Musings for Pentecost 16

Sunday, October 2, 2011
Lectionary 27
Proper 22
Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Reflection by Pastor Macholz

INTRODUCTION
In today's gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable of the vineyard, an image of Israel, the prophets' mission, and Christ's death. For Christians, the vineyard also speaks of God's love poured out in the blood of Christ, given to us for the forgiveness of sin. Grafted onto Christ the vine at baptism, we are nourished with wine and bread, that we may share Christ's sufferings and know the power of his resurrection.

PRAYER OF THE DAY (ELW)

Beloved God, from you come all things that are good. Lead us by the inspiration of your Spirit to know those things that are right, and by your merciful guidance, help us to do them, through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.

FIRST READING

Isaiah 5:1–7

The prophet sings a sad, parable-like love song about the relationship between God and Israel. In this song Israel is compared to a promising vineyard. Despite God's loving care, the vineyard that is Israel has brought forth "wild grapes" of injustice and distress, when fine grapes of justice and righteousness were expected.

Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
²He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watchtower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
³And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
judge between me
and my vineyard.
⁴What more was there to do for my vineyard
that I have not done in it?
When I expected it to yield grapes,
why did it yield wild grapes?
⁵And now I will tell you
what I will do to my vineyard.
I will remove its hedge,
and it shall be devoured;
I will break down its wall,
and it shall be trampled down.
⁶I will make it a waste;
it shall not be pruned or hoed,
and it shall be overgrown with briers and thorns;
I will also command the clouds
that they rain no rain upon it.
⁷For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts
is the house of Israel,
and the people of Judah
are his pleasant planting;
he expected justice,
but saw bloodshed;
righteousness,
but heard a cry!

PSALM (ELW)

Psalm 80:7–15

Look down from heaven, O God; behold and tend this vine. (Ps. 80:14, 15)

⁷Restore us, O ^| God of hosts;

let your face shine upon us, and we ^| shall be saved.

⁸You have brought a vine ^| out of Egypt;

you cast out the nations and ^| planted it.

⁹You cleared the ^| ground for it;

it took root and ^| filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered ^| by its shadow

and the towering cedar trees ^| by its boughs. R

¹¹You stretched out its tendrils ^| to the sea

and its branches ^| to the river.

¹²Why have you broken ^| down its wall,

so that all who pass by pluck ^| off its grapes?

¹³The wild boar of the forest has ^| ravaged it,

and the beasts of the field have ^| grazed upon it.

¹⁴Turn now, O ^| God of hosts,

look ^| down from heaven;

¹⁵behold and ^| tend this vine;

preserve what your right ^| hand has planted. R

SECOND READING

Philippians 3:4b–14

Paul reviews some of his supposed credentials, which no longer have any bearing in comparison to the right relationship he has been given through the death of Christ. The power of Christ's resurrection motivates him to press on toward the ultimate goal, eternal life with Christ.

^4bIf anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: ⁵circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; ⁶as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. ⁷Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. ⁸More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ ⁹and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. ¹⁰I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, ¹¹if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. ¹²Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. ¹³Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, ¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.

GOSPEL

Matthew 21:33–46

Jesus tells a parable to the religious leaders who are plotting his death, revealing that their plans will, ironically, bring about the fulfillment of scripture.

³³Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.³⁴When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. ³⁵But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. ³⁷Finally he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.' ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. ⁴⁰Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?" ⁴¹They said to him, "He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time."
⁴²Jesus said to them, "Have you never read in the scriptures:
'The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is amazing in our eyes'?
⁴³Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. ⁴⁴The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls." ⁴⁵When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. ⁴⁶They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection

I ran into a friend while at a meeting at a downtown church the other night and asked him how he was doing. “Things are nuts!” he said. He works in the grape/wine industry in the Finger Lakes and suggested that harvest time, which is going on now, keeps him more than busy.

Is it me or has Jesus been talking about vineyards and harvests for a few weeks now, putting forth parables regarding the kingdom; two sons asked to go work, one does and the other doesn’t. Or this week’s where the vineyard is entrusted to tenants who not only did not follow the directions set forth but began to kill the messengers sent to pick up the profits.

How are you doing with your vineyard, the one you’ve been entrusted with these days? I think it a holy coincidence that these lessons appear during this time of the year when our focus moves to stewardship. It asks questions about how we are caring for our vineyards, those things which have been entrusted to us, and how we appropriately offer a return to the One who owns the vineyard. In other words, what are you going with what you’ve received from God’s loving hand? How will you respond?

These are all good questions to ask and answer, especially when they are based in a sense and life style of generosity, extravagant generosity.

I have a simple request and that is this. In these days of October, as part of your daily prayer, have a conversation with God about stewardship and what it means. Pray for a generous, not make that extravagantly generous heart and discover how to trust more fully and wonderfully in God’s promises to care for you. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Let Us Pray

For renewed bi-partisanship among our leaders

For the unemployed

For those who lack health insurance

To be God’s presence each day

For one another

Quote

When we give to God we are just taking our hands off of what belongs to god.

