ST CLEMENT CHURCH
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY COMMUNITY SERVICE
Good morning
Fairness and unfairness we learn about when we are small and it stays with us life-long.
Equality we may well talk about, but how much do we really accept or believe in the equality of all?
Equality is the core of today’s gospel reading.
My love to you all
Liz
We worship a God of Promise, whose saving Grace brought a people from captivity into a land of promise, whose enduring love still leads us from places of captivity into a promise of peace, forgiveness and eternal life. The promises of God endure forever. The promises of God will be fulfilled.
Amen
We say together:
Let us be still for a moment as we draw near to worship God … We take a moment to remind ourselves why we are gathered together today …We listen, God speaks even through the background noise of the world around us.
Lord God, in this short time together, open our ears and our eyes to see your vision for this place and our part within it. Teach us, hear our prayers and enable us for service wherever you might take us, to your praise and glory. Amen
Hymn: 238 New every morning is the love
Prayer of Confession
God of healing, God of wholeness, we bring our brokenness, our sinfulness, our fears and despair, and lay them at your feet.
God of healing, God of wholeness, we hold out our hearts and hands, minds and souls to you’re your touch and know the peace that only you can bring.
God of healing God of wholeness, this precious moment in your presence and power grant us faith and confidence that here broken lives are made whole. Amen
The Collect
O Lord, we beseech you mercifully to hear the prayers of your people who call upon you; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfil them; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen
Readings:
Jonah 3. 10 – 4. 11
Philippians 1. 21 - 30
Hymn: 456 Teach me my God and King
Gospel: Matthew 20. 1 - 16
(Hear the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Luke Response: ‘Glory to you O Lord.’)
Jesus said to his disciples: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard.
After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.
When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right.”
So they went.
When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same.
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?”
They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.”
He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.”
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.”
When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.
Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.
And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 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.”
But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you.
Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
So the last will be first, and the first will be last.
(This is the Gospel of our Lord. Praise to you, O Christ)
Reflection
A priest was very unhappy about a sermon she had given the previous day so she called a friend, another priest. She said, “I gave a really good sermon yesterday and someone said to me, ‘Thank you. I really enjoyed your sermon.’”
She said, “I didn’t want them to enjoy the sermon. I wanted them to be offended, upset and bothered by it.”
I think that’s the kind of response Jesus wants from us when we hear today’s gospel reading. We should be offended by it or at least uncomfortable with it. It’s a story designed and intended to offend, upset and bother. It ought to make us say “Something isn’t right.”
For most of us, I suspect, that something is the unfairness in the story. That’s my initial reaction. It’s not fair. If there is anything we want it is fairness (at least for ourselves.) The fairness standard starts early, when we are children, and most of us don’t outgrow it. We all have our stories and experiences of unfairness.
It wasn’t fair that for a week, when I was 5 years old, my father tried to make me drink milk because my teacher, Miss Clay, said I should. I had never drunk milk!
It wasn’t fair that my brother was allowed to go to the fair and I wasn’t!
It wasn’t fair that I wasn’t allowed to have friends round to play.
Oh, we learn early about unfairness!
In today’s gospel it’s not fair that someone who works twelve hours gets paid the same amount as someone who only works for one hour. The twelve-hour workers are absolutely correct when they say to the landowner about the one-hour workers, “You have made them equal to us.”
But Jesus says that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. It makes no difference that some work twelve hours, some nine, some six, some three and some work only one hour. Regardless, each one receives what he or she needs, the usual daily wage.
That’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. One worker isn’t worth more than another. It’s less about fairness and more about equality. Each one receives what he or she needs. Have you ever thought that that’s what we are praying for every week when we say, “Thy kingdom come”? Get ready … we are going to pray those words again.
So, if that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like and if Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come,” maybe we shouldn’t be offended by the unfairness, the equality, or that each receives what is needed. Maybe we should be outraged that our lives, relationships and community are not more like the kingdom we pray to come. Maybe that’s what Jesus wants from us when we hear today’s gospel. Maybe he wants us to be so upset and riled that we do something to bring about change.
What would it be like and what would it take to begin aligning our lives a bit more closely with the kingdom of heaven as Jesus describes it today? As with most of Jesus’ teachings that starts not with looking at others but taking a look at ourselves.
I’ve always thought of myself as a ‘twelve-hour’ worker … always giving of my best … but, if I’m really honest, that isn’t always so. There are days when I don’t really have it in me … when everything is just too much and I feel I can’t cope and even, I don’t want to cope! Looking back, at such times, someone or something has often come to my rescue. It might be a friend suddenly knocking at the door; it might be an unexpected letter or email; it might be something I suddenly read; it might be something I suddenly see. Whatever it might be it was none of my doing, it was all grace and gift.
I expect that you have had times like that too, when someone or something has stepped into that emptiness. Maybe that’s what the landowner is doing in today’s gospel. It’s not fair but that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. What if we opened ourselves to be that someone for someone else? Who needs you to be there for him or her today?
Too often we make judgements by appearance, by actions or by what someone says. It is easy to assume we know more than we really do. Is this what we are doing with the workers in our reading today?
The twelve-hour workers are dedicated, hard-working and responsible. The one-hour workers are late, lazy and irresponsible. Maybe that’s all true but maybe it’s not. We don’t know. The story doesn’t tell us.
