18th Sunday after Pentecost, Oct 12, 2014

Proper 23

Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, that we may continually be given to good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Reflections: This wonderful collect reminds me of Collect 57, one of two prayers for guidance in the BCP, page 832. Check it out.

Exodus 32:1-14

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered around Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make gods for us, who shall go before us; as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” Aaron said to them, “Take off the gold rings that are on the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people took off the gold rings from their ears, and brought them to Aaron. He took the gold from them, formed it in a mold, and cast an image of a calf; and they said, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!” When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation and said, “Tomorrow shall be a festival to the Lord.” They rose early the next day, and offered burnt offerings and brought sacrifices of well-being; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to revel.

The Lord said to Moses, “Go down at once! Your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have acted perversely; they have been quick to turn aside from the way that I commanded them; they have cast for themselves an image of a calf, and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it, and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!’” The Lord said to Moses, “I have seen this people, how stiff-necked they are. Now let me alone, so that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them; and of you I will make a great nation.”

But Moses implored the Lord his God, and said, “O Lord, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your fierce wrath; change your mind and do not bring disaster on your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, how you swore to them by your own self, saying to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants like the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” And the Lord changed his mind about the disaster that he planned to bring on his people.

Reflections: There’s a wonderful Zen saying that play on the classic Zen practice of spending hours at a time on a meditation cushion: “Don’t just do something! Sit there!” Now there’s some sage advice. Unfortunately, it comes several thousand years too late for these Israelites.

But they, rather than acting like despicable idolaters, were just doing what we all tend to do when we don’t know what to do: When in doubt, turn to what is familiar. So maybe we don’t have much of a villain in this story.

But we do have an obvious hero: Moses. Even God appears to disown the Israelites when saying to Moses “Your people, whom you brought . . . have acted perversely.” Sounds rather like an argument between the parents of a kid who’s just broken the neighbor’s window (“Do you know what your son did today?!!). The family analogy doesn’t stop there.

Moses, challenges and negotiates with God. And this is certainly not the only instance in the Hebrew Bible. In this story—as in many others—we see that God invites us, not as submissive spectators of God’s actions, but as family members engaged in a shared striving for truth, justice, and love. 

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23

Hallelujah! Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, * for his mercy endures for ever.

Who can declare the mighty acts of the LORD * or show forth all his praise?

Happy are those who act with justice * and always do what is right!

Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have for your people, *
    and visit me with your saving help;

That I may see the prosperity of your elect and be glad with the gladness of your people, *

    that I may glory with your inheritance.

We have sinned as our forebears did; * we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.

Israel made a bull-calf at Horeb * and worshiped a molten image;

And so they exchanged their Glory * for the image of an ox that feeds on grass.

They forgot God their Savior, * who had done great things in Egypt,

Wonderful deeds in the land of Ham, * and fearful things at the Red Sea.

So he would have destroyed them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, *
    to turn away his wrath from consuming them.

Reflections: In many of the Psalms, the Israelites sing an unvarnished version of their history, not glossing over their unfaithfulness, but celebrating God’s fidelity and mercy. Their honesty is instructive. I don’t know about you, but when I’ve done something that troubles me, I just can’t get it out of my mind. It plays over and over, and no matter how I try to rehearse it in ways that make me feel better, it won’t be put to rest. I have discovered, however, that peace is not so far away. If by God’s grace, I am willing to do what the psalmists did, suck up my pride and replay the event in brutal honesty, I do find peace. God always offers mercy. But often we are too pained to acknowledge our need for it.

Epistle: Philippians 4:1-9

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved.

I urge Euodia and I urge Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you also, my loyal companion, help these women, for they have struggled beside me in the work of the gospel, together with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.

Reflections: This reading closes St. Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi. While the bulk of his writing here was theological and therefore perhaps a bit abstract, the close of his message is intimate and practical. Faith means nothing if it is not lived out in concrete terms.

          And what is the antidote for the inevitable conflicts that arise among our personalities, needs, and actions? It is to continually touch down in the great love of Christ that binds us together in a larger identity and purpose, in the reconciling work of God. 

Gospel: Matthew 22:1-14

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.

Reflections: Instead of the wedding of a king’s son, the parallel parable in Luke 14 is a great supper. But the invitees in Luke also gave excuses; Luke, however, has the servants invite everyone, and when the hall still wasn’t filled, he ordered the servants to “compel them to come in.” went out and invited, then out and compelled. Luke’s story is followed by passages recounting the cost of discipleship.

