Introduction

In Matthew 21.33-41 we hear the story of a vineyard owner robbed of his harvest – and his son – by the tenants to whom he had entrusted the stewardship of his land, who greedily decide to keep all the produce for themselves.

Injustice, betrayals of trust and greedy consumption are ever present in the world, and this week we see examples in everything from the corporate tax affairs of multinational companies, to the way human consumption is affecting wildlife, and the broken promises that have driven thousands of Hong Kong citizens to the streets in protest.

Context and Reflection

Cheated. That’s how you’d feel. You’ve prepared your vineyard and leased it to tenants to farm while you’re away, but they won’t pay up when you try to collect your dues. They forget their promises and act as if they own the place (Matthew 21.33-41). They’ve been bad stewards – the worst, given what they’d done to your messengers and your son – and have betrayed your trust in their greed. Justice will need to be done.

Cheated is also how many UK citizens feel with regard to the way a number of big corporates have been managing their tax affairs, profiting from customers in their country but failing to pay back into the system in the way one might expect. In past years we’ve seen a UK boycott against Starbucks on the issue, and Google labelled as “devious” by the UK’s Public Accounts Committee. This week, the papers have reported that ebay has been channelling UK-earned profits – albeit legally – through Luxembourg and Switzerland to reduce its tax bill.

Meanwhile, the European Commission, currently investigating tax policies in Ireland, the Netherlands and Luxembourg with regard to such issues, has claimed that tax deals it believes were struck by Apple in Ireland may – in the BBC’s phrase – “amount to illegal state aid”.

Justice, however, may be on its way, through both the EU investigation and the potential closure of some legal loopholes, as promised by chancellor George Osborne at the recent Tory party conference, because: “If you abuse our tax system, you abuse the trust of the British people.”

Also in the news this week

• In Hong Kong, mass protests have taken place on the streets, as people respond to what they believe are broken promises about the level of democratic freedoms that they can enjoy, at least for the first 50 years after the 1997 handover of the former colony from Britain to China. The protestors do not feel that China is proving a good steward of their hopes.
• Wildlife populations around the world have halved in 40 years according to the Living Planet Index by ZSL and the WWF, as reported on Tuesday by media outlets including the BBC. The blame is largely apportioned to human consumption: we are cutting down trees, harvesting fish, and pumping off water faster than nature can rebuild its supplies. We don’t appear to be good stewards of the earth’s natural resources.

When we are trusted with something – whether it be a vineyard, the opportunity to run a business and make profit within a country, or the natural world around us – that trust is given to us with the assumption that we will behave fairly, justly and responsibly in return (“…he expected justice…”, Isaiah 5.7).
 
It can be hard to remember that what we have in our care and stewardship is not necessarily ours to keep. But there is encouragement in Philippians 3.4b-14, which reminds us that in Christ earthly things are “rubbish” by comparison with the “prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” that lies ahead of us.

As “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3.20), we must work towards becoming “a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom” (Matthew 21.43), fruits of justice and righteousness (Isaiah 5.7). And we do this not alone, but in “Christ Jesus,” who “has made me his own” (Philippians 3.12-13).

Prayer

Lord of the harvest,
Thank you for the times when you have planted seeds of your Spirit in our hearts;
given us the water of life to drink, renewing our strength;
stood as our watchtower to protect us from harm.

Forgive us for the times that we have failed to weed out our bad habits;
been dismissive of how you have nurtured us;
refused to be fruitful and to do your will.

Help us to return to you.
Let your face shine upon us that we might bear for you the fruits of justice and righteousness,
sharing the harvest with all your people.

In the name of your Son,
Amen

Questions

• If “our citizenship is in heaven”, what ‘taxes’ might we owe to God?
• What fruits of the kingdom are we called to produce? (Isaiah 5.7 mentions justice and righteousness and Galatians 5.22-23 also provides a list, but try to think practically,too.

  If you have time, lead up to these question with the following discussion points:

• What are taxes for and why do we and companies have to pay them? Is taxation (at least in principle) fair? Does it help to see that a certain level might be fair if we try to think of the things taxation pays for – for example, the NHS, benefits, education? Is it morally wrong – if legal – to take elaborate measures to pay as little as possible, as some of the big corporates have been accused of doing?

  Next, try to relate some of the feelings and opinions that come out of discussion to the parable, where appropriate:

• Why should the tenants have given the harvest to the landowner? And why might they not have felt like it? (They’d been on the land while the owner was away, perhaps they started to feel like their own caretaking work meant they were entitled to everything, forgetting that they had not bought and planted the land in the first place, and hadn’t dug the press or built the tower; just as we might sometimes forget what we’ve had from our government when we see the tax taken off our pay.) The Pharisees, we are told, realised that the parables were about them – they had tried to take the kingdom for themselves. Do we in our churches today perhaps at times risk having the kingdom taken from us by failing to remember its owner, our God? How well do we as individuals and as a body, feel that we are becoming “a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom”?

Action

Fighting injustice: Starbucks eventually moved its European headquarters from the Netherlands to London in response to pressure from the tax-related boycott in the UK. Although the moral issues around global business finance are complex, leaving many questions still to answer, the move does show that public pressure can sometimes move even a mountainous multinational. If you feel strongly about an issue of injustice, do you actually take action, like the protesters in Hong Kong or those who boycotted Starbucks? Think about an injustice that particularly concerns you – it doesn’t have to be tax – and try to take one action in the weeks ahead. That could be writing a letter to your MP, as an individual or as a group together (perhaps more effective now then ever as we approach the election next year, given you can remind them that you have a vote and are choosing how to use it); praying each day for God’s justice to come on the issue; signing a petition; finding out more about the issue by spending time on research, so that you can spread the word accurately to others; changing where you shop and what for; getting involved with a campaign group; or even joining a rally or protest march.

Young People

The questions above should also work with young people, although you may need to provide some further background to support their discussion. Most young people in the UK under the age of 16 don’t work – or if they do, don’t earn above their personal income tax threshold – and so don’t pay taxes. But one day they will, so it’s a good idea to start learning and exploring what it all means. Find out how much your group know about taxes and National Insurance and what they think of having to pay the government out of their future earnings and then move on to the discussion questions above. Do some research yourself in advance if you’re unsure of the rules and amounts so that you can correct any misunderstandings. HMRC has an educational website aimed at young people aged 11-19.

Rebecca Froley was the launch web editor of www.rootsontheweb.com and is currently working as a freelance web editor and project manager while looking for her next permanent role.