Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 4 October 2020, Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard … leased it to tenants and … When the harvest time had come …’ (Matthew 21: 33-34) … grapes ripening on the vines at the Hedgehog Vintage Inn in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 4 October 2020, is the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVII).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two groupings: the Continuous Readings and the Grouped Readings:

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20; Psalm 19; Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21: 33-46.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Isaiah 5: 1-7; Psalm 80: 8-16; Philippians 3: 4b-14; Matthew 21: 33-46.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

The Ten Commandments on two panels in Saint Carthage’s Cathedral, Lismore, Co Waterford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Sometimes, it seems, we think about the Ten Commandments as a ‘thou-shalt-not’ list, a summary of the things we must not do rather than a summary of the positive expressions of our relationships with God and with one another.

Moses tells the people when they receive the Ten Commandments, ‘Do not be afraid’ – a phrase we later come to associate with the Risen Lord – and Christ summarises all the commandments as being about loving God and loving our neighbour.

The psalm reminds us that ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul’ and that ‘the fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever.’

Saint Paul reminds his readers that he too has been zealous for the law as he now shares in the suffering of Christ.

The Gospel reading is set once again in a vineyard. Do we seek our own goals, pursue our own ambitions, at any cost, without respect for God and others?

The Ten Commandments above the Ark in the Beth-El Synagogue in Bunclody, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20:

The first reading is the account of Moses receiving the Ten Commandments from God on Mount Sinai. They have left their past behind them and this is the moment that marks the starting point of Israel as a self-defining community.

A new covenant is made between God and Israel but, unlike God’s agreements with Noah and Abraham, here both parties have a stake in it, and either can break it.

The freed people have arrived at Mount Sinai. They clean themselves physically and ritually, but it is Moses and Aaron who ascend the mountain. God speaks to all, to the whole community. He enters into the pact because ‘you shall be for me a ... holy nation.’

They are to have ‘no other gods before me.’ God demands loyalty to him alone. Those who use God’s name for a false or evil purpose will not be acquitted or held harmless.

Each week, time is to be reserved for praying to, and worshipping, God.

Older people are to be honoured – doing so will contribute to the longevity of the people.

Life, marriage and property are sacred. Testifying falsely against another (or even spreading innuendos) is prohibited. Even coveting the possessions of others is prohibited.

This scene of God’s presence among the people ends as it begins (Exodus 19: 16-19), with ‘thunder and lightning’ (verse 18), trumpet blasts and ‘the mountain smoking.’ But it ends too with Moses telling the people: ‘Do not be afraid …’ (verse 20), words that we later associate with the Risen Lord.

‘The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork’ (Psalm 19: 1) … an autumn sunrise on the Slaney estuary at Ferrycarrig, Co Wexford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Psalm 19:

Many of us are familiar with this Psalm because the concluding verse (14) has traditionally been used in the Church of Ireland to introduce sermons: ‘Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer.’

This psalm is a hymn of glory to the universe as God’s work and to God’s precepts in word of God.

In Psalm 19, the heavens and the earth proclaim God’s glory and power (verses 1-6), the covenant is an expression of God’s will for Israel (verses 7-9), and we are reminded that the ‘fear of the Lord is clean and endures for ever’ (verse 9). This Psalm also links God’s judgement with God’s forgiveness. Note too, the description of the psalmist as God’s ‘servant’ (verses 11, 13).

In the first half of the poem, the Psalmist speaks metaphorically of creation singing a song of praise to its Creator. The former Chief Rabbi, Lord (Jonathan) Sachs, describes this as ‘a silent song yet one that can be heard by those whose ears are attuned to wonder.’

‘Yet their sound’ or ‘Yet their music’ (verse 4) – literally ‘their line’ – may refer to the reverberating string of a musical instrument; but it may mean the line marking a boundary – a reference to the order and ‘fearful symmetry’ of the universe.

But God’s word not only gives life to the natural universe: it instructs the human universe, the world we make by our actions and reactions. The Psalmist pours out his praise to God’s creation of the world-that-is, and God’s revelation of the world-that-ought-to-be.

‘Circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel … a Hebrew born of Hebrews’ (Philippians 3: 5) … Elijah’s Chair in the Museum of Jewish Culture, Bratislava … used at the circumcision of a Jewish boy when he is eight days old (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Philippians 3: 4b-14:

Saint Paul has warned his readers about those who try to convince them that being a Christian requires accepting Jewish law, including circumcision. But true circumcision is of the heart and not of the ‘flesh,’ in other words paying more heed to the spirit rather than the letter of the law.

Saint Paul is as Jewish as one can be: he was born into the tribe of Benjamin, he was circumcised on the eighth day, ‘a Hebrew born of Hebrews,’ a Pharisee, and he once persecuted Christians with zeal and faultlessly kept the Law. But he is not afraid to lose everything for the sake of gaining everything the Risen Christ has to offer (verses 8-10).

He has left his past behind and looks forward to the goal and the heavenly prize that lies ahead (verses 13-14).

‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone’ (Matthew 21: 42) … a cross carved into a cornerstone in the main church in the Monastery of Vlatádon in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 33-46:

The parable of the wicked tenants as it stands in Matthew, Mark, and Luke is an allegory that emphasises the murder of God’s Son by Israel’s leaders and the transfer of Israel’s privileges to the church. The synoptic parallels are Mark 12: 1-12 and Luke 20: 9-19.

However, this passage comes with a ‘health warning’ and needs to be treated with great care. It began as a prophetic critique by a Jew of fellow Jews, designed not to damn Israel but to provoke repentance. In the course of Christian history, this passage and others like it were abused to advocate anti-Semitism, and even by the Nazis to justify the Holocaust.

In addition, these readings raise the danger of preaching what is now called ‘Supersessionism,’ the theological view that the Church has replaced the Jews as God’s chosen people. Although this view has been common throughout the history of Christianity and remains a common assumption among many Christians, since the Holocaust it has been rejected by mainstream Christian theologians and denominations.

The members of the Sanhedrin who first heard this parable would recall Isaiah 5: 1-7, which is the alternative Old Testament reading. In that passage, God tells what will happen to his unfruitful ‘vineyard,’ ‘the house of Israel, and the people of Judah.’

