Sermon, 21 sept 2014

On Matthew 20.1-16

I wonder how many times this past week I’ve said – either aloud or just to myself – “that’s not fair!”

The number is probably higher than I would like it to be. In fact, it’s probably a good thing I don’t have a “NOT FAIR!” counter above my head, ticking the numbers off.

I paid 2 cents more for gas than it was in a different town? NOT FAIR!

The person behind me in line scooted over to the newly opened till even though I’d been waiting longer? NOT FAIR!

The package of tortillas had an odd number in it, and I’d planned a meal that needed even pairs? NOT FAIR!

Yup. Silly. But all these instances – and many, MANY more that I’m not going to reveal to you, all have something in common.

It’s all about ME.

Gas prices? Well, they’re always fluctuating. That 2 cents per litre – so what, a dollar a tank. That doesn’t break my budget, doesn’t prevent me from getting to work, doesn’t mean I have to minimize what I spend on food.

The line-shifter at the store? That hasn’t made me any later than I was going to be, and I had the time to be there anyway. Maybe she had kids to get home to, if the bread and peanut butter and animal-shaped cookies in her cart were any indication.

The tortillas? An odd number didn’t ruin my dinner plans, it just changed them. And even then, just barely. They cost what, 25 cents a piece? This is not the end of the world, it’s a 6 inch round piece of flat corn flour and water, stuffed into a package by a machine by weight. No one decided to intentionally ruin by day by changing the number of tortillas in the package.

And yet – these every day things still get us thinking that we have been wronged, that we have been denied, that it’s plain NOT FAIR. It didn’t go our way, it’s not fair. Our inner 4-year-old comes out with a foot-stomping objection whenever it’s not fair.

However! That’s not entirely true, is it? Our inner 4-year-old cries NOT FAIR when it’s not fair for us – but what about when it’s not fair for someone else? Do we even notice?

When we fill the car just before the prices jump – do we give a second thought to the people who didn’t, who will now have to pay that extra 2 cents per litre? Do we cry out NOT FAIR! on their behalf?

When we’re waiting, and a chance comes for us to move along more speedily, do we think about other peoples’ wait times, or do we just move along as quickly as possible? Do we think about how someone else might be thinking NOT FAIR!?

When we’re expecting one thing and get another, only slightly different (and perhaps even better), do we think about the impact on others? My tortilla example: the package said 10, but I had an odd number. Aside from the embarrassment of thinking a tortilla was worthy of saying “NOT FAIR!”, I felt even more ridiculous when I realized that I in fact had gotten an extra – there were 11, making the odd number. But did I even think about the next package which may have in fact only received 9 due to my windfall? Somewhere, there was an inconsistency – but as it didn’t impact me, it didn’t matter. Right?

It’s all about ME. When I want fairness, it’s for ME.

And this is what we all want. I want it to be fair for me, even if that means it’s not fair for you. I want what I want, and I want it now. And when I don’t get it, I’ll claim it’s not fair.

Sigh. Maybe that 4-year-old self isn’t so “inner” after all – maybe she comes out more often than I’d like – every time that “NOT FAIR” counter goes up another number.

And – this is not new. This is not abnormal. This is human nature.

This is exactly what’s happening in today’s Gospel. The labourers are being hired at different times, which means they’re (presumably) accomplishing different amounts of work.

Yet – they all receive the same pay. Hmm. It’s not fair, is it.

Yet again – no one is being denied anything; no one has had anything taken away from them. The all-day workers have been paid exactly the same as they expected and in fact agreed to… had they not seen the others receive their pay, they would not have complained. If they had not started to think themselves superior, they would not have complained. Had they not started expecting more than what was fair, they would not have complained. But they did complain, and were reprimanded for it by the master.

It’s not fair? Why not? They got what was right. It’s just how they chose to interpret what else was going on around them. They were mentally re-negotiating their contract – without the other party being part of the conversation.

And we all know – that’s NOT how it works. It would be like me coming in today and saying “Guess what! I’ve decided you’re going to double my stipend. Retroactively. You can pay me now.” Yes, I think once we stop laughing we can all think of how well THAT would go over! Is it any wonder the household master is frustrated with them! From his perspective, their new expectations are not fair. There’s a lack of fairness all around.

And the real message of this passage is NOT about the money. But Jesus is using the analogy because it’s timeless, and it’s a reference everyone can relate to. You need money, so you have to work; normally what you earn will be directly proportional to how you work. Obviously there are some other factors, but the general rule applies just about any place, any time.

But there’s one exception, one place where it doesn’t apply, and Jesus tells us of that right from the start. This basic rule doesn’t apply in the Kingdom of Heaven. In the kingdom of heaven, Jesus tells us, things aren’t fair.

It’s not fair because there is a place for everyone, no matter how much or how little they are able to contribute. It’s not fair because everyone is welcome to an equal share, no matter how long they have been working. It’s not fair because everyone will be given respect and treated with dignity, no matter their station or situation. It’s not fair because everyone is wanted, whether they came eagerly first thing or had to be sought out at the end of the day.

It’s not fair, because God doesn’t keep track of things the same way we do here on earth; God pours out astonishing amounts grace and love and acceptance to all who want to receive them. God doesn’t portion and divide these gifts, God chooses to flood us all with astounding generosity.

So whether we’ve been a Christ follower all of our lives, or only a few minutes: God gives us all an equal share in the kingdom.

