To the Glory of God

A Sermon preached on September 28^th (Pentecost XVI and Harvest Festival) at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Deuteronomy 8:7-18, Psalm 65, 2 Corinthians 9:6-15, Luke 12:16-30

Together with our brothers and sisters from the German churches, and many English churches, we are celebrating Harvest Festival today. So if you’ve been following the readings in our lectionary and are wondering where today’s readings come from – you have not got lost or made a mistake. These are the readings appointed for Harvest and Thanksgiving celebrations, whenever they may take place, which of course in the USA is not until Thanksgiving in November. 

It had not been my plan to talk about Stewardship this morning, although our annual Stewardship or pledge campaign will soon commence in October, but this morning’s readings really left me no choice. All the themes of stewardship are there: Gratefulness to God for God’s goodness and bounty, giving generously, and identifying and setting the right priorities. Let’s look at them one by one.

Whenever someone in the Bible tells us not to do something, we can be pretty sure that that was what most people were doing at the time! So when the author or authors of Deuteronomy have Moses say: “Do not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have gained me this wealth,’” (8:17) we can assume that by the time of writing far too many people in Israel had forgotten how they got there and who was ultimately responsible for the “good land … with flowing streams, …. A land of wheat and barley, vines and fig trees and pomegranates, ... olive trees and honey.” (8:7-8) And the danger was that the good people of Israel would not only forget who had rescued them and lead them to the promised land, and forget to bless and thank the Lord, but that they would also forget the Covenant God had made with them, and perhaps even forget their God. This danger is by no means only applicable to the inhabitants of Israel in the 6^th century BC. The idea of God as the ultimate source of all that we have, including our existence, and that is something we can be grateful for and should say thank you for – every day and not only when the calendar prescribes it – is not mainstream, to say the least.

In this part of his 2^nd letter to the Corinthians, Paul is asking the church in Corinth to collect and send money for the church in Jerusalem, he’s asking them to pledge if you like. That’s probably why this section sounds like a pledge campaign letter, because it is one. Paul picks up on the theme of gratitude and giving thanks. The best way of giving thanks to God for God’s abundant blessings and grace, he says, is through giving. Generosity “will produce thanksgiving to God” (2 Cor. 9:11) and in and through our own generous giving we can share in God’s good work, for by helping the poor we participate in God’s righteousness. (9:12) “The rendering of this ministry,” the ministry of giving, “not only supplies the needs of the saints but also overflows with many thanksgivings to God.” (9:12) My favorite line must be “God loves a cheerful giver,” (9:7) in fact I think I used it in my last stewardship letter. What Paul means by cheerful is that the gift must be a personal decision, made in compete freedom and without fear or coercion. It is not a condition for God’s grace or blessing, unlike the condition the writer of Deuteronomy is alluding to when he tells the Israelites to “remember the LORD your God, so that he may confirm his covenant!” (Deut. 8:18) God’s grace is free, it is an indescribable gift. We give in response to that gift and out of own sense of what is important, what has priority, which brings us to Luke.

In Jesus’ parable the rich man – or fool as God later calls him – had clearly got his priorities wrong! All he could think about was himself, just note how often he uses the words ‘I’ and ‘my’ are used: 11 times in 3 verses. This man has no thought for God or for his neighbor, all he can think about is himself, his wealth, and his own well-being in this life – which in this parable is about to be cut short. We need to see this story in context, just before the passage we hear this morning Jesus had been asked to adjudicate in a dispute about an inheritance, which he refused, instead he “said to them, ‘Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.’” (Luke 12:15) That’s how to understand Jesus telling his disciples not to worry about life, and what to eat or what to wear. He is not romanticizing a life without property or as a beggar. We need food and drink and clothing – but amassing them and the money to pay for them cannot be our number one priority, God must be. The right priority is not to store up treasures for ourselves but to be rich towards God (12:21) or to use Matthew’s more succinct and poetic words: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21)

We started with fertile and productive land and abundant crops and produce in Deuteronomy and in Luke we end with birds, flowers, and grass and how God cares for them. Both sets of examples serve to remind us that that God, the Creator, who loves to give good gifts, who loves to care for us, and who wants us to do likewise, is ultimately in control and that God’s values and priorities are the ones that count.

In the Collect for Thanksgiving[1] that I prayed earlier, we ask God to make us “faithful stewards of God’s great bounty.” And I’ve suggested that good stewardship is made up of gratefulness, generous giving, and right priorities. What might that look like for us here at St. Augustine’s? 

Let’s start with thanksgiving. What can we give thanks for – as a community and as individuals?  The food and produce that we have decorated the church with, serves to remind us to give thanks “for the fruits of the earth in their season and for the labors of those who harvest them.”[1] They stand for the gifts of life, of sustenance, and of plenty. We can also give thanks for this community, for one another, for mutual support, for the use of this building as a spiritual home. And we give thanks for all the personal blessings and gifts that we have received. 

How do we show our gratitude? Through generous giving. On the one hand, the money you give to the church is for the “provision of our necessities,”[1] the priest, the office, our music, the materials and events for our Sunday school and youth group, our participation in the wider church, and for the care and running of this building. But we also give for “the relief of all who are in need.”[1] That will happen today very directly when all this food is passed on to our Mission Partner, the Teestube to feed the homeless, but also through our other Outreach programs and through the work of the Episcopal Church.

And what are our priorities? Next week you will all, at least all of you for whom we have an address, receive an invitation to attend one of a series of small group conversations in private homes. Their purpose is to help us continue the process of renewing our Christian community. We will look back and forward asking, what and who do we as the Church of St. Augustine of Canterbury want to be? This is your chance to discuss and identify priorities for this church, in this place in the context of conversation and prayer. And of course priorities are also important when you consider your pledge. I encourage you to reflect on how you can use the gifts you have been given to further the only real priority we can have: the Glory of God. To finish with St. Paul: “You glorify God by your obedience to the confession of the gospel of Christ and by the generosity of your sharing.” (2 Cor. 9:13)

Amen.