In the parable, the landowner plants the vineyard, leases it out, and leaves. At harvest time, he sends successive sets of slaves ‘to collect his produce.’ All are mistreated. When he sends his son, he is killed. If a landowner died without an heir, the land passed to the first claimant, so by killing the son (presumably the only one), the tenants become landowners. Jesus’ hearers answer his question: the first tenants will suffer ‘a miserable death’ (verse 41) and other tenants will be found who will deliver.

Here, the landowner stands for God, the first tenants for Israel’s leaders, and the time the landowner is away for their period of stewardship of God’s chosen people. So the second tenants are replacements for Israel, probably those who follow Christ.

In verse 43, we are told that it is disastrous to oppose God and his patience will be exhausted. The leaders of Israel recognise his reference to Isaiah. If Christ were not so widely accepted as God’s ‘prophet’ by the crowds who they feared, they would have arrested him (verse 46).

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watch-tower’ (Matthew 21: 33) … old wine barrels at a vineyard in Apokoronou in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Some observations:

Verse 33: This verse almost directly quotes the opening lines of Isaiah’s parable (see Isaiah 5: 1-7, the Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard).

Verse 35: ‘beat one, killed another, and stoned another.’ The parallel in Saint Mark’s Gospel lacks the stoning of a slave. Could this be a reference to the later stoning of Saint James in the year 62? (see Josephus, Antiquities, 20.9)

Verse 37: ‘his son.’ Saint Matthew omits the word ‘beloved’ used by Saint Mark (see Mark 6: 12). There is nothing in the text to identify the son as Christ. In Christ’s telling of the parable, this is true, but in Saint Matthew’s telling of the story, and among those he is writing for, is the son Christ?

Verse 38: ‘This is the heir.’ Notice how the tenants leap to a rash conclusion. They can only take what belongs to the son and heir if his father is already dead. But the landowner is alive and can punish them.

Verse 39: In Saint Mark’s Gospel (see 12: 8), the son is seized, then killed, then thrown out. But see how Saint Matthew changes the order – perhaps to fit the view that Jesus died outside the city (See also John 19: 17; Hebrews 13: 12-13).

Verse 41: Christ has already said (see 8: 11-12): ‘I tell you, many will come from east and west and will eat with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven, while the heirs of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ (See also Acts 13: 46; 18: 6; 28: 28.)

Verse 42: Here Christ is quoting from the Hallel psalms (Psalm 118: 22-23) to support his teaching. These verses are also quoted in Acts 4: 11 and I Peter 2: 7.

Verse 43: Christ’s conclusion is milder than the chief priests and elders have expected. The wicked tenants will not be destroyed, but they will lose the promise.

Verse 43: ‘the kingdom of God.’ In this context, probably the full end-time blessing.

Some questions

Are the slaves the prophets killed by Israel, culminating in Christ as the son?

Is Jesus ‘the son’ (verse 38, Aramaic: ben) and the ‘stone’ (verse 42, ‘eben)? This makes the connection between the parable and the saying that follows.

Who are the ‘other tenants’ (verse 41) and ‘a people’ (verse 43)?

Are these the Church?

Remember that for Saint Matthew the Church is made up of believing Jews and converted Gentiles – how does this connect with what Saint Paul is saying to the Philippians in the Epistle reading?

‘There was a landlord who planted a vineyard’ (Matthew 21: 33) … grapes ripening on the vine in the Hedgehog in Lichfield (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Reflecting on the Gospel reading

It is sometimes said that the parables are ways in which Christ makes truth more accessible, taking complicated theological ideas and rephrasing them in terms that anyone can understand. But sometimes he says he is telling his parables for the opposite reason, so that the crowds might not understand (see Matthew 13: 1-9, Mark 4: 1-9, and Luke 8: 9-10).

When confronted with these puzzling parables, we are sometimes tempted to resolve the ambiguities by interpreting them allegorically. We start out by deciding immediately the characters, the objects and the actions represent; we decide before we interpret or try to apply those parables which character or object represents God, which one is Christ, who represent the Disciples, and so on.

In other words, we try to harmonise difficult parables with our own already-formed views, rather than allowing those parables to challenge and reshape our views.

But Christ tries through his parables to get us to challenge what we already presume to be simply true.

In this parable, do we read it this morning in the way we have learned to read it? We already presume the landowner is God. God sends messengers to people (in particular, to Israel). The people reject the messengers. God sends his son. The people kill the son. So God is going to reject Israel and choose another people. But how well does the parable really fit that interpretation? How well does that interpretation fit the weight of the canon regarding the role of Israel?

As a point of comparison, it might be useful to look at the theology of Israel in Saint Luke’s Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, where we find a continuing and central role for Israel. There the invitation extended to Gentiles through Christ is to join Israel, God’s people.

At the apostolic council in Jerusalem (see Acts 15), the Christian leaders present include Pharisees (see verse 5) – not former Pharisees, but Pharisees. In Acts (23: 6), Saint Paul continues to identify himself as a Pharisee – not as a former Pharisee.

For Saint Luke, the vineyard of Israel has not been taken away to be given to others. Instead, Christ has opened it to new workers called to gather in God’s abundant harvest.

The setting of the parable is the estate of a wealthy landowner. This landowner does not live on the land, and does not work at planting or harvesting. The hard work is carried out by the hired labourers, who must turn over most of what they grow to the landowner. The landowner in the parallel parable in Luke 19 is a harsh, demanding man, reaping what he does not sow (see Luke 19: 20).

This absentee landlord does not send messengers out of any great love for the people or the land, but to collect the profits from their labour that sustain his life of ease in the cosmopolitan city where he lives.

In Saint Matthew’s version of the parable, the farmers have had enough. The next time the landowner sends one of his servants to collect the rent, the farmers send him packing. Forget how you have consistently read this parable for years. Those who listened to Christ telling this parable for the first time probably smiled at the demanding landlord getting a revolutionary response from the exploited tenants living on the edge and on the margins.

After all, Saint Paul tells us in the Pastoral Epistles: ‘for the scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and, “The labourer deserves to be paid”.’ (I Timothy 5: 18).

Then the landowner sends another agent to collect the rent. Again, the farmers get together to send him away empty-handed. More cause for rejoicing among the first listeners.

Then the son of the landowner arrives. He has a different standing than the messengers. He is the son, perhaps the ‘beloved son,’ probably the only son. If he is the heir and the landowner had died, then he has inherited the estate himself. If the son dies and he does not have an heir, the land goes to those who live on it, and the farmers will be free. The farmers have been resisting years of what they feel has been exploitation, and now they rise up and kill the son.

