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Pentecost 15 Proper 20 A RCL September 21, 2014

Posted on September 21, 2014 by Beth Crane

Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16

In our first reading, we join God’s people on their journey. We’ve all been on journeys of one kind or another, perhaps a road trip or a hike, or a bike trip. Or we have begun a journey of another kind. We have gone into
therapy, or we have made a decision to recover from an addiction.

At first, it’s exciting and every day is an adventure, but gradually, it becomes a struggle. If we are on a hike, the mountain seems as though it’s straight up at a ninety-degree angle. If we are on a car trip, we wonder when we are going to get there. If we are doing hard internal spiritual work as in therapy or recovery, the first thrill of excitement is long gone and the work gets very difficult and we want to quit. Our brothers and sisters out in the wilderness are looking with fond nostalgia at their former life as slaves!

The journey of life, the journey with and toward God, can be a struggle at times. We complain. And God feeds us and gives us water and gives us strength to keep journeying. God is always there to help us.

In our epistle for today, Paul is writing to his beloved congregation at Philippi. Paul is in prison. He is suffering. His letter is so honest. He can’t travel around to visit all the congregations he has founded and wants to nurture. He writes, “For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain.” With the suffering he is enduring, the idea of dying is attractive to Paul. He would like to “depart and be with Christ.” But he feels deeply called to continue to stay alive in order to be with these beloved people and support them. He writes, “I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.” Paul says that he knows that the people of the congregation are not intimidated by their opponents. We do not know exactly whom he meant, but these were times of persecution. Paul actually says that it is a privilege to suffer for Christ. In our own time, Christians are being persecuted. Paul is in a challenging time on his journey and he chooses to remain alive to continue his work of nurturing all the congregations he has planted around the Mediterranean Sea.

Our gospel for today is not about how to manage a business. It is about the kingdom, the shalom, of God.

Here is the context of this parable. Matthew’s congregation was growing. New people were coming in. Some had been there from the beginning. Some of the old-timers viewed the newcomers as second class citizens. How come these new people are greeted with all of God’s grace and love when I’ve been here slaving away for so long?

We are all familiar with this parable. The landowner goes out to hire workers for the vineyard. He goes out at six o’clock and hires a group of folks and agrees to pay them the usual wage for a day’s work. Then he goes out at nine and at noon at three and at five o’clock, he says he will pay those workers what is right.

The day ends, and the manager begins with those who were hired at five. That’s rather unusual. Something is different here. He gives these latecomers a full day’s wage. If I am back in line and I have worked since dawn, and I am sweaty and tired and hungry and ready to faint in the heat, and I see this, I can begin to think, Wow! He paid that guy a whole day’s wage. The pay scale has taken a leap! He’s going to pay me more. Maybe seven or eight or twelve times more. That guy started at 5 PM and I started at 6 AM. But when I get there, the manager pays me a day’s wage, too. Maybe I am a bit upset. The pay scale has not changed. The manager paid the latecomers a full wage. But he also paid me what we had agreed upon—also a full day’s wage. The owner has been fair to me and very generous to those who arrived late in the day.

If I can identify with the person who was hired at five PM, if I can think of a time when I couldn’t find a job or if I can think of the hundreds of kids today who have gone to college and can’t find a job in their field, so they are waiting on tables or bar tending or working some other minimum wage job and still living at home, if I can identify with the vulnerable side of myself, the part of me who is out there in the market place every day and has sent out hundreds of resumes and can’t even get a response, let alone an interview, then I am beginning to understand this parable.

Jesus is always looking for workers in his vineyard. And if you are there in the village square, if you show up, it doesn’t matter whether you have a Ph.D or a high school diploma or a third grade education, if you are willing to go out there and share his love with others, he has a job for you. If you are a little older and have a few aches and pains, if you can’t see as well as you once did, if you have a disability, he sees that as a strength. All you have to do is show up. He will welcome you with all the love and respect that he would give to any one of the twelve apostles. They were there at the beginning. We have joined the community two thousand years later.

That’s how his kingdom is, That’s his shalom of peace and harmony and wholeness and healing. Everyone is treated in the same way, with the infinite love and respect that our Lord has for every one of his children. No one is losing anything. It’s just that those who are more vulnerable, those who, for one reason or another didn’t get the good news as soon as some of the rest of us, get the same embrace with wide open arms of love that Jesus gives to Peter and James and John and Mary Magdalene and Martha and Mary and Lazarus and all those who were there at the very start of it all.

Before he tells this parable, Jesus tells us that the last will be first and the first will be last. He also says this at the end of the parable. And he is on his way to Jerusalem, so all of these discussions of grace and forgiveness are in the context of the cross.

