It’s October. In many churches, including ours, that means stewardship month.
- I kind of like stewardship month - it inspires me to recall what stewardship is - the acknowledgement that all that I have was given to me by God - I am not really the owner of my own property - I am a steward of God’s resources - it also inspires me to examine whether I am being a responsible steward - am I administering God’s resources in a way that honors God I also like stewardship month b/c the lectionary hands us passages like Matt 21:33-46. - the parable of the tenants - Jesus tells this parable in the temple - his audience = the chief priests and Pharisees - Israel’s liturgical functionaries and teachers - the parable is about them, and they know it <v. 45> - and it really gets under their skin - so let’s try to figure out what Jesus is saying to them <v. 33a> - that’s how the parable begins - but it’s a parable, not meant to be taken literally - the story of the landowner and the vineyard illustrates something else - specifically, God and Israel - just as a landowner plants a vineyard, God has established the people of Israel - and the landowner does what any farmer or gardener would do <v. 33b> - he protects his property and prepares to collect the produce If the landowner is God and the vineyard is Israel, then what is the produce? - it’s not exactly clear - the temple worship; the prayers and sacrifices of grain and animals - the deeds of righteousness and mercy that God prizes above sacrifice - whatever it is, it’s Israel’s obligation to God - what God is entitled to receive from his people And then there are the tenants, who are tending the vineyard. - they would be the chief priests and Pharisees; the religious leaders - the stewards of God’s people Israel - their responsibility: to see that God receives the produce from his vineyard - prayers; sacrifice; deeds of righteousness and mercy - but they don’t; they are faithless stewards - God will kill them and replace them with faithful stewards So. That’s the message to the chief priests and Pharisees. What’s the message for us? - I think there’s a message for us as individuals and as a corporation First, there’s a message about individual stewardship. - God has made each of us tenants of a vineyard – our lives, labors, resources - whatever we have belongs to God, and we are his stewards - Paul even says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? Therefore glorify God with your body.” - Paul calls us to glorify God - and Jesus calls us to be faithful stewards of all that God has given us - as the old hymn goes, “We give thee but thine own, whate’er the gift may be. All that we have is thine alone; a trust, O Lord, from thee.” - So do we acknowledge all that God has given to us? - Do we administer God’s gifts in a way that honors God? That’s the message about individual stewardship. Then there’s a message about corporate stewardship. - we, the people of St. James’, are stewards of God’s work in this parish - God’s vineyard for us - it’s interesting to figure out the geography of our parish - the boundaries lie roughly between us and other churches/dioceses - N: Duck Lake; E: Parma Rd.; S: T Drive South; W: 22-Mile Road - Albion, Homer, Concord, Springport - in this “vineyard,” we are called to maintain regular services of Holy Eucharist and daily prayer; pastoral care; ministry to those in need; and witness to the good news of Jesus Christ - this is why we pay our rector and church staff - it’s why we keep our facilities in good repair - it’s why we host Community Suppers and support Community Gardens and offer a summer literacy program - it’s why we participate in Albion Interfaith Ministries and take our place in the work of our diocese - Paul also says that our church is God’s temple, and God’s Spirit dwells in us - so that our church is not really our church - we are God’s church, called together in this parish to do God’s work As individuals, then, let’s acknowledge with thanksgiving all that God has given to us. Let’s manage our lives, our labor, and our resources in a way that honors God. And as God’s people at St. James’, let’s keep serving him in our parish. Together, let’s give our lives, labor, and resources for God’s work in and around Albion. Let’s answer God’s call to give him the produce at the harvest time. Amen.
