Messages on this site begin March 23, 2014. You may read some of Suzy's previous messages at her Blog site.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

"Parables from the Back Side - A Case for the "Un-Hired" Hand" - Faith UMC, Phoenix, AZ June 21, 2015


Sometimes we get so caught up in our expectations that we forget why we came in the first place. What are we here to do? Why are we doing it? Who are we doing it for?

Scripture 1: Matthew 20:1-15 - The Laborers in the Vineyard

‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 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?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”


Scripture 2: Matthew 19:23-25

23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, ‘Then who can be saved?’ 26But Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.’


Sermon

      When we hear the story that was read earlier, the one that Jesus told about the workers in the vineyard, we tend to think quite literally about work and employment, don’t we? We think of people standing about, waiting; perhaps chatting, telling jokes, much like those we sometimes see gathered on certain street corners, hoping for someone to choose them for the next job. And we think of payment in terms of cash, right?

      But - What if we thought about the Vineyard not only as the place where the work is done, but also as the Spirit with which the work is done? The purpose to which the work is done? And what if we thought about all those un-hired hands not as literally idle, but simply not yet working for the Landowner? Think about it: nobody really sits idle for long, not truly.

      J. Ellsworth Kalas, author of Parables from the Back Side, Bible Stories with a Twist, writes, “The response “because no one has hired us” represents, to me, a waiting world. It is a picture of the pathos of those millions of people who go throughout their lives with an almost unceasing emptiness, while they wait for someone to “hire” them.” Notice that Kalas uses the word “un-hired.” Not “unemployed.” What brought those “idle” workers to the marketplace? Are they really “idle?” What if the people who are milling about in the parable waiting to be hired are actually employed in doing good works, serving others, even attending church? What if they are busy doing their jobs, but not really working for the right kind of pay? In fact, perhaps they are not idle workers after all, but idol workers. They are working to gain worldly pay, necessary for living, but useless when it comes to spiritual growth and being in relationship with God.

      I think those who are gathered in the market hoping to be hired represent those who are responding to what John Wesley called “Prevenient Grace.” Timothy Tennant, president of Asbury Theological Seminary, writes that “Prevenient grace is a collective term for all the ways in which God’s grace comes into our lives prior to conversion.” Prevenient Grace is the Grace that is present even if we aren’t aware of it, giving us the ability to choose between good and evil. We feel discontent, knowing that we are seeking something, but not knowing what it is. This is a sign that we are hearing the call of God!

      You see, God’s Grace is always present, always calling; calling each of to come closer to God. Marjorie Suchocki writes that this is the Process of God, this Grace that constantly calls us toward choices that will bring us closer. We make a choice, and then Grace calls us toward another choice that brings us even closer. If we make a different choice, God allows for that and Grace provides us a different opportunity to choose God. On and on throughout our lives, Grace is available to us. All we have to do is choose to acknowledge it, and we will be working for the Landowner!

      On the official United Methodist Church website the page about Grace tells us that “God’s grace stirs up within us a desire to know God and empowers us to respond to God’s invitation to be in relationship with God. God’s grace enables us to discern differences between good and evil and makes it possible for us to choose good.” This means that that we can be working for God without even knowing it!

      As I was doing my research about Prevenient Grace, I came across an old blog conversation from 2006 between a more Calvinist theologian and a Wesleyan by the name of Jason Watson.  Watson turned out to be the current Media Producer of Childrens and Student Ministries at Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City. In that blog conversation, Watson wrote that “…the light of faith is a part of God's grace to humanity. Since God desires that humanity may be saved, God gives grace to enable this salvation. Faith is evidenced through the exercise of the will in response to God's grace.”

      I believe that it is this exercise of will that brought the un-hired hands to the marketplace. They know that they are doing good things, and that there is something to be gained, but not what it is, nor where it is to come from.

      They don’t know yet that all they need to do is work for God’s Kingdom. And so, they wait until they are hired. That is, until they are invited. Well, wait a minute – there’s more to being hired than being invited, isn’t there? One must agree to work for the wages offered. When Jesus said it was difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven, I think he was drawing the line between what kind of payment one expects for one’s work and the real mode of payment in the Vineyard. 

