20th. September. 2020 Service

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Call to Worship

Give thanks to the Lord.
We will call on the name of God’s name and make known his wonderful works.  
Seek the Lord continually.
We will watch and listen for signs of God’s grace
Together let us worship God!
Let us rejoice in God’s presence and praise his holy name.

 The Collect for today
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

 Prayers of Adoration and confession

 Loving God, compassionate Son, healing Spirit,
You meet us in so many places and in so many ways,
when our need is deep and we long for you,
and when we think we can manage on our own.
You draw near to us in kindness,
regardless of our state or condition.
You turn weeping into laughter, sorrow into joy, death into life.
You speak a word of challenge and a word of comfort
to draw us to you.
In gratitude, we come before you this day,
to seek your word for us,
and to enjoy your gift of life in its fullness.
Receive our praise and our prayers this day
offered in the name of Christ, our Lord. Amen.

God, you are the giver of all good gifts,
yet we confess that our own generosity is limited.
We share what we have, but often reluctantly.
We complain about our lot.
We compare ourselves to others
and see what they have that we lack.
We fear running short of things
rather than trusting your attention to our needs.
Forgive us our worries about tomorrow
and give us generous hearts that trust in you.

Assurance of Pardon
The mercy of our God is from everlasting to everlasting. Friends, hear and believe the good news of the Gospel. In Jesus Christ, God’s generous love reaches out to embrace us. In Christ, we are forgiven and set free to begin again. Thanks be to God!

Prayer for Understanding
 Holy, healing God, your thoughts are not our thoughts, and your ways are not our ways. As we hear your Word read and proclaimed, guide us by your Spirit, that our thoughts and our ways may be transformed by your grace, through Christ, your Living Word. Amen.

 The Lord’s Prayer (in the words most familiar to you)

 The Readings

Exodus 16: 2-15  

² In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. ³ The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat round pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.’

⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. ⁵ On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.’

⁶ So Moses and Aaron said to all the Israelites, ‘In the evening you will know that it was the Lord who brought you out of Egypt, ⁷ and in the morning you will see the glory of the Lord, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we, that you should grumble against us?’ ⁸ Moses also said, ‘You will know that it was the Lord when he gives you meat to eat in the evening and all the bread you want in the morning, because he has heard your grumbling against him. Who are we? You are not grumbling against us, but against the Lord.’

⁹ Then Moses told Aaron, ‘Say to the entire Israelite community, “Come before the Lord, for he has heard your grumbling.”’

¹⁰ While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked towards the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud.

¹¹ The Lord said to Moses, ¹² ‘I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, “At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning, you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.”’

¹³ That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning, there was a layer of dew around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. ¹⁵ When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, ‘What is it?’ For they did not know what it was.

Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

Matthew 20: 1-16   

20 ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. ² He agreed to pay them a denarius^[a] for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

³ ‘About nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the market-place doing nothing. ⁴ He told them, “You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” ⁵ So they went.

‘He went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing. ⁶ About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, “Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?”

⁷ ‘“Because no one has hired us,” they answered.

‘He said to them, “You also go and work in my vineyard.”

⁸ ‘When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

⁹ ‘The workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received a denarius. ¹⁰ So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. ¹¹ When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ¹² “These who were hired last worked only one hour,” they said, “and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

¹³ ‘But he answered one of them, “I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? ¹⁴ Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. ¹⁵ Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?”

¹⁶ ‘So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Amen. This is the Word of the Lord, to Him be all glory and praise.

Sermon  

Someone has asked, “What monkey business was Jesus up to when he told the parable of the vineyard owner, and the wages he paid to his grape pickers? It offends many nice people.”

It seems that even monkeys, if they could read, might become get indignant over this offending parable.

Some years ago, at the University of Atlanta, researchers were testing capuchin monkeys. They gave them the task of picking up a small granite stone and bringing it to the researcher within one minute. If they were successful, they were rewarded with the “wage” of a slice of cucumber. The scheme worked well. It was happy lab situation as long as each monkey received the same wage. This turned sour when the researchers varied the pattern. They tried giving one monkey a grape for its reward. Indignation broke out. First the others withheld their labour, and later they even took to throwing away the cucumber and the granite stone. It was reported in a newspaper under the title, “Monkeys want to see justice done.”

The change in the reward offended their sense of justice. That’s almost human isn’t it?  We are happy with our lot until we see someone in a similar situation who is better off. Then we cry foul! We want to go on strike and demand an end to such “monkey business”.

Today we are looking at the connection between our two scripture passages and they are similar in that they both tell of the generosity of God and the discontent of humanity.

