Reflections from the lectionary

Sept. 4

23rd Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 18:15-20

Jesus said to his disciples: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have won over your brother. If he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, so that 'every fact may be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.' If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen even to the church, then treat him as you would a Gentile or a tax collector.

Amen, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again, amen, I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything for which they are to pray, it shall be granted to them by my heavenly Father.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Jesus talks about the church community as it deals with difficult internal situations.

If you think about our own church community you can probably think of ways that we work with each other as a community and build one another up, and ways that we fail to do so.

The National Church Life Survey that we are soon to do helps us clearly name what sort of Christian community we are in practice and how we connect with each other and the wider community.

It will point us towards our strengths and to ways for us to become more like the community we aspire to be in Christ.

Sept. 11

24th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 18: 21-35

Peter approached Jesus and asked him, "Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive? As many as seven times?"

Jesus answered, "I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times. That is why the kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who decided to settle accounts with his servants.

When he began the accounting, a debtor was brought before him who owed him a huge amount. Since he had no way of paying it back, his master ordered him to be sold, along with his wife, his children, and all his property, in payment of the debt. At that, the servant fell down, did him homage, and said, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back in full.'

Moved with compassion the master of that servant let him go and forgave him the loan. When that servant had left, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a much smaller amount.

He seized him and started to choke him, demanding, 'Pay back what you owe.' Falling to his knees, his fellow servant begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'

But he refused. Instead, he had the fellow servant put in prison until he paid back the debt.

Now when his fellow servants saw what had happened, they were deeply disturbed, and went to their master and reported the whole affair.

His master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you your entire debt because you begged me to. Should you not have had pity on your fellow servant, as I had pity on you?' Then in anger his master handed him over to the torturers until he should pay back the whole debt.

So will my heavenly Father do to you, unless each of you forgives your brother from your heart."

In the midst of this teaching and parable about the importance of forgiving one another is a framework of knowing – about the king in the parable coming to know the actions of the servant he had forgiven through the witness of the many others, and about the community of disciples knowing itself to be a people who strive to forgive one another time and again.

We are soon to complete a church survey so that we may better know ourselves as a community, and that the leadership may have a clearer picture of the strengths of this community and that regional and even denominational leadership may gain a clearer understanding of the church as it draws on its strengths and sets policy and plans.

Of course we already know much of our community, but there are elements that we don’t know or only partly know, simply because we don’t often talk about all the different aspects that give a church strength and direction.

For example: Does everybody here feel a strong and growing sense of belonging to our community, or does that apply to only some of us? Do visitors and newcomers feel welcomed here? How easy do they find it to make friends among us? To what extent is ours a community that reaches out to others? These are just a few of the questions in the survey.

Sept. 18

25th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 20: 1-16a

Jesus told his disciples this parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out at dawn to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with them for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard.

Going out about nine o'clock, the landowner saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.' So they went off.

And he went out again around noon, and around three o'clock, and did likewise. Going out about five o'clock, the landowner found others standing around, and said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?' They answered, 'Because no one has hired us.'

He said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard.'

When it was evening the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Summon the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and ending with the first.' When those who had started about five o'clock came, each received the usual daily wage. So when the first came, they thought that they would receive more, but each of them also got the usual wage. And on receiving it they grumbled against the landowner, saying, 'These last ones worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who bore the day's burden and the heat.' He said to one of them in reply, 'My friend, I am not cheating you. Did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what is yours and go. What if I wish to give this last one the same as you? Or am I not free to do as I wish with my own money? Are you envious because I am generous?' Thus, the last will be first, and the first will be last."

In this challenging and beautiful parable, have you ever noticed that we only hear from the workers who had been labouring in the vineyard all day? We don’t hear anything from those employed at 9 at 12 at 3 and at 5 o’clock. Not a word.

That can be the way in church communities sometimes too; we don’t mean it to be, but often we only hear from those who have been here longest – and it’s important that we do hear from them – but we may not hear much from those who are newcomers or those who are younger, and then there are those who have been here a long time but prefer to hold their opinions. We are all different types in a community.

