Greetings from St. Mark’s on the seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost, a week filled with stormy weather and a return to the program year routine.
We were gathered with the recognition that our anxiety should not rule our lives and that we should focus on heavenly and eternal things. Our first lesson from Exodus recounts the giving of just enough manna and quail to the Israelites to sustain them during their journey in the wilderness. The Psalmist sings a song which reminds us to give thanks because God is merciful and supplies enough to address our needs. The reading from the letter to the Philippians which gives name to the tension of a life of faith and wrestling between working to spread God’s hope and moving on to eternity with God. Matthew’s gospel is the parable of the vineyard laborers and merciful payment for work in the vineyard.
As Christians, the focus of our lives are grace and justice as seen through God’s eyes not on rank and the sequence of human existence. We hear through our scripture that God provides just enough for believers to work in community. Just like feeding Israel for 40 years in the wilderness, everyone who joins the family of God receives everything necessary for furthering the community’s work. God cares about every single person who God has created. Those who respond earlier are as worthy as those who respond to God’s call later. Our challenge is to remember that God’s grace is offered to all in community to live together in community. Even when the world tells us otherwise, we strive for things that last – a life with God for eternity.
How can we learn to see with the eyes of God and not of humans? How are we able to honor the gifts of others as they are essential to life and health in community? I invite your comments,
Les+
Lessons: Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16
Sermon link: https://audiomack.com/fatherles-2/song/pentecost-17-sermon-1