      You may recall that before Jesus told this parable, he had been speaking to a rich man who wanted to know what he needed to do to enter the Kingdom of God. The young man he had been speaking to said he was already following the commandments. Jesus told him that he would need to give away his riches to the poor and follow him. The rich man went away sad because he was being asked to give his possessions to the poor in order to follow Jesus. I think he missed the most important question he could have asked Jesus. I think the most important question was, “what is the payment if I follow you?”

      He missed that question because he could only think in terms of financial and material gain. Peter asks the question the rich man didn’t, and the answer he got was this parable, isn’t it? And I think that payment is Grace.

      Everyone has access to this Grace, and has the choice to accept it…or not. God’s Grace is offered equally for everyone who accepts it. In the parable, the first hired workers are a little bit like the rich man, thinking that they deserved more than those who come later, but God’s Grace is not doled out to those who deserve it, but given freely to all, even to those who are unaware.

      Some of us think of ourselves as “seeking,” yet I think what is really happening is that our hearts have heard the Voice of God, whispering to us the promise of Heaven. We enter into the marketplace, waiting to be hired. What does it take to be hired, then?

      The Vineyard is the place where we become true servants of the Landowner. It is anyplace where we find our purpose. That is, the purpose for which God has called us. For some, that might mean a special call to ministry as a pastor or lay leader. It might mean doing missionary work or working in a non-profit. It just as easily might be working in the service industry, a factory, or a bank.

      It could be that we are hired right where we are, for as I suggested earlier, the Vineyard isn’t a special place or a special job; it’s the purpose for which we do what we do. The difference between working for the Landowner and working for someone else is in our hearts, and the fruit is in our actions.

      Once we’re hired, it’s our duty to represent our employer to the best of our abilities, isn’t it? The Vineyard is owned by the most generous and loving Landowner - God. We are responsible for maintaining it without grumbling about fairness and without worrying about how we will acquire the resources we need to do our job, for God’s Grace will provide those resources, one way or another.

      What about those who don’t hear the voice of God? What about those who hear it, but don’t understand? The Good News about that comes right out of Jesus’ parable! It’s never too late! God’s Grace is continually available, continually calling to us, providing opportunities for us to hear the invitation. Once we are hired, it is our duty to take that freely given Grace that we are now aware of and share it with others.

      A few weeks back, I visited you here at Faith. I came to hear my friend Jody, your pastor, preach for her first congregation. After the service, I joined a few of you who gathered at the front of the sanctuary to share in Holy Communion. It was a beautiful experience. There’s something in the gathering for Communion, isn’t there? Whether we are with friends or strangers, whether we gather once a month or every day, the Holy Spirit is there, isn’t She?

      Grace is there, calling to each of us. Some come to the table early, some come late. Some come not because they heard the Call, but because they were told to be there. Some of us remember being “drug” to church as children, right? Then, there are those who have been taught that in order to take Communion, they must already be Christian. In fact, John Wesley wholeheartedly disagreed with this! He believed that conversion could happen in the Eucharist. That is one reason why we practice the open table, and it doesn’t matter who wishes to join in, because Wesley taught that because of Prevenient Grace, someone could become a Christian as a result of taking Communion.

      So, that Sunday a couple of weeks ago, there we were, hired hands receiving our pay. That Sunday, when we were finished with the Eucharist, Pastor Jody and Joshua were serving one another when two women came into the sanctuary. They were late and uncertain if they would be able to partake. Without hesitation, those already at the table opened ranks, held out their hands, and invited them in. Late to the table, they were paid equally.

      When we come to the marketplace, we are already invited to the Vineyard. Let us accept our pay, the Grace of our Lord, and with the strength and power of that Grace, invite others to join us in Discipleship. For that is the true task of the hired hands, isn’t it? Not just to come to the Vineyard, and Justified, call ourselves Christian, take our free Grace, and go home!
       No, we are to serve our Master by doing our daily tasks to God’s glory so that others might hear the always present Invitation of Prevenient Grace. When we do this, we are partners with Christ in the Sanctification of our lives in the Vineyard, becoming Perfect in God’s Grace.

Amen.