Sept. 24 2014 16th of Pentecost

Matthew 20:1-16 (The Message)

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work. 3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing? 7 ' "They said, 'Because no one hired us.' "He told them to go to work in his vineyard. 8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.' 9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.' 13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?' 16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Jesus was lucky there were no unions around in his day.  He would have been in big trouble.  Even though the master in this parable did no wrong.  He acted with generosity toward the late comers, and fairness toward the rest.  This was his right and privilege.

To complain about the pay is to miss the joy of having labored long and hard in the Kingdom.  It is to miss the emptiness of “ standing idle in the market place.”

It is a privilege to be hired at the first hour.  These are the lucky ones who know the joy of living in the kingdom.  Idleness is not a blessing.  Living in grace is!









"God is more gracious than we could ever imagine."











Prayer thought for the week:  “Lord, thank you for giving me much to do for you,
which enriches my life with grace upon grace.”

Sept. 17, 2017 15h of Pentecost

Matthew 18: 21, 22  (The Message)

21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?" 22 Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.

Forgiveness is not an option in the Kingdom of Heaven...it is a requirement.  We cannot choose if we are going to forgive or who we are going to forgive or not forgive...we are to forgive as we have been forgiven!  And that is a lot!

Forgiveness begins with being forgiven.
Only the person who receives forgiveness can pass it on;
Only the person who passes on forgiveness really receives it.

Forgiveness is an echo.  It does not originate with us and it does not end with us.
We forgive as we have been forgiven.

“When somebody you’ve wronged forgives you, you’re spared the dull and self-diminishing throb of a guilty conscience.
When you forgive somebody who has wronged you, you’re spared the dismal corrosion of bitterness and wounded pride.
For both parties, forgiveness means the freedom again to be at peace inside their own skins and to be glad in each others presence.”  Frederick Buechner




“To be forgiven and forgiving is to live believing that we can have a common future even with our enemies and even with those who have treated us unfairly.  It is to live believing in forgiveness, which is...love’s revolution against life’s unfairness.”
 
Lewis Smedes

Prayer thoughts for the week:
“Lord, help to forgive even when I don’t want to.”
“…keep me open to forgiveness even when the one I want to forgive doesn’t want my forgiveness.”
“…help me to never give up on forgiveness.”

Sept. 10, 2017 14th of Pentecost

Matthew 18: 15-18  (The Message)

15 "If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him - work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you've made a friend. 16 If he won't listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. 17 If he still won't listen, tell the church. If he won't listen to the church, you'll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God's forgiving love. 18 "Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this.

We are not to be piously judging and condemning; we are to be accountable to each other and not be indifferent about that which causes disharmony in our lives and relationships.  And we are to strive for forgiveness, not giving up until it can happen.

Forgiveness is not an option in God’s Kingdom.  It is a must!  And we are to keep at it until it happens.

"The hallmark of forgiveness is that
it enables the forgiver to live painlessly
 with the forgiven.”
                          Susan Howatch







Prayer thoughts for the week:

“Lord help be remember to seek forgiveness in difficult relationships.
forgiveness both ways - from me and to me.

Sept. 3, 2017 13th of Pentecost

Matthew 16:21-24 (The Message)

21 Then Jesus made it clear to his disciples that it was now necessary for him to go to Jerusalem, submit to an ordeal of suffering at the hands of the religious leaders, be killed, and then on the third day be raised up alive. 22 Peter took him in hand, protesting, "Impossible, Master! That can never be!" 23 But Jesus didn't swerve. "Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works." 24 Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how.

Peter had the best of intentions at heart when he tried to talk Jesus out of the way of suffering. He had no intention of being an evil temptation.

He wanted suffering eliminated from Jesus life.  We all would like to see the same.
Suffering is so costly; it hurts so much, demands so much, takes so much.

What Peter and we need to understand is that suffering belongs to the very nature of this world and to the very nature of Jesus - the suffering servant who emptied himself.

To be caught up with the will of God is to take on suffering as a part of loving.  The only way to eliminate suffering is to eliminate love.  Love makes sense out of and gives meaning to life, even suffering.

“...life without any kind of suffering would be no life at all; it would be a form of death.  Life - the life of the spirit like the life of the body- depends in some mysterious way upon the struggle to be...suffering-as-struggle belongs...to life’s foundational basis and goodness...A pain free life would be a life-less life.”  Douglas John Hall

“We suffer because we are human and
 out of our suffering comes our
capacity for compassion.
 For suffering integrates us into life
and makes us more fully and truly alive.”
Douglas John Hall







Prayer thoughts for the week.

Lord, when it comes (suffering) help me to walk through it to the better end.
…keep me from loosing touch with compassion even in suffering.
…help me to love the pain out of suffering, and live life with a joy which
passes human understanding.