That is why the parable Jesus told about a generous vineyard owner and his treatment of his casual workers, still “gets up the nose” of so many people today!  We know the story:

The owner hires a number of casual workers at 6 am. He negotiates with them a standard wage, which today would be £8.16 per hour. For twelve hours that would be £97.92, and they go happily to work. Then at 9 am, 12 noon, 3 pm and 5 pm. the boss goes into the labour exchange and employs more pickers, and says simply to them: “Don’t worry, I’ll pay you fairly.” At six pm they all knock off. When they line up for their day’s wage, he starts with those who have put in a twelve-hour day under the hot sunshine. Gladly they receive nearly £100 into their sweaty, work-soiled, weary hands. Gratefully they pocket it and start thinking about a jug of cool wine and a hearty dinner.

However, then the boss does a stupid thing. As the others line up, he pays them all the same wage: £100 each! Including those pickers who only worked half a day, or a quarter. Even the last ones to arrive, who only put in one hour, have £100 placed in their barely dirty hands.

Unfair! Unjust! The ones who worked the long hours take umbrage. The employer is roundly condemned. What had seemed a most generous wage a few minutes before now becomes an injustice.

It’s enough to make trade union officials have a stroke, and the other employers all paid up members of the employer’s association shake with fear and anger. This indeed some kind of monkey business. And these smart monkeys will not like it.

What is the owner’s defence? It is actually very reasonable “You were happy to agree with my generous offer, were you not? Why then should you complain if I extend my generosity to those who were not employed until late in the day. It’s my money. Surely I can use it in ways that makes me happy?”

It sounds reasonable, doesn’t it, but in the real world would it work? If word got out, no one would accept his employment early in the day, everybody would try to wait until the afternoon.

The union officials would shout, “O no you can’t! do something like that!” shout. The employers’ association would add, “Keep this up and there will be trouble. Demonstrations. Maybe riots. In fact, we will run you out of town or worse. Yes worse! We will even pervert the courts and get this stupid owner sentenced to prison. Or better still, hire some ‘terminators” and have this wilful employer quickly taken out of the game. Crucifixion, in fact. That’s it! Crucifixion is what troublemakers like this vineyard owner deserves.

As you can see, we have now already moved from the parable into the story of Jesus himself.

For Jesus represents God, who is that over generous owner of the vineyard (God’s kingdom) who intends to deal generously with all people. Any who come wanting a place to serve in his kingdom will be accepted and blessed.  They will receive something far better than justice. They will receive love. The generous overflowing undeserved mercy of God.

This is the point when we go back to the story of Moses and the children of Israel in the desert.

By the providence of God under Moses leadership they had escaped their slavery in Egypt and were on their pilgrimage to the land of God’s promise Yet their freedom brought them new challenges, new lessons to be learned in the school of hard reality.

Many believe that once they place their faith in God that they will enjoy a trouble-free life after all God has dealt with the sins and mistakes of the past.  For the Israelites, their freedom from the past was only the beginning of a journey of faith to fuller blessing, but faith needs proving in the reality of travelling on the road of God through a wilderness. Water and food were in short supply. Limbs ached from the journey and the packs on their shoulders seemed to grow heavier.

It was not long before they started complaining! First it was about the water shortage. Then it was the matter of food. They reckoned Moses and Aaron had led them out of the frying pan into the fire. They complained bitterly:

We wish we had suddenly died by God’s hand while we sat beside our cooking pots filled with meat and having as much bread as we could eat. But now you have brought us into this awful wilderness to slowly starve us to death.

How soon people forget their previous miseries. How soon they start romanticising the past. How long will it be when we start to remember our pre-Covid-19 freedoms with nostalgia? And forget the reasons the plague was so easily transmitted and the cost to our planet and environment

The Israelites forgot the slavery, the hard labour, the whips wielded by slave drivers, and they remembered how at the end of a long day they enough meat and bread had to eat. But with Moses they had to live off the land, in a harsh environment. Moses and Miriam and Aaron, and their God Yahweh, were a bitter disappointment. “We would rather be dead than living like this!”

The story of the liberation from Egypt is one that is full of “miracles” the timing of the plagues the parting of the sea of reeds, the pillar fire possibly all consequences of the eruption of Santorini and local climate change. Their leader Moses was well experienced in desert survival, but for all this they quailed at the first great challenge.

Moses, with his capable brother Aaron and his inspiring sister Miriam, were more than adequate for the task ahead.  Surely by now this liberated families should start trusting God’s providence.

