Once there was a man who owned a piece of property. He felt it would make a fine grape vineyard. So he planted a vineyard on the property and enclosed it with a wall. He wanted this to be a full-service operation, so within the wall he dug a winepress a vat where the grapes could be pressed and the juice extracted. And he built a watchtower to protect his vineyard because this was a lawless land and you never knew what vandals might do. Then, after making a sizeable investment in his vineyard, he rented it to some tenants and moved to another part of the country, feeling good about his investment.

When the harvest time approached, this man sent some of his associates to the vineyard to collect his produce. Now it’s always difficult to be an absentee landlord. Any of you who have rental pr…