You can run, but you just die tired.
Dr. Phil, Sept. 27, 2005
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Giving It All…
Once upon a time at a church meeting a wealthy member of the church rose to tell the rest of those present about his Christian faith.
"I’m a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute my wealth to the blessings of God in my life." He went on to recall the turning point in his relationship with God. As a young man, he had just earned his first dollar and he went to a church meeting that night. The speaker at that meeting was a missionary who told about his work in the mission field. Before the offering plate was passed around, the preacher told everyone that everything that was collected that night would be given to this missionary to help fund his work on behalf of the church. The wealthy man wanted to give to support mission work, but he knew he couldn’t make change from the offering plate. He knew he either had to give all he had or nothing at all. At that moment, he decided to give all that he had to God. Looking back, he said he knew that God had blessed that decision and had made him wealthy.
When he finished, there was silence in the room. As he returned to the pew and sat down, an elderly lady seated behind him leaned forward and said, "I dare you to do it again."
Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
_______________________________________
How Do You View Your Possessions?
Howard Hendricks writes, "My wife Jeanne and I once dined with a rich man from a blueblood Boston family, and I asked him, 'How in the world did you grow up in the midst of such wealth and not be consumed by materialism?'
"His answer: 'My parents taught us that everything in our home was either an idol or a tool'. So how do you view your possessions?"
Peter J. Blackburn, Caring for God’s Vineyard
"I’m a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute my wealth to the blessings of God in my life." He went on to recall the turning point in his relationship with God. As a young man, he had just earned his first dollar and he went to a church meeting that night. The speaker at that meeting was a missionary who told about his work in the mission field. Before the offering plate was passed around, the preacher told everyone that everything that was collected that night would be given to this missionary to help fund his work on behalf of the church. The wealthy man wanted to give to support mission work, but he knew he couldn’t make change from the offering plate. He knew he either had to give all he had or nothing at all. At that moment, he decided to give all that he had to God. Looking back, he said he knew that God had blessed that decision and had made him wealthy.
When he finished, there was silence in the room. As he returned to the pew and sat down, an elderly lady seated behind him leaned forward and said, "I dare you to do it again."
Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
_______________________________________
How Do You View Your Possessions?
Howard Hendricks writes, "My wife Jeanne and I once dined with a rich man from a blueblood Boston family, and I asked him, 'How in the world did you grow up in the midst of such wealth and not be consumed by materialism?'
"His answer: 'My parents taught us that everything in our home was either an idol or a tool'. So how do you view your possessions?"
Peter J. Blackburn, Caring for God’s Vineyard
The Rejected Stone
Jesus quoted the words of the Psalmist: "The very stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner..." (Ps. 118:22) Later Simon Peter would quote these words to the rulers and the elders in testimony concerning the good news of Christ. (Acts 4:11) Later he would cite those words again in his epistles. (I Pet. 2:7)
There was a legend that was well known in New Testament times that in the building of the temple of Solomon most of the stones were of the same size and shape. One stone arrived, however, that was different from the others. The builders took one look at it and said, "This will not do," and sent it rolling down into the valley of Kedron below.
The years passed and the great temple was nearing completion, and the builders sent a message to the stonecutters to send the chief cornerstone that the structure might be complete. The cutters replied that they had sent the stone years before. Then someone remembered the stone that was different than all the rest that somehow did not seem to belong. They realized that they had thrown away the cornerstone.
They hurried into the valley to retrieve it. Finally under vines and debris they recovered it and with great effort rolled it up the hill and put it in place so that the great temple would be complete. The stone that had been rejected had become the chief cornerstone. Jesus, who had been rejected now reigns at the right hand of the Father. From rejection to rejoicing.
King Duncan, From Rejection to Rejoicing, www.eSermons.com
There was a legend that was well known in New Testament times that in the building of the temple of Solomon most of the stones were of the same size and shape. One stone arrived, however, that was different from the others. The builders took one look at it and said, "This will not do," and sent it rolling down into the valley of Kedron below.
The years passed and the great temple was nearing completion, and the builders sent a message to the stonecutters to send the chief cornerstone that the structure might be complete. The cutters replied that they had sent the stone years before. Then someone remembered the stone that was different than all the rest that somehow did not seem to belong. They realized that they had thrown away the cornerstone.
