{"id":3533,"date":"2020-09-18T10:55:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-18T00:55:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3533"},"modified":"2020-09-18T10:56:02","modified_gmt":"2020-09-18T00:56:02","slug":"sunday-sermon-21-09-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?p=3533","title":{"rendered":"Sunday Sermon 20-09-2020"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Service September 20<sup>th<\/sup> 2020 Leighmoor Uniting Church<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-Rev Barbara Allen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Suggested Hymns<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 153: God is love<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 738: My Jesus, my Saviour<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 129: Amazing Grace<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 164: The great love of God<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 624: Christ be my leader by night as by day<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 619: Have faith in God, my heart<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>TIS 666: We are marching in the light of God<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Prayers of Adoration, Thanksgiving and Confession<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Gracious and loving God,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>we give you thanks for a crisp, new day, full of promise.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Thank you for helping us through a troubling week, time spent, for the most part, behind closed doors.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We thank you for the scent of spring, for the colours of blossom and bulbs, for the warmer evenings, the lighter mornings.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>You are here with us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We thank you for all that keeps us believing that our lives have meaning,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>that the world is full of good,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>that our comings and goings are noticed by you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>that disappointment, sickness, fear or death<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>does not cut us off from you,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>that always there shines the light of Jesus Christ<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>to sparkle in our happiness,<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>or to lighten our darkest hours.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We thank you that you are a God who goes beyond justice, to overflowing grace,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>that though we are forever indebted to you, no weight of debt is held over us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Thank you for your lavish, undeserved generosity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And yet, we confess that we do not always look favourably upon your acceptance, forgiveness, and love for others.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We have an \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them\u2019 in our minds and hearts that is revealed in our prejudices and discriminations- even though your love accepts everyone.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We are guarded, reasonable people who choose who and how much we will love, who choose what is deemed \u2018sensible.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We confess that this can lead to not loving our neighbours,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>not hearing the cry of the needy.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive what we have been,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>help us to amend what we are,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>and direct us to what we shall be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us and renew us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>God keeps no account of wrongs, but assures us in Christ that our debt is completely cancelled.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Our sins are forgiven and forgotten.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We are free to begin again in newness of life, justified by our faith in Christ.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Our sins are forgiven<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>(<i>Thanks be to God<\/i>).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Go and live your lives as forgiven people, loved by God,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Bible Readings<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Exodus 16: 2-15<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Philippians 1: 21-30<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 20: 1-16<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Sermon<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Jesus told many of his parables, NOT to give us information, BUT RATHER to get our adrenalin flowing!<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>There were two parables that drew lots of responses when I was a minister in a rural parish: the prodigal son (for most of the farmers were the elder son, staying to work on the farm), and this one, for they could identify with the subject matter.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>They may even have been one of the hired help.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>This week\u2019s parable is one of his best.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The previous two Sunday\u2019s Jesus\u2019 parables in Matthew have dealt with forgiveness<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-forgiveness for the community<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-forgiveness for ourselves-and how we then forgive others.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We know how hard, how unnatural it is to forgive.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Today, we consider God\u2019s graciousness, God\u2019s abundant gift of grace.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Why does God\u2019s graciousness sometimes cause grumbling?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Or whinging?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Part of the problem lies in the verse before today\u2019s parable, and today\u2019s concluding verse:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018so the last will be first, and the first will be last.