There will NOT be a service tomorrow
at First Lutheran Port Colborne.
St. Matthews in Welland will be celebrating 150 years that day with a special celebration. The service will begin at 11:00. All are invited to attend. Please register ahead of time, as space is limited.
This Worship Service was taped at St. Matthews Church in Welland.
Almighty and eternal God, you show perpetual lovingkindness to us your servants.
Because we cannot rely on our own abilities, grant us your merciful judgment, and
train us to embody the generosity of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
Amen.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who
went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing
with the labourers for a denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3
When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the
marketplace, 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay
you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and
about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and
found others standing around, and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle
all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You
also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to
his manager, ‘Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last
and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of
them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would
receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And when they
received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked
only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of
the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am
doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what
belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you
envious because I am generous?’ 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be
last.”
“Good stuff that doesn’t always find its way into a sermon”
Recently we’ve been offering some reflections or insights that are helpful yet not
always connected to “where the sermon is going” on a particular week. Today’s
parable of the householder contains nuggets that might not get smelted into the
homily yet are good to pay attention to.
What’s life in God’s commonwealth (kingdom) like? We start with day labourers.
Social science experts point to the system of honour and shame as having a feature
where people are approached and asked to work rather than someone of “lower
station” approaching someone in a higher social class to ask for work (Malina and
Rohrbaugh Social Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels: 2003 Fortress
Press, Minneapolis).
Day labourers were people without land, or homes with extended families. Day
labourers were at the bottom of the social ladder. Now consider those day
labourers who wait all day to be recruited to work—lower than low! It’s important
to note here that there’s no evidence the eleventh hour workers are lazy—but for
some reason they aren’t the first chosen—age? disability? not from ‘around here’?
unskilled?
The crux of the parable is how the householder treats the labourers. Social norms
are adhered to when the householder approaches groups of people and they agree
on terms for the workday. Seems fair.
The scandal of the parable comes when EVERYBODY gets equal treatment at the
end of the day regardless of when they were recruited and how long they worked.
Even day labourers know the system has tilted in some weird way. I think a
fruitful spot to dwell and preach upon is that the realm of God puts everyone on
equal footing—all are created in God’s image and are worthy of dignity and
deserve a share of God’s abundance to meet their daily needs. For me, “heaven on
earth” would be such provision for everyone without the grumbling from those
who think they deserve better or more than their neighbour.
The householder asks those grumbling (the word choice is intentional and harks to
Israel’s children wandering in the desert, grumbling when water or food aren’t
plentiful) if “their eye is evil” because of his generosity.
The evil eye… Many cultures recognize the human gaze as potentially greedy—
they eye as a window to the soul evidently takes in the world as much as it
expresses one’s state of being. So ogling over shiny objects leads to desire and if
the evil eye has its way, we scheme to take what is not ours and keep it for
ourselves. Entire social and theological points of view are built around the idea
that human suffering comes from the greed and scheming we do to get what others
have (a google search of Girardism and memetic theory will lead to a lifetime of
reading).
Pitfalls in interpreting the parable: Way back, preachers and teachers used to tell
us the rich tend to “spiritualize the material in life” and the poor tend to
“materialize the spiritual in life”. It’s not simple as that, really but for us to regard
the parable as an allegory or as only a metaphor for God’s goodness leads to
ignoring those who hunger and lack what they need for daily living.
Further down the path of misinterpretation is actual heresy (false teaching)—Some
preachers even now have somehow gotten it into their noggins that Jesus came to
replace Judaism with another religion or church. Wrong. Jesus did say he came to
bring abundant life and his teaching is often a corrective designed to bring love and
humanity back into religion (which we humans often turn into some form of self
justification and control over others). The misinterpretation also seems to define
the kingdom of God in ways outside of Jesus’ parables or sermons.
Things I’m thinking about
Squeamishness and some snarky rhetoric pops up whenever we talk about
reparations for people harmed or about housing for everyone. The political
landscape is charged with such emotion about how resources are to be distributed.
