St. James’ Episcopal Church
Proper 20 September 24, 2017 Competition. We love to compete. - football; baseball; basketball; hockey; tennis; swimming; golf; chess; poker; darts; arm-wrestling; road-racing; frog-jumping; bake-offs; best in show; beautiful baby; Miss Congeniality; Mr. Universe - we were born to compete We all know this. - especially if we grew up around other children - and probably we all did, whether at home or in school In my own case, at home, I was the oldest. - that was my competitive edge - which counted for nothing, because I had three younger siblings - and especially two younger brothers, both born within three years of me - sure, I could assert my rights and try to boss them around - but what counted in our relationship was physical strength - they twisted my arm, wrestled me to the ground, put me in a ½-Nelson - and especially when it was two against one, I was at their mercy What about school? Well, in school, I was the youngest. - I was the least mature; the least physically coordinated - I was shy and socially inept - the only arena in which I could compete: I got good grades - so I kept going for good grades, all the way through high school and college - I earned plenty of rewards, but I also stressed myself out What a relief, then, to go to seminary and study passages like the gospel we just read. - Jesus tells a parable about the kingdom of heaven - which is not at all like the world of human competition - in this parable, there are five sets of vineyard laborers - 12-hour laborers, 9-hour laborers, 6-hour, 3-hour, and 1-hour - in my world, A-students, B-students, C, D, and F - at the end of the day, the landowner pays them all the 12-hour wage - the 12-hour laborers might have been content with the 12-hour wage - which was what they had agreed to with the landowner - except that they looked at the 1-hour laborer’s paycheck I love this parable. - I love the way it turns our expectations inside-out. - We get paid what we deserve, right? - and if we work longer hours than someone else, we should get paid more That’s not what the kingdom of heaven is like. - in the kingdom of heaven, we do not get what we deserve - and God help us if we do - in the kingdom of heaven, we receive from God’s amazing grace - and God’s grace is undeserved - in the kingdom of heaven, there are no 12-hour Xians and 1-hour Xians - there are no A Christians, B Christians, C, D, or F Christians - there are only Christians - there are no heroes or zeroes - there are only forgiven sinners - there are no oldest children or youngest children - there are only God’s children - there are no teacher’s pets or dunces - there are only human beings loved by God - and, as C. S. Lewis points out, not loved because we are lovable - we don’t have to be lovable in order for God to love us - we don’t have to earn God’s love, and indeed we can’t - God loves us, not because we are lovable, but because God is love Once I learned this lesson, I disciplined myself not to “look at other people’s paychecks.” - I’m not always successful, but when I am, it’s quite freeing - for one thing, it’s much less stressful when I don’t compete - when I don’t compare myself to other people - when I’m not envious of God’s generosity to them - but receive my lot from God, with gratitude - and do the work that God gives me to do, day by day - for another thing, I am less ready to judge other people - whether they are getting more or less than they deserve - whether they are getting more or less than I am I mentioned C. S. Lewis a minute ago. - I want to end this sermon by reading from one of his children’s books - you may have read The Chronicles of Narnia or seen the movies - The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Prince Caspian - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader This is The Horse and His Boy, a story about a boy named Shasta, a girl named Aravis, and two talking horses who make a long and dangerous journey together. - toward the end of the story, Shasta is riding alone in the fog - and passing the time by looking at other people’s paychecks <p. 155> - suddenly he is aware of a large someone pacing beside him - it’s the lion Aslan, the Christ-figure of the Chronicles - but it’s foggy, so Shasta doesn’t know that <pp. 157-159> - God tells us no-one’s story but our own - and it’s always the story of God’s amazing grace
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