They hurried into the valley to retrieve it. Finally under vines and debris they recovered it and with great effort rolled it up the hill and put it in place so that the great temple would be complete. The stone that had been rejected had become the chief cornerstone. Jesus, who had been rejected now reigns at the right hand of the Father. From rejection to rejoicing.
King Duncan, From Rejection to Rejoicing, www.eSermons.com
Monday, September 26, 2005
How to Save a Marriage
Wake up every morning thinking, "What can I do to make his/her life better?"
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil's Tip of the Day:
"I want to talk to you today about relationships.
"There is an element of human nature that causes everybody at some level to approach every situation saying: “What’s in this for me?” That is a selfishness that is just created within us and it can cause tension, because relationships require sacrifice. They require compromise.
"In order to receive you truly have to be willing to give so you can get back what it is you feel you need the most. So let me appeal to your greed for a minute. I want you to create in yourself some social IQ’s, some emotional IQ and recognize the best way to have a great partner is to be a great partner. Trust me, if your partner is having a great time, if your partner is really experiencing fun and love and joy in you life, so will you."
http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/584
Dr. Phil
Dr. Phil's Tip of the Day:
"I want to talk to you today about relationships.
"There is an element of human nature that causes everybody at some level to approach every situation saying: “What’s in this for me?” That is a selfishness that is just created within us and it can cause tension, because relationships require sacrifice. They require compromise.
"In order to receive you truly have to be willing to give so you can get back what it is you feel you need the most. So let me appeal to your greed for a minute. I want you to create in yourself some social IQ’s, some emotional IQ and recognize the best way to have a great partner is to be a great partner. Trust me, if your partner is having a great time, if your partner is really experiencing fun and love and joy in you life, so will you."
http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/584
Tuesday, September 20, 2005
Donovan McNabb and Terrell Owens, Philadelphia Eagles
Donovan McNabb - team leader, quarterback
"uses a cocktail of honesty, humor and indifference to deal with the stream of questions." "be professional and be funny."
To the team at the beginning of the season, stunned by having to practice before 1,500 NFL executives, coaches, scouts, agents, etc.:
"This is your dream. This is what you've dreamed about doing. We have an opportunity to showcase our talents."
Brian Dawkins: "He's definitely a leader when it comes to the team. Guys listen to him. Young guys ask him questions, and he's always there. And he's also a guy who can keep everything loose. He's not timid, and he doesn't tense up. So all those things contribute to him being one of the leaders of this team."
"Since the Super Bowl, McNabb has been besieged with criticism, most notably from [Terrell] Owens. The quarterback and receiver did not really talk during training camp, although they did hook up for a long touchdown on the first offensive play of the third preseason game. Last week, a contrite Owens said he planned on talking with McNabb before tomorrow's game, to make sure each player is issue-free heading into the all-important opener."
"I've always said that not everyone can handle being a leader . . . some people back away from it. I enjoy it. I kind of thrive off of that, that people can look to you for help, they can talk to you for confidence, or just see kind of how you handle that."
September 11, 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer
by Ashley Fox
---------------------------------------
CBS SportsLine.com
Owens claims he's getting along just fine with McNabb
. . .
"When we're out on that field, we have the best relationship possible, to be the best at what we do," McNabb said.
Despite their icy relationship, McNabb and Owens had no trouble on the field. In their lone appearance together in the preseason, the two connected five times for 131 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage in a victory over Cincinnati on Aug. 26.
Both players celebrated that score separately with other teammates and ignored each other throughout the game, but Owens said he's now broken the silence.
Owens dominated the headlines this offseason with his demand for a new contract just one season into the seven-year, $48.97 million deal he signed when he came to Philadelphia in March 2004.
The Eagles have refused to redo the deal.
. . .
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
http://cbs.sportsline.com/print
/nfl/story/8825805
"uses a cocktail of honesty, humor and indifference to deal with the stream of questions." "be professional and be funny."
To the team at the beginning of the season, stunned by having to practice before 1,500 NFL executives, coaches, scouts, agents, etc.:
"This is your dream. This is what you've dreamed about doing. We have an opportunity to showcase our talents."
Brian Dawkins: "He's definitely a leader when it comes to the team. Guys listen to him. Young guys ask him questions, and he's always there. And he's also a guy who can keep everything loose. He's not timid, and he doesn't tense up. So all those things contribute to him being one of the leaders of this team."