The church survey that we are soon to undertake ensures that everyone’s voice is heard and everyone’s voice is given equal weight.

As we make decisions about what we’re doing, about directions we’re setting, it’s important that we hear all voices, that we know what we as a community are thinking and hoping for.

That’s why this is important to us, to our church, to our regional leaders and indeed to Australia as a whole.

Sept. 25

26th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 21: 28-32

Jesus said to the chief priests and elders of the people:
"What is your opinion?
A man had two sons.
He came to the first and said, 'Son, go out and work in the vineyard today.'
He said in reply, 'I will not,' but afterwards changed his mind and went.
The man came to the other son and gave the same order.
He said in reply, 'Yes, sir, 'but did not go. Which of the two did his father's will?"

They answered, "The first."

Jesus said to them, "Amen, I say to you, tax collectors and prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God before you. When John came to you in the way of righteousness, you did not believe him; but tax collectors and prostitutes did. Yet even when you saw that, you did not later change your minds and believe him."

As we ponder about life we come to conclusions, and then we hold to those conclusions for years and years. Even when things are changing we tend to assume our conclusions still hold.

The tax collectors and prostitutes assumed there was no way into the kingdom of God for them, while the chief priests and elders assumed they had a gold pass. Jesus tells them to look and look again, to ditch their assumptions and come to new conclusions based on the reality in front of them.

Churches can be a bit like that too. We can assume we know the way things are because last time we checked back some years ago that’s the way things were. Or we can assume that because we hold a particular opinion everyone else tends to feel that way.

The church survey we’re soon to do will cut through our assumptions and help us see our community as it really is today, to see its real strengths and its current hopes. And this will enable us to more effectively be the church community we are called to be. That’s why we’re doing this, that’s why it’s important.

Oct. 2

28th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 22: 1-14

Jesus said to the chief priests and the elders of the people: "Hear another parable.

There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a hedge around it, dug a wine press in it, and built a tower. Then he leased it to tenants and went on a journey.

When vintage time drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to obtain his produce. But the tenants seized the servants and one they beat, another they killed, and a third they stoned.

Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first ones, but they treated them in the same way.

Finally, he sent his son to them, thinking,

'They will respect my son.' But when the tenants saw the son, they said to one another,

'This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and acquire his inheritance.'

They seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

What will the owner of the vineyard do to those tenants when he comes?"

They answered him, "He will put those wretched men to a wretched death and lease his vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the proper times."

Jesus said to them, "Did you never read in the Scriptures:

The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
by the Lord has this been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes?

Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that will produce its fruit."

It is human to make plans, like the landowner, and we are all familiar with how our plans can sometimes go awry, just as his plans did.

But even though our plans sometimes go disastrously wrong, to make no plans at all is to be adrift and helpless in a stormy sea. And often our plans don’t go wrong, but set us on a path that takes us to a better place, not always the one we set out for, but nonetheless…

We as a church make plans as we follow Jesus; we discern directions and look to organise ourselves and our resources so as to fulfill those plans.

To make effective and realistic plans we need a strong sense of who we are as a Christian community, what we think and believe, what our hopes for our church are, what our concerns are and so on. Some of these things we tend to know, others we are just assuming and some we haven’t even thought about.

The church survey we are going to undertake will give us a clear overview of these things for our church. It will form the basis for the plans we make and the sort of church we strive to be.

Oct. 9

28th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 22: 1-14

Jesus again in reply spoke to the chief priests and elders of the people in parables, saying,

"The kingdom of heaven may be likened to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.

He dispatched his servants to summon the invited guests to the feast, but they refused to come.

A second time he sent other servants, saying, "Tell those invited: "Behold, I have prepared my banquet, my calves and fattened cattle are killed, and everything is ready; come to the feast."'

Some ignored the invitation and went away, one to his farm, another to his business. The rest laid hold of his servants, mistreated them, and killed them.

The king was enraged and sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city.

Then he said to his servants, 'The feast is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy to come. Go out, therefore, into the main roads and invite to the feast whomever you find.'

