Sunday Gathering - Oct 4

Prelude: Hindemith, Fuga prima in C from Ludus Tonalis
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Call to worship (CLICK HERE to see the video)  
  Look at all the beautiful sky!
It tells us a story of God.
  In the daytime it tells the story in blue;
  at night, in the sparkling of stars;
even though there isn’t any sound.
  We don’t hear anyone speak
  but the voice of the sky tells a story;
The stars sing a song about God.
  God has made us that wonderful sky
and the sun that shines everyday. *
  Come let us join the sun and the sky in worship!

*Ralph Milton, Lectionary Story Bible Year A, p215  

Opening Prayer
Holy One, your word brings order out of chaos;
Your word is healing and sight;
Your word is grace in Earth’s darkest places;
You word is wisdom, love and might, as boundless as the ocean.
In this time of worship, may we hear your word that we may be nourished by the story of your people.
In Jesus’ name we pray.  Amen.  

Hymn: “God, Whose Almighty Word”    VU 313
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Prayer of Reconciliation and Words of Assurance (CLICK HERE to see the video) 
Holy One, we do not always hear or remember your word.
We do not always feel or know your presence.
We let our feelings of estrangement and alienation justify behaviour that is not becoming of your beloved people.  

We ignore your word.
We mock your messengers.
We neglect your prophets.
We abuse your children.  

Holy One, transform our hearts
and return us to your vineyard.
Amen.  

People of God,
Be assured, God’s word rejoices the heart.
In God, we are reconciled and made new.
Thanks be to God.  

Retelling our Ancient Story: “God’s Word Is Good” (CLICK HERE to see the video) 
And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

From the time he was a small boy, Jesus had spent time in the synagogue listening to the teachers teach about Moses, the Prophets, and the Law.  

And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

When he was a young man, Jesus met a prophet named John who proclaimed a good news about changing our ways to live how God wants us to live.  

And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

So Jesus was baptized by John and when he came up from the waters, the heavens themselves opened up and down came the Holy Spirit like a dove and a voice came from heaven saying,
"This is my son, whom I love. With whom I am very happy."  

And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

Jesus went into the wilderness among the rocks, the streams, the bees, and the locusts.  He slept beneath the starlit sky, felt the wind on his face, and the hot sun on his back.  He fasted and was tested by temptation.  But God was with him through it all, and angels fed him and protected him.  

And Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

Jesus returned to the city where he attended the synagogue.  He stood before the crowd and read to them the Holy Scriptures and proclaimed that the scriptures were being fulfilled in their presence.  

Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

Jesus healed the sick and fed the hungry; he cast out demons and comforted those who were grieving; he proclaimed justice for the poor and rest for the burdened; He prayed and wept; forgave and redeemed.  

Because Jesus knew,
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

Jesus calls us to do as he did, to live the way he lived, and to know what he knew:
God's word is good, releasing the captive.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

Reading (CLICK HERE to see the video)  
Matthew 21:33-46
Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country. 34When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. 35But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36Again he sent other slaves, more than the first; and they treated them in the same way. 37Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and get his inheritance.” 39So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. 40Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death, and lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.” 42Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’? 43Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom. 44The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.” 45When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.  

Message

May the words we have read and heard
And the words we are about to consider
Be acceptable to you, O God,
Our source and our light. Amen.  

"Then he leased it to tenants and went to another country."  

The parable describes God as an absentee landlord. In BC, we have an issue with absentee landlords, especially those who don't pay taxes. Absentee landlords have run up our property values, jacked up the cost of living, increased poverty, and with extreme poverty, exacerbated homelessness, addiction, and mental illness.  

I have little or no compassion, patience, or love for "absentee landlords" in our context. Absentee landlords, in our context, have very little to do with God's vision for a just and equitable creation.   

Let me be clear: God is NOT an absentee landlord.   

And yet, the parable illustrates a reality of the human condition, we do not consistently and universally experience God's presence.  

