Sixteenth Sunday of Pentecost
**Please note this service is based on the format of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Canada. Unless otherwise indicated, all prayers come from Evangelical Lutheran Worship (ELW). Hymns and other prayers have been sourced to give appropriate credit.
**NRSV translation used for the readings, unless otherwise stated.
**This is for personal use at home as the church is unable to gather in our houses of worship but together we can worship in our own homes.
Introduction to the day
Matthew narrates one of Jesus’ controversial parables in which Jesus
says that the reign of God is like that of a landowner who pays his workers the
same wage no matter what time of day they began to work. God is gracious and
merciful, abounding in steadfast love. In baptism we receive the grace of God
that is freely given to all. As Martin Luther wrote, in the presence of God’s
mercy we are all beggars.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever. Amen.
Collect for Purity
Let us confess our sin in the presence of God and of one another.
Most merciful God,
we confess that we are captive to sin and cannot free ourselves. We have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in your will and walk in your ways, to the glory of your holy name. Amen.
In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for his sake God forgives us all our sins. As a called and ordained minister of the church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to you the entire forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the God, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Thanksgiving for Baptism
Blessed be the holy Trinity, one God, the fountain of living water, the rock who gave us birth, our light and our salvation. Amen.
Joined to Christ in the waters of baptism, we are clothed with God's mercy and forgiveness. Let us give thanks for the gift of baptism.
We give you thanks, O God, for in the beginning your Spirit moved over the waters and by your Word you created the world, calling forth life in which you took delight
Through the waters of the flood you delivered Noah and his family. Through the sea you led your people Israel from slavery into freedom.
At the river your Son was baptized by John and anointed with the Holy Spirit. By water and your Word you claim us as daughters and sons, making us heirs of your promise and servants of all.
We praise you for the gift of water that sustains life, and above all we praise you for the gift of new life in Jesus Christ.
Shower us with your Spirit, and renew our lives with your forgiveness, grace, and love. To you be given honor and praise through Jesus Christ our Lord in the unity of the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.
Gathering Song – Great Is Thy Faithfulness (ELW #733)
Greeting
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion
of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
And also with you.
Canticle of Praise
Prayer of the Day
Let us pray.
Almighty and eternal God, you show perpetual loving kindness to us your servants. Because we cannot rely on our own abilities, grant us your merciful judgment, and train us to embody the generosity of your Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
A reading from the Book of Exodus 16:2-15
Faced with hunger in the wilderness,
the Israelites longed for life back in Egypt and wished they had never left.
Then God miraculously and graciously gave them quails and manna to eat.
The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and
Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by
the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate
our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill
this whole assembly with hunger.”
Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”
Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”
In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
O give thanks to the Lord, call on his name,
make known his deeds among the
peoples.
Sing to him, sing
praises to him;
tell of all his wonderful works.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who
seek the Lord rejoice.
Seek the Lord and his
strength;
seek his presence continually.
Remember the wonderful works he has done,
his miracles, and the
judgments he has uttered,
O offspring of his
servant Abraham,
children of Jacob, his chosen ones.
Then he brought Israel out with silver and gold,
and there was no one among
their tribes who stumbled.
Egypt was glad when
they departed,
for dread of them had fallen upon it.
He spread a cloud for a covering,
and fire to give light by
night.
They asked, and he
brought quails,
and gave them food from heaven in
abundance.
He opened the rock, and water gushed out;
it flowed through the desert
like a river.
For he remembered his
holy promise,
and Abraham, his servant.
So he brought his people out with joy,
his chosen ones with singing.
He gave them the
lands of the nations,
and they took possession of the wealth of
the peoples,
that they might keep his statutes
and observe his laws.
Praise the Lord!
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Philippians 1:21-30
Paul writes to the Philippians from prison. Though he is uncertain about the outcome of his imprisonment, he is committed to the ministry of the gospel and calls on the Philippians to live lives that reflect and enhance the gospel mission.