But the twist in the story is that the landowner is not dead. He does exactly what we expect him to do in the circumstances. He wreaks revenge, slaughters the farmers and replaces them with others. He does this so he can return to his life of ease in the city, living on the income provided by the labour of others.

But no-one among those who hear this ending to the story for the first time would hardly regard it as comforting or good news.

The chief priests and the scribes who are listening the audience, and who come from the same social class as the rich landowner and his hirelings, must realise that they have just heard a scathing condemnation from Christ of how they exploit their fellow Jews.

The peasants or tenant farmers who hear the story are reminded that escalating the spiral of violence only results in more violence being visited upon them and their children.

Everyone who listens is challenged to rethink their prejudices and their judgmental values.

In this, the parable is a challenge to us today.

In what ways are we like the absentee landlord, dependent on others’ exploitation to support our lives of relative ease?

How much do we consume without knowing or caring about where our clothes, our coffee, our computers, our gadgets and toys come from, or about cost to poor people and the environments in which they live?

In what ways are we like the agents, willing to do wrong to achieve what we think is right, to escalate interpersonal and international conflict in ways that will be visited upon generations to come?

And in what ways are we responding to Christ’s challenge to care for those the world disregards and to disregard the world’s standards of strength and honour?

As Sarah Dylan write, Christ challenges us to do the unthinkable, to turn the other cheek and let others think us weak, to care as much for God’s children who make our clothes and shoes, who mine the ore for our electronics and dispose of the toxic computer monitors we discard when want newer and better ones, as we do for our own children.

Christ challenges us to bless and honour the peacemakers rather than the mighty, to strive for justice and peace and the dignity of every human being above our own comfort.

‘There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it …’ (Matthew 21: 33) … tending a vineyard on the island of Torcello in the Venetian lagoon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 33-46 (NRSVA):

[Jesus said:] 33 ‘Listen 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 watch-tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34 When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35 But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, “They will respect my son.” 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, “This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39 So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?’ 41 They 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.’

42 Jesus 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”?

43 Therefore 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. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.’

45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

‘When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce’ (Matthew 21: 34) … ripened grapes on a vine in Corfu (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A).

The Collect of the Day:

Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
Teach us to offer ourselves to your service,
that here we may have your peace,
and in the world to come may see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

Almighty God,
your Son Jesus Christ was the stone rejected by the builders,
and, by your doing,
he has been made the chief cornerstone:
grant that, by the power of his Spirit, working in us,
we may become living stones built up into your dwelling place,
a temple holy and acceptable to you;
through Jesus Christ, our Lord,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God our guide,
you feed us with bread from heaven
as you fed your people Israel.
May we who have been inwardly nourished
be ready to follow you
all the days of our pilgrimage on earth,
until we come to your kingdom in heaven.
This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘The heavens are telling the glory of God and the firmament proclaims his handiwork’ (Psalm 19: 1) … the River Suir at Cahir, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 20: 1-4, 7-9, 12-20:

383, Lord, be thy word my rule
135, O come, O come, Emmanuel
637, O for a closer walk with God
638, O for a heart to praise my God
76, Sweet is the work, my God and King

Psalm 19:

606, As the deer pants for the water
153, Come, thou Redeemer of the earth
351, From all that dwell below the skies
631, God be in my head
696, God, we praise you! God, we bless you!
616, In my life, Lord, be glorified
97, Jesus shall reign where’er the sun
384, Lord, thy word abideth
432, Love is his word, love is his way
638, O for a heart to praise my God
34, O worship the King all–glorious above
35, The spacious firmament on high

Isaiah 5: 1-7:

51, Awake, my soul, and with the sun

Psalm 80: 8-16:

695, God of mercy, God of grace

Philippians 3: 4b-14:

560, Alone with none but thee, my God
218, And can it be that I should gain
561, Beneath the cross of Jesus
11, Can we by searching find our God
566, Fight the good fight with all thy might
418, Here, O my Lord, I see thee face to face
99, Jesus, the name high over all
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
671, Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
588, Light of the minds that know him
81, Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided
248, We sing the praise of him who died
247, When I survey the wondrous cross
376, Ye holy angels bright

Matthew 21: 33-46:

215, Ah, holy Jesu, how hast thou offended
326, Blessèd city, heavenly Salem (Christ is made the sure foundation)
327, Christ is our corner stone
268, Hail thou once-despisèd Jesus
93, I danced in the morning when the world was begun
230, My Lord, what love is this
231, My song is love unknown
340, Sing and be glad, for this is God’s house!
493, Ye that know the Lord is gracious

‘Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do …’ (Matthew 21: 40) … vineyards, vines, groves and terraces in Tuscany (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

The Ten Commandments on carved stones in a synagogue in Thessaloniki (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 27 September 2020, Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

He said to his sons, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today’ (see Matthew 21: 28) … working in a vineyard in Platanias, near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 27 September 2020, is the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XVI).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two groupings: the Continuous Readings and the Grouped Readings:

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 17: 1-7; Psalm 78: 1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2: 1-13; Matthew 21: 23–32.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32; Psalm 25: 1-8; Philippians 2: 1-13; Matthew 21: 23–32.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

Rome or Paris … are all decisions a clear choice between conflicting contrasts? Wallpaper in a restaurant in Templeogue, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

Black or white?

Dog or cat?

Land or sea?

Wet bob or dry bob?

Paris or Rome?

Wine or beer?

It’s the sort of game we all play in our families at one time or another. I loved playing ‘Matching Pairs’ with my sons when they were at the early learning stage.

For adults, there are similar jokes about two kinds of people we compare or contrast: ‘There are two types of people: those who divide people into two categories, and those who don’t.’
For the mathematicians: ‘There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.’

And for those with a more subtle sense of humour: ‘There are two types of people in this world: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.’

The readings for next Sunday give us contrasting pairs:

In the first reading (Exodus 17: 1-7), we see contrasts between adults and children; water and wilderness; testing and thirsting; obeying and quarrelling; responsible freedom and slavery without responsibility.

The Psalm (Psalm 78) contrasts images of ancestors and children, day and night, rock and river, and so on.

In the Epistle reading (Philippians 2: 1-13), the Apostle Paul gives us the stark contrasts offered in Christ of slavery and freedom, deity and humanity, fear and trembling, heaven and earth.