The fact that Matthew is different highlights the troubling passage in today’s reading: the bit about the wedding robe.

Mother Karen did something very good with the Gospel reading. She invited us to imagine ourselves as different characters…the invited guests, the slaves, the people recruited to the celebration, and the man caught without a wedding garment. One assumes that the King and his son represents the Father and Christ—though admittedly, that identification causes problems if we take it too rigidly.

Most of us are probably like the invited guests, but we of course we don’t realize it. Like the invitees in the story, who were occupied with justifiable enterprises, we’re busy with our work, or our search for work, or the debt collectors, or running the kids to their next activity. Most of the things that compete for our attention are not optional activities, but serious obligations.

And then there are the slaves, sent out to issue unwelcome invitations, or sent out to round up whoever was available for the feast: sometimes happily received, other times rejected or abused.

And of course, the attendants commissioned to eject the fellow in the wrong clothes. It is difficult, with our understanding of God as unconditional love, to read of this seemingly whimsical God whose invitation proves less unconditional that it initially appeared. More profitable, rather, to ask ourselves, in what ways we might appoint ourselves gate keepers.

But we also can’t escape the possibility that we identify with the one remaining person in the parable. The unfortunate person without a wedding garment. What might that mean? Could we be clothed in something that prevented our sharing in the joy of the divine wedding? Might we be clothed, instead, with regret, resentment? Some pain that claims our soul and will not free us to be fully open to God and to one another in the present moment?

Most likely, we are to some extent all of the characters in the parable. Let us pray for the grace to enter into God’s joy in Christ—even in the midst of our sometimes chaotic and difficult lives.

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost, October 5, 2014

Collect of the Day (Proper 22): Almighty and everlasting God, you are always more ready to hear than we to pray, and to give more than we either desire or deserve: Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy, forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask, except through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ our Savior; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

Reflections: Three points really stand out for me in this prayer. First, God is always more ready to hear than we to pray. Second, God is ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. And third, the things of which we most need forgiveness are probably precisely those things of which our conscience is afraid. I see these themes throughout the readings for this Sunday.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20

Then God spoke all these words: ŒI 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 bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.] ŽYou 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. [But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.]

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.” Then the people stood at a distance, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.

Reflections: hey had journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Then Moses went up to God; the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying

The giving of the Law in Exodus is anything but straightforward. In the previous chapter, the people of Israel had just arrived at the mountain in Sinai. God told Moses to cordon off the area, then to come to the top of the mountain where God then spoke to him. In the last paragraph of our reading, the people draw back in fear, urging Moses to mediate for them.

We have joined the story where God gives the teachings we know as the 10 commandments. However, the writing on the tablets (twice!) do not occur for a number of chapters (next week’s account). The intervening chapters are lists and lists of laws and principles to observe.

            The text is confusing; it’s clearly not a straightforward account. We have learned to expect a story to progress logically through time, but is not simply a tale; it is a repository of sacred memories. And as such, the ideas occur and recur in multiple versions and out of sequence.

            Although we are conditioned to expect a logical storyline, that may not be the most important element of a sacred text. Rather than tensing up against our understandable confusion, we might benefit more by reading it more like poetry, or like we might look at a painting.

            I see two themes from our collect emerging: that God is always more ready to hear than we are to pray, and that God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve.

First, that God is also always more ready to hear than we to pray. The Israelites shrink back from the terrifying mountain, with its thunder and lightning, the trumpet, the smoke. To merely touch the mountain can bring death. It’s risky to be too close to God. And what might one hear or see? What might happen? Understandably, they back away, pushing Moses forward. They delegate the scary stuff to someone else. How do we do the same thing? God yearns for us, for deep, personal union with us, but it’s easy to be too busy to notice.

Second, God is always ready to give us more than we desire or deserve. That statement pretty much sums up the God-human relationship over the whole of history.

Sometimes God seems to require a lot of reminding and prodding for God to pour out the gifts we ask for. The last few Sunday readings have shown the Hebrews increasing resentment over having left behind the “comforts” of their slave life in Egypt. What we don’t have concerns us far more than what we do have. God can seem mighty slow.

And even when God’s answers to our prayers (finally) do come, they can prove difficult to recognize; they don’t come with gift tags. God’s gifts can be easy to miss.  For the Hebrews to identify that white, frosty stuff as bread must have taken quite a bit of lateral thinking.

            Perhaps more problematic, though, is that God insists on giving us more than we desire or deserve. God gives us what we don’t have the good sense to want in the first place . . . and sometimes that includes things we have been doing our darndest to avoid.

