Sixteenth after Pentecost

Gathered through the power of the Holy Spirit, we worship God with gladness. We encourage you to pray over the words that follow, and follow the links within the liturgy. Prayers in this service are adapted from Celebrate God’s Presence (UCPH). Thanks this week to Taye, Cor, and Heather!

PRELUDE: “Have Thine Own Way, Lord” (Stebbins)

OPENING PRAYER

Wondrous God:
you touch our lives with healing and with justice;
new life is your gift.
We praise you for the Good News
which is ours through Jesus Christ.
May this worship nourish us
with your promise of meaning and purpose.
May we be empowered to carry your goodness
into the coming week.
We pray in Jesus’ name, our Source and Saviour.

HYMN OF PRAISE: “Take time to be holy”

Take time to be holy, speak oft with your Lord;
abide in him always, and feed on his word.
Make friends of God’s children, help those who are weak,
forgetting in nothing his blessing to seek.

Take time to be holy, let him be your guide,
and run not before him, whatever betide.
In joy or in sorrow, still follow the Lord,
and, looking to Jesus, still trust in his word.

Take time to be holy, be calm in your soul,
each thought and each motive beneath his control.
Thus led by his spirit to fountains of love,
you soon shall be fitted for service above.

PRAYER OF CONFESSION

Almighty God,
to whom all hearts are open,
all desires, known,
and from whom no secrets are hid:
cleanse the thoughts of our hearts
by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit,
that we may perfectly love you,
and worthily magnify your holy name;
through Christ our Lord. Amen.

ASSURANCE OF PARDON

God will give us what we need:
strength for today,
hope for tomorrow,
and forgiveness
for all that is past.
Amen.

SPECIAL MUSIC: “All my hope is firmly grounded” (Green)

FIRST READING: Psalm 105

When Israel came to Egypt,
when Jacob settled in the land of Ham,
there you made your people fruitful,
stronger than their foes.
But when you turned their hearts to hate your people,
to deceitful dealing with your servants,
then you sent your servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom you had chosen.

You led Israel out, with spoil of silver and gold.
Among the tribes not one fell behind.
The Egyptians were glad when they went,
for dread of Israel had fallen upon them.
You spread cloud as a screen,
and fire as light by night.
The people asked, and you sent them quail;
you filled them with bread from heaven.
You opened a rock and water gushed out:
It flowed like a river through the arid land.

For you remembered the sacred promise
you made to Abraham and Sarah, your servants.
You led out your people rejoicing,
your chosen ones with songs of gladness.
You gave them the lands of nations;
they took possession where others had toiled,
that they might keep your laws
and obey your teachings.

SECOND READING: Matthew 20.1-16

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

3 “About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. 4 He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went.

“He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. 6 About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

7 “‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

“He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

9 “The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. 10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

13 “But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? 14 Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. 15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

HYMN: “When all your mercies”

When all your mercies, O my God,
my rising soul surveys,
transported with the view I’m lost
in wonder, love and praise.

Ten thousand thousand precious gifts
my daily thanks employ;
nor is the least a cheerful heart
that tastes those gifts with joy.

Through every period of my life
your goodness I’ll pursue;
and after death, in distant worlds
the glorious theme renew.

Through all eternity to you
a joyful song I’ll raise;
but oh! eternity’s too short
to utter all your praise.

REFLECTION

I’m certain my son is not reading this, so I’ll share a story.

The summer Isaac finished high school, he got a job with the school board doing some sort of data entry. Not a glamorous job, but one with decent pay and regular hours. The challenges began on day one: “Hey Isaac, you gotta get up, or you’re gonna be late!” He got up. Day two: “Hey Isaac, you gotta get up, or you’re gonna be late!” No response.

Now we’ve on the horns of a dilemma. Badger the boy until he gets up, which would undermine his new status as an adult, or let him sleep, and allow him to suffer the consequences of this choice. We chose the latter course, but this comes with it’s own cost: daily anxiety as his departure for work became later and later, and the constant fear that he would lose his job. Consequences are all fine and dandy, but what happens when the consequences actually appear?

Finally, we had enough. It wasn’t on the scale of an intervention, but we finally asked, “how is it that you manage to keep this job?”

“No problem,” he said, “they only pay me for the hours I’m there.”

In a weird inversion of the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard, Isaac was extended the grace of never losing his job, only losing the money that he was supposed to earn. I can report that a decade later my son has become very diligent, even hard-working, and now complains about the people who roll in after lunch.

So that’s the weird inversion, what’s the parable? A couple of things first. This is a parable, and not a true story. Parables are short fictional stories that are meant to teach us about the kingdom of God. They usually have a twist, or a situation that sours, until it is resolved in the kingdom way. And they usually involve something familiar, something we should understand or can experience firsthand. Second, this parable (and many of the others) are insider challenges, often directed at the disciples and those in the inner circle. If you are looking for meaning, the first question should be “how does this relate to what the twelve are doing?” Or maybe it’s a case of what they are not-doing. Either way, the twelve (and us, as the extension of the twelve) are the intended audience.

The parable begins by describing this transaction between day labourers and the vineyard owner. Come to work and earn the usual amount. Then the owner returns for additional workers, and sets the terms of employment: “You also go and work in my vineyard,” he says, “and I will pay you whatever is right.” See how the story-teller is setting this up. The hours pass, more workers are hired, and then still more, until we reach the end of the day. The owner tells the manager, “pay the last to arrive before you pay the first.” And to those who worked just an hour, he gave them the daily wage.

