When we understand it, one of Jesus’ stories becomes the saddest of all the others. It is the story of the wicked tenants found in Matthew 21. It is a story of unreturned love. Is anything sadder? A young lady “falls in love” with a young man. She bats her eyes; she smiles; she flirts; she sends notes and small gifts. And the dude remains oblivious or worse yet, purposefully ignores or shuns her “love.” That’s one of those “heart-stompin'” moments. When we see others going through it our heart goes out to them. We want to rescue them, do something to make them feel better, to let them know that someone, somewhere cares.

But isn’t that what we do to God? In the story that Jesus told, the landowner (God) takes a trip and leaves his tenants in charge of the vineyard. At harvest, he sent servants to the tenants to college his share of the produce, but the tenants mistreated the servants. So, he sent even more, but these were treated the same way. Finally, he sent his son, but they grabbed him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

Now, of course, Jesus told this story in the heat of His confrontations with the religious establishment in Jerusalem. We, the readers, are meant to see the extra-ordinary means to which God has gone to reach humanity, and specifically, the religious leaders and how, at each step of the way, God’s love and grace has been ignored or shunned.

It’s hard loving someone who doesn’t love you or who doesn’t love you the way you love them. That’s when love hurts! And yet, this is the way God must feel every day. John records Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, the Pharisee, in which Jesus said: “God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son.” Jesus is God’s gift of love to the world and yet, 2/3 of this world doesn’t know Him and among the 1/3 that does “know” Him only a small remnant can be counted among the faithful. But have you noticed something? Even though some don’t love Him and none of us love Him as we ought, He doesn’t stop loving! God love because God is love … But O how that love must hurt at times!

That’s the kind of love God expects from us.  Love that risks the pain of rejection.  Though we’re not loved, though we’re shunned, ignored, mistreated, God asks us to love.  For through our love, people come to know what God’s love is really like … even if it hurts at times!