This week’s Readings and Sermon for the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity
The Collect for This Week
Gracious God, you call us to fullness of life: deliver us from unbelief and banish our anxieties with the liberating love of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
Lord, we pray that your grace may always precede and follow us, and make us continually to be given to all good works; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Psalm for this Sunday is Psalm 78, verses 1 to 4 and 12 to 16
1 Hear my teaching, O my people; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will pour forth mysteries from of old, 3 Such as we have heard and known, which our forebears have told us. 4 We will not hide from their children, but will recount to generations to come, the praises of the Lord and his power and the wonderful works he has done.
12 For he did marvellous things in the sight of their forebears, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Zoan. 13 He divided the sea and let them pass through; he made the waters stand still in a heap. 14 He led them with a cloud by day and all the night through with a blaze of fire. 15 He split the hard rocks in the wilderness and gave them drink as from the great deep. 16 He brought streams out of the rock and made water gush out like rivers.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of Exodus Chapter 17, verses 1 to 7
1 From the wilderness of Sin the whole congregation of the Israelites journeyed by stages, as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 The people quarrelled with Moses, and said, ‘Give us water to drink.’ Moses said to them, ‘Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?’ 3 But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?’ 4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me.’ 5 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go on ahead of the people, and take some of the elders of Israel with you; take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will be standing there in front of you on the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it, so that the people may drink.’ Moses did so, in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 He called the place Massah and Meribah, because the Israelites quarrelled and tested the Lord, saying, ‘Is the Lord among us or not?’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The second reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Philippians, Chapter 2, verses 1 to 13
1 If then there is any encouragement in Christ, any consolation from love, any sharing in the Spirit, any compassion and sympathy, 2 make my joy complete: be of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death - even death on a cross.
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. 12 Therefore, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed me, not only in my presence, but much more now in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
This is the word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Matthew, Chapter 21, verses 23 to 32
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Matthew Glory to You, o Lord
23 When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, ‘By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?’ 24 Jesus said to them, ‘I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?’ And they argued with one another, ‘If we say, “From heaven”, he will say to us, “Why then did you not believe him?” 26 But if we say, “Of human origin”, we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.’ 27 So they answered Jesus, ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
28 ‘What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, “Son, go and work in the vineyard today.” 29 He answered, “I will not”; but later he changed his mind and went. 30 The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, “I go, sir”; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?’ They said, ‘The first.’ Jesus said to them, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax-collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax-collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev'd Samuel Hameem
“May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you O Lord my refuge and my redeemer amen.”
If we reflect on the earthly life of Jesus, we can state with great certainty that his entire earthly ministry and life revolved around a single, pivotal focus: directing people—their thoughts, actions, and words—towards God, and to achieve this, he employed such methods and approaches that allowed everyone—from the highly learned to the unlettered—to easily grasp his message. That is why, throughout his earthly ministry, he used parables drawn from everyday life to teach the people.
In his earthly life and ministry Jesus used parables to illustrate truth in vivid and unforgettable ways. Each of his parables or Biblical story provides insight into God’s kingdom, and that is why he used such method to convey his message. Because on one level, parables were not that difficult to understand, and during his teachings, Jesus used them to masterfully, so that he can taught his followers and listeners the moral principles by using simple illustrations about everyday life. And that what he is doing in today’s Gospel account.
But before we dig a bit deeper into today’s Gospel passage, let see its immediate context. Today’s Gospel reading was taken from Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 21 verses 23-32. But if we look at first part of the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 21, we could come to know that this chapter starts with a Palm Sunday, means, in the beginning of this chapter, it is an event when Jesus came to Jerusalem as a king, and after that he goes straight to the temple, and after that Jesus comes to the fig tree and, finding no fruit on it, curses it.
After that some elders of the church and the chief priests come to Jesus and ask Him by whose authority and in what capacity He does all these things. And this is the very passage we have just heard. In return Jesus asked them a question about John the baptizer and his baptism and then he shared a parable with them about two sons.