For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the
flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am
hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for
that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since
I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you
for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your
boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.
Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well— since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The holy gospel according to Matthew 20:1-16
Glory to you, O Lord.
Jesus tells a parable
about God’s generosity, challenging the common assumption that God rewards
people according to what they have earned or deserve.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
The Gospel story today is
often called the Labourers in the Vineyard. It begins and revolves around two
kinds of people.
The first is a landowner or,
more specifically, the owner of a vineyard. As is true today, if you own a
vineyard, you’re probably doing pretty well in life.
The other characters are the
day laborers, and they live at pretty much the other end of the economic
ladder. Day laborers are people who don’t have a regular job. People who go
into the town each morning hoping they’ll find work so they can feed their
family. They’re not beggars, they’re not destitute, but they pretty much live
right on the edge of poverty.
When the parable starts, the
owner of a vineyard needs some help. It’s likely harvest time and the work is
plentiful, so he goes into town at dawn to hire some additional workers,
agreeing with them on a daily wage of one denarius, about the amount it takes
to feed a family for a day.
As the day goes on, it turns
out that the land owner needs more help, so he goes out again at nine in the
morning and tells some more laborers that if they work, he’ll pay then what is
right. No amount is named, just a promise that he will do right by them.
And then he goes out again at
noon, and then once more at 3:00 in the afternoon, and finally one last time at
5:00 p.m., which is kind of a head-scratcher, because there’s only one hour
left in the twelve-hour work day. But he hires them too and sends them into the
vineyard.
At 6:00 in the evening, he
tells his manager to settle accounts, and the folks who came last and worked
only one hour are paid first. When they show up, they are likely astounded that
they received a full day’s wage. That’s right. They’ve worked just one hour –
about 8 ½ % of the work day, but they’re getting a 100% of a full day’s wage.
Which means they’re likely not just surprised, but probably overjoyed.
Maybe the only people happier
than those hired at the last hour are those hired at the first. Think about it.
They worked twelve hours and just saw the dudes who only worked one hour get a
full day’s wage.
So it’s not hard to imagine
that they’re expecting to get more, maybe a lot more. But when they show up to
be paid, they also get a single denarius.
That doesn’t seem fair. I
mean, they worked for twelve hours, enduring, as they understandably grumble,
the scorch of the sun all day long. They deserve more.
It’s all too easy for us to
dismiss these laborers as ungrateful or selfish or, to borrow a biblical phrase,
hard of heart. But their reaction is almost exactly what most of us would have
felt had we been in their shoes.
What happens to them simply
does not add up and so doesn’t seem fair. Never mind it’s what was contracted –
if those who worked an hour received a day’s wage, then those who worked so
much longer deserve more.
But in an act of generosity, the
owner of the vineyard throws aside normal practices for payment. Rather, he
gives the laborers what is “right.” While it seems terribly wrong to the
diligent folks who have worked all day, it is right in the owner’s eyes that
everyone goes home with enough pay to buy food for their families.
Every act of generosity is
also an act of love, which sometimes brings forth the clash of these two
values.
These workers want justice; who
can blame them. They feel cheated because they calculated their wages in accord
with what the manger paid the latecomers.
That’s what justice does: it
counts and measures and calculates because justice is a matter of the law and
seeks to ensure that all people receive equal treatment, equal opportunity, and
equal standing.
But the manager responds that
he has acted not with justice in mind but rather with love expressed through
generosity. And when these two – justice and love – clash, it can get ugly.
Because where justice counts,
love loses track. Where justice calculates, love lets go. Where justice holds
all things in the balance, love and generosity give everything away, upsetting
the balances we have so carefully arranged.
If forced to choose, which
would you take, love or justice?
Of course we want to live out
of love. But, truth be told, that’s hard, as we seem almost hardwired to count
our hurts and disappointments rather than our blessings. I don’t know why, but
it’s far easier to live by counting rather than by grace.