God was not impressed with their faith-lessness. Food was already waiting for them. It may not be “what they ordered” yet there would have enough for their daily need. Why could not they place their trust in divine providence? God would provide.

Each year migrating birds moved in large numbers from the African continent to the southern European and the Asian land mass. In fact, they still do, but in lesser numbers now. Most from eastern Africa fly over the Red Sea. (The western migration crosses the straits of Gibraltar.) For large birds like storks, crossing the Red Sea is easy but for small birds like quail it takes a major effort. Each evening hundreds of exhausted quail would flutter in for a landing on the Sinai Peninsula.

“In the evening quails came up and covered the camp.”

The exhausted quails were easy pickings. When the people most needed some meat, the God who always plans well ahead for the welfare of his people, had meat there for them.

It was the same with the manna. There are still parts of that wilderness where there grows a type of Acacia that which exudes a sugary sap which, when it falls at night on the ground wet with dew, forms crisp little flakes. Nowadays Bedouin still collect various sweet substances for food from Tamarisk and scale insects on pine trees. It would provide a balance to the quail protein.  It is certain that Moses knew about both in advance from his training over forty years living in the desert

Quail in the evening, manna in the morning. The people were well provided for. Providence was wonderfully at work on the hard road of salvation. Whilst they were survival rations, they were nonetheless plentiful, and the people had enough to live for decades.

It didn’t stop them complaining, even though complaining is hardly a witness to faith in the God of providence.  God works on a large scale, over a vast tapestry of time, and creates purpose and pattern where we may imagine none exists. What God is doing for us is done with abundance; an abundance which we often do not notice until we look back years later.

In our western world we have enjoyed a very full and rich life, so why is it when trouble comes in whatever form we complain so easily?  We have wealth, comfort and security unknown to millions on the earth, but many feel we deserve more of God. Longer life, fewer illnesses or troubles, success in our work and for our families, the right to a good retirement and nothing to disturb our peace.

The point of these two stories is that God is generously provident and honours the commitment of faith however long or short our life may be. There will always be enough until we die. Why should we complain of work in the heat of the day, or of others being blessed in different ways than we are? Jesus is of course speaking of the reward of faith. Some will have their faith shaped over decades, others may come to it late, but the reward of life is only God’s to give and no one earns it. To work with God in the heat of the day is a great privilege and has rewards which those who come to faith late may not know. So why complain?

If we think we deserve special treatment from God, because of our loyalty through the years, our hard work in the church, or our service to the community, then we must think again. We are in the wrong vineyard.  Not one of us deserves the degree of love, the “wage,” that God offers us. The extraordinary overabundance is the same for all.

The loving network of Providence is all around us, though we rarely recognise it; except in flashes of insight when many of the threads come together before our eyes. God is faithful and may be trusted to complete what Christ Jesus has started in your life and mine.

In some form or other, there will always be enough meat and bread for our Christian journey. “At evening you shall know it was the Lord who brought you out of slavery, and in the morning, you shall see the glory of the Lord.”  Amen.

 

Invitation to the Offering

Whether in the wilderness or the marketplace, God has provided what we need generation by generation. What we return to God has come from God, so make your offering today with gratitude and trust in God’s goodness.

 Prayer of Dedication

Gracious God, you are the source of all good things, of life itself and all that sustains it. Bless the gifts we offer to you and multiply them, so that they will support your purposes in the world you love in the name of Christ, our Saviour and Friend. Amen.

Prayers of Thanksgiving and Intercession

God of Hope,
When the world is bleak and dim, you pierce the shadows with light.
You help us see new paths and possibilities.
For hope in times of despair, for clarity when we feel confused,
for a way forward when we think all is lost, we thank you.
We pray today for those who feel hopeless; for those who are sick or dying, for those who mourn remembering John Knox’s family and Anne Ewen’s family and for those weighed down by heavy burdens.
May each of us know and share your gift of hope.

God of Peace,
All around us there is conflict: in our world, our communities, our families, even our closest relationships. We thank you for opportunities for reconciliation in our lives, our communities, and among peoples of different cultures and histories.
We pray today for places where pain, violence and cruelty appear to have the upper hand.
May each of us know and share your gift of peace.

God of Joy,
We give you thanks for moments of delight and occasions of celebration,
for happy gatherings, gentle solitude, pleasure given and received.  for laugher, friendship, and love.
We remember those who do not taste such joys; people who are lonely or bitter, hurt, or difficult to love.
May each of us know and share your gift of joy.