            We know what we want—the good stuff, and more of it. God knows what we need—and it isn’t more of the status quo. Distressingly, perhaps, God isn’t interested in keeping us comfortable. God is interested in drawing us into the divine life.

        One thing we can be sure of is this: whether or not God gives us what want, we can be sure that God gives us what we need. For in all gifts—the hard ones as well as the sweet, God gives Godself, the greatest gift of all. 

Psalm 19

The heavens declare the glory of God, * and the firmament shows his handiwork.

One day tells its tale to another, * and one night imparts knowledge to another.

Although they have no words or language, * and their voices are not heard,

Their sound has gone out into all lands, * and their message to the ends of the world.

In the deep has he set a pavilion for the sun; * it comes forth like a bridegroom out of his chamber; it rejoices like a champion to run its course.

It goes forth from the uttermost edge of the heavens and runs about to the end of it again;*

    nothing is hidden from its burning heat.

The law of the LORD is perfect and revives the soul; * the testimony of the LORD is sure

The statutes of the LORD are just and rejoice the heart; *
    the commandment of the LORD is clear and gives light to the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean and endures for ever; *
    the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, more than much fine gold, *
    sweeter far than honey, than honey in the comb.

By them also is your servant enlightened, * and in keeping them there is great reward.

Who can tell how often he offends? * cleanse me from my secret faults.

Above all, keep your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not get dominion over me; *

    then shall I be whole and sound, and innocent of a great offense.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, *

    O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.

Reflections: We do not know how often we offend. Neither do we dare even peek at our secret faults. Secret from ourselves, for God already knows, and loves us.

Epistle: Philippians 3:4b-14

I too have reason for confidence in the flesh. 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 (or: have already been made perfect); 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.

Reflections: St. Paul continues to deal with a crisis of leadership that has arisen in the church at Philippi. Just prior to these lines, he has warned against self-styled authorities who criticize Paul for not requiring circumcision of the gentiles who had entered the community. The critics, themselves circumcised, considered their obedience to the Law as evidence of their superiority to Paul.

This is in fact the heart of the controversy that Paul addresses in his letter. It’s not simply a struggle for power, or an argument over proper procedure. Paul is defending what he considers essential to the message of Christ. His critics have missed a central truth: It is not necessary to become Jewish in order to have faith in Christ, for Christ calls us into a new reality, a new life. One that cannot be measured by our existing standards: not gender or ethnicity, language or income; not our status as servants, CEO’s, or slaves. All such criteria are irrelevant in the new order, to which we now (and increasingly) belong.

Paul’s apparent bragging demonstrates his point. By his critics’ own standards, he far exceeds them! But that means nothing to him, compared to Christ. In fact, concern with status or qualifications or riches or respect distract us from Christ, focusing us on ourselves, instead.

Gospel: Matthew 21:33-46

Jesus said, 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 (this line is omitted in some early texts).]

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.

Reflections: So, what was the tenants’ problem? Were they stupid? Certainly not; they were crafty. They knew what they wanted, and they schemed to get it. But their short-term focus made them blind to the longer-term implications that even Jesus’ audience could anticipate: they were bound to lose in the end.

          Jesus ties this parable to some lines in Psalm 118. What does it mean for builders to reject a stone? Something about it must not have met their criteria. Perhaps the color was inconsistent or displeasing; maybe it had a mineral vein, or a potential to crack or split. Perhaps an edge had been damaged. For some reason, the builders judged it wanting. The builders’ criteria clearly missed the mark, failed to perceive the most important thing that ultimately rendered that stone supremely suitable and the anchor on which the entire structure depends.

The passage is understood by Christians to be a clear allusion to Jesus—rejected by our standards, yet the gate and foundation of our life in God. Like the tenants of the vineyard, the builders did not have a full picture of the reality; they were too wrapped up in their own notions to be open to the world as God sees it. For this openness, we must continually pray. It is God’s doing, and marvelous. 

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 28, 2014

The Epistle: Philippians 2:1-13 

If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,

who, though he was in the form of God,

      did not regard equality with God      as something to be exploited,but emptied himself,      taking the form of a slave,      being born in human likeness.And being found in human form,
      and became obedient to the point of death—
      even death on a cross.
      and gave him the name
      that is above every name,
      every knee should bend,
      in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
       and every tongue should confess
      that Jesus Christ is Lord,
      to the glory of God the Father.

      he humbled himself

Therefore God also highly exalted him

      so that at the name of Jesus

Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.                   