"Since the Super Bowl, McNabb has been besieged with criticism, most notably from [Terrell] Owens. The quarterback and receiver did not really talk during training camp, although they did hook up for a long touchdown on the first offensive play of the third preseason game. Last week, a contrite Owens said he planned on talking with McNabb before tomorrow's game, to make sure each player is issue-free heading into the all-important opener."
"I've always said that not everyone can handle being a leader . . . some people back away from it. I enjoy it. I kind of thrive off of that, that people can look to you for help, they can talk to you for confidence, or just see kind of how you handle that."
September 11, 2005 Philadelphia Inquirer
by Ashley Fox
---------------------------------------
CBS SportsLine.com
Owens claims he's getting along just fine with McNabb
. . .
"When we're out on that field, we have the best relationship possible, to be the best at what we do," McNabb said.
Despite their icy relationship, McNabb and Owens had no trouble on the field. In their lone appearance together in the preseason, the two connected five times for 131 yards, including a 64-yard touchdown pass on the first play from scrimmage in a victory over Cincinnati on Aug. 26.
Both players celebrated that score separately with other teammates and ignored each other throughout the game, but Owens said he's now broken the silence.
Owens dominated the headlines this offseason with his demand for a new contract just one season into the seven-year, $48.97 million deal he signed when he came to Philadelphia in March 2004.
The Eagles have refused to redo the deal.
. . .
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
Copyright 2004-2005, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved
http://cbs.sportsline.com/print
/nfl/story/8825805
God's Ability to Redeem
Nothing is outside of God's ability to redeem and fit into a pattern for good.
-- Robert Corin Morris in
Suffering and the Courage of God: Exploring How Grace and Suffering Meet
-- Robert Corin Morris in
Suffering and the Courage of God: Exploring How Grace and Suffering Meet
Security is Mostly a Superstition
"Security is mostly a superstition; it does not exist in nature. Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."
— Helen Keller
— Helen Keller
Take Responsibility for the Solution
September 15, 2005 8:02 P.M. CDT
THE PRESIDENT: "Good evening. I'm speaking to you from the city of New Orleans -- nearly empty, still partly under water, and waiting for life and hope to return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama into Florida, millions of lives were changed in a day by a cruel and wasteful storm."
. . .
"Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as President, am responsible for the problem, and for the solution. So I've ordered every Cabinet Secretary to participate in a comprehensive review of the government response to the hurricane. This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We're going to review every action and make necessary changes, so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people."
. . .
"Thank you, and may God bless America."
END 8:28 P.M. CDT
President George W. Bush
President Discusses Hurricane Relief in Address to the Nation
Jackson Square
New Orleans, Louisiana
Office of the Press Secretary
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases
/2005/09/20050915-8.html
THE PRESIDENT: "Good evening. I'm speaking to you from the city of New Orleans -- nearly empty, still partly under water, and waiting for life and hope to return. Eastward from Lake Pontchartrain, across the Mississippi coast, to Alabama into Florida, millions of lives were changed in a day by a cruel and wasteful storm."
. . .
"Four years after the frightening experience of September the 11th, Americans have every right to expect a more effective response in a time of emergency. When the federal government fails to meet such an obligation, I, as President, am responsible for the problem, and for the solution. So I've ordered every Cabinet Secretary to participate in a comprehensive review of the government response to the hurricane. This government will learn the lessons of Hurricane Katrina. We're going to review every action and make necessary changes, so that we are better prepared for any challenge of nature, or act of evil men, that could threaten our people."
. . .
"Thank you, and may God bless America."
END 8:28 P.M. CDT
President George W. Bush
President Discusses Hurricane Relief in Address to the Nation
Jackson Square
New Orleans, Louisiana
Office of the Press Secretary
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases
/2005/09/20050915-8.html
Furious at Death
Celebrating Shaw, a Serious Optimist
By BEN BRANTLEY
. . .
And while Shaw wrote brilliantly articulate letters throughout his life, none, perhaps, are as moving as one in which he recognized that there were some subjects that language cannot accommodate. "I can't be sympathetic; these things simply make me furious," he wrote to Campbell, on hearing that her son had been killed in 1918 by the last shell from a German battery. "Oh, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN DAMN! And oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear, dearest!"
September 16, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/theater
/newsandfeatures/16shaw.html?pagewanted=4
By BEN BRANTLEY
. . .