This helps us to prepare for the matching pairs or clashing contrasts we find in our Gospel reading (Matthew 21: 23-32).

‘Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink’ (Exodus 17: 6) water from the rocks at Ballybunion, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Exodus 17: 1-7:

The freed people continue their long from Egypt to the Promised Land, from slavery to freedom, through the wilderness and the Sinai Peninsula.

God has shown his power during their slavery, winning their freedom from Pharaoh and his forces. But he tests their faith in him, as provider and ruler, ten times. This reading is about one of those ten tests. But, we might ask, who tests whom? (see verses 2, 7).

Earlier, at Marah, the people had water – but it was bitter. Now, at Rephidim, an oasis in the Negev or Sinai, there is no water at all. The well at the oasis has run dry.

The Israelites challenge Moses. The Hebrew translated as quarrelled in verse 2 is a legal term. The people bring a case against Moses. No wonder that this challenge is seen by Moses for what it is: their charge is against God. The names Massah and Meribah (verse 7) come from the words for test and quarrel.

The people doubt that God can feed them, that this God can be their god in this hostile desert.

God responds as he responds to their other tests. God simply grants the people’s request, without rebuking them. He orders Moses to take some of the elders of Israel, representatives of the people, to the rock at Horeb.

There, the elders see God show his power. The parallel with Egypt continues: the staff Moses uses to bring forth water is the same rod Moses used to poison the Nile.

In giving manna or bread from heaven to eat earlier, and now water from an earthly rock to eat, God shows he is the Lord of creation.

‘He split the hard rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as from the great deep’ (Psalm 78: 15) … Saint Finian’s Bay near Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)

Psalm 78: 1-4, 12-16:

Psalm 78 was used at major festivals. This psalm tells the story of the people of Israel from the Exodus to the reign of David. It serves to teach that God has continued his saving acts in history in spite of the unfaithfulness of his people.

The Hebrew word translated as ‘parable’ in verse 2 has a wide meaning. Here, it means wise instruction, based not only on knowledge but also on long experience of God’s ways. It is important that coming generations know about God and his marvellous interventions in human affairs, his wonderful works and marvellous things, so that all may live by his Law.

The field of Zoan in verse 12 refers to Ramases, the city where the Exodus began.

The psalm then recalls God’s presence in the wilderness – how he divided the sea and led the people by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night.

The reading from this psalm concludes by recalling the events described in the first reading, when God gave water from a rock so that they might drink and know the promise of life.

‘He humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death – even death on a cross’ (Philippians 2: 8) … ‘Crucifixion’ by Georgia Grigoriadou in an exhibition in Rethymnon, Crete, marking the 400th anniversary of El Greco (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2014)

Philippians 2: 1-13:

In this epistle reading, the Apostle Paul offers the Christians in Philippi ‘encouragement in Christ.’ He prays that through this, and moved by God’s love for them, they may ‘be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord ...’

He urges them to ‘regard others as better than [them]selves’ and to behave without selfish ambition or conceit, in humility and with respect for others.

In verses 5-11, we hear an early Christian hymn, into which Saint Paul inserts verse 8b.

The ‘Christ-Hymn’ in this reading is the earliest extant material underpinning later Christology and the New Testament’s most explicit exposition of the nature of Christ’s incarnation. The closest approximations are found in: Colossians 1: 15-20; I Timothy 3: 6; and I Peter 3: 18-22 (see also John 1: 1-5).

Saint Paul urges us to be like Christ, who was ‘in the form of God’ and shared in God’s very nature. Even so, he humbled himself ‘emptied himself,’ making himself powerless, in the same way as a slave is powerless and without rights.

It is so easy, too often, to forget the pre-existent Christ. Yet, this is he who became human like us, with all that entails, including death. Becoming human, he lowered or humbled himself, and throughout that life he was fully human and totally obedient to God, even to the point of going through death.

Saint Paul adds here that Christ did this even to point of experiencing the most debasing form of death – crucifixion was a punishment reserved for slaves and the worst criminals.

God actively responded to this total denial of self, Christ’s complete living and dying for others, by honouring him exalting him above all other people making Lord of all creation, above and below. This authority had previously been reserved for God the Father.

Saint Paul then recalls God’s words spoken through the Prophet Isaiah (see Isaiah 45): ‘From every corner of the earth [all are to] turn to me and be saved; for I am God ... to me every knee shall bow … to me every tongue shall swear, saying ‘In the Lord alone are victory and might … all Israel’s descendants will be victorious and will glory in the Lord.’

The Philippians shall declare that ‘Jesus Christ is Lord,’ proclaiming the victory and might of God. The ultimate goal is to give glory to God the Father, reclaiming God’s sovereignty over creation.

If we take Christ’s example of obedience and lowliness, we can continue to look forward to salvation, for God is at work in us to bring about what he pleases.

‘Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ (Matthew 21: 25) … a window in a church in Ardagh, Co Longford (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 23-32:

In the final week of his earthly life, Christ has just shown the importance of faith in understanding God’s ways. Now, as he teaches in the Temple, representatives of the Sanhedrin, the chief priests and the elders, ask who has given him the power and authority to say and do all that he has said and done in his ministry.

However, Christ declines to answer them until they first answer his question, one that will show whether they have the faith needed to understand his answer.

Those who come to question Christ are skilled in the Law. But this is of little help when to comes to deciding whether a prophet is genuinely from God, in this case Saint John the Baptist.

If they say that Saint John the Baptist was from God, they ought to have repented as he urged them.

If they say John was not from God, they risk losing face and credibility with the crowd who are now following Christ.

The Sanhedrin judged such issues, but their answer shows their incompetence.

In the second part of this reading (verses 28-30), Christ tells a parable about admission to the kingdom. Like the first son in this parable, people once regarded as disobedient and having lived evil lives, such as tax collectors and prostitutes, have turned to God. But people like the second son, who have given lip-service to the law of God, have not lived out what they say they believe.

The second son in the parable addresses the father as κύριος (kyrios), not merely Lord, but in the Septuagint a way of addressing God, yet remains disobedient.

However, there is still time.

Doing and Being … advice on a T-shirt in the Plaka in Athens (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2017)

Reflecting on the Readings:

The Gospel reading is set in the immediate aftermath of Christ’s entry in triumph into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and his cleansing of the Temple.