The servants went out into the streets and gathered all they found, bad and good alike, and the hall was filled with guests. But when the king came in to meet the guests, he saw a man there not dressed in a wedding garment.

The king said to him, 'My friend, how is it

that you came in here without a wedding garment?' But he was reduced to silence.

Then the king said to his attendants, 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'

Many are invited, but few are chosen."

When you throw a party, you want people to come, don’t you.

And you want the party to be a lively and happy affair where people are enjoying themselves. You don’t want it to be dreary and dull and lifeless. In fact if a party is a bit lifeless then people tend to gravitate towards those few groups that are lively.

The church life survey we are soon to undertake is not just for telling us things about us, the people who attend, it’s more about pointing out where our church is most lively, most vital. It’s about pointing out the strengths we have as a Christian community and looking at how we can build on those strengths.

The feedback we get will gives us measures of the liveliness of our church, the vitality of our community; it will make clear the areas of church life that we’re particularly good at and can build on.

Oct. 16

29th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 22: 15-21

The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech.

They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?"

Knowing their malice, Jesus said,

"Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax."

Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?"

They replied, "Caesar's."

At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

Sometimes it’s good not to mince words, to tell it like it is.

The church life survey we are going to do is an exercise in telling it like it is for us.

It’s an exercise in speaking from the heart as to who we are, what we believe, what we hope for, what we’re concerned about; of what works for us here and what doesn’t.

It’s about giving a clear and honest picture of who we are as a Christian community, where our strengths lie, where we are most alive and have most to contribute to the Christian mission.

Oct. 23

30th Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 22: 34-40

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a scholar of the law tested him by asking,

"Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?"

He said to him,

"You shall love the Lord, your God,

with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments."

The love of God and neighbour is at the heart of all we are called to as a Christian Community. Everything else fades into the background in the light of this – even the church life survey that we are soon to do.

What the survey can do is to help us see more clearly how we as a church are making the love of God and neighbour present in real and practical ways and how much these two commandments shape who we are and what we are on about. That’s why this survey is important to us.

Oct. 30

31st Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 23: 1-12

Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his disciples, saying,

"The scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens hard to carry and lay them on people's shoulders, but they will not lift a finger to move them.

All their works are performed to be seen.

They widen their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.'

As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.'

You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers.

Call no one on earth your father;

you have but one Father in heaven.

Do not be called 'Master';

you have but one master, the Christ.

The greatest among you must be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Jesus holds a mirror up to the scribes and Pharisees. He gives a clear overview of them. He helps people clearly see their strengths and their weaknesses and from that draws conclusions for his people.

The church life survey we’re about to do aims to do something similar for our Christian community here, for our church, It aims to hold a mirror up that we can look into and gain a clear overview of what we do, what we hope for, how effective we are and so on.

It draws in the opinions, hopes and concerns of all attenders, newcomers and old timers, young and not so young and presents us with a detailed composite picture of the vitality of our church and it’s particular strengths.

This is very useful to us and to the denomination as we look to be the church we’re called to be.

Nov. 6

32nd Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 25:1-13

Jesus told his disciples this parable:

"The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins

who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish and five were wise.

The foolish ones, when taking their lamps,

brought no oil with them, but the wise brought flasks of oil with their lamps.

Since the bridegroom was long delayed, they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight, there was a cry, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!'

Then all those virgins got up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.'

But the wise ones replied, 'No, for there may not be enough for us and you. Go instead to the merchants and buy some for yourselves.'

While they went off to buy it, the bridegroom came and those who were ready went into the wedding feast with him.

Then the door was locked.

Afterwards the other virgins came and said, 'Lord, Lord, open the door for us!'

But he said in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, I do not know you.'

Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour."

One aspect of this parable is the benefits of planning ahead, and one of the essential elements of planning is knowing how things are – ‘How much oil have I got? How much will I need if the bridegroom is delayed?’ Then you can decide whether you’ll have enough, whether you should carry some with you or whether you can get more easily.

The church life survey we’re going to do is all about giving us a clearer picture of our church so that we can be more effective in our planning. The picture we’ll gain is not just about who we are – our demographics as it were – but how we’re involved, what we want for and from our church, how our faith is growing and so on.