Musings for Pentecost 13

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Musings by Deb Johnson

INTRODUCTION

In today's second reading Paul questions why we judge one another, since we all stand before the judgment of God. Yet we do sin against one another, and Jesus' challenge that we forgive seventy-seven times reveals God's boundless mercy. When we hear the words of forgiveness in worship and sign ourselves with the cross, we are renewed in baptism to be signs of reconciliation in the world.

Prayer of the Day

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 Savior and Lord. Amen

First Reading: Genesis 50:15–21

After Jacob's death, the brothers of Joseph begged for forgiveness for the crime they had done against him. You intended to do me harm, Joseph said, but God used this as an opportunity to do good and save many lives.

¹⁵Realizing that their father was dead, Joseph's brothers said, "What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?" ¹⁶So they approached Joseph, saying, "Your father gave this instruction before he died, ¹⁷'Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.' Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father." Joseph wept when they spoke to him. ¹⁸Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, "We are here as your slaves." ¹⁹But Joseph said to them, "Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? ²⁰Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. ²¹So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones." In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

Psalm 103:[1–7] 8–13

¹Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and all that is within me, bless God's holy name.

²Bless the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all God's benefits—

³who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases;

⁴who redeems your life from the grave

and crowns you with steadfast love and mercy;

⁵who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like an eagle's.

⁶O LORD, you provide vindication

and justice for all who are oppressed.

⁷You made known your ways to Moses

and your works to the children of Israel.]

⁸LORD, you are full of compassion and mercy,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love;

⁹you will not always accuse us,

nor will you keep your anger forever.

¹⁰You have not dealt with us according to our sins,

nor repaid us according to our iniquities.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is your steadfast love for those who fear you.

¹²As far as the east is from the west,

so far have you removed our transgressions from us.

¹³As a father has compassion for his children,

so you have compassion for those who fear you, O LORD.

Second Reading

Romans 14:1–12

This Christian community has significant struggles with diversity. Here Paul helps us understand that despite different practices in worship and personal piety, we do not judge one another. All Christians belong to the Lord Jesus Christ who died for all of us and will judge each of us.

Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. ²Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. ³Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. ⁴Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand.

⁵Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. ⁶Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God.

⁷We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. ⁸If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. ⁹For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living.

¹⁰Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ¹¹For it is written, "As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God." ¹²So then, each of us will be accountable to God.

Gospel

Matthew 18:21–35

When Peter asks about the limits of forgiveness, Jesus responds with a parable that suggests human forgiveness should mirror the unlimited mercy of God.

²¹Then Peter came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" ²²Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.

²³For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴When he began the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; ²⁵and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. ²⁶So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' ²⁷And out of pity for him, the lord of that slave released him and forgave him the debt. ²⁸But 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.' ²⁹Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' ³⁰But he refused; then he went and threw him into prison until he would pay the debt. ³¹When his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their lord all that had taken place. ³²Then his lord summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ³³Should you not have had mercy on your fellow slave, as I had mercy on you?' ³⁴And in anger his lord handed him over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. ³⁵So my heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart."

MUSINGS

This is an amazing set of scriptures for this day, the 10^th anniversary of the terror event that shock the world. Scriptures that call us to not judge, to forgive, and to know that today is the Lord’s day.

These three scriptures together can be summarized quite simply: “Judgment is not for us to do, it is for God.” “Forgiveness must be give, over and over and over again.” These are tough. Too often we are quick to judge, others, ourselves, people we know and people we don’t even know. And forgiveness, that too is hard … forgiving others, forgiving ourselves, forgiving people we know and people we don’t know. Imagine the heaviness of judgment and the carrying of anger. They weigh us down and get in the way of caring for God’s world. Think about the model of Jesus showing forgiveness. In Luke it is recorded “Jesus said, ‘Father forgive them”. In the late 1960s I visited Coventry Cathedral in England. There stood the ruins from bombing during WWII. Carved on the altar are the words, “Father forgive” Every Friday there is a service of reconciliation. That is much more than seven times seventy. May God give me strength to forgive and to steer clear of judging.

The third message I take away: Every day is the Lord’s Day. Thanks be to God!

LET US PRAY

For forgiveness of our sins.

For healing of relationships.

For peace in our homes, our communities, the nation and the world.

For children that they may know moments of peace, laughter, reconciliation, and hope

For those who are seeking a caring community.

THE COVENTRY LITANY OF RECONCILIATION
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.
The hatred which divides nation from nation, race from race, class from class, Father forgive.
The covetous desires of people and nations to possess what is not their own, Father forgive.
The greed which exploits the work of human hands and lays waste the earth, Father forgive.
Our envy of the welfare and happiness of others, Father forgive.
Our indifference to the plight of the imprisoned, the homeless, the refugee, Father forgive.
The lust which dishonours the bodies of men, women and children, Father forgive.
The pride which leads us to trust in ourselves and not in God, Father forgive.
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.