And while Shaw wrote brilliantly articulate letters throughout his life, none, perhaps, are as moving as one in which he recognized that there were some subjects that language cannot accommodate. "I can't be sympathetic; these things simply make me furious," he wrote to Campbell, on hearing that her son had been killed in 1918 by the last shell from a German battery. "Oh, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, DAMN DAMN! And oh, dear, dear, dear, dear, dear, dearest!"
September 16, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/16/theater
/newsandfeatures/16shaw.html?pagewanted=4
Monday, September 19, 2005
Migraine Relief
Put your feet in a bowl of hot water and place a bag of ice on the nape of your neck. Your headache will clear in as little as two minutes.
~ from an airline magazine
~ from an airline magazine
Saturday, September 17, 2005
"to feel for you the same love that made you sacrifice yourself for us"
This Week in Christian History
September 20, 1224:
On or about this date, on Italy's secluded Mount Alvernia, Francis of Assisi reportedly prayed, "O Lord, I beg of you two graces before I die—to experience in myself in all possible fullness the pains of your cruel passion, and to feel for you the same love that made you sacrifice yourself for us." Soon his heart was filled with both joy and pity, and wounds appeared on his hands, feet, and side. He reportedly carried these scars (called stigmata) until his death in 1226 (see issue 42: Francis of Assisi).
ChristianityToday.com Sept. 17, 2005
September 20, 1224:
On or about this date, on Italy's secluded Mount Alvernia, Francis of Assisi reportedly prayed, "O Lord, I beg of you two graces before I die—to experience in myself in all possible fullness the pains of your cruel passion, and to feel for you the same love that made you sacrifice yourself for us." Soon his heart was filled with both joy and pity, and wounds appeared on his hands, feet, and side. He reportedly carried these scars (called stigmata) until his death in 1226 (see issue 42: Francis of Assisi).
ChristianityToday.com Sept. 17, 2005
Thursday, September 15, 2005
Tuesday, September 13, 2005
The Complete Fullness of Eternal Life
The Rules of a Family
The parable of the vineyard workers (Matt. 20) offends our sense of fairness. Why should everyone get equal pay for unequal work? Back in Ontario when the apples ripened, Mom would sit all seven of us down, Dad included, with pans and paring knives until the mountain of fruit was reduced to neat rows of filled canning jars. She never bothered keeping track of how many we did, though the younger ones undoubtedly proved more of a nuisance than a help: cut fingers, squabbles over who got which pan, apple core fights. But when the job was done, the reward for everyone was the same: the largest chocolate-dipped cone money could buy. A stickler might argue it wasn't quite fair since the older ones actually peeled apples. But I can't remember anyone complaining about it.
A family understands it operates under a different set of norms than a courtroom. In fact, when the store ran out of ice cream and my younger brother had to make do with a Popsicle, we felt sorry for him despite his lack of productivity (he'd eaten all the apples he'd peeled that day--both of them). God wants all his children to enjoy the complete fullness of eternal life. No true child of God wants it any other way.
Robert De Moor
_________________________
Grace and Generosity
Dr. William Power, a professor at Southern Methodist University, describes an experience he had in Sunday school when he was a boy. His teacher was trying to explain to him and his rowdy friends the meaning of grace, but wasn’t getting very far. She tried definitions and abstractions, to no avail. Finally, she realized something the boys had known from the start. She was not connecting. She was not getting through to them. They didn't have the foggiest notion what she was talking about.
So she took a deep breath and tried again: "Look boys, grace is the break you get when you don't deserve it. That's the simple explanation. But you won't really understand it till you experience it."
James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True, Dimensions, p. 95.
__________________________
Rewards
After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari.
Resentment seized Henry Morrsion and he turned to God in anger, "I have come back home after all this time and service to the church and there is no one, not even one person here to welcome me home."
Then a still small voice came to Morrison and said, "You're not home yet."
Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
______________________
Commentary – Imitate Generosity
The climax of the parable occurs in verse 15: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" The vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his own compassion. Why should such generosity be condemned as injustice? Underlying the parable is the Old Testament conception of God as the creator who is GOOD, that is, generous to all (see, e.g., Ps. 145:9). Jesus reveled in the incredible magnanimity of God (see 5:45). Of course Jesus believed in the God of justice, but in his vision of God the divine compassion greatly outshone the divine justice. Those who worship such a God must imitate his generosity, not begrudge it.
