Eighteenth 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
In today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells a vineyard parable, which serves
as 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 so that we may share Christ’s
sufferings and know the power of his resurrection.
Confession and Forgiveness
Blessed be the holy Trinity, ☩ one God, who forgives all our sin, whose mercy endures forever. Amen.
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.
Gathering Song – All Are Welcome
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.
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 .
Amen.
A reading from the Book of Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20
The God of the exodus graciously gave
Israel the Ten Commandments. Primarily stated as negative imperatives, the Ten
Commandments forbid gross sins such as murder, adultery, theft, and perjury. In
most of life they grant Israel freedom to live righteously, with maximum love
for God and neighbor.
God spoke all these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of slavery; you shall have no other gods before me.
You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of
anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is
in the water under the earth.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for
the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor
and do all your work.
Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in
the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your
neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that
belongs to your neighbor.
When all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of
the trumpet, and the mountain smoking, they were afraid and trembled and stood
at a distance, and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do
not let God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be
afraid; for God has come only to test you and to put the fear of him upon you
so that you do not sin.”
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Psalm 19
The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his
handiwork.
Day to day pours
forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.
There is no speech, nor are there words;
their voice is not heard;
yet their voice goes
out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.
In the heavens he has set a tent for the sun,
which comes out like a bridegroom from his wedding canopy,
and like a strong man runs its
course with joy.
Its rising is from
the end of the heavens,
and its circuit to the end of them;
and nothing is hid from its heat.
The law of the Lord is perfect,
reviving the soul;
the decrees of the
Lord are sure,
making wise the simple;
the precepts of the Lord are right,
rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of
the Lord is clear,
enlightening the eyes;
the fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever;
the ordinances of the
Lord are true
and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold,
even much fine gold;
sweeter also than
honey,
and drippings of the honeycomb.
Moreover by them is your servant warned;
in keeping them there is great
reward.
But who can detect
their errors?
Clear me from hidden faults.
Keep back your servant also from the insolent;
do not let them have dominion
over me.
Then I shall be
blameless,
and innocent of great transgression.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my rock and my
redeemer.
A reading from the Letter of Paul to the 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.
[Paul writes:] If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised 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; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.
Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because
of Christ. More 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 and 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. I want to know Christ and the power of his
resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his
death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead.
Not 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. Beloved, 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, I
press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ
Jesus.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
Gospel Acclamation
The Lord be with you.
And also with you.
The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew 21:33-46
Glory to you, O Lord.
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.
[Jesus said to the people:] “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 watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 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.”
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’?
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. The one who falls on
this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it
falls.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.
The gospel of the Lord.
Praise to you, O
Christ.
Sermon
Rules, rules,
rules.
Life is all about rules, isn’t it?
Right from day 1, we are trained to follow the rules.
As toddlers, we learn when we are supposed to go to bed, how to share, what you are allowed to touch.
In school, we learn rules of the classroom and rules of math and science.
In our workplaces there are rules to follow like dress codes, job descriptions, and hours of work.
Over these last few months, we have had to learn a whole new set of rules, ones that keep changing and modifying. Even just this week we heard new rules being laid out that both changed and didn’t change what was already happening in our lives, but are important none the less.
Rules, rules, rules.
God, too, laid out some rules for us. We heard them today, rules given to Moses on Mount Sinai, rules that we should all be leaning on in our daily lives.
The Ten Commandments. We all know them, right?
1. There is only one God.
2. Don’t worship false idols.
3. Don’t take God’s name in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath.
5. Honour your parents.
6. Don’t commit murder.
7. Don’t commit adultery.
8. Don’t steal.
9. Don’t bear false witness.
10. Don’t covet.
These rules
are meant to help guides us through our lives, help us be good people to our
neighbours.
But even these 10 rules can be hard to follow at times. Some seem obvious, perhaps others seem out-of-date.
Let’s see how we can apply them to our lives today.
The first one can be a tough one. Is there only one God? Depends on who you ask. To make the claim that there is only one God, the Christian God, is disrespectful to others. However, us in this room, yes, there is the one Almighty God to whom we pray and worship.
Don’t worship false idols. That’s a really good one for today’s society. Consider the worship of money, fame, big houses, fast cars. We modern human beings have many material possessions that we worship more than God. Martin Luther said that our god was anything that we fear, love, and trust above all things. This commandment asks us to refrain from worshiping those false gods.
In God’s third rule, we are being asked not to swear, more specifically not to swear using God’s name, or Jesus’ name, in the case of Christians. Likely because of exposure to television and social media, the vulgarity of language has certainly increased over the years. I will admit that I have had to work on being careful with my words.