Can we all acknowledge that we
would choose to live in love but tend to call for justice? Even if we don’t
mean to?
Let’s look instead then at
what God chooses. We know God cares about justice. The law, prophets, and
Jesus’ own life and ministry testify to that.
But in the end, justice can
only make things better.
It is love that saves, and
when forced to choose between exercising God’s just judgment against us or
forgiving and accepting us in love, God in Jesus and his cross and resurrection
chooses love.
We are the latecomers to the
vineyard, those who had no good reason to expect such lavish, even reckless
generosity.
This is the God we discover in
Jesus, the God who looks at us in love and therefore overlooks all those places
we fall short and chooses to treat us with unmerited grace, mercy, and
generosity.
God, help us to realize that
you always ensure each of your children will have enough; that your way of
counting what is “right” is less about calculating, and more about compassion.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day – For the Fruit of All Creation (ELW #679)
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say the Apostles’ Creed:
Prayers of Intercession
Drawn together in the compassion of God, we pray for the church, the
world, and all those in need.
Silence
Generous God, you make the last first, and the first last. Where this gospel challenges the church, equip it for its works of service. Strengthen those who suffer for Christ. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Sun and wind, bushes and worms, cattle and great cities – nothing in creation is outside your concern, mighty God. In your mercy, tend to it all. Give us a spirit of generosity toward all you have made. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Where we find envy and create enemies, you provide enough for all. Bring peace to places of conflict and violence. Inspire leaders with creativity and wisdom. Bless the work of negotiators, peacekeepers, and development workers. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Reveal yourself to all in need as you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love, ready to relent from punishing. Accompany judges and lawyers, victims of crime and those serving sentences. Give fruitful labor and a livelihood to those seeking work. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Even beyond our expectations, you choose to give generously. Grant life, health, and courage to all who are in need. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
We praise you for the generations that have declared your power to us. Give us faithfulness to follow them, living for Christ, until you call us to join them in the joyful song around his throne. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
All these things and whatever else you see that we need, we entrust to your mercy; through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Offering
**Although
not physically at our church buildings to share our offering together I would
encourage you to set your offering of money aside so that it can be dropped off
or placed in the church once services resume, to mail your offering to the
church, or to make donations online. Please remember ministry is still taking
place.
Let us pray.
Salvation belongs to
our God
and to Christ the
Lamb forever and ever.
Great and wonderful
are your deeds,
O God of the
universe;
just and true are
your ways,
O Ruler of all the
nations.
Who can fail to honor
you, Lord,
and sing the glory of
your name?
Salvation belongs to
our God
and to Christ the
Lamb forever and ever.
For you alone are the
Holy One,
and blessed is the
one
whose name is the
Word of God.
All praise and thanks
to you, holy God!
Salvation belongs to
our God
and to Christ the
Lamb forever and ever.
Amen.
Thanksgiving for the Word
Let us pray.
Praise and thanks to you, holy God, for by your Word you made all things: you spoke light into darkness, called forth beauty from chaos, and brought life into being. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
By your Word you called your people Israel to tell of your wonderful
gifts: freedom from captivity, water on the desert journey, a pathway home from
exile, wisdom for life with you. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
Through Jesus, your Word made flesh, you speak to us and call us to
witness: forgiveness through the cross, life to those entombed by death, the
way of your self-giving love. For your Word of life, O God,
we give you thanks
and praise.
Send your Spirit of truth, O God; rekindle your gifts within us: renew
our faith, increase our hope, and deepen our love, for the sake of a world in
need. Faithful to your Word, O God, draw near to all who call on you; through
Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be
honor and glory forever.
Amen.
Lord’s Prayer
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Blessing
Almighty God, Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you now and forever.
Amen.
Sending Song – The Spirit Sends Us Forth to Serve (ELW #551)
Dismissal
Go in peace. Christ is with you.
Thanks be to God.
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