Douglas R. A. Hare, Interpretation: Matthew
__________________________
Envy
Aesop had a fable about two eagles, one envious of the other because the other could soar higher and more elegantly than he could. So the envious eagle would pluck his strongest feathers from his own body and shoot them as arrows, trying to wound or kill the other eagle. It was his own undoing, however. He could not hit the high flying eagle, and he was eventually grounded by his lack of feathers. Envy destroyed the eagle.
Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations
____________________________
A reporter once asked Pope John XXIII, "How many people work here in the Vatican?" to which the dear, old Pope answered, "Oh, about half, I guess."
Staff
____________________________
Fairness
We are shocked by the message of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, for it goes against the grain of our natural expectation. It mocks our logical sense of justice. Perhaps we are more drawn to the message of the Norwegian writer Jens Peter Jacobsen in his novel Niels Lyhne, which tell about a man who rejected God. As he grew older, he secretly desired the peace of faith, but he refused to come to God weak-kneed toward life's ending. Fate had been harsh to him, with death visiting those whom he loved most. Tenaciously, he held on to disbelief and a philosophy of nihilism even though he wanted the peace of God.
In the last hour of his life, he refused to see the pastor, though secretly he wanted absolution and faith's consolation. His physician, who loved him, was moved by his valor and whispered, "If I were God, I would far sooner save the man who does not repent at the last minute."
Deep inside, our sense of even-scaled justice admires the hardened skeptic. But Jesus' parable communicates the opposite message. It shatters all our preconceived assumptions about the justice of God. Here is a story with a coded message that brings us to the core of what Jesus of Nazareth is all about! The key to interpreting the parable is in remembering that the vineyard is always the symbol of God's kingdom, his new community, his new reality. In point of fact, the vineyard is the Church. Moreover, God owns the vineyard--lock, stock, and barrel. We are privileged to labor in his vineyard (his Church) and receive the security that there will be adequate compensation for all. But the real pay is not the wage offered at the end of the day. The work itself is our gift, our immeasurable privilege! It carries its own reward. For the work in God's vineyard brings us near to our fatherly Lord and his care for us.
George E. Thompson, When is there "Fairness" in Labor?, Pulpit Digest,
September/October, 1990.
____________________________
Fairness
This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus’ story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. Yet, that is difficult for us to do, because that is our point of reference.
What do you think would happen if a person joined the church this morning and immediately after receiving the vows of profession of faith I suggested to the congregation that he or she be nominated as the next chairperson of the Administrative Board. What do you think the reaction would be? Well, I think I know what the reaction would be. The laity would protest as loudly as Simon Peter is protesting to Jesus.
You see, we live in a world of tenure and seniority and it goes against our grain when we hear Jesus say: The first shall be last and the last shall be first. God's grace is not based upon what is fair, but rather what helps.
Sermon Illustrations
____________________________
Jesus Was Just Wrong
One Sunday several years ago when I preached on this text, a church member came to me after the service and said, "You know, preacher, there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to abide, and other parts that aren’t. The story you preached on today is one that I find totally offensive! It’s just not fair to pay everyone the same wage when some have worked hard and some have hardly worked. Jesus was just wrong about that. I think you should have preached on something less offensive." The following Sunday, I preached about the prodigal son.
Johnny Dean, "Exasperating Grace"
____________________________
100 Points!
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter say's, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in." Okay, " the man says, "I was married to the same women for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points." Three points?"
He says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service." Terrific!" say's St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point." "One point? Well I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says. "Two points!"
The man cries. "At this rate the only way to get into heaven is by the grace of God!" St. Peter smiled. "There's your 100 points! Come on in!"
Traditional
____________________________
Grace and Generosity
A large prosperous downtown church had three mission churches under its care that it had started. On the first Sunday of the New Year all the members of the mission churches came to the city church for a combined Communion service. In those mission churches, which were located in the slums of the city, were some outstanding cases of conversions--thieves, burglars, and so on--but all knelt side by side at the Communion rail.
On one such occasion the pastor saw a former burglar kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England--it was the judge who had sent him to jail where he had served seven years. After his release this burglar had been converted and became a Christian worker. Yet, as they knelt there, the judge and the former convict neither one seemed to be aware of the other.
After the service, the judge was walking out with the pastor and said to him, "Did you notice who was kneeling beside me at the Communion rail this morning?" The pastor replied, "Yes, but I didn't know that you noticed." The two walked along in silence for a few moments, and then the judge said, "What a miracle of grace." The pastor nodded in agreement. "Yes, what a marvelous miracle of grace." Then the judge said, "But to whom do you refer?" And the pastor said, "Why, to the conversion of that convict."
