In this case the rent is being paid in the form of produce from the vineyard. The owner is acting in an entirely reasonable way.
Men hear that God is their judge, but they do not take it seriously. Life goes on, and nothing much changes. God is apparently absent from his world, and he does not really seem to care about how people live. Terrible things go on in the world and there is no immediate judgment that we can see. We know that we personally have disobeyed his commandments and nothing seems to come of it. Does God care? Does he have the power to judge? The world says, ‘No. He is not concerned with how individual men and women behave, so we will take a chance and do what we like. We are probably never going to be called to account.’ We come out in our true colours; we are self-centred; ready to take what is not ours; and unwilling to recognise that God gave us our lives, our world, and many other good gifts for which we owe him our thanks.