Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the message I preached today at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. The gospel text is Matthew 20:1-16. We are continuing  our Drive-In Worship and simultaneously worshiping indoors. Join us if you're in the area. Parables are meant to be shocking. They go along as if all is normal and then—there’s a twist that knocks your socks off. That’s how I felt when I read these words of Bible scholar Patrick J. Willson. Let’s hang out with the laborers who were the first ones to begin working and see what transpires.   “Are you envious because I am generous?” asks the owner of the vineyard (v. 15). You bet we are! If we are not envious, we are not hearing the parable. The parable rubs us the wrong way. Its visions of fairness and equality chafe. We cringe at what it seems to say about God. We shrink before what it seems to say about us! The parable catches us quickly into the narrative, because we carry around notions of what is fair and what is not and this story offends...

Yesterday I had the opportunity to preach at Bender's Lutheran Church . The scripture passage was Matthew 20:1-16 . It has been over a year since I've had the opportunity to be with these folks. Here is the sermon:             In this week’s gospel, Jesus is doing what he does best—turning everything upside down. Was there anything in the gospel that made you wonder—that puzzled you? I sure hope so. That is just what parables are supposed to do—catch us off guard—shock us—grab our attention.             In this reading, the surprises start right out of the gate. I find it curious that the landowner is the one who goes out to look for workers for the field. He has a manager who works for him because he is the one who pays the workers at the end of the day. Why didn’t he have his manager do the hiring?             ...