May we hold fast to those things that shall endure—God’s grace and love, and the fellowship of the Body of Christ. Amen.

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Pentecost 14 Proper 19A RCL September 14, 2014

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Beth Crane

Exodus 14:19-31

Psalm 114

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

This morning we read the dramatic story of God’s people crossing the Red Sea. This passage tells us that God can lead us into freedom. It also tells us something about traveling light. The Israelites can move over the sea of reeds and not sink in. but the Egyptians, with their chariots and horses, sink up to their axles and get stuck. This makes me think of the story of David and Goliath. God is rooting for the under dog. God loves everyone, and God especially treasures ordinary folks like you and me. God protects us, leads us, and guides us. We are called to pray constantly for God’s direction.

In our epistle, Paul is addressing differences between people in congregations. In the early Church, some folks had come from the Jewish tradition and were still following the dietary laws and celebrating the holy days and festivals. Other people might have been coming from a tradition of worshipping at the temples of the Roman gods and celebrating other festivals. We do not know the exact details, but we know that the new church was drawing people from all kinds of backgrounds.

Every congregation has differences of opinion. Some people like the traditional language; some like the contemporary. Some like incense; some do not. We could go on and on. We also have political differences. We could go on and on about that.

One thing that Paul is saying is that, if we focus on Christ, these differences assume their proper place. Our oneness in Christ is the important thing. We should not judge each other. In fact, Paul says that each of us has to be responsible for our own beliefs and behavior. It’s between each of us and God. I would add that our differences make us strong, and that, as long as we place our Lord at the center of our lives, we will be one as he and God are one.

Our gospel draws all of this together. Peter asks Jesus that very  important question: “If another member of the church sins against me, how often shall I forgive? As many as seven times?” Peter is being generous here. The rabbis said to forgive three times, and Peter is expanding it to seven. But then Jesus says seventy-seven times. Other translations say seventy times seven, or 490 times. And then Jesus tells a parable.

A king wants to settle accounts with his slaves. The first one owes him ten thousand talents. Scholars wonder how a slave could even accumulate such a debt. It is huge. Biblical scholar Thomas Troeger tells us that a talent is about fifteen years worth of wages. Therefore, ten thousand talents is 150,000 years worth of wages.

Troeger says, “If we calculate this in modern terms and allow fifteen dollars per hour after deductions and a forty hour work week, we come up with$600 per week or $31,200 per year, which in 150,000 years would equal forty-six million dollars. Forty-six million dollars! The king forgives him forty-six million dollars!”

The send slave owes a hundred denarii. A denarius is one day’s wages. Troeger says that one hundred denarii would have been a hundred days in back wages.He writes, “ If, once again, we figure fifteen dollars an hour, an eight hour day would be worth $120, or twelve thousand dollars for a hundred days.”

Troeger continues, “The slave who is forgiven a debt of forty-six million dollars refuses to forgive a fellow worker a twelve thousand dollar debt even after the man promises him, ‘I will pay you.’ After walking away scot free from the king, the first slave sends his fellow worker to debtor’s prison.” (Troeger, New Proclamation 1999, p. 218.)

I find Troeger’s calculations helpful because they point out the almost unbelievable amount the first slave has been forgiven—46 million dollars and his inability to extend that forgiveness for a comparatively tiny debt of twelve thousand dollars.

The point is that God is more generous to us than we can even imagine. God showers us with gifts of grace and forgiveness and healing. If we are truly aware of how much God has done for us, we will be generous and forgiving to others.

Of course, the ultimate point that our Lord is making is that we should not be going around carrying calculators. God has done so much for us. God has extended to us such love and forgiveness. We are called to extend that love and forgiveness to others.

This call to forgive seventy-seven times or 490 times, to stop counting the number of times we forgive, is a call to those of us living in Christian community. In Christian communities, we know that we are called to respect every person. We are also called to extend God’s love and forgiveness to those outside our communities.

But, a word of caution. This does not apply to cases of child abuse or domestic abuse. Children and adults who have been abused need to be protected, placed in safe environments, and helped to recover. Perpetrators of abuse must be held accountable and prevented from hurting anyone else. Nor does this reading apply to cases of international abuse or genocide. In those cases, those committing the abuse need to be called to be accountable.

The United States is working with other nations to deal with a terrorist group, ISIS, or the Islamic State, or ISIL, which is terrorizing and killing Muslims, Christians, women, and children. The nations of the world are gathering in order to deal with this very grave situation. Please keep our President and Congress and the leaders of our nation and the world in your prayers.

Meanwhile, even in the face of this horror, we are called to be people of compassion. May we pray again our Collect, Page 233.

O God, because without you we are not able to please you, mercifully grant that your Hoy Spirit may in all things direct and rule our hearts; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

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