When he returns to the Temple the following day, he is confronted by the religious and civic leaders, the guardians of belief and tradition, who challenge and question him about his power and authority.

The ‘chief priests and the elders of the people’ are the leaders in the Temple hierarchy, and also at the apex of society in Jerusalem – questioning Jesus about what gives him authority. In particular, they ask what gives him the right to behave as he does, and especially the right to claim he is acting in God’s name when he is behaving like that.

It is a question that Christ might have expected, under the circumstances. The exchange takes place when he enters the Temple. The day before had been an eventful day: when Christ enters Jerusalem and the crowds hail him as king. He next goes into the Temple courts, he overturns the tables and the seats of the money changers and the dove sellers, and he speaks about the destruction of the Temple.

The Temple authorities have been offended. Quite naturally, they have to confront him.

Who does he think he is?

What gives him the right to force his way in and stir things up?

What authority has he to behave like this?

But, in a clever manoeuvre, Christ answers their questions by asking his own question.

A clever manoeuvre, indeed. It was acceptable then, but every bar room lawyer knows now that you are not allowed to ask questions that allow only a choice between two convicting answers, loaded questions like: ‘When did you stop beating your wife?’

Loaded questions are loaded with presuppositions, often with built-in fallacies and false dichotomies.

And the chief priests and the elders fall into a trap that every sixth-form debater would know how to set and how to escape.

There is a great deal of humour here. Those who are skilled in the Law failed to see the flawed legal trap. And in doing this they display their innate inabilities, their incomparable incompetence, their own failures in judgment.

In this Gospel reading, Christ answers with a two-part question. And once again, he turns the tables on those who confront him. They are taken aback; they are caught in a dilemma. If they answer one way, they are caught out; if they answer the other, they are still caught out. It is a dichotomy. And either way they cannot win.

As they are left mulling this over, Christ tells the parable of two sons and a father. The second dichotomy, the second comparison, the second either/or choice, is posed when Christ tells this parable about a father who sends his two sons, a willing son and an unwilling son, to work in the family vineyard.

It is a sharp contrast between being and doing.

The two sons remind me once again of the T-shirt I have joked about for years and that eventually I bought a few summers ago in the Plaka in Athens with these words:

‘To do is to be’ – Socrates

‘To be is to do’ – Plato

‘Do be do be do be do’ – Sinatra

The American publisher Cyrus Curtis (1850-1933) once said: ‘There are two kinds of people who never amount to much: those who cannot do what they are told, and those who can do nothing else.’

But the two sons illustrate a serious dilemma:

Those who respond negatively to what they are asked to do, may eventually do it … and recognise their initial wilfulness.

Those who say they are going to do something they are tasked with, but then refuse to follow-up, to deliver, to do, refuse to recognise their own wilfulness yet persist in their sinfulness.

How often have you responded to people because of their words rather than their deeds and found you have completely misjudged them?

The two sons are asked to go to work in the family vineyard.

One son says: ‘I will not.’ In a Mediterranean village culture, in which there is no such thing as personal privacy, this son’s reaction to his father shames the father publicly.

The other son says: ‘I go, sir.’ In public, he appears to be what a good son should be.

But the tables are turned when we learn that the son who mouths off actually goes to work in the vineyard, while the son who seems at first to be good and dutiful turns out to be disobedient.

So, those who say they are compliant and say they are doing the right thing have headed off to do things their own way, while claiming they are doing what God wants.

On the other hand, Christ tells all present that even prostitutes and tax collectors who appear to be disobedient might actually end up with a true place in the vineyard. In today’s context, who are the people I keep excluding from the kingdom yet are being called in by God?

Paradoxes aside, most of us are not like one son or the other … most of us are like both sons, and wrestle with their responses and their approaches throughout our lives.

Have you ever received an invitation to a party, a book launch, a wedding, with those four little letters at the end: ‘RSVP’?

Have you ever been one of those people who, anxious not to offend, sends back a reply saying yes, I’ll be there, and then … and then something else crops up, and I fail to turn up?

It has happened to me. I have been invited to parties and book launches, ignored the RSVP line in the bottom corner, and then, at the last moment, turned up. And, I have to confess, I have, at least one or twice, accepted … and not turned up.

On which evening do you think I was most appreciated, most welcomed?

An obvious answer, I think.

It is more forgivable to be socially awkward than to be wilfully rude.

When we strive with the demands of Christian living, with Christian discipleship, it is easy to be like one of these sons.

There are times when we may find it difficult to do what God is asking you to do. We wait, we think, we ponder, but eventually we answer that RSVP and seek to do God’s will.

We say ‘No’ countless times, and then realise how worthwhile it all is: labouring in the vineyard should be hard work, but it leads to a good harvest and good wine.

I have to be careful to distinguish between God’s will and my own will. When they coincide, there are countless blessings. But when they are in conflict, I need to beware of pretending that one is the other, that I am answering the Father’s call and doing his work, when in reality I am doing what I want to do myself, and telling others what I want rather than what God wants.

In the words of the Collect of the Day, we pray that we may all, each one of us, that we may ‘both perceive and know’ … but these two are not good enough on their own; instead, we pray that we may ‘both perceive and know what things’ we ‘ought do’ … so that with God’s grace we actual do them.

Being and doing come together; we know what to do, and we do it.

In The Great Divorce, CS Lewis claims: ‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, in the end, “Thy will be done”.’

And we encourage one another to do God’s will and we find that when we do God’s will, it is God’s will for us, when in the Church, as Saint Paul encourages us in the Epistle reading, we are ‘of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind’ (Philippians 2: 2).

‘Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ (Matthew 21: 25) … a window the Cathedral of Christ the King, Mullingar (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Matthew 21: 23-32 (NRSVA):

23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ 24 Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26 But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29 He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

‘John came to you in the way of righteousness’ (Matthew 21: 32) … Saint John the Baptist in a fresco in a church in Piskopiano, near Iraklion in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Year A, Ordinary Time)

The Collect of the Day:

O Lord,
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 our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

Grant, O merciful God,
that your people may have that mind that that was in Christ Jesus,
who emptied himself,
and took the form of a servant,
and in humility became obedient even to death.
For you have exalted him and bestowed on him
a name that is above every name, Jesus Christ, the Lord;
who lives and reigns with you in unity with the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

God of mercy,
through our sharing in this holy sacrament
you make us one body in Christ.
Fashion us in his likeness here on earth,
that we may share his glorious company in heaven,
where he lives and reigns now and for ever.