In today’s Gospel account, Jesus tells a very simple story about two sons, which we can easily resonate with our day-to-day life as well, yet this story exposes something we can easily recognize in ourselves as well. If we look a bit deeper into today’s parable, we could see two different people, with two different attitudes.
If we recall the Gospel reading in our minds, we could see that when the father goes to the first son, the first son refuses his father. When his father asks him to go and work in the vineyard, son’s answer is direct, “I will not go”. But later, something changes in him, and he reconsiders his decision and goes to work in the vineyard. On the other hand, the second son, when the father comes to him and ask him to go and work in the vineyard, gives the answer that every parent would want to hear from their children, but yet he never goes.
Jesus then in today’s Gospel account asks the obvious question to elders, chief priests, and to his listeners that, which one really and truly did the father’s will? The answer is the first. Although he began badly, but he eventually obeyed, and the second began well in words, but his words never became actions.
If we look a bit deeper, there is something encouraging in the first son’s story, which is that our first response to God, does not have to be our final one. We can resist him, or we can make poor decisions. We can spend years and years going in another direction. We can know what is right and still refuse to do it. Yet we are not trapped by the choices we make yesterday. We can change our minds and return what to what God had been asking of us.
We need to remember that, most of the time repentance is pictured as something dramatic, but it can be very practical. We realize we have been wrong, and we change direction. We apologize to someone after refusing to admit our mistake. We finally forgive a person whose name still brings up anger. We return to prayer after neglecting it for months. We stop an unhealthy habit that has slowly taken control of our life. We give our time to someone who needs us instead of always saying we are too busy. These decisions may look ordinary, but remember that they are ways of entering the vineyard.
Instead, the second son represents a different kind of a danger. It is possible to say all the right things about faith and still avoid what God asks of us. We can say that we trust God but refuse to surrender our life to him. We can speak about forgiveness while holding tightly to resentment. We can pray for people in need yet ignore someone nearby who could use our help. We can tell God, “Yes Lord,” during prayer and then spend the rest of the day living as though we never said it.
What I want to say that; this does not mean our words are meaningless. Our prayers, promises, and intentions matter. But Jesus is reminding us in today’s Gospel reading that they need somewhere to go. Faith eventually had to enter our choices, our relationships, our use of time, and the way we treat people and the way we respond to God.
I read it somewhere that obedience comes after struggle. We may know what God is asking and still dislike it, or we may resist because it is inconvenience, tough, or requires us to give up something we want. In today’s Gospel, the first son’s attitude reminds us that struggling before saying yes does not make the eventual yes less valuable. What matter is that we eventually get up and go.
Today’s Gospel passage also gives hope whenever we feel disappointed by our past. God does not ask us to pretend that we have always obeyed him perfectly. He asks what we will do today. We need to remember that, yesterday’s refusal can become today’s obedience. A promise we failed to keep can be renewed. A relationship we neglected can be repaired. A part of our faith became merely routine can become real again. We still have time, I don’t know much time we have, but unless we are breathing, we have time. The vineyard is there, and the Father’s invitation still valid that, “Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.”
In today’s Gospel account, alongside other, the important word many be “today”. Not someday when life becomes easier. Not when we feel more prepared. Not after we have sorted our life. God gives us another opportunity today to turn our intentions into action. God is giving us another opportunity to work in his vineyard.
We also need to remember that God vineyard is different for each one of us. I read it last week in one my mobile devotional applications that, for one person, the vineyard may be raising children and trying to guide them in faith and patience. For another, it may be caring for an elderly parent, or the partner as same as our age. For another it may mean doing our job honestly when taking shortcuts would be easier, helping someone who cannot repay us, making time for someone who needs to talk, serving in your parish, or choosing to forgive when we would rather hold onto our anger.
It is also a fact that much of God’s vineyard does not look impressive, but still God wants to work in his vineyard, and he is calling us for that. But the question is how are we responding. Are we responding like the first son or the second. We need to give this answer to ourselves and we need to go and work in God’s vineyard.
May God bless you all.
Amen.
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