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When we get to the end of today\u2019s parable, and hear \u2018so the last will be first, and the first will be last\u2019, it seems as though it is the logical moral to the parable<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT if we examine the parable carefully, it is a poor fit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-a poor fit.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>As well as parables, there existed groups of \u2018sayings\u2019, one liners, that were usually attached to the end of a parable. A bit like Aesop\u2019s fables\u2026the moral is\u2026\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Sometimes the moral at the end of the parable doesn\u2019t seem to fit the story.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The Parable of the Vineyard, unique to Matthew\u2019s gospel, is NOT a parable about the reversal of fortunes<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>(the first will be last, the last will be first).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-for a REVERSAL implies that someone will be a significant loser.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Nor is it an insider\/outsider story, for all the workers get paid the wage agreed upon-no one is left out, or goes away unpaid.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In this parable, everyone seems to win equally-and that is the shock.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The theme is: God\u2019s generosity, which is beyond human comprehension.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>This is shocking.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The message of the parable, that everyone receives exactly the same reward-no matter how much or how little effort they have put in-does a number of things:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>It confounds those who expect a type of justice from God which rewards obedience and punishes transgressions;<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>It frustrates the pious, who think they will get preferential treatment;<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>It unnerves those who think their beliefs are right-and all others inferior to their faith and practice;<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>It illustrates that there is no seniority in God\u2019s kingdom.<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>All will be treated equally-from the disciples, who had left everything in order to follow Jesus-to us.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>From those who have left everything, or cloistered themselves in monasteries, or have worked hard at salvation-seeing their hard work as a way to earn salvation?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Is that how we look at God\u2019s generosity?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We can\u2019t earn God\u2019s love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We can\u2019t earn God\u2019s love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT how often do we work or act as though we can?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>No, we don\u2019t go around helping others in order to score Brownie points-we do it BECAUSE we can\u2019t help but help others, BECAUSE we follow Christ\u2019s example of love.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT we hear this parable and say:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u201cWhat about the vineyard owner\u2019s actions?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>He is a good employer, he follows the law-Leviticus 19:13 \u2018You shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning.\u2019 The employer, faithfully, pays his day-labourers before the sun sets,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT his payment method is somewhat eccentric,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>even torturous.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>By paying the workers in the reverse order from which they were hired-the first-hired have to stand and watch it all happen.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Agony!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And, of course, the first-hire workers object loudly:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018These 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.\u2019(vs 12).<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>And what does the employer do?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>He responds to them in an unexpected way-in spite of their anger, in vs 13 he answers with the word \u2018friend.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018friend.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>By using the word \u2018friend\u2019 he is saying that he understands their outrage-but at the same time reminds them that he is in fact paying them exactly what they contracted for at the beginning of the day.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>He is not cheating them.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Like God-the employer is both just and merciful.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The employer is just, in that those who were hired first, receive a just reward, one to which they had already agreed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The employer is merciful, he pays all his workers equally, and what had been agreed on.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We, as Christians, hear in this parable, a reminder of Jesus\u2019 controversial ministry among those whom the rest of society despised- and his generous promises to them.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>According to Matthew 21: 31, though every believer is promised a place in the Kingdom, it is the tax collectors and prostitutes, the marginalized, the outcasts-NOT the pious or the self-sacrificing-who enter first:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Matthew 21: 31: \u2018Jesus said to them, \u201cTruly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>This parable is unsettling-it unsettles the comfortable faithful by reminding them to walk in line behind those to whom they are most tempted to feel superior.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>What a sting there is in this parable!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>A slap on the hand!