Reflections: Continuing with St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians, we remember that while Paul is in prison elsewhere, the church in Philippi is being disrupted by self-styled authorities who criticize the community’s faith. Paul calls the community to share the mind of Christ.

            Citing a hymn, St. Paul gives us an eloquent statement about the nature of Christ: not self-aggrandizement, but self-emptying service. That is the mind of Christ. And in the final analysis, that is the test of those who claim religious authority.

            Paul encourages the saints at Philippi to seek unity in the will of God, and reminds them that it is only God who enables them to fulfill it.

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 28, 2014

Gospel: Matthew 21:23-32

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

Reflections:  Jesus answer the religious authorities’ challenge with one of his own. Nothing particularly unusual about that. But here is something interesting and revealing. Jesus promises to answer their questions if they answer his. But they don’t want to answer his. I can imaging them huddling, wringing their hands in anxiety. There just isn’t a good answer. Their solution? Say they don’t know.

            But Jesus takes this not as a confession of ignorance, but of obstinacy. They don’t want to answer because they don’t like the consequences of the answer. I notice that they aren’t preoccupied what is true. It seems they are more interested calculating an advantageous answer. Jesus response tells us that he knows what’s really going on.

            An open heart can entertain authentic question—and receive an authentic answer. A closed heart, however, cannot receive an authentic answer. An open heart is open to new understanding, a change of mind. The first son is honest that he doesn’t want to work in the vineyard, but he changes his mind. The second son curries the father’s favor by agreeing to work in the vineyard, but has already decided he won’t. Similarly, the tax collectors and sinner are open to changing their minds and their way of life. But those who are not willing to engage the Question that Christ is . . . cannot come to him.

            Jesus, recognizing the refusal of the religious leaders to engage him authentically, refuses to engage them.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 21, 2014

Hebrew Bible: Exodus 16:2-15

The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

Then the Lord said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not. On the sixth day, when they prepare what they bring in, it will be twice as much as they gather on other days.” So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, “In the evening you shall know that it was the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your complaining against the Lord. For what are we, that you complain against us?” And Moses said, “When the Lord gives you meat to eat in the evening and your fill of bread in the morning, because the Lord has heard the complaining that you utter against him—what are we? Your complaining is not against us but against the Lord.”

Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the Lord, for he has heard your complaining.’” And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.’”

In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 21, 2014

Epistle: Philippians 1:21-30

For to me, living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you. Since I am convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with all of you for your progress and joy in faith, so that I may share abundantly in your boasting in Christ Jesus when I come to you again.

Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel, and are in no way intimidated by your opponents. For them this is evidence of their destruction, but of your salvation. And this is God’s doing. For he has graciously granted you the privilege not only of believing in Christ, but of suffering for him as well—since you are having the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Reflections: Our long reflection on St. Paul’s letter to the Romans has drawn to a close, and we begin our readings from Philippians. Paul writes from prison, but he is not concerned about his own welfare—whether he will live or die—but about the welfare of the Christian community. At the time, it was under attack by critics who claimed that their authority exceeded that of Paul, and who condemned the community’s faith as faulty and invalid.

Paul’s greatest desire—in life or death—is Christ. For him, death in Christ would mean an end of suffering. On the other hand, his suffering has become a means of ministry to the world and to the community at Philippi. And the community’s current suffering is apart from his own; in Christ they are united. Not that it is a privilege to suffer, but that is a privilege to suffer for Christ. To suffer for Christ is to suffer in Christ—united with Christ in and with the Community of Saints. Let us take heart when we feel most alone.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost, Sept 21, 2014

Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These 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.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Reflections: Mother Hope gave an illuminating reflection on this parable. We usually focus, she said, on the workers—their all too easily understandable envy, the unfairness of the situation.

            Imagine yourself, for example, as a worker nobody wanted. The able-bodied work all day, certain that they can feel their families for another day, but you wonder if your family will even eat tonight. Imagine what means when the landowner comes for you, as well. Or maybe you’re the early worker, bearing the heat of the day. How easy—how natural—to resent it when people get something we think they don’t deserve (especially if we worked hard for the same thing).

But Mother Hope suggested that the heart of the parable may not be the laborers, but the landowner. He offers a fair contract for a day’s work—a mutually profitable arrangement. But this landowner also reaches out to those who have little to offer in return; this landowner includes everyone—to his own cost.  Now here’s a model of God. But perhaps it’s also a model for us, a glimpse into the Kingdom of God to which we are invited, and to which we are called to invite others.