In the context of the parable, though the tenants have been beneficiaries of God's graciousness, they are deceived into believing they can do whatever they want; the tenants feel entitled to torture and murder the slaves, servants, and even the son of the "landlord", in order to achieve their own ends.  

Given that we do not consistently and universally experience God's presence, as "people of the book" we have scripture that serves two purposes:
1.      To give us a code of conduct. 
2.      An affirmation that God is in fact very near and present.  

The New Testament passage about the bad tenants being thrown out for their deplorable behaviour would be an example of the code of conduct being broken. Psalm 19, used in the retelling of our ancient story, would be an example of the affirmation of God's presence: God's word is good, true, sweet, and sure.  

A third purpose of scripture would be our expected response to God's generosity: gratitude.  

It is the wrong route to tell folks for what they "should" be grateful. It comes with a sense of condemnation if you aren't sufficiently grateful for the right things.  

Rather, I wonder what instills in us a sense of gratitude? This second wondering is an invitation to be still and quiet.  

What gives us a felt sense of satisfaction, comfort, and joy?  

"What gives us a felt sense of satisfaction, comfort, and joy?" IS God present with us.  

Suddenly, the absentee landlord isn't absent anymore.  

To genuinely FEEL gratitude, satisfaction, comfort, and joy is to feel the immediate presence of God.  

Our experience of God's presence is not consistent or universal. That is our human condition. But one of the ways that we return to an experience of God's presence is to remember our experiences of gratitude, satisfaction, comfort, and joy.  

I do not believe that the tenants who were torturing and murdering God's servants, slaves, and son experienced gratitude, satisfaction, comfort, or joy. Indeed, I think they would have been incapable of their actions if they had truly experienced God's presence.  

We are living through a particularly difficult passage in the history of our planet: climate crisis, political unrest, racial injustice, a pandemic, economic disparity, the list goes on.  

In times like these, it can be easy to feel like God is an absentee landlord.  

When we feel so alienated from God, we can justify deplorable behaviour, like the bad tenants in today's scripture passage. Our touchstones to the presence of God are the experiences that make us feel satisfied, joyful, comforted, and grateful.  

Of course, a frequent metaphor for God's presence is "God's word."
God's word is good, releasing the captives.
God's word is true, reviving the soul.
God's word is pure, sweeter than honey;
God's word is sure, rejoicing the heart.  

In difficult times, we have a choice. We can justify deplorable behaviour, or we can remember our experiences of satisfaction, comfort, and joy and be motivated by gratitude.  

May we know the goodness of God's word.
May we experience the sweetness of God's presence.
May our souls be revived, and our hearts rejoice. Amen.  

Hymn: “How Firm a Foundation”  VU 660
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Prayers of the People and Disciples’ Prayer (CLICK HERE to see the video)  
Holy, Holy, Holy God, You are the one who brings us out of the land of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Today, we pray for the release of those held captive by cruel governments and human traffickers, by oppressive ideologies and suffocating theologies. We pray for families separated by corrupt administration, for women whose bodies are violated by government officials.  

We pray for the release of those held captive by debilitating disease and mental illness, by crippling addiction and chronic fear. We pray for the release of those held captives by crushing grief and paralyzing memories, piercing loneliness and deadening hopelessness. Especially as we navigate the isolation imposed by Covid restrictions, we pray for those feeling desperate, fearful, and overwhelmed.  

Releases within us your divine compassion and care on behalf of those who suffer, that all may know that you are the one who brings us into the land of promise, and into the house of salvation. In your mercy, hear our prayer.  

And now we turn to you as a child turns to her mother seeking affirmation and comfort as we say together the words Jesus taught us…  

Sending Forth (CLICK HERE to see the video)  
Friends, let us move forward to what lies ahead, pressing on toward the goal, the Kingdom of God. May the love of the Creator, who releases us from captivity, the grace of Christ, who reconciles us from indebtedness, and the peace of the Holy Spirit, who accompanies us into freedom, surround you, keep you, and sustain you, now and forever. Amen.  

Postlude: Bach, Tempo di Minuetto from Partita in G
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