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>It is not only a parable about generosity-or God\u2019s grace<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-but it is also about judgement.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>vs 15, when the employer says \u2018Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Or are you envious because I am generous?\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-that last part:<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>\u2018or are you envious because I am generous?\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The insiders, who can\u2019t accept the scope of God\u2019s acceptance and generosity, God\u2019s inclusion,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>vs our \u2018keeping score.\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Book keeping.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>There is no minimum balance below which the grace of God refuses to forgive.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Don\u2019t worry about who is in the red-WE ARE ALL IN THE RED!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Eternally in debt.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>BUT<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We have all been invited to the party-we haven\u2019t WORKED our way in-we have been INVITED in.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Salvation-it isn\u2019t about accounting, or keeping score. Or balancing the books.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We have to let go of our accounting, of keeping score, and allow God to be as reckless, as generous, as extravagant as God wants to be.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Isn\u2019t that exciting?<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>Isn\u2019t that good news?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Grace, judgement-and generosity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The grace of God in Christ is amazing-but it can also be exasperating.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>When God\u2019s grace is grace for everyone-even those whom we regard as \u2018losers\u2019-we grumble<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>because God\u2019s ways are not our ways.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Just as forgiveness is not natural<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>-it is natural-all too natural<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>for us to weigh up, and to judge.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Let us give thanks for Jesus\u2019 generosity, and pray that he continues to party with and welcome-the sinners, the marginalized, for he loves the losers, the outcast, and you\u2026<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>and\u2026 me.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Grace goes beyond sums, which<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>hope to make an equation equal.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Grace reaches out to love-not just equally-but beyond that, to love extravagantly, abundantly-holding nothing back.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Let us pray<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Lord, we have nothing, we are nothing, we can do nothing-except by your grace.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Take us as we are.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Accept us, even in our weakness.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Forgive us for our failings.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Help us to accept the amazing truth that you love others as much as you love us.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Lord, help us to celebrate your extravagant grace and not to resent it when your extravagant grace is offered to all.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Prayers of the People<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for all who live with uncertainty and confusion, doubt and despair. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for those who are ill and in pain today.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We especially pray for the terminally ill, and for those who minister to them. <span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>May we be messengers of comfort, with our thoughts, phone calls, emails, and prayers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for the world in which we live.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We pray for justice and peace, seeking those ways that will protect the rights of all.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for those countries struggling with making human rights a reality: for the Philippines, for Sri Lanka.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for an end to all war, all oppression, every act that diminishes the human spirit and robs us of our dignity.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>We pray for all animals who are suffering, or are the unfortunate recipients of cruel practices.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>In light of the recent sinking of a Live Export ship, we pray for an end to dreadful and cruel practices.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0 <\/span>We pray for all creation.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In a time of silence, we remember others, near and dear to us, who need our prayers.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>(<i>silence<\/i>)<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>In the words our Saviour taught us, we are confident when we pray to say,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2018<i>Our Father in heaven<\/i>\u2026\u2019<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong><i>Amen<\/i><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Blessing<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>May God\u2019s hand<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>keep you from stumbling,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>the footprints of Jesus<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>give you confidence to follow,<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>and the fire of the Spirit <\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>keep you warm and safe<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>in your walk with God this day and evermore,<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Amen<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Service September 20th 2020 Leighmoor Uniting Church -Rev Barbara Allen Suggested