St. Andrew's Church

September 24th, 2023

Prelude
Lighting the Christ Candle 

Welcome and Announcements 

Called to Worship: 
We have gathered to rejoice in our oneness is God.
Each of us experiences faith and life in a different way
Yet we rejoice in our oneness in God
Let us lift our hearts as one, in songs of praise, in prayer, and in listening for God’s word.
Let us be joined in common concerns for all humankind
We rejoice in God’s gifts to all, recognizing that each of receives grace in a unique way. 

 

Hymn:  457  Now thank we all our God

  

Prayer of Adoration 

As we sing our praise to you, O Lord, we remember the multitude of blessings you have given us. We are mindful of the ways in which you have lifted us when we have fallen low. Be with us this day as we gather to hear your word for our lives.  

Lord, who lifts us up, reside in our hearts today. Help us to listen closely for your word to us. Remind us that you are always with us, throughout all of our lives. Give us confidence in your presence, so that we may go into your world ready to witness to your love through our works and our deeds, for we pray these things in Jesus’ name. AMEN. 

Prayer of Confession: 

We give thanks, merciful God, that in Christ you seek to unite all tings in heaven and on earth, and to reconcile all people to one another and to you.  Yet we confess that your new creation is not yet complete in us, and that we feel everywhere the barriers that separate humans from one another.  Forgive us and fill us with your Spirit of Oneness.  We pray in the power of your Spirit.  Amen. 

Assurance of Pardon 

Feel the comforting power of God’s love and mercy in your lives. God is with us through all our experiences. God always gives us all that we need of his love, his mercy and his grace. This is the good news for all of us! AMEN. 

The Peace 
Passing the Peace 

Hymn:  328  This is my Father’s world

Scripture:

Psalm 145: 1-11 p 979
Matthew 20: 1-16 p 1529
 

Sermon:  It’s not fair! 

I think that most of us can recall instances going far back into our childhood when we complained to parents, teachers and even friends that things were not fair.   

In my family we had a set of spoons, one of which had a significant chip in the covering on the handle.  For some reason that spoon was everyone’s favorite spoon.  It was allocated to us on a strict rotation…but sometimes, well often actually, the person setting the table would slip that spoon at their spot.  When the person whose turn it was,  spotted the deception the whining and the complaining would commence.   

A recent conversation about the table ware at my mother’s house prompted the question about the broken spoon.  Frankly I think I am over it.  If someone else uses it, I am just fine with it… but back in the day…if someone else had it, that was an injustice of the biggest order.   

I hope that the things that I consider unfair or unjust have changed to things that really matter; poverty, homelessness, food insecurity, the lack of host countries for refugees.  Those things can often prompt me to complain to God during the evening news-cast.   

 

I often listen to the admittedly abstract and naïve discussions about fair and equitable distribution of wealth and wonder what that would be like in the world.  What if all the wealth was equally divided among all the world’s people, as some suggest?  What if everyone was allocated a home based on an assessment of how many square feet was needed per person?  

We live in a world where the expectation of fairness is not about equity, but about what we have earned.   

Ifwe have 15 years of experience at our jobs,  we expect to be paid more than the person who just started.    We have saved and scrimped so that we can have the big house.  

And the list of privileges that we think belong to us because of our efforts or our foresight are long.   

 

Our claim is therefore well established and we can grow accustomed to living with a sense of entitlement.   

We worked for it,  

we earned it,  

it is ours. 

 

That sense of entitlement takes a serious blow as we ponder the parable of the workers. 

The landowner goes out to the market place to hire workers for the vineyard.  He hires a group of workers and they agree on the wage of a denarius, the equivalent of a full day’s pay at that time.   

 

But we have questions about this transaction.   

Why him?   

Why not the manager?   

This is a huge clue that something different is going on here.  That would be like Bill Gates or Sam Walton being personally involved in hiring and setting the pay scale for each of their lowliest employees.   

The next clue that something different is happening is that the landowner goes back at nine and again at noon and hires more workers.  Then again at three to hire more workers.  They all agree that he will pay them what is right. 