Remember the Sabbath. If you read the third commandment as it is in Deuteronomy 5, you hear a Biblical application of that commandment. There is to be no work on the Sabbath, including no work for one’s donkey, oxen, manservant, or maidservant. The details of the Third Commandment in Deuteronomy 5 clearly refer to another culture and generation other than our own. Any of you have oxen and servants at home? The Third Commandment teaches us about the importance of rest and community worship. That is, there needs to be a period of time for your body, mind and spirit to truly rest.
One of the most important parts of mental health of just about anybody is to heal the frictions and fractions with your parents. I realize that this can’t always be accomplished. Perhaps your parents have died. Perhaps there was abuse and you have no desire to have a relationship with them. Honoring your parents could be something like taking care of them in their aging years, or it could be allowing yourself to let go of the hurts of the past, as painful as that might be. In the second point, the honour comes in no longer allowing them to control your life.
You shall not murder. Four words, but so much complexity. I could probably do a whole bible study on these four words. Don’t kill people – seems easy enough. But is that the only definition of murder? Consider climate change. Consider residential schools. Consider bullying to the point of suicide. Consider the Black Lives Matter movement. This commandment is more than just don’t kill people.
Don’t commit adultery. Humans are sexual beings. There is a lot that could be said about all of the different styles of relationships that exist. But in the end, the important thing is to respect your partner. That is the most important part of a relationship because without respect, you can’t have love or trust.
Thou shall not steal. The surface answer is don’t shoplift. But as with the commandment of “you shall not murder”, there is so much more behind these words. Does this commandment have anything to do with 10% of the earth owning 90% of the earth’s resources? Do the rich steal from the poor? Does it have anything to do with the rich and poor nations?
Don’t bear false witness. How many of you enjoy hearing gossip? Everyone wants to hear the juicy news. Rumours are begun at the water cooler. Our job is to avoid those conversations or stop them from happening. And certainly, we should never be the instigator.
Don’t covet. The grass is always greener on the other side right? Possessions like cars, homes, clothing, boats, vacations, cabins, life style. We are taught to be envious at an early age and being jealous of what others have is a hard habit to break. Keep in mind that what you see isn’t always how things are. We don’t know each other’s stories.
There you have it. 10 rules, given by God to humanity as ways to live in right relationship with God, with each other, with ourselves, and with all living creatures on the earth.
Rules, rules, rules.
When the rules of the world and society are ever-changing, we can faithfully lean on God’s rules to help us through each day.
Let us close with this final prayer:
Copyright © 2002 Katherine Hawker
Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your mind and your soul.
We will love God with an intensity such that no substitute will suffice, the very mention of God's name will be precious as we cleave to our time of communion with the sacred.
Love your neighbor as yourself.
We will respect the wisdom of our elders.
We will
protect the lives and the reputations of those around us.
We will
cherish the relationships entrusted to us.
We will not
take what is not ours.
We will learn
the value of enough.
Love the Lord your God.
Amen.
Hymn of the Day – The Church of Christ, In Every Age
Creed
Let us confess
the faith of our baptism, as we say the Apostles’ Creed:
Prayers of Intercession
With confidence in God’s grace and mercy, let us pray for the church,
the world, and all those in need.
Silence
Curb the impulses of greed and pride that lead us to take advantage of others. Grant that world leaders seek the fruits of the kingdom for the good and welfare of all people. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Sustain all who suffer with the promise of new life. Assured of your presence, heal our pain and suffering, and equip us to embrace all bodies aching for wholeness of mind, body, and soul. We call to mind those who are struggling today. 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.
We pray for all managers in our community and for all who seek employment. Give hope and a future to those who lack meaningful work, those who have been marginalized or abused in the workplace, and those who desire new opportunities. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Here other intercessions may be offered.
Thank you for the saints who teach us to live faithfully in your vineyard (especially Theodor Fliedner, renewer of society). May our chorus join theirs until our labor is complete. Lord, in your mercy,
hear our prayer.
Listen as we call on you, O God, and enfold in your loving arms all for whom we pray, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Peace
The peace of Christ be with you always.
And also with you.
Canticle of Thanksgiving
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.
Gathered into one by the Holy Spirit, let us pray as Jesus taught us.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
forever and ever. Amen.
Blessing
Almighty God, Father, ☩ Son, and Holy Spirit,
bless you now and forever.
Amen.
Sending Song – Sent Forth by God’s Blessing
Dismissal
Go forth into the world to serve God with gladness; be of good courage; hold fast to that which is good; render to no one evil for evil; strengthen the fainthearted; support the weak; help the afflicted; honor all people; love and serve God, rejoicing in the power of the Holy Spirit.
Thanks be to God.
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