Maybe the twelve-hour workers lived close by or had donkeys to ride to work. Maybe the nine-hour workers lived in another town and had to walk. Maybe the six-hour workers had just woken up after working a night shift. Maybe the three-hour workers were taking care of a sick child or a dying parent. Maybe the one-hour workers had just finished another job and still didn’t have enough.
We don’t know why each worker showed up when they did. We only know that they did show up and that was enough for the landowner. It’s not fair but that’s what the kingdom of heaven is like.
Are we willing to create space for another to simply show up? It’s easy to say, “Yes, of course. All are welcome.” But in the kingdom of heaven that means doing so without the other having to justify her or his presence and without us judging, categorising or evaluating his or her value.
Everyone has infinite value … you do and I do. So does every one of the workers in our reading in today’s gospel.
“Thy kingdom come … on earth as it is in heaven.”
Amen
Our declaration of faith
We believe in God the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.
We believe in God the Son, who lives in our hearts through faith and fills us with his love.
We believe in God the Holy Spirit who strengthens us with power from on high.
We believe in one God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen
Hymn: 271 Alleluya, sing to Jesus
Our Intercessions
Dear Lord, as we gather our thoughts to offer You our prayers, we thank You for the opportunity to be still, to let our thoughts wander, to open our hearts to You and to listen for Your voice.
Lord, in the calm and peace of this time, we bring before you all those around the world who are suffering through man’s inhumanity to man. We ask your blessing on all those who cannot live in peace and harmony; those who are constantly in fear of violence in all its forms; those who are suffering through hunger and lack of medical care; those who are tortured for their beliefs or just for the satisfaction of their tormentors.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, as people in more countries across the Middle East become involved in the threat of more missiles, drones, and possible full-scale attacks, we pray that each country and faction will step back from the brink. May the conflict between Russia and Ukraine stop, and may both nations agree to live peacefully within their own borders.
Lord, we pray that all those in authority may always seek the good of the people that they represent and not their own importance and dominance. We pray that ideology should never be at the expense of the welfare of ordinary families.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Father God, we pray today for your creation paying such a high price for our development, greed and progress. We remember today the land that is no longer flourishing as water floods or runs dry and seeds cannot grow or bear fruit. We pray for the seas and all that is in them, where rising temperatures and major changes are bringing disaster to the natural environment. Lord, we bring before You the many thousands of people across the world who are suffering from ‘natural’ disasters: lack of water, fire, famine, floods, earthquakes and other disasters. May we all, as guardians of creation, never forget our duty of care not to tip the balance by our own selfish demands.
So often we are too busy to fully appreciate the wonder of your creation. We live in a wonderful county that has both countryside and sea. May we set aside time to look and enjoy the wonder of the natural world around us, its wildlife and its amazing vistas so reminding us of the need to protect it.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we bring before you all those who are finding life difficult: those who are homeless; those who are afraid; those for whom there is no light at the end of a dark tunnel; those who are lonely and feel unloved; those who are unwell in body, mind or spirit. Be with them all and may they feel your love and know that they are never alone. We especially pray for: Ken and Reverend Di, Sabie, May, Susan, Daphne and David, Dot, Pam and David, Mary, Michael and Patricia, Alison and Rob, Jeremy, Anita and Stephen, Callum and Elaine, Barbara, Roger and Helen, Lorrie, Jeanette and David, Kate, Katharine, Margaret, Sue and Martin, all those known to each of us and those who have no one to pray for them.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Lord, we remember in Your presence all those who have died, and particularly those we have known and loved. Thank You for them and thank You for Your promise of eternal life and peace. Be close to those who are recently bereaved - strengthen them with the knowledge that You are always there to lean on, and if things get really hard, that You will carry them through the difficult times.
Lord, in your mercy: hear our prayer
Dear Lord, we do not always live our lives as we should; we do not always treat others as we would be treated; we do not follow in Your way as we should.
We ask Your blessing on each and every one of us; lead us along the paths You would have us follow; stretch forth Your hand when we falter, and may we feel Your presence at all times.
Dear Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.
We listen, please help us to hear.
We look, please help us to see, and in so doing, let us be true and faithful followers of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Rejoicing in the fellowship of St Clement, St Andrew, St Allen and all the saints.
Merciful Father: accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen
We say together:
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, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen
Labourers in the Vineyard by Dr John Celes
The way God thinks is not like that of men,
His doings seem un-understandable;
His justice, fairness, copy, no man can;
His wisdom is most unfathomable.
God wants His harvest done as per His plan;
He keeps His word when paying for our toil;
He does not favour any special clan;
For being good, why should someone then boil?
From dawn to dusk, He puts workers on job;
All are alike to Him, both young and old;
He throws a deaf ear to the mumbling mob!
He pays accordingly to what He told;
God hires labourers for His vineyard,
And pays all fair wages and keeps His word.
The Peace
Jesus says to his disciples, ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.
Not as the world gives do I give to you.
Let not your hearts be troubled or afraid.’
The peace of the Lord be always with us.
Hymn: 235 Forth in thy name, O Lord I go
The Blessing
As we take our worship, praise and prayer from this place and into our daily lives, may our lives be sustained through the love of our Heavenly Father. May we feel the presence of our Saviour walking beside us and know the power of the Spirit in both our actions and words.
Amen