Some would say less fortunate folk are just looking for a handout. Others (I among
them if you’re wondering) find the inequitable distribution of the world’s resources
more problematic. Even now as artificial intelligence becomes prominent how
many are asking questions beyond its inherent benefits or flaws; questions like
who ‘gets’ to control and decide how this new technology will be allocated and
used and for whose long term benefit? I think the parable gives us a glimpse into
the common good (and our frequent impulse to object to it when ‘the last become
first’)
There will NOT be a service at First Lutheran on September 27.
St. Matthews in Welland will be celebrating 150 years that day with a special celebration. The service will begin at 11:00. All are invited to attend. Please register ahead of time, as space is limited.
This Worship Service was taped at St. Matthews Church in Welland.
O Lord God, merciful judge, you are the inexhaustible fountain of forgiveness.
Replace our hearts of stone with hearts that love and adore you, that we may
delight in doing your will, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord. Amen.
21 Peter came and said to [Jesus,] “Lord, if my brother or sister sins against me,
how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “Not
seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 “For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who
wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began the reckoning, one
who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him, 25 and, as he could not
pay, the lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his
possessions and payment to be made. 26 So the slave fell on his knees before him,
saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ 27 And out of pity
for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that
same slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a
hundred denarii, and seizing him by the throat he said, ‘Pay what you owe.’ 29
Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me,
and I will pay you.’ 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until
he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they
were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken
place. 32 Then his lord summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked slave! I
forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had
mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his lord
handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my
heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother
or sister from your heart.”
If you think forgiving is costly and difficult, observe how today’s parable startles
(scandalizes)us into calculating how much more costly “unforgiveness” can be. If
we take the story seriously, vengeance and grudge-holding erode relationships and
community life now and the toxins therein follow us into the next life.Now we recall (as Father Robert Capon reminds us) the person telling the story—
Jesus— teaches about restoring relationships, going after lost sheep and at his own
execution prays that God will forgive his tormentors. For us personally and for the
church at large, Capon’s words about forgiveness put a very perplexing story into
perspective,
Forgiveness “is a gift to the totally incompetent, not a reward for the suitably
disposed” . Robert Capon, (1988) Parables of Grace. Eerdman’s Publishing page
40.
Remember Jesus saying that if someone won’t reconcile, let them be to you like an
outcast or tax collector? His words. If you didn’t know better you’d think he was
writing people off. But we do know what gets Jesus in the hottest water with the
religious authorities: befriend outcasts and tax collectors.
Perhaps that’s enough scandal for today….and may the confounding mercy of God
find you, bless you and empower you to be merciful when you can.
There will NOT be a service at First Lutheran on September 27.
St. Matthews in Welland will be celebrating 150 years that day with a special celebration. The service will begin at 11:00. All are invited to attend. Please register ahead of time, as space is limited.
This Worship Service was taped at St. Matthews Church in Welland.
O Lord God, enliven and preserve your church with your perpetual mercy. Without
your help, we mortals will fail; remove far from us everything that is harmful, and
lead us toward all that gives life and salvation, through Jesus Christ, our Saviour
and Lord. Amen.
[Jesus said to the disciples:] 15 “If your brother or sister sins against you, go and
point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If you are listened to, you have
regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to, take one or two others along
with you, so that every word may be confirmed by the evidence of two or three
witnesses. 17 If that person refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church, and if the
offender refuses to listen even to the church, let such a one be to you as a gentile
and a tax collector. 18 Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in
heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again, truly I
tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will be done for
you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, I
am there among them.”
There will NOT be a service at First Lutheran on September 27.
St. Matthews in Welland will be celebrating 150 years that day with a special celebration. The service will begin at 11:00. All are invited to attend. Please register ahead of time, as space is limited.
This Worship Service was taped at St. Matthews Church in Welland.