‘As the deer pants for the water’ (Hymn 606) … mosaic work in Saint Bartholomew’s Church, Ballsbridge, Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2015)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 17: 1-7:

607, As pants the hart for cooling streams
606, As the deer pants for the water
645, Father, hear the prayer we offer
646, Glorious things of thee are spoken
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
435, O God, unseen, yet ever near
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me

Psalm 78: 1-4, 12-16:

254, At the Lamb’s high feast we sing
262, Come, ye faithful, raise the strain
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
557, Rock of ages, cleft for me

Ezekiel 18: 1-4, 25-32:

638, O for a heart to praise my God

Psalm 25: 1-8:

17, Lead me, Lord, lead me in thy righteousness (Treoragh mé, treoragh mé, a Thiarna)
652, Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
712, Tell out, my soul, the greatness of the Lord

Philippians 2: 1-13:

250, All hail the power of Jesus’ name
684, All praise to thee, for thou, O King divine
218, And can it be that I should gain
630, Blessed are the pure in heart
496, For the healing of the nations
454, Forth in the peace of Christ we go
91, He is Lord, he is Lord
523, Help us to help each other, Lord
211, Immortal love for ever full
94, In the name of Jesus
275, Look, ye saints, the sight is glorious
168, Lord, you were rich beyond all splendour
636, May the mind of Christ my Saviour
228, Meekness and majesty
102, Name of all majesty
392, Now is eternal life
173, O Jesu so meek, O Jesu so kind
285, The head that once was crowned with thorns
112, There is a Redeemer
114, Thou didst leave thy throne and thy kingly crown
117, To the name of our salvation
116, To our Redeemer’s glorious name

Matthew 21: 23-32:

86, Christ is the King, O friends, rejoice
593, O Jesus, I have promised
136, On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry

‘On Jordan’s bank the Baptist’s cry’ (Hymn 136) … an icon of Saint John the Baptist in a small church in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘Rock of ages, cleft for me’ (Hymn 557) … water pouring down rocks at High Leigh Conference Centre in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Readings, hymns and sermon ideas for Sunday 20 September 2020, Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard’ (Matthew 20: 1) … at work in a vineyard in Platanias near Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Patrick Comerford

Next Sunday, 20 September 2020, is the Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity (Trinity XV).

The readings in the Revised Common Lectionary, as adapted for use in the Church of Ireland, are in two sets, the Continuous Readings and the Paired Readings:

The Continuous Readings: Exodus 16: 2-15; Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1: 21-30; Matthew 20: 1-16.

There is a link to the Continuous Readings HERE.

The Paired Readings: Jonah 3: 10 to 4: 11; Psalm 145: 1-8; Philippians 1: 21-30; Matthew 20: 1-16.

There is a link to the Paired Readings HERE.

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard’ (Matthew 20: 1) … at work in a vineyard in Rivesealtes, near Perpignan in southern France (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Introducing the Readings:

In the first reading, the freed slaves mumble (Exodus 16: 2) against God in the wilderness, as they wish to return to the fleshpots of Egypt, in the same way as the workers who have been in the field all day murmur about those who have arrived late and been paid a full day’s wage (Matthew 20: 11).

The Greek verb γογγύζω (gongootzo) means to murmur, mutter, grumble, or to say anything against someone else in a low tone. It implies people are talking among themselves secretly as they complain and let one another know about their discontent.

In the wilderness, the people are murmuring against Moses and Aaron. But, in reality, they are mumbling and grumbling against God. And yet God answers them by showing God’s bounty and his generosity. In the vineyard, the labourers are mumbling and murmuring about their fellow workers. But, in resenting what others have, they are murmuring and grumbling not just about what they have been given, but against the one who has given to them, the one who has been generous in abundance to others.

We live in a society where begrudgery is part and parcel of what is culturally acceptable as attitude. It is acceptable – instead of giving thanks for what we have been given – to resent what others receive.

And yet, should we ever envy someone else’s blessings?

Should we ever mumble about the abundance others appear to have when we know not what problems they have to live with?

How easy is it to begrudge others what they have, rather than thanking God for the blessings we have been given?

‘The Gathering of the Manna’ by James Tissot

Exodus 16: 2-15:

The people of Israel have travelled into the wilderness beyond the Nile delta. When they find they cannot drink the water, they complain to Moses. God has tested their faith: if they accept him by trusting that he will feed them and rule them, then he will protect them rather than judging and destroying them.

Now, however, the entire community complains or grumbles ‘against Moses and Aaron’ about their food, or lack of it. They would prefer to have died during the plagues in Egypt where they sat by the fleshpots and ate their fill of bread. Now, instead, they fear dying en masse of hunger.

God hears their cry, their complaining, and immediately responds to their needs, promising them ‘bread from heaven’ (later called ‘manna’). There shall be enough in the morning for each day, but a double portion to collect on the sixth day, so they can rest on the Sabbath.

However, Moses and Aaron warn the people that their problems are not with them but with God, who gives them their authority as leaders.

Moses, Aaron and the people then see God’s presence or the ‘glory of the Lord’ which appears ‘in the cloud.’

God then also gives them ‘quails’ to eat ‘in the evening.’

But are the people satisfied? In the reading next Sunday (Exodus 17: 1-7), they once again complain, this time that have not enough to drink, and once again say they might have been better off had they stayed in Egypt.

The manna in the wilderness is a honey-like excretion from particular insects that infest tamarisk trees in the area. When it drops from the leaves it becomes almost solid, but in the heat of the day it melts, so it must be collected in the morning. That sufficient was available to feed all is a sign of special intervention by God. The name manna comes from the Hebrew or Aramaic ‘What is it?’ (man hu). The people ask what do you call it?

In the ‘Bread of Life’ discourse in Saint John’s Gospel, the manna becomes a foretaste of the Eucharist (see John 6: 26-51):

‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’ (verse 26). So they said to him … ‘Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat”.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ (verses 30-34).

Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty … I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh’ (verses 30-51).

‘He spread a cloud for covering, and fire to give light by night’ (Psalm 105: 39) … evening lights in Rathcoole, Co Dublin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45:

As we have seen in past weeks (26 July, 9 and 30 August), this psalm gives thanks to God for his saving acts in history. It urges all to ‘give thanks to the Lord,’ to call on his name, to tell what he has done, to hold him in glory, to rejoice in him, and to continually seek him.