Do we ever wonder what the landowner means by “What is right”?  

 

Then at five we see him go to hire even more workers.  This time he asks them why they are still waiting in the marketplace.  “Because no one hired us,” is their answer. 

 

Why did no one want to hire them? 

 

Were they too young?   

Too inexperienced?   

Known to not be the strongest workers?   

Too inept?   

Maybe developmentally or physically limited? 

 

Who knows, but one has a vision of those kids that always get chosen last when it comes time to pick teams in gym class.  They must have been waiting with a sense of despair. 

 

So he hires them, takes them back to the vineyard and will also pay them what is right.   

About an hour later the workday comes to an end.  The landowner calls the employees together and proceeds to pay them. 

The group hired at 5 pm…. 1 denarius. 

The group hired at 3 pm.  1 denarius. 

The group hired at noon… 1 denarius. 

The group hired at 9 am…. 1 denarius. 

We can imagine that all these workers are rejoicing because they have just been paid a full day’s wage for a partial workday.  It was more than they deserved and in fact extremely generous.   

 

We can also imagine that all those who were hired early in the morning are talking among themselves and speculating that this must change everything.  Surely, they are going to be paid more.  Surely, there will be a bonus for the extra hours they have put in. 

Imagine their shock when they are called in and paid 1 denarius. 

They lodge a complaint. 

It’s not fair! 

We got to the market early.   

We came to the vineyard early while it was still cold. 

  We worked through the heat of the day.   

We deserve more! 

 

This discussion between them and the landowner plays out like a complainant going in front of Judge Judy? 

When you were hired, what was the wage you agree upon? 

1 denarius. 

At the end of the day what did the landowner pay you? 

1 denarius. 

I don’t see a problem here, he hired you, you agreed to the wage, and he paid you the agreed upon wage. 

But you don’t understand, all the others got the same wage and they didn’t work as long.  Its not fair! 

You got the agreed upon wage.  What the others were paid is none of your business.  Case dismissed. 

 

The commentator Harmon wrote:  

 “We love this story because it paints this gloriously beautiful picture of God’s extravagant grace.”  

He adds:  or do we? 

 

He then points out that “the truth is, that we do not allow God’s grace to rewrite our definitions of God’s justice and quite frankly, we can’t let go of our own sense of fairness to even consider that justice is not ours to control.”   

 

The response of the “early” workers shows that we struggle with the ways of God’s grace.   

 

It might even show that we have trouble accepting that when it comes to giving away his grace, that this is entirely up to God to determine.  In the flow of God’s grace and justice everyone gets what they need.  This is real equity. This is how grace works.  

We are confronted with the reality that God’s justice is that everyone who is a part of the kingdom, stands as equals before the judgement seat.   

Not because they have earned it, but rather because of Christ and what he sacrificed on our behalf.   

Not because of how long we have been a part of the kingdom, or because of the size of our offering, or the many sacrifices we have made in service.    

Grace cannot be earned no matter what we do.   

 

Many of the commentators pointed out that this parable points out the need of all of us to have a purpose in the Kingdom.  

 The landowner’s purpose is to bring in as many workers as he can.   

Others have a purpose to work to the fullness of their calling, for the time that they have been called including sharing the mercy and grace.   

This is not a new concept.   

From beginning to end, Scripture talks about giving justice and mercy to others.   

God has always called his people to care for the foreigners and the widows.  It is always our responsibility to care for those who are not in a position to care for themselves. 

 

It caused me to ponder the what if’s. 

 

What if those workers who started early in the morning, had brought with them a friend or neighbour who was otherly abled.   

What if they said, come with me to a landowner who pays a good wage and only asks that you work to the best of your ability.  Come and see. 

 

There are a lot of clues in Matthew that God wants his grace to go to all, regardless of their standing in society, or even their abilities to be workers in the Kingdom. 

This parable is set after the account of the rich young ruler who was asked to sell all that he had and give everything to the poor.  He went away sorrowing because he had great wealth.    

Hmm, does that mean God looks at the heart, and what we value in life over him? 

