Claimed, gathered and sent

  This is the sermon I preached Sunday at St. Timothy Lutheran Church . The gospel was Matthew 20:1-16 .  “It’s not fair!” How many of you, who are parents, aunts and uncles, anyone who has had anything to do with children, have heard these words. Our goal is to explain to the child why something can't be done. That may help, or it may not. God doesn’t play fair, at least by our standards. As we look at today’s difficult, startling parable, we may respond like the early workers, like children. Maybe we are those called later in the day, who embraced faith later in life.  There are two main parts of this parable: the hiring of the workers and then the paying of the workers. From the beginning, just the way the parable plays out lets us know that something is up.  For one thing, it would be unusual for a landowner himself to go hire workers. Why didn’t he send someone else? Throughout the day, he goes four times to hire workers. Palestinian workers in Palestine go to s...

  This is the reflection that was sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . These are some initial thoughts on Sunday's gospel. What do you think or feel when you read this passage? Gospel: Matthew 20:1-16 [Jesus said to the disciples:] 1 “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 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?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You als...

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?             ...