God of Love,
In Jesus Christ, your love was born in a human life. Jesus was rooted in a family, yet his love stretched far beyond to include outsiders and those rejected by others. We are so grateful to be part of his circle.
We pray for our families, those closest to us or and anyone estranged.
We pray for friends and for acquaintances, strangers, for those quite different from ourselves, and as you require for our enemies.
Help us draw our circles of affection wider, seeing our kinship with all people.
May each of us know and share your gift of love.
Hear us now as we pray in silence for those who have come to mind this day.

Hear all our prayers in Jesus holy name, Amen.

God of Peace,

All around us there is conflict: in our world, our communities, our families, even our closest relationships. We thank you for steps toward reconciliation in our lives, our communities, and among peoples of different cultures and histories.
We pray today for places where pain, violence and cruelty seem to have the upper hand.
May each of us know and share your gift of peace.

God of Joy,
We give you thanks for moments of delight and occasions of celebration,
for happy gatherings, gentle solitude, pleasure given and received,
for laugher, friendship, and love.
We remember those who do not taste such joy; those who are lonely or bitter, hurt, or difficult to love.
May each of us know and share your gift of joy.

God of Love,
In Jesus Christ, your love was born in a human life. Jesus was rooted in a family, yet his love stretched far beyond to include outsiders and those rejected by others. We are so grateful to be part of his circle.
We pray for our families, those closest to us or and anyone estranged.
We pray for friends and for acquaintances, strangers, for those very different from ourselves, and even for our enemies.
Help us draw our circles of affection wider, seeing our kinship with all people.
May each of us know and share your gift of love.

Hear us now as we pray in silence for those who have come to mind this day.
(Silence for at least 15 seconds.)

 

Benediction

May God’s Spirit surround you,
and those whom you love.
Rest now, in that calm embrace,
let your hearts be warmed
and all storms be stilled
by the whisper of his voice. Amen.

 

Hymns

Here are some hymn suggestions to check on YouTube if you wish to sing along. Some may not be as familiar as their titles suggest and the ones marked “listen” do not have the lyrics on the screen:

Spirit of the living God

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK-O5nfL1Mo

All creatures of our God and King

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCCpj1x-vvg

O Lord thou art my God and king

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Maq1ZL8-xU8

As the deer pants for the water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBppKZ0eJlQ

I heard the voice of Jesus say

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUVCpF8-VuE

The Church’s one foundation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FHCqXL3mCwU

 

May God’s blessing surround you each day

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_3O_N49GiU

For Children

Do you like to eat? What’s your favourite thing to eat?

What if every morning you could open the front door and walk out into the yard and pick up your favourite food?  All of it you could eat! That would be great, wouldn’t it?

We read in the Bible about a time when something almost exactly like that happened. God’s people, the Israelites, had been held as prisoners in Egypt for many years. When they were finally freed and left Egypt, they were looking for the land that God had promised them. After they had been wandering around lost in the desert for a couple of months, the people started to grumble and complain against their leaders, Moses and his brother, Aaron.

“We had it better when we were in Egypt,” they complained. “At least we had plenty to eat. God, you have brought us out here in the desert to starve us to death!”

God heard the people complaining and told Moses that in the evening He would send birds called quail to cover the camp so that the people would have meat to eat. Not only that, but in the morning, after the dew was gone, there would be manna on the ground for everyone to eat.   All they had to do was go out, pick it up, and eat it.

Why did God do this for those grumblers and complainers?   He did it so that they would know that He loved them and that He would take care of them. God hadn’t brought them out of Egypt to let them starve in the desert! God was going to see to it that they made it to the land which He had promised them.

Sometimes you and I grumble and complain, don’t we? When do you complain? We forget that God loves us and that He provides us with everything that we need. Instead of grumbling and complaining, we can say, “Thank You, God” and let’s do that right now!

Dear God, sometimes we grumble and complain. When we do, help us remember that every good thing we have comes from You. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Here is a video about manna

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21K55IsS2jE

Intimations

Please remember to indicate to Joan More if you wish to attend worship in Inverkeithing. Owing to Government regulations, numbers will be restricted to fewer than fifty persons and places will be allocated on a first come first served basis each week. Please call Joan 01383 414515 on Friday between 10am and 4pm to indicate that you wish to attend. Please do not come without first ensuring your place each week as we do not wish to turn anyone away on the day.

The Funeral of Mr John Knox will take place on Friday 24^th September at 11:30 am in Dunfermline Crematorium. Please remember Ann and Tracey and their family in your prayers.

The Funeral of Mrs Anne Ewen will be held on Thursday 23^rd September at 01 :15 pm in Dunfermline Crematorium, please remember Kerry, Catherine and Malcolm in your prayers.