When we value wealth or power that we work for over our calling and purpose in God, we may not be fit for the kingdom. 

What immediately comes after this parable is the request from the mother of James and John that they be given the seats of honour at the table when Jesus comes into his kingdom.  His answer:  “These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” 

Again, God distributes as he sees fit. 

In the chapters to come there are a series of parables in which we see the justice of grace and mercy being predominate.   

Privilege,  

hard work,  

position,  

none of them count in the distribution of grace. 

 

In the parable of the prodigal son, the son who stayed home and worked complains that the son who wasted the father’s money and his own life gets the extravagant party. 

And the parable of the banquet reminds us that if we don’t accept God’s invitation, it will be given to another. 

The parable of the virgins reminds us that we need to be prepared and ready, with our lanterns filled and trimmed, or whatever that means for us in spiritual terms, as we wait for the day of the Lord. 

So for all of us who are workers in the Kingdom, how do we maintain the necessary spiritual health?   

 

Many of the commentators spoke in terms of the workers finding their calling an purpose  and thus,  I was driven to the parable of the sheep and the goats, where those who found their purpose were the ones who brought water to the thirsty, bread to the hungry, comfort to the sick, grace to the prisoner. 

This is a calling that we noted earlier had always been articulated by God, when from the beginning God spoke of the need of his people to respect and take care of the stranger, the foreigner and the widow.   

When we take care of the helpless then we are taking part in the mercy and grace of God.  More than that we are sharing in a way that expands God’s grace and mercy that is given to others.   

When we who are in grace, work to share that grace with all those around us, then we will not be jealous or angry at the grace that is given to others, regardless of who they are or what we think of them.   

 

When we participate in sharing God’s grace, then we rejoice to see others receiving that grace.   

Our response to those who receive the full measure of the grace is never, “its not fair,” but always, “thanks be to God whose mercy is never-ending.” 

 

Is it fair?   

No.   

Mercy and grace are never fair, because none of us deserve it.  None of us have earned it.  Mercy and grace transcend the trust we can put in our own abilities and what they can give us.  Mercy and grace transcend our need to control our own lives and the lives of others.   

Mercy and grace are the most unfair thing that can ever come to us.  Thanks be to God.  Amen 

 

   

Hymn:  749 Be still my soul

  

Offering and Offertory
Doxology 830

Offertory Prayer 

Generous God, you have blessed us with so much.  In gratitude we bring to you the gifts of our hearts.   Take these gifts of wealth, and time and self and cause them to work for you in this world which you have loaned to us. AMEN. 

 

 

 

Gathering Prayer Requests 
Prayers of the People and the Lord’s Prayer 

Lord, your blessings abound in our lives and we lift our voices in gratitude for these lovely gifts from you.  

We see the beauty of nature, rejoice in the closeness of friendships, and the support of families.  We praise you that you are always with us, and that our needs are always met in your mercy. 

Other sources of joy and praise. 

World Rivers Day
rain fires coming under control 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We also praise you for the purpose you have given to our lives, and in response we hold up those who need an extra measure of your mercy.  We also lift our voices as our hearts cry out our concerns for those who are ill, who mourn, who feel lost.  

 

The people and the world that need your mercy 

Peachland fire  India/Canada relations 

China tornadoes 4 wildfire workers killed in car accident 

RCMP offer killed, Coquitlam and the 2 injured, family and coworkers 

 

 

 

 

 

Lord, you have heard our cries and our shouts of joy. Make your presence known to us again through the love and forgiveness of others as we have loved and forgiven them. We bring these prayers in the name of Jesus who taught us to pray saying, . 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 debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever.  Amen 

 

 

Hymn:  376 Lord the light of your love is shining

Charge and Benediction 

Go forth into God’s world as God’s own children, who are loved, forgiven and blessed with an abundance of mercy. Let these gifts born of the love given in Christ be reflected in your life and your deeds. Go with joy to serve the Lord.  

May grace, peace and mercy from God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit be with you now and forevermore.  Amen 

Sung Blessing  Go now in Peace.  Three Fold Amen