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[1] BCP, 246

Is God Fair?

A Sermon preached on September 21^st (Pentecost XV) at St. Augustine’s, Wiesbaden

Jonah 3:10-4:11, Philippians 1:21-30, Matthew 20:1-16

“That’s not fair!” If you have children, or were a child once, and I think that should cover all of you, you will have heard or said that phrase more than once. Children are very concerned about fairness and if one child is treated differently to the other in what seem to be similar circumstances the cry, “that’s not fair” will soon be heard. Elder children can be particularly upset of their younger sibling is allowed to do things that they had to wait years before being allowed to do. They do not like being trail blazers for their siblings! 

Although neither Jonah nor the anonymous laborers in Matthew’s Gospel actually say “that’s not fair,” you can almost hear them doing so. Jonah certainly doesn’t think God is fair nor do the laborers think that of the landowner in Jesus’ parable. Why not?

At this point in his story Jonah has survived being thrown overboard, swallowed by a large fish or whale, and walking through the capital city of one of Israel’s greatest enemies – the Assyrian empire – shouting out loud “in 40 days Nineveh will be overthrown.” Not something to be recommended! He is extremely annoyed with God because God has spared Nineveh despite his promise to the contrary. How dare God not destroy the home of the empire that overran and completely destroyed the Northern kingdom of Israel? What was God thinking of? Well, God was being God. Nineveh had repented, both the rulers and the poeple had turned from their evil ways – we might even say that Nineveh had already been overthrown: overthrown in evil and rebuilt in goodness. For God justice, mercy, and love override every other consideration, especially a promise of destruction. The little episode with the bush is a sort of living parable. When Jonah answers yes to the questions “is it right for you to be angry about the bush,” he is acknowledging pity and mercy as valid motives.  Then surely, God says to him, if you can feel sorry for a bush – and for yourself –I can feel sorry for a city of 120,000 inhabitants and as many animals? Jonah’s reply is not recorded, I fear there wasn’t one and that he just sat there, pouting and sulking!

And what about the day laborers? Surely they have a very good reason to feel unfairly treated. The first group had worked all day, from 6 until 6, in the blazing sun, and yet they were being paid exactly the same amount as the group that had only worked for an hour. And so they grumble and complain because they feel unfairly treated. No, the landowner replies, you got what you were promised, I took nothing away from you. Are you perhaps envious because I am generous? 

This parable is what is called a midrash, which was a method Rabbis used to interpret the Torah by “filling in the gaps in the text,” often with the help of a story. Jesus uses it a lot, he was after all also a Jewish Rabbi or teacher. In this case he is interpreting his own earlier saying in Matthew 19:30 that “many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.” And in the parable the last to arrive do get paid first, while the first to arrive are not only paid last, but also only as much as the first. Who might the different groups of laborers be? There are two possible interpretations, and perhaps both were intended.

On the one hand the first group or groups clearly stand for the Jewish nation, they were God’s first chosen people, and they had both worked, and suffered, in God’s vineyard for generations. But despite this, those latecomer, Gentile believers, that’s us by the way, the followers of Christ are going to gain equal access to God’s kingdom.  God will show them the same mercy and love as Israel without in any way taking away from the promise God had made in God’s covenant with the Jews. And if we remember that part of Israel’s calling was to be a light to the nations, it is precisely because they had worked in God’s vineyard for so long that the promise was being extended. So they really have no reason to be surprised. Unless of course they had hoped, and that was what Jesus was warning them against, for some form of privileged position in the new age.

That leads to the second parallel interpretation. The parable is also a warning to the disciples. They too were the first ones chosen by Jesus to be his followers. Yes, Jesus might also be saying. You were chosen first but that will not give you a special position or privileges. If you do your job well, and as he will command at the end of the Gospel, go into the world to make disciples of all nations you will not be the favored few for long. 

Or let’s take Maren as an example, as a living parable. In a moment she will become a Christian through the Sacrament of Baptism - as an infant - and so she will be a Christian all her life. But that doesn’t mean that she will have a larger share in God’s kingdom than someone who makes that choice at the very end of their life. 

Why are we so concerned about this idea of fairness? For one thing we somehow worry that there might not be enough of God to go round. We fear that there are limits to God’s generosity. Well there aren’t, that’s what the two readings tell us. God’s generosity is great enough to cover even the sworn enemies of God’s own people and God’s generosity is great enough for everyone who asks for it, whenever that may be. Grace is without limit.

Envy, jealousy, and concern for privilege also play a role. Surely we deserve more because we have been serving longer, surely there must be some advantage to being the prime movers and not the latecomers.  No there isn’t and can we really be sure that we are in the first group of laborers? Perhaps we are the ones who need God’s mercy and generosity! There is a reason for the question in our Baptismal liturgy: “Do you put your whole trust in Christ’s grace and love.”

We do not serve God, whether we are the first, or the last, or somewhere in between for reward. The promises you will repeat today when we recite the Baptismal Covenant together, promises that include proclaiming the Good News by word and example, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, or striving for justice and peace, are made as a reaction to God’s generosity and to the love and compassion and mercy we receive. If we accept God’s grace in the spirit of the inhabitants of Nineveh or the last group of laborers, as an extraordinarily generous gift and as much more than we deserve, then this generosity will overflow. And instead of grumbling and sulking we will want to share and pass on what we have been given: in imitation and out of gratitude

Is God fair? No, thank God. Fairness is a very human concept. God is just, compassionate, merciful, generous, and loving – and those concepts and qualities are so much better for us all than fairness.

Amen