The judge said, "But I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself." The pastor, surprised, replied: "You were thinking of yourself? I don't understand." "Yes," the judge replied, "it was natural for the burglar to receive God's grace when he came out of jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he saw Jesus as his Savior he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help.
"But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, to go to church, take Communion and so on. I went through Oxford, took my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge. Pastor, it was God's grace that drew me; it was God's grace that opened my heart to receive it. I'm a greater miracle of his grace."
R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), p. 76.
==================================
Illustrations for Matthew 20:1-16
Lectionary Week: Proper 20 (18th Sunday after Pentecost)
www.eSermons.com
==================================
The parable of the vineyard workers (Matt. 20) offends our sense of fairness. Why should everyone get equal pay for unequal work? Back in Ontario when the apples ripened, Mom would sit all seven of us down, Dad included, with pans and paring knives until the mountain of fruit was reduced to neat rows of filled canning jars. She never bothered keeping track of how many we did, though the younger ones undoubtedly proved more of a nuisance than a help: cut fingers, squabbles over who got which pan, apple core fights. But when the job was done, the reward for everyone was the same: the largest chocolate-dipped cone money could buy. A stickler might argue it wasn't quite fair since the older ones actually peeled apples. But I can't remember anyone complaining about it.
A family understands it operates under a different set of norms than a courtroom. In fact, when the store ran out of ice cream and my younger brother had to make do with a Popsicle, we felt sorry for him despite his lack of productivity (he'd eaten all the apples he'd peeled that day--both of them). God wants all his children to enjoy the complete fullness of eternal life. No true child of God wants it any other way.
Robert De Moor
_________________________
Grace and Generosity
Dr. William Power, a professor at Southern Methodist University, describes an experience he had in Sunday school when he was a boy. His teacher was trying to explain to him and his rowdy friends the meaning of grace, but wasn’t getting very far. She tried definitions and abstractions, to no avail. Finally, she realized something the boys had known from the start. She was not connecting. She was not getting through to them. They didn't have the foggiest notion what she was talking about.
So she took a deep breath and tried again: "Look boys, grace is the break you get when you don't deserve it. That's the simple explanation. But you won't really understand it till you experience it."
James W. Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not to Be True, Dimensions, p. 95.
__________________________
Rewards
After serving as a missionary for forty years in Africa, Henry C. Morrison became sick and had to return to America. As the great ocean liner docked in New York Harbor there was a great crowd gathered to welcome home another passenger on that boat. Morrison watched as President Teddy Roosevelt received a grand welcome home party after his African Safari.
Resentment seized Henry Morrsion and he turned to God in anger, "I have come back home after all this time and service to the church and there is no one, not even one person here to welcome me home."
Then a still small voice came to Morrison and said, "You're not home yet."
Brett Blair, www.eSermons.com
______________________
Commentary – Imitate Generosity
The climax of the parable occurs in verse 15: "Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?" The vineyard owner claims the right to pay his workers not on the basis of their merits but on the basis of his own compassion. Why should such generosity be condemned as injustice? Underlying the parable is the Old Testament conception of God as the creator who is GOOD, that is, generous to all (see, e.g., Ps. 145:9). Jesus reveled in the incredible magnanimity of God (see 5:45). Of course Jesus believed in the God of justice, but in his vision of God the divine compassion greatly outshone the divine justice. Those who worship such a God must imitate his generosity, not begrudge it.
Douglas R. A. Hare, Interpretation: Matthew
__________________________
Envy
Aesop had a fable about two eagles, one envious of the other because the other could soar higher and more elegantly than he could. So the envious eagle would pluck his strongest feathers from his own body and shoot them as arrows, trying to wound or kill the other eagle. It was his own undoing, however. He could not hit the high flying eagle, and he was eventually grounded by his lack of feathers. Envy destroyed the eagle.
Brett Blair, Sermon Illustrations
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A reporter once asked Pope John XXIII, "How many people work here in the Vatican?" to which the dear, old Pope answered, "Oh, about half, I guess."
Staff
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Fairness
We are shocked by the message of the parable of the workers in the vineyard, for it goes against the grain of our natural expectation. It mocks our logical sense of justice. Perhaps we are more drawn to the message of the Norwegian writer Jens Peter Jacobsen in his novel Niels Lyhne, which tell about a man who rejected God. As he grew older, he secretly desired the peace of faith, but he refused to come to God weak-kneed toward life's ending. Fate had been harsh to him, with death visiting those whom he loved most. Tenaciously, he held on to disbelief and a philosophy of nihilism even though he wanted the peace of God.