This Psalm calls on the ‘children of Jacob’ and descendants of Abraham (verse 6) – not just Joseph and his brothers, but all people in the community of faith – to give thanks to God, to call upon him, to sing to him, to recall his mighty works, to give him glory and to rejoice (verses 1-4).

We are to search for God with all our strength, and to recall his great deeds (verses 5-6).

This portion takes us from the departure from Egypt, laden with ‘silver and gold’ (verse 37), led through the wilderness by a cloud in the day and a pillar of fire at night (Verse 39), receiving manna and quail as ‘food from heaven’ (verse 40) and water from the rock (verse 41). All these were signs of God’s enduring faithfulness to the promises made to Abraham (verse 42).

But the people are reminded that the whole purpose of this dramatic liberation was so that people would be obedient to God and freely worship him in praise (verses 43-45).

‘Striving side by side with one mind’ (Philippians 1: 27) … striking workers marching side-by-side in a protest in Thessaloniki, 150 km west of Philippi (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Philippians 1: 21-30:

For much of this year, we have been reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans. Now, for the next four weeks, we are reading from his Letter to the Philippians.

Philippi was the first church Saint Paul established on continental Europe (see Acts 16: 9-40). This city, 150 km east of Thessaloniki in north-east Greece, was named after its founder, Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. By Saint Paul’s time, it a prosperous Roman colony.

This letter is written by Saint Paul and Saint Timothy, ‘servants of Christ Jesus,’ from prison, perhaps in Ephesus or in Rome, perhaps under house arrest, although we are not told. It is possible that letter is made up of three letters. It contains many personal references, exhorts church members in Philippi to live the Christian life and to good ethical conduct, introduces Timothy and Epaphroditus as his representatives, and warns against legalists and libertines. Lastly, he thanks the members of the Church in Philippi for their material support.

Realising that he may be facing death, Saint Paul considers what this may mean.

For Saint Paul, Christ gives meaning to life and death: if he is to live, he is to continue to work for Christ; if he is to die, then he is to gain oneness with Christ. Which should he prefer?

Whether he should live or die, he urges the members of the church in Philippi as a community to live in a way that reflects their faith and the Gospel. They are to stand firm in the Spirit, side by side with one another, and not to be intimidated by their opponents who want to destroy them. Their suffering for Christ is a privilege, and they share this privilege with Paul in his present state in life.

‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right’ (Matthew 20: 4) … vines in the vineyard at Aghia Irini Monastery, south of Rethymnon in Crete (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 20: 1-16:

‘The last will be first, and the first will be last’ (Matthew 20: 16).

The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard, despite being well-known, is found only in Saint Matthew’s Gospel. As with every parable, it is worth looking at the principal characters in this passage:

1, The landowner: he is called the οἰκοδεσπότης (oikodespotés, the head of the household or the owner of the land, but in verse 8 is revealed to be not merely the owner of the vineyard, as the NRSVA translates it, but ὁ κύριος (ho kyrios), the Lord.

2, The labourers (εργάτες, ergates): they are called at five different times in the day: early in the morning, at nine o’clock, at noon, at three and at five.

3, The manager in verse 8: he is the ἐπίτροπος (epitropos) or steward, an administrator with authority. He calls the labourers in the field back together in one group at the end of the day, at the end of their time in the field.

The parable brings together town (ἀγορά, agora) and countryside, and there are many strange sequences and comparisons in this one parable.

It is strange that the landowner appears to miscalculate his need for help at least five times during the day: early in the morning, at 9 a.m., at 12 noon, at 3 p.m. and again at 5 p.m.

The landowner then appears to be unfair in the way he rewards those who work on his behalf. But did you notice how this passage begins ‘… the kingdom of heaven is like …’ and that the wages stand for God’s grace.

God chooses to give (verse 14) the same to all: the landowner pays ‘whatever is right’ (verse 4) – there is no social discrimination or class distinction in the Kingdom of Heaven.

God is generous to all who believe. To those who first heard this story, many of the workers in the vineyard would seem less deserving at first. Yet, those who are hired ‘about five o’clock’ or at the end of the day (verse 6), will be treated generously too. This is God’s free choice. All who are called by God are true disciples are equal in God’s eyes, however and whenever they come to answer that call. What matters are God’s call and our response.

There is an unexpected sequence in verse 16: those who were hired last are paid first (verse 8); those who have worked all day expect, but do not receive, a bonus. In Jesus’ day, opportunity and privilege were far from equal. Here he goes against contemporary thinking and action. We are all dependent on God’s mercy. A scholar has defined a parable as a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application to tease it into active thought.

‘Fruit of the vine and work of human hands. It will become our spiritual drink’ (Luke 22: 17-18) … grapes ripening on a vine in Platanias, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

A reflection on the readings:

Bread and wine provide perfect examples of that co-operation between God’s creative generosity and the rewards that come with human labour.

The seed is planted in the field. But without the sunshine and the rain from heaven it cannot become the wheat that God plans for it. Without the farmer’s labour in the field it cannot be harvested. And without the work of human hands, the grains of wheat cannot become flour and bread.

The vine is planted in the soil, but without the sunshine and the rain from heaven it cannot grow the grapes. Without the work of the labourers in the vineyard, those grapes cannot be harvested. And without the work of human hands – or feet, as the case may be – those grapes never reach their potential for producing wine.

Notice how many aspects are brought together in one: the Creator and the Creation; God and humanity; food and drink; agriculture and industry.

Food and drink – both are dependent on God’s gifts and on human labour. How appropriate it is then that they are the sacramental elements when we celebrate the Holy Communion, the Eucharist.

Throughout his earthly ministry, Christ interacts so often with people as they share these simple elements of bread and wine – meals with the disciples; meals with Zacchaeus the tax collector and Simon the Pharisee; meals with the two disciples on the road to Emmaus …

The work of the past sustains us in the food of the present and brings us the promise of the future. And so, the three Eucharistic prayers in the Book of Common Prayer, in their opening addresses to God as Father, first praise him and thank him for all his work in creation.

In some of the Eucharistic texts used in the Church of England and other traditions, there is an adaptation of the traditional Jewish table-blessings, drawn in turn from the Bible, that says at the Taking of the Bread and the Wine:

Priest: Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation:
through your goodness we have this bread to offer,
which earth has given and human hands have made (Ecclesiastes 3: 13-14).
It will become for us the bread of life (John 6: 35).