Hymns TIS 153: God is love TIS 738: My Jesus, my Saviour TIS 129: Amazing Grace TIS 164: The great love of God TIS 624: Christ be my leader by night as by day TIS 619: Have faith in God, my heart TIS 666: We are marching in the light of God Prayers of Adoration, Thanksgiving and Confession Gracious and loving God, we give you thanks for a crisp, new day, full of promise. Thank you for helping us through a troubling week, time spent, for the most part, behind closed doors. We thank you for the scent of spring, for the colours of blossom and bulbs, for the warmer evenings, the lighter mornings. You are here with us. We thank you for all that keeps us believing that our lives have meaning, that the world is full of good, that our comings and goings are noticed by you, that disappointment, sickness, fear or death does not cut us off from you, that always there shines the light of Jesus Christ to sparkle in our happiness,\u00a0 or to lighten our darkest hours. We thank you that you are a God who goes beyond justice, to overflowing grace, that though we are forever indebted to you, no weight of debt is held over us. Thank you for your lavish, undeserved generosity. And yet, we confess that we do not always look favourably upon your acceptance, forgiveness, and love for others. We have an \u2018us\u2019 and \u2018them\u2019 in our minds and hearts that is revealed in our prejudices and discriminations- even though your love accepts everyone. Forgive us. We are guarded, reasonable people who choose who and how much we will love, who choose what is deemed \u2018sensible.\u2019 Forgive us. We confess that this can lead to not loving our neighbours, not hearing the cry of the needy. Forgive us. Forgive what we have been, help us to amend what we are, and direct us to what we shall be. Forgive us and renew us. God keeps no account of wrongs, but assures us in Christ that our debt is completely cancelled. Our sins are forgiven and forgotten. We are free to begin again in newness of life, justified by our faith in Christ. Our sins are forgiven (Thanks be to God). Go and live your lives as forgiven people, loved by God, Amen Bible Readings Exodus 16: 2-15 Psalm 105: 1-6, 37-45 Philippians 1: 21-30 Matthew 20: 1-16 Sermon Jesus told many of his parables, NOT to give us information, BUT RATHER to get our adrenalin flowing!\u00a0 There were two parables that drew lots of responses when I was a minister in a rural parish: the prodigal son (for most of the farmers were the elder son, staying to work on the farm), and this one, for they could identify with the subject matter.\u00a0 They may even have been one of the hired help. This week\u2019s parable is one of his best. The previous two Sunday\u2019s Jesus\u2019 parables in Matthew have dealt with forgiveness -forgiveness for the community -forgiveness for ourselves-and how we then forgive others. We know how hard, how unnatural it is to forgive. Today, we consider God\u2019s graciousness, God\u2019s abundant gift of grace. Why does God\u2019s graciousness sometimes cause grumbling?\u00a0 Or whinging? Part of the problem lies in the verse before today\u2019s parable, and today\u2019s concluding verse: \u2018so the last will be first, and the first will be last.\u2019 When we get to the end of today\u2019s parable, and hear \u2018so the last will be first, and the first will be last\u2019, it seems as though it is the logical moral to the parable BUT if we examine the parable carefully, it is a poor fit. -a poor fit. As well as parables, there existed groups of \u2018sayings\u2019, one liners, that were usually attached to the end of a parable. A bit like Aesop\u2019s fables\u2026the moral is\u2026\u2019 Sometimes the moral at the end of the parable doesn\u2019t seem to fit the story. The Parable of the Vineyard, unique to Matthew\u2019s gospel, is NOT a parable about the reversal of fortunes (the first will be last, the last will be first). -for a REVERSAL implies that someone will be a significant loser. Nor is it an insider\/outsider story, for all the workers get paid the wage agreed upon-no one is left out, or goes away unpaid. In this parable, everyone seems to win equally-and that is the shock. The theme is: God\u2019s generosity, which is beyond human comprehension. This is shocking. The message of the parable, that everyone receives exactly the same reward-no matter how much or how little effort they have put in-does a number of things: It confounds those who expect a type of justice from God which rewards obedience and punishes transgressions; It frustrates the pious, who think they will get preferential treatment; It unnerves those who think their beliefs are right-and all others inferior to their faith and practice; It illustrates that there is no seniority in God\u2019s kingdom. All will be treated equally-from the disciples, who had left everything in order to follow Jesus-to us.\u00a0 From those who have left everything, or cloistered themselves in monasteries, or have worked hard at salvation-seeing their hard work as a way to earn salvation? Is that how we look at God\u2019s generosity? We can\u2019t earn God\u2019s love. We can\u2019t earn God\u2019s love. BUT how often do we work or act as though we can? No, we don\u2019t go around helping others in order to score Brownie points-we do it BECAUSE we can\u2019t help but help others, BECAUSE we follow Christ\u2019s example of love. BUT we hear this parable and say: \u201cWhat about the vineyard owner\u2019s actions?\u00a0 He is a good employer, he follows the law-Leviticus 19:13 \u2018You shall not keep for yourself the wages of a labourer until morning.\u2019 The employer, faithfully, pays his day-labourers before the sun sets, BUT his payment method is somewhat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"rttpg_featured_image_url":null,"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Leighmoor.Master","author_link":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/author\/leighmoor-master"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"<a href=\"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/?cat=24\" rel=\"category\">Sermons<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"Service September 20th 2020 Leighmoor Uniting Church -Rev Barbara Allen Suggested Hymns TIS 153: God is love TIS 738: My Jesus, my Saviour TIS 129: Amazing Grace TIS 164: The great love of God TIS 624: Christ be my leader by night as by day TIS 619: Have faith in God, my heart TIS 666:&hellip;","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3535,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3533\/revisions\/3535"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}