In the last hour of his life, he refused to see the pastor, though secretly he wanted absolution and faith's consolation. His physician, who loved him, was moved by his valor and whispered, "If I were God, I would far sooner save the man who does not repent at the last minute."
Deep inside, our sense of even-scaled justice admires the hardened skeptic. But Jesus' parable communicates the opposite message. It shatters all our preconceived assumptions about the justice of God. Here is a story with a coded message that brings us to the core of what Jesus of Nazareth is all about! The key to interpreting the parable is in remembering that the vineyard is always the symbol of God's kingdom, his new community, his new reality. In point of fact, the vineyard is the Church. Moreover, God owns the vineyard--lock, stock, and barrel. We are privileged to labor in his vineyard (his Church) and receive the security that there will be adequate compensation for all. But the real pay is not the wage offered at the end of the day. The work itself is our gift, our immeasurable privilege! It carries its own reward. For the work in God's vineyard brings us near to our fatherly Lord and his care for us.
George E. Thompson, When is there "Fairness" in Labor?, Pulpit Digest,
September/October, 1990.
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Fairness
This parable goes against the business mentality that dominates our lives. We have always been taught: You get out of something directly in proportion to that which you put in it. Yet, that is not what happened in Jesus’ story. In our way of thinking, the laborers who came to the field late got something for nothing. This parable challenges us not to look upon the Kingdom of God, or the church, as a business community. Yet, that is difficult for us to do, because that is our point of reference.
What do you think would happen if a person joined the church this morning and immediately after receiving the vows of profession of faith I suggested to the congregation that he or she be nominated as the next chairperson of the Administrative Board. What do you think the reaction would be? Well, I think I know what the reaction would be. The laity would protest as loudly as Simon Peter is protesting to Jesus.
You see, we live in a world of tenure and seniority and it goes against our grain when we hear Jesus say: The first shall be last and the last shall be first. God's grace is not based upon what is fair, but rather what helps.
Sermon Illustrations
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Jesus Was Just Wrong
One Sunday several years ago when I preached on this text, a church member came to me after the service and said, "You know, preacher, there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to abide, and other parts that aren’t. The story you preached on today is one that I find totally offensive! It’s just not fair to pay everyone the same wage when some have worked hard and some have hardly worked. Jesus was just wrong about that. I think you should have preached on something less offensive." The following Sunday, I preached about the prodigal son.
Johnny Dean, "Exasperating Grace"
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100 Points!
A man dies and goes to heaven. Of course, St. Peter meets him at the Pearly Gates. St. Peter say's, "Here's how it works. You need 100 points to make it into heaven. You tell me all the good things you've done, and I give you a certain number of points for each item, depending on how good it was. When you reach 100 points, you get in." Okay, " the man says, "I was married to the same women for 50 years and never cheated on her, even in my heart." That's wonderful," says St. Peter, "that's worth three points." Three points?"
He says. "Well, I attended church all my life and supported its ministry with my tithe and service." Terrific!" say's St. Peter. "That's certainly worth a point." "One point? Well I started a soup kitchen in my city and worked in a shelter for homeless veterans." Fantastic, that's good for two more points," he says. "Two points!"
The man cries. "At this rate the only way to get into heaven is by the grace of God!" St. Peter smiled. "There's your 100 points! Come on in!"
Traditional
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Grace and Generosity
A large prosperous downtown church had three mission churches under its care that it had started. On the first Sunday of the New Year all the members of the mission churches came to the city church for a combined Communion service. In those mission churches, which were located in the slums of the city, were some outstanding cases of conversions--thieves, burglars, and so on--but all knelt side by side at the Communion rail.
On one such occasion the pastor saw a former burglar kneeling beside a judge of the Supreme Court of England--it was the judge who had sent him to jail where he had served seven years. After his release this burglar had been converted and became a Christian worker. Yet, as they knelt there, the judge and the former convict neither one seemed to be aware of the other.