Here is where this little world sours. We’ll let Matthew finish the story:

10 So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. 12 ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

“You have made them equal to us…”

We were here first, we’ve worked the longest, and you have made them equal to us. The outrage! Of course, the vineyard owner makes the argument that he was only maintaining the contract set at the beginning of the day, but that won’t wash. The belief that a bonus should follow is hardwired, and even the most grace-filled person can see how this seems unfair. An entire day in the hot sun.

Tom Long tells the story of describing the jubilee year, the year the Israelites set aside for complete debt forgiveness, to a class full of conservative seminarians. These seminarians, looking for ways to interpret the Bible in the most literal way possible, were taken aback by this idea of universal debt-forgiveness. So they ask, “is there any evidence that this jubilee year ever occurred? It must be just a metaphor for forgiveness, right? Right?”

Walter Brueggemann, also quizzed on the topic of the jubilee year, and the historical record, said “the fact that the Israelites could imagine it makes it powerful. It makes it something for us to long for and perhaps strive for.”

I share this because the jubilee year is just another version of the Workers in the Vineyard. In the year of jubilee, debts were forgiven, land was returned to formerly indebted owners, and those in debt-slavery were freed. If you imagine society collapsing under the weight of all this forgiveness, then you’re likely being too modern in your thinking. Constant cycles of debt forgiveness would have a dampening effect on the amount of lending, reducing the likelihood of a 2008-style financial crisis. Still, forgiveness is forgiveness, and you can imagine the society-wide transformation that would follow such a change.

And this might be a place to think about the impact of our parable. If Bernie Sanders inspired a future president to forgive all student loans, what would be the reaction? If you had substantial loans, and were suddenly free of them, your life would be pretty sweet. If you just paid the last installment of your massive debt load, your reaction would be quite different. Or you paid off your loan years ago. Or you avoided college altogether because you didn’t want debt. Everyone will have a different take on forgiveness based on their experience. Meanwhile, Bernie would say “celebrate with them! This is the first generation of students who can begin their working lives without the burden of debt.” You have to say it with a Brooklyn accent to make it work.

So whether it’s working in the hot sun all day, or exiting the bank after your last payment, the generous news will be hard to swallow. Likewise, the disciples—leaving home and family, walking the road with Jesus, sharing the burden of teaching and healing, supporting the growing crowds, or just offering support to the son of the Most High—might be alarmed to learn that they might not spend eternity at the right hand of the throne of glory. Maybe that spot is reserved for a tax collector, or a thief, or a notorious persecutor. Maybe all the effort, saving souls in the hot sun all day long, makes you no more or no less than everyone else in the kingdom. How would you feel?

In many ways, this is a rubber-hits-the-road kind of parable. It is very tangible, involving elements that are common and easy to understand. Jesus wants to disturb us with God’s version of fairness, and remind us that it has very little to do with our sense of fairness. God’s version of fairness is like the parent who says they love all their children equally—and actually means it. You are loved, based simply on your identity as a child of God. Some children want to be the favourite, but that’s not how it words—not in the divine household.

So there are two sets of implications here, one in heaven and one on earth. In heaven, we find all the unlikely candidates for glory, but by the time we get there, we may not be so disturbed after all. I assume in glory we will see through the eyes of glory. On earth, however, we continue to struggle. Even the most saintly figure, and perhaps especially the saintly figure, will puzzle over all the grace extended to the least deserving. We are human after all. Instead, we need to imagine such grace, such equality, and wonder at the glory of the God who made it possible. This gives us something to long for, and even strive for, with God’s help, Amen.

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Blessed are you, gracious God:
you have given us life and freedom
to be your people in the world.
Empower us with your Spirit,
to be an example to others.

Blessed are you, gracious God:
you have called us into the church,
and into this community of faith,
pilgrims together on the journey to new creation.
Strengthen our mission,
and increase our longing for your kingdom.

Blessed are you, gracious God:
you have touched our hearts with hope,
so that we long to see the day of your salvation.
Comfort those who mourn,
Care for those who are wounded or ill,
And touch the live of those given to anxiety or despair.

Blessed are you, gracious God:
you have called us to live in the world,
a world beset by trouble and trial.
Help us to seek your justice,
and call to account those who lead us,
that they may live with love and mercy.

Blessed are you, gracious God:
you have blessed us with your Word,
to teach and inspire us,
and fill us with hope.
Help us remain your faithful ones,
walking with Christ on the road back to you.
Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN: “Your hand, O God, has guided”

Your hand, O God, has guided
your flock from age to age;
the wondrous tale is written,
full clear, on every page.
Our forebears owned your goodness,
and we their deeds record;
and both to this bear witness:
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Your heralds brought glad tidings
to greatest as to least;
they bade them rise, and hasten
to share the heavenly feast.
And this was all their teaching,
in every deed and word,
to all alike proclaiming
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Through many days of darkness,
through many scenes of strife,
the faithful few fought bravely
to guard your people’s life.
Their gospel of redemption,
sin pardoned, earth restored,
was all in this enfolded:
one church, one faith, one Lord.

And we, shall we be faithless?
Shall hearts fail, hands hang down?
Shall we evade the conflict
and cast away our crown?
Not so: in God’s deep counsels
some better thing is stored;
we will maintain, unflinching,
one church, one faith, one Lord.

Your mercy will not fail us,
nor leave your work undone;
with your right hand to help us,
the victory shall be won;
and then, by earth and heaven,
your name shall be adored,
and this shall be our anthem:
one church, one faith, one Lord.

BLESSING

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless
until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. Amen.
—1 Thessalonians 5:23

God be with you till we meet again;
loving counsels guide, uphold you,
with a shepherd’s care enfold you;
God be with you till we meet again.