Morning Prayer and Sermon
17th Sunday of Pentecost Year A
24 September in the Year of our Lord 2023
Exodus 16:2-15
Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 21:1-16
The Collect for today is:
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
A Collect is a prayer of invocation, worshipping God, or His presence. Three things stand out for me in the collect for today.
- We want the Lord to help us face the responsibilities of this life free of anxiety and fear.
- The world in which we live was made by God and is Wonderful, but human civilizations are transitory, so we must learn to shift our attention, while fulfilling our earthy obligations, to the Kingdom of Jesus and the promise of a new heaven and earth.
- And finally, as Jesus said in what we call the Beatitudes, one of the truest insights into our human nature: “where your treasure is there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:21) The love of money is perilous.
As I said in my homily three weeks ago: “What we know about ourselves is not as important as the fact that God has chosen us for the work that he wishes for us to do.” I suspect that this is equally true for the way we look at our life and our possessions, and the plans that God has for us. Scripture tells us that Jesus said:
“don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or your body, what you will wear, is not life more than food and the body more than clothes?” (Matthew 6:25)
Jesus has challenged us not to worry about material things, but to “seek first God’s Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33) If he asks for us to look at life from God’s viewpoint it must be possible for us to do so.
The voices of the world tell us to be anxious. We are warned, especially as we are approaching retirement age that we must give complete attention to our annuities, bank accounts and stock portfolios. Charles Schwab Investment tells me every time I open their app, “own your tomorrow,” as if such a thing were possible.
We may be reminded of the parable of the rich man who tore down his barns to build bigger ones to store all his wealth, with no thought to the needs of others, telling himself “take life easy; eat, drink, and be merry.” (Luke 12:18,19) The rich mans’ life was taken that very night.
When Rose Denton Muñoz, my 4’11” grandmother, with a big smile on her face, told me things she thought that I was capable of, I believed her, even after I became an adult. I have listened to Margaret when she has boosted my confidence in very difficult times, because she loves me, and I trust her judgement. I even listen to my own children and grandchildren when they offer me good advice. Should I not believe God, the one who created me, when He tells me it is possible to live a life free of anxiety about material things? The Apostle Paul reassured the Christians in Philippi, who were suffering from Roman official persecution:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil.:6,7)
Approaching life this way requires discipline and commitment. It was even difficult for the disciples when our Lord walked the earth among them.
The author of our gospel reading for today was Matthew the Publican. He was a Tax Collector despised by his fellow Jews for serving the Roman authorities and enriching himself at their expense. A Jewish publican would be shunned by his own relatives. Matthew was not allowed to enter a Synagogue or the Temple in Jerusalem. He was by profession a sinner.
Jesus saw him and, as the divine Son of God knew his heart, knew that Matthew was capable of repentance. Jesus never offers cheap grace, as some do in our day, which is the preaching of forgiveness, without repentance. And he knew his abilities, that he would be capable of keeping a good record of the Life and Ministry of Jesus. Matthew was seated at the tax collectors’ booth in the town of Capernaum by the Sea of Galilee when Jesus chose to speak to him. Jesus said, “follow me,” nothing more, and Matthew immediately left his booth, and joined the group of disciples with Jesus. And he never returned to tax collecting, but embraced the new life he was called to. Some of the most important decisions in our lives come but once and must be made quickly.
Being wealthy, Matthew invited Jesus, his disciples, other tax collectors and many others to his home for a banquet. When the Pharisees saw this, they said,” why does your teacher eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? (Luke 5:30). It was natural for them to react in this way. They only looked at the appearances. But as the LORD God told the prophet Samuel: The Lord does not look at the things that men look at, men look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (I Samuel 16:7) In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke paraphrases I Samuel 13:14:
I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, and he will do everything I want him to do. (Acts 13:22).
And so, Samuel would anoint David, the youngest of Jesse’s sons, to be the next king of Israel. Although at times a godless sinner, he became the most renown of the Hebrew kings, one of the principal authors of the Psalms (including 105) that billions of Christians through the ages and around the world today recite in worship, and a direct ancestor of the promised Messiah. No small achievements.
Jesus’ call of Matthew is so radical that it is recorded in all three synoptic gospels (Matt. 9:9; Mark 2;13,14; Luke 5:27,28) In the same way that YHWH had plans for Moses when he spoke to him at the burning bush shepherding his sheep, Jesus had plans for Matthew when he spoke to him at his tax collector’s booth. And Matthew never looked back.
In the reading from his gospel today (20:1-13) we find and another radical teaching from our Lord: “The last will be first and the first will be last.” (20:16) This is found in the Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard.
“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.” (Matt. 20:1)
This was a silver coin the size of a dime, the standard wage for a skilled worker in the time of Jesus. Paying the denarius was not controversial.
The vineyard owner hired more workers at nine AM, noon, 3PM, and 5PM. But the owner decided to pay the last hired first, and to pay each laborer a denarius regardless of how long they had worked. The ones paid last had worked from early morning, in the heat of the entire day.
They thought this was unfair, thinking as any of us would that they should be paid more than those who worked less. The landowner responded that they had agreed to the wage when beginning work that morning, so they were paid what was due. If he chose to pay all the worker the same, that was his privilege. So, the “last will be first and the first will be last.” (20:16)
This parable is the Summa of the lessons that may be derived from the Collect for this morning. It is not about rewards, but about salvation and grace. God is generous. Those who come to Christ early in life and those who turn to him in their last moments are no different. Because no one has earned eternal life. As the generous landowner gave a denarius to all who worked for him, God welcomes all who have repented no matter how long they have served Him or what sins they have committed. The Apostles of our Lord and the thief on the cross were all welcomed into Paradise. Such love should cause each one of us to fall on our knees daily and give thanks.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Phil. 4,8)
Let God be praised!
Joseph J. Muñoz
Professor Emeritus
Feather River College