It will show us clearly the strengths we have as a church that we can build on as we become a more effective Christian community on mission.

Nov. 13

33rd Sunday in Ordinary time

Matthew 25: 14-30

Jesus told his disciples this parable:

"A man going on a journey called in his servants and entrusted his possessions to them. To one he gave five talents; to another, two; to a third, one-to each according to his ability. Then he went away.

Immediately the one who received five talents went and traded with them, and made another five. Likewise, the one who received two made another two. But the man who received one went off and dug a hole in the ground and buried his master's money.

After a long time the master of those servants came back and settled accounts with them.

The one who had received five talents came forward bringing the additional five.

He said, 'Master, you gave me five talents. See, I have made five more.'

His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

Then the one who had received two talents also came forward and said, 'Master, you gave me two talents. See, I have made two more.'

His master said to him, 'Well done, my good and faithful servant. Since you were faithful in small matters, I will give you great responsibilities. Come, share your master's joy.'

Then the one who had received the one talent came forward and said, 'Master, I knew you were a demanding person, harvesting where you did not plant and gathering where you did not scatter; so out of fear I went off and buried your talent in the ground. Here it is back.'

His master said to him in reply, 'You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I did not plant and gather where I did not scatter? Should you not then have put my money in the bank so that I could have got it back with interest on my return? Now then! Take the talent from him and give it to the one with ten. For to everyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; but from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away. And throw this useless servant into the darkness outside, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.'"

One aspect of this parable is a teaching about the responsibility we have to make the best use of what we have been given.

The church life survey we are soon to undertake will affirm for us what sort of Christian community we are and in particular will name our community’s strengths. It will show in what areas our church is most effective. In a sense it will name what we have been given as a community.

The next step from there of course is to look at how we are using our strengths and how we might make the best use of them, but until we can name what we have that can be difficult to do.

Nov. 20

Feast of Christ the King

Matthew 25: 31-46

Jesus said to his disciples:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit upon his glorious throne, and all the nations will be assembled before him.

And he will separate them one from another,

as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Then the king will say to those on his right,

'Come, you who are blessed by my Father.

Inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,

naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me.'

Then the righteous will answer him and say,

'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?'

And the king will say to them in reply, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of the least brothers of mine, you did for me.'

Then he will say to those on his left,

'Depart from me, you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me.'

Then they will answer and say, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or ill or in prison, and not minister to your needs?'

He will answer them, 'Amen, I say to you, what you did not do for one of these least ones, you did not do for me.'

And these will go off to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

I guess we all have a sense of how each of us as individuals lives out our Christianity, especially as we listen to this gospel reading.

We are about to do the church life survey and that survey will give us a clear sense of how effective our parish/church is at living its Christianity and being a worthy Christian community.

The feedback from it will give us a view of our outreach, our commitment, our sense of belonging, our growth in Faith and so on in ways that are not just about us as individuals, but of us as a Christian community.

It will show us the areas of Christian communal life where we have particular strengths that we may build on as we reach out to others and foster the Christian life in ourselves.

It also gives our regional leadership a clearer overview and indeed informs the whole Australian church.

Nov. 27

1st Sunday of Advent

Mark 13: 33-37

Jesus said to his disciples:

"Be watchful! Be alert!

You do not know when the time will come.

It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his own work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch.

Watch, therefore; you do not know when the Lord of the house is coming, whether in the evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning.

May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping.

What I say to you, I say to all: 'Watch!'"

Jesus entreats us to be alert, to be ready, and part of that is to be truly aware of ourselves as Christians to be aware of the goodness and the weakness of the community we live in and are part of.

The church life survey we are soon to do will contribute to feedback for us that will give us a clear overview of our effectiveness as a Christian community, of the strengths we have as a parish/church that we can bring to bear on being true to our calling. It enables us to plan to become more effective in this.

It also adds our voice to the voices of other parishes and churches all over the nation so that the Christian values and life that the Australian church lives and proclaims can be clearly and authoritatively heard by all.