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Pentecost 17 Proper 21 October 1, 2017
Exodus 17:1-7; Psalm 78:1-4, 12-16; Philippians 2:1-13; Matthew 21:23-32 Who gives Jesus his authority?[1] A key question in the Gospel according to Matthew is “Who is Jesus?” In today’s gospel reading the Chief Priests and elders come to Jesus as he enters the temple and ask, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” This is an understandable question since the previous day Jesus had entered the temple and drove out all who were selling and buying in the temple, and overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold doves. Who did Jesus think he was and what did he think he was doing? Jesus knew there was no satisfactory answer so asks a question of his own indirectly answering their question; did John the Baptist work under the authority of humanity or of God? John has come proclaiming the baptism of repentance and preparing the way for Jesus the Messiah. If the religious leaders could have recognized John as working under God’s authority then they would have recognized Jesus as God’s chosen Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham and the son of God. As Abraham’s descendants were to be a blessing to all the nations, Jesus’ family tree includes women, Gentile women; it was unusual to include women in a Jewish genealogy. Magi, Gentile foreigners possibly from modern day Iran and Iraq were the first to come and worship Jesus. The Messiah was not just for the Jews. The Kingdom of God included women and foreigners. God inaugurated the Kingdom of Heaven in Jesus, but not as was expected. Jesus as the Son of David is a King, the King of the Jews, but not in the style of King Herod living in a royal palace and wearing fancy clothes. No, Jesus the Messiah comes like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah. Jesus is gentle; he rides into Jerusalem on a donkey as in a time of peace not war. Jesus associates with the marginalized and outcast; he eats with sinners, tax collectors, foreigners and women; and Jesus challenges the political and religious leaders. Jesus willingly takes on suffering to bring justice and mercy to Israel and the nations, even to death on a cross. Jesus is the servant of the Lord and Israel’s representative. Matthew highlights Jesus as the faithful representative of Israel in identity and mission. Just as God brought Israel from exile in Egypt, God does the same for Jesus and his family. In contrast to Israel’s disobedience when tempted in the wilderness, Jesus proves his faithfulness to God when facing the same temptations and demonstrates the covenant loyalty that God requires of Israel. Jesus’s faithfulness, even to death, is vindicated by God in the resurrection, secondly in the temple’s destruction in AD 70 and thirdly at “the end of the age,” when Jesus will judge all humanity. It is crucial to Matthew’s story that Jesus is the embodiment of Yahweh; Jesus enacts Israel’s redemption, fulfilling God’s promises that God will bring redemption. For example, Matthew affirms Jesus as “the lord” for whom John prepares the way, citing Isaiah’s prophecy that Yahweh will return to Zion, connecting Jesus intimately with Yahweh’s mission and even identity. Jesus is also granted the role of universal Lord and judge, a role reserved in the Old Testament Scriptures for God alone.[2] Jesus fulfills the covenant and promises of God found in the Old Testament. Matthew focuses particular attention on Jesus’s relationship to the Jewish law, fulfilling rather than abolishing the law by interpreting and teaching it rightly, because Jesus interprets the torah by its central qualities of mercy, justice, love, and faithfulness rather than its burdensomeness as taught by those he criticizes. It is Jesus’s teaching on the Law and the Prophets that is authoritative for his followers. Matthew portrays Jesus as the Davidic Messiah who inaugurates the kingdom, as representative of Israel, as the embodiment of Yahweh in Israel’s restoration and as fulfiller of the scriptures.[3] Matthew’s story begins with Jesus worshipped by the Gentile Magi and ends with the disciples worshipping Jesus and Jesus declaration that, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” and the Great Commission, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (MT28:18) The frustration of the author of Matthew’s gospel is almost palatable. Matthew is writing for his community probably after Jerusalem has been destroyed in 70 AD. He has told a compelling story showing that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah and that Jesus’s authority is from God, that somehow Jesus is the incarnation of God and yet the religious authorities do not believe him. Jesus was not who they expected. Jesus did not act as they wanted him to and so, they rejected him. They were not willing to admit that they might be wrong or to change their expectations of the Messiah and of God. A compelling question for us is “How are we like the first century religious and political leaders? Do we believe Jesus is the Messiah like the tax collectors and the prostitutes? Do we insist on our own image of God or do we fall on our knees to worship Jesus as the embodiment of God?” <pause> The second half of today’s gospel, The Parable of the Two Sons, seems to imply that it is not sufficient to say “I believe”, but what are you going to do about it? This city of Albion, this county of Calhoun, this state of Michigan, this great country is God’s vineyard. Jesus has given us the Great Commission to tell God’s story, teaching and proclaiming the gospel to all people, and baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. When God calls your name will you say, “Here I am Lord, send me”. It is ok to hesitate, to make excuses, to say I am too old or I am too young, I am too shy, I am not a public speaker. Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah did the same. The important thing is not whether you make excuses or if you even say “NO!”, the important thing is whether you actually go out into God’s vineyard and work today. Who are you to do this? You are the sons and daughters of God. This not just the work of priests and pastors, but the work of all the baptized. You do not act on your own authority, but on the authority of Jesus Christ himself who has been given all authority in Heaven and in Earth by God. Go! Proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, teach about the love and mercy and grace of our God and baptize in the name of the trinity acting on the authority of God! Amen. [1] Gary M. Burge and Andrew E. Hill, Editors, The Baker Illustrated Bible Commentary, Jeanninne K. Brown, Matthew, 950-1006, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2012. [2] Ibid, 953. [3] Ibid, 952. |
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