After the service, the judge was walking out with the pastor and said to him, "Did you notice who was kneeling beside me at the Communion rail this morning?" The pastor replied, "Yes, but I didn't know that you noticed." The two walked along in silence for a few moments, and then the judge said, "What a miracle of grace." The pastor nodded in agreement. "Yes, what a marvelous miracle of grace." Then the judge said, "But to whom do you refer?" And the pastor said, "Why, to the conversion of that convict."
The judge said, "But I was not referring to him. I was thinking of myself." The pastor, surprised, replied: "You were thinking of yourself? I don't understand." "Yes," the judge replied, "it was natural for the burglar to receive God's grace when he came out of jail. He had nothing but a history of crime behind him, and when he saw Jesus as his Savior he knew there was salvation and hope and joy for him. And he knew how much he needed that help.
"But look at me. I was taught from earliest infancy to live as a gentleman; that my word was to be my bond; that I was to say my prayers, to go to church, take Communion and so on. I went through Oxford, took my degrees, was called to the bar and eventually became a judge. Pastor, it was God's grace that drew me; it was God's grace that opened my heart to receive it. I'm a greater miracle of his grace."
R. Kent Hughes, Ephesians: The Mystery of the Body of Christ
(Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1990), p. 76.
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Illustrations for Matthew 20:1-16
Lectionary Week: Proper 20 (18th Sunday after Pentecost)
www.eSermons.com
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Sunday, September 11, 2005
Hurricane Katrina quotes
Hurricane Katrina quotes, CNN.com Sept. 11, 2005
"It makes me mad. This should not have happened…"
"...Pretty soon these stories will no longer be a part of the headlines of our lives. I feel deeply that we owe it to every single family who has suffered to not forget and to not let them stand alone. Thank you."
-- TV host Oprah Winfrey
"This is one of these disasters that will test our soul and test our spirit, but we're going to show the world once again that not only can we survive but we will be stronger and better for it. This is just the beginning of a huge effort."
-- President Bush
"It's amazing what can happen if you just put your arm around somebody. It's the truest thing and the simplest thing that does the most good a lot of times, and I hope that we can all just reach out to each other."
-- Actress Julia Roberts
"It makes me mad. This should not have happened…"
"...Pretty soon these stories will no longer be a part of the headlines of our lives. I feel deeply that we owe it to every single family who has suffered to not forget and to not let them stand alone. Thank you."
-- TV host Oprah Winfrey
"This is one of these disasters that will test our soul and test our spirit, but we're going to show the world once again that not only can we survive but we will be stronger and better for it. This is just the beginning of a huge effort."
-- President Bush
"It's amazing what can happen if you just put your arm around somebody. It's the truest thing and the simplest thing that does the most good a lot of times, and I hope that we can all just reach out to each other."
-- Actress Julia Roberts
Wednesday, September 07, 2005
"The Lord's forgot and the soldier slighted"
The Newtown Presbyterian church
The old church building has a bit of Revolutionary history that adds to its interest. Some of the Hessians from the field of Trenton passed their first night of captivity within its walls. When digging for a foundation for the middle post that supports the south gallery, bones and buttons were turned up, said to have belonged to an English officer who was buried in the aisle.
On the wall, now covered by the frescoing, was written the following verse in red chalk, which tradition credits to a Hessian captive, which is extremely doubtful, as the writing was in English:
"In times of war, and not before,
God and the soldier men adore;
When the war is o'er and all things righted,
The Lord's forgot and the soldier slighted."
from:
THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XIX, HISTORICAL CHURCHES, 1710 TO 1744.
from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M.,
1876 and 1905* editions..
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/bucks
/history/local/davis/davis19.txt
The old church building has a bit of Revolutionary history that adds to its interest. Some of the Hessians from the field of Trenton passed their first night of captivity within its walls. When digging for a foundation for the middle post that supports the south gallery, bones and buttons were turned up, said to have belonged to an English officer who was buried in the aisle.
On the wall, now covered by the frescoing, was written the following verse in red chalk, which tradition credits to a Hessian captive, which is extremely doubtful, as the writing was in English:
"In times of war, and not before,
God and the soldier men adore;
When the war is o'er and all things righted,
The Lord's forgot and the soldier slighted."
from:
THE HISTORY OF BUCKS COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA, CHAPTER XIX, HISTORICAL CHURCHES, 1710 TO 1744.
from the discovery of the Delaware to the present time by W. W. H. Davis, A.M.,
1876 and 1905* editions..
http://ftp.rootsweb.com/pub/usgenweb/pa/bucks
/history/local/davis/davis19.txt
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