God is radically and abundantly, perhaps even recklessly, generous in love and mercy and yet we strain aginst that grace mightily.

 

READING

Matthew 20:1-16

Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

 

PRAYERS

God is a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger and rich in mercy, generous and forgiving to all who cry for grace.  With confidence, therefore, let us turn to our God in prayer,

For people throughout the world who are suffering, at this very hour, from drought and famine, from economic distress and social disruption, from violence and war,

For the church throughout the world, that we, together with all our brothers and sisters in Christ, may be effective agents of social transformation and reliable messengers of hope,

For our own country, that its wealth and power might become a force for peace and not conflict; a source of hope and not discontent; an agent of friendship and not of enmity,

For everyone listening, especially for those among us who are dispirited and broken-hearted, who find no hope or meaning or purpose in life,

For those who are suffering, and those who care for them, that your healing grace may be present in their lives;

For ourselves, that we may have the grace to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, to grieve for others’ losses rather than our own, to be quick to forgive and slow to take offense,

For those who have died, that they may rest in God’s loving care,

Lord, God, in your presence none of us can boast, and all must ask for mercy; yet your Son has embraced us and called us to share in his labors for the salvation of every man, woman, and child.  Grant us the grace to see what needs to be done and the wisdom and resources to do it, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

MUSIC

I want to walk as a child of the light

Krisha Blackwell  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaCwDK2_3xo

Veni sancta spiritus

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

How great thou art

Lauren Daigle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BL06fxHPVo