Whether we pray without ceasing or barely get a grace out at family meals;

whether we know our scriptures inside out, or if we had to blow the dust off the Bible last night;

whether we live the good news every moment of our lives, or struggle to apply the Gospel message to every day life;

God gives us all an equal share in the kingdom.

The Kingdom of heaven isn’t fair – it’s right. It is indeed like the landowner, doing us no wrong, but aiming to do right for all who will receive it.

And our challenge this week is to go into the world, forgetting or ignoring all those times where we would cry out “It’s not fair” and instead finding opportunities to see how to make things right for someone else. Let’s live a sample of the generosity of the landowner, and delight in bringing the vineyard to our communities.

Sermon, John 3.13-17

Back in the ‘90s, I was a big fan of the TV programme “The X-Files”. Anyone remember it? Mulder and Scully were FBI agents investigating the paranormal – Mulder was all for it, Scully was a scientist meant to debunk him. Aliens, paranormal, you name it.

One of the things that set the scene, as it were, was a poster hanging behind Mulder’s desk. It had a fuzzy picture, allegedly of a UFO, and the words “I want to believe” in big block letters at the bottom. This was mentioned several times throughout the series, and it became quite popular among fans – people had I WANT TO BELIEVE shirts, posters, bumper stickers – you name it. Yes, truth be told, I had such a poster on my dorm room wall.

In that context, the verb “to believe” is being used in much the same way that we use it. When we believe something, or when we believe IN something, we’re basically taking part in a mental exercise. We’ve wrapped our brains around a concept. We’ve accepted what someone has said to us. We get to a level of confidence that something is true. We believe.

And in this context, we believe in a number of things. And this belief system can change, as our knowledge and understanding evolves. For example, my godson – having lost his first tooth this week – now believes in the tooth fairy. His belief may change in a few years’ time. Another example, in a conversation at the dog park this week, someone said to me “your lab is so active! I can’t believe he’s so old!” (He’s 9, but don’t tell him that – he still thinks he’s a puppy.)

It’s become commonplace for us. Just about every day we’re using the word “belief” in casual, simple ways. Often we’re overusing, and at times incorrectly. We ‘believe’ what the newspaper reports, sometimes without questioning. Some folks ‘believe’ everything that’s on the internet, often to embarrassment and error. We ‘believe’ or ‘don’t believe’ just about anything someone says. It’s almost become verbal punctuation. The weather – can you believe it?! The price of milk – I can’t believe it’s gotten so high. Another cup of coffee? – I believe I will!

So with this one word being so casual, so incipit, so watered down, how then are we meant to hear this timeless, classic, intensely meaningful statement of belief that we have in the scriptures today?

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Ah. Whoever believes in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has the promise of eternal life.

How do we hear this then? I found inspiration in a commentary written by pastor Angela Zimmann.[1] She suggests that we’re meant to hear it the way people would have when the evangelist John was writing it. You see, back in those days, ‘belief’ was not something that was taken casually. It was not a day-to-day catch-all phrase. It was something very deep, very intentional. It had it’s meaning deeply rooted in relationship. It was, as scholars have described, “an all-embracing relationship, an attitude of love and trust in God.”[2]

Belief is important then; what people believe and how they express that belief are integral not just to who they are, but how they are going to interact – with one another, and with God. And, as Zimmann points out, the notion of belief is central to John’s entire gospel. She’s counted – John mentions belief some 84 times in the English translation of his gospel. 84 times! Comapring that to the other three gospels, they mention belief 31 times. Total, combined.

So for John, belief is a big deal. It’s a living reality. It’s not just a mental exercise, it’s not just a word, it’s not just agreement with doctrine or getting the right answers or following a script on the page. It’s about relating, in the faith, in the community.

We know that community is important. We’ve all got stories of how community has pulled together in times of need; we’ve all told stories of how we’ve benefitted from being in community, of how we’ve helped someone else because they are part of community. We’ve all heard me preach the last couple of weeks on the importance of being in community. That’s the type of community that Jesus was trying to build when he walked on this earth. That’s the type of community God is wanting us to continue building and growing – in his name, in his presence – every day of our lives.

And so – we try to do just that. We try to get others to join with us in our faith journey. We try to get them to believe! The challenge, of course, is that sometimes we get stuck in our heads. We get stuck in our ways, our systems, our ‘right answers’ and right words. We try to force others to believe with threats and fear… “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” We focus on the threat of perishing, of death, rather than on the freedom and promise of belief. We become so caught up in the fear of the future that we miss out on the joy of today – of witnessing the signs and wonders of a loving God, who is inviting us into a trusting, loving, committed relationship.

So our invitation this week, I think, is to examine our relationship with God and with the world. Our invitation this week is to spend some time prayerfully considering what we believe – not as an exercise of the mind, but of the heart. Not an assessment of right versus wrong, but an evaluation of our bond and connection with Christ.

It is this connection that we celebrate when we declare our faith. It is this relationship that we want to nurture and support. It is this relationship that will keep us focused on the promise of eternal life, of salvation, that we can ONLY receive by the grace of God and the love of Christ.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

Well. Like the poster said, but with true meaning attached: “I want to believe.”

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[1] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2161

[2] Palmer, G.E.H; Sherrard; Ware, Kallistos (Timothy). The Philokalia, Vol. 4.