All: Blessed be God forever (Psalm 68: 36).

Priest: Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation:
through your goodness we have this wine to offer,
fruit of the vine and work of human hands.
It will become our spiritual drink (Luke 22: 17-18).

All: Blessed be God forever (Psalm 68: 36).

[See Common Worship (Church of England), p 291.]

God’s blessings are abundant. Even when we mumble and grumble, moan and groan, murmur and complain!

In the first reading, the freed slaves mumble (Exodus 16: 2) against God in the wilderness, as they wish to return to the fleshpots of Egypt, in the same way as the workers who have been in the field all day murmur about those who have arrived late and been paid a full day’s wage (Matthew 20: 11).

In his generosity, the owner of the field takes on those who are unemployable, those who are the long-term unemployed, or those who are unemployed because they are outside the normal social boundaries.

Why does the owner of the vineyard not take them on at the earlier stages of the day? Because they were not there? Because they were socially invisible? Because they were outsiders? Because they were old, disabled, or minding their children and unable to come to seek work?

We do not know. But they still had the same needs as everyone else who was working that day. They still had to pay the rent and put food on the table. And who knows what life was like for them when they went home and closed the front door?

Would it have been better that they were not recruited? That the harvest was left without being brought in?

And yet, even the murmurers and grumblers in the field hold on to their day’s pay. When the owner hears them murmuring, he corrects them, but he does not take away what he has already given them. Why, they might even have been brought back to work again the next day.

The murmurers in the wilderness still have their hunger met with the bread of heaven. And in such abundance, that on Friday they are given twice as much as they need so they can have a day of rest on the seventh day.

God’s generosity comes to us in abundance, and his response to our needs is so often one of unexpected bounty and generosity.

The Lord hears our complaints, whether they are justified or not, and the Lord hears the cry of the poor.

The response to God’s generosity, as the Psalm reminds us, must be to give thanks and to make known his holy name (Psalm 105: 1), to rejoice, and to delight in being in his presence (see verse 4).

The word Eucharist (εὐχαριστία, efcharistía) means ‘thanksgiving’ and as a verb, εὐχαριστῶ (efcharisto) means ‘to thank.’

And so when we come to the table at the Eucharist, to receive the Holy Communion, we gather to give thanks in God’s presence, to praise him for his holy name and thank him for his generosity and his marvellous works.

And appropriately we say thanks with bread and wine, fruit of the fields and work of human hands, the work of the Creator and the Created, the work of fields and factories. And there we find God’s presence among us.

And when hearts seek the Lord, and find that God responds, our response should not be one of begrudgery or murmuring, but one of rejoicing, one of praise, one of thanksgiving.

‘The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went … to hire labourers for his vineyard’ (Matthew 20: 1) ... a small vineyard in Platanias, near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Matthew 20: 1-16 (NRSVA):

1 [Jesus said,] ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4 and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 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?” 7 They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8 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.” 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 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.” 13 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? 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16 So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

‘Each of them received the usual daily wage’ (Matthew 20: 10) … a monument to workers’ struggles and the 1913 lockout in Nenagh, Co Tipperary (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Liturgical Resources:

Liturgical Colour: Green (Ordinary Time, Year A)

The Collect of the Day:

God,
who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
Grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel;
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Collect of the Word:

Loving and righteous God,
your boundless generosity exceeds all that we can desire or deserve,
and you give to the last worker
all you promised to the first:
liberate us from all jealousy and greed,
that we may b free to love and serve others,
and in your service may find our true reward;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The Post-Communion Prayer:

Eternal God,
we have received these tokens of your promise.
May we who have been nourished with holy things
live as faithful heirs of your promised kingdom.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.

‘He spread a cloud for covering, and fire to give light by night’ (Psalm 105: 39) … evening lights at Minster Pool, below Lichfield Cathedral, (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Suggested Hymns:

Exodus 16: 2-15:

325, Be still, for the presence of the Lord, the Holy One is here
549, Dear Lord and Father of mankind
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
588, Light of the minds that know him
431, Lord, enthroned in heavenly splendour
589, Lord, speak to me that I may speak
657, O God of Bethel, by whose hand
435, O God, unseen, yet ever near
445, Soul, array thyself with gladness

Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45:

398, Alleluia! sing to Jesus
411, Draw near, and take the body of the Lord
647, Guide me, O thou great Jehovah
422, In the quiet consecration
588, Light of the minds that know him
708, O praise ye the Lord! Praise him in the height
365, Praise to the Lord, the almighty, the King of creation
368, Sing of the Lord’s goodness
624, Speak, Lord, in the stillness

Jonah 3: 10 to 4: 11:

No suggested hymns

Psalm 145: 1-8:

24, All creatures of our God and King
358, King of glory, King of peace
360, Let all the world in every corner sing
104, O for a thousand tongues to sing
368, Sing of the Lord’s goodness
374, When all thy mercies, O my God

Philippians 1: 21-30:

560, Alone with none but thee, my God
517, Brother, sister, let me serve you
566, Fight the good fight with all thy might
461, For all thy saints, O Lord
272, Jesus lives: thy terrors now
425, Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
588, Light of the minds that know him
81, Lord, for the years your love has kept and guided
661, Through the night of doubt and sorrow

Matthew 20: 1-16:

645, Father, hear the prayer we offer
39, For the fruits of his creation
454, Forth in the peace of Christ we go
567, Forth in thy name, O Lord, I go
219, From heav’n you came, helpless babe
636, May the mind of Christ my Saviour
446, Strengthen for service, Lord, the hands
597, Take my life, and let it be
8, The Lord is King! Lift up your voice
372, Through all the changing scenes of life
450, Upon thy table, Lord, we place
145, You servants of the Lord

‘And in the morning you shall have your fill of bread’ (Exodus 16: 12) … a variety of bread in the early morning in a bakery in Platanias near Rethymnon (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org

The hymns suggestions are provided in Sing to the Word (2000), edited by Bishop Edward Darling. The hymn numbers refer to the Church of Ireland’s Church Hymnal (5th edition, Oxford: OUP, 2000)

Material from the Book of Common Prayer is copyright © 2004, Representative Body of the Church of Ireland.

‘He spread a cloud for covering, and fire to give light by night’ (Psalm 105: 39) … evening lights in Valencia (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2020)