridegroom comes.
May everyone who hears them make friends through the unrighteous mammon before the Lord says, “You may no longer be steward.”
Let us be sure of this: we are not the owners of the vineyard.
The Owner of the vineyard is God.
Article by His Grace Bishop Shenouda, Bishop of Education
“The Owner of the Vineyard,” El-Keraza Magazine, Year 2, Issue 6, August 1966
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