Side by Side, OR What is the Point of Coming to Church?
Scriptures: Matthew 20:1-16
Philippians 1:21-30
The workers in today’s gospel story both do and do not get what they expect. The owner of the farm comes to them and promises a day’s wages for a day’s work, and in the end that is what he gives them. But in the meantime he exhibits some strange behavior. Every few hours throughout the day, he goes back to the marketplace. Hey you, slacker! Why don’t you come and do some honest work. And you, over there—you look bored. Come and work for me. It’s the dream of every temp worker—to unexpectedly get work in the middle of the day. And what’s even better about it, at the end of the day the ones who didn’t work the whole time still get a full day’s wages.
I imagine that the first workers in the fields were paying attention when the owner of the farm drove up in his pickup to drop off a new set of workers. “He’ll probably pay by the hour,” they say to each other. When they watch him pay the newcomers a full day’s wage, I’m sure one turned to the other with a wink and said, “A little extra for us, then, eh?” So when they get to the front of the line, they get both what they expected and not what they expected: a single day’s wage for a single day’s work.
It is easy sometimes to think of time spent in ministry as a kind of labor for a wage. Some of us start young, from our first years in Sunday school, to pray to God, to serve others, to follow Jesus as best we can. There are also late bloomers, who come to God and a life of service after many years of wandering in the wilderness.
So if today’s parable leads us to expect that both the early birds and the slowpokes will get the same reward after all is said and done, then what is the point of starting early? Why go to church? Why work so hard? What’s the point of it all? Why not wait until the last possible minute, and then get a quickie baptism at the end, so that you can sail away into the sunset, gloriously sin-free?
Well, I think the short answer that Jesus is alluding to in his parable is this: living as a Christian, in some ways, doesn’t affect what happens after you die. Living as a Christian means paying attention to how you live your life now. That’s what Paul is talking about in today’s reading from the letter to the Philippians.
Paul is in jail, to be put on trial soon enough, for his so-called crimes against the empire. We know from church tradition that Paul was in fact later to be executed. And in this letter he knows that his death is near. Within a few months or maybe even a year or two, he will be reunited with Christ, whom he loves.
He writes to the church at Philippi from imprisonment, and talks movingly about what it means to be between conversion to Christ, and death in Christ. “For to me,” he says, “living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.”
And this gets at something that I believe most of you already know, but that we can all stand to be reminded of, which is this: The life of faith is not a solitary exercise in working out our own personal salvation. The life of faith is one that must be lived in community, because our goal, ultimately, is not to derive personal satisfaction and fulfillment from our faith, but to participate in the salvation of the world. To do this, we need companions along the way. As Paul puts it, he’s ready to face his own death, but he’s glad to be alive because then he can help the Philippians and by extension the whole church. Part of the joy of being a faithful follower of Jesus is helping others grow in that faith.
Anne Lamott, a learner herself, writes about why she makes her son go with her to church: “Most of the people I know who have what I want—which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy—are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith; they are Buddhists, Jews, Christians—people banding together to work on themselves and for human rights. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful.”
This is not to say that living together in community is always easy. Community makes demands on us that we don’t always want to bear. It’s easy in churches, too, to lose sight of what’s most important and get caught in conflicts over both fundamental and petty differences, caught in cycles of over-working ourselves, or caught in confusion or plain old boredom. So it’s important to step back and remember why we come together each week—why corporate worship is vital to a healthy prayer life, why service alongside our brothers and sisters is both nourishing and necessary.
The truth is that, like those laborers in the field, we do not have a monopoly on God’s grace, instead, God calls us to share the good news of the gospel, and to help each other live into it. Paul encourages the Philippians, writing, “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.”
My secondary title for this sermon is, you may have noticed, “What is the Point of Coming to Church?” For most of you, since you’re here, it’s pretty obvious you have at least some idea of your own. But let me share with you a final image of the church that I hope will be both an encouragement and a reminder. Sometimes people think of church as a big washbasin—a place to go and wash off their souls before going back to living their regular lives. Far be it from me to disapprove of a clean soul.
But I think a better analogy is that of a base camp for mountain climbers—we come back here from our hard labors for rest and nourishment, to trade stories, get better tools, and learn new techniques. But ultimately the purpose of the base camp is to help us go back up the mountain—to do the ministry we’re called to do.
In the next few weeks and months, the visioning team will be helping our church as a whole do an inventory of the base camp. We’ll check our supplies, see if some tents need to be moved around, determine if everyone has warm jackets to wear, and listen for God’s word on what mountain we’ll be climbing next. While the official kick-off isn’t for a few weeks yet, I invite you to begin your reflections now on the particular gifts of this particular base camp. What makes this church a particularly good jumping-off point for ministry? How might we challenge ourselves to grow deeper in our love for God and neighbor? Where is God calling us to next?
As I said in the beginning, the day laborers who began their work for the owner of the farm both got and did not get what they expected. When their focus was on outdoing each other and receiving more pay than a fellow worker, they were disappointed. But each of us has been given many gifts and more through God’s generosity. Let us share with each other, then, the joy of working for the coming reign of God. We may be surprised to receive much more than we could ever expect. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Philippians 1:21-30
The workers in today’s gospel story both do and do not get what they expect. The owner of the farm comes to them and promises a day’s wages for a day’s work, and in the end that is what he gives them. But in the meantime he exhibits some strange behavior. Every few hours throughout the day, he goes back to the marketplace. Hey you, slacker! Why don’t you come and do some honest work. And you, over there—you look bored. Come and work for me. It’s the dream of every temp worker—to unexpectedly get work in the middle of the day. And what’s even better about it, at the end of the day the ones who didn’t work the whole time still get a full day’s wages.
I imagine that the first workers in the fields were paying attention when the owner of the farm drove up in his pickup to drop off a new set of workers. “He’ll probably pay by the hour,” they say to each other. When they watch him pay the newcomers a full day’s wage, I’m sure one turned to the other with a wink and said, “A little extra for us, then, eh?” So when they get to the front of the line, they get both what they expected and not what they expected: a single day’s wage for a single day’s work.
It is easy sometimes to think of time spent in ministry as a kind of labor for a wage. Some of us start young, from our first years in Sunday school, to pray to God, to serve others, to follow Jesus as best we can. There are also late bloomers, who come to God and a life of service after many years of wandering in the wilderness.
So if today’s parable leads us to expect that both the early birds and the slowpokes will get the same reward after all is said and done, then what is the point of starting early? Why go to church? Why work so hard? What’s the point of it all? Why not wait until the last possible minute, and then get a quickie baptism at the end, so that you can sail away into the sunset, gloriously sin-free?
Well, I think the short answer that Jesus is alluding to in his parable is this: living as a Christian, in some ways, doesn’t affect what happens after you die. Living as a Christian means paying attention to how you live your life now. That’s what Paul is talking about in today’s reading from the letter to the Philippians.
Paul is in jail, to be put on trial soon enough, for his so-called crimes against the empire. We know from church tradition that Paul was in fact later to be executed. And in this letter he knows that his death is near. Within a few months or maybe even a year or two, he will be reunited with Christ, whom he loves.
He writes to the church at Philippi from imprisonment, and talks movingly about what it means to be between conversion to Christ, and death in Christ. “For to me,” he says, “living is Christ and dying is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which I prefer. I am hard pressed between the two: my desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better; but to remain in the flesh is more necessary for you.”
And this gets at something that I believe most of you already know, but that we can all stand to be reminded of, which is this: The life of faith is not a solitary exercise in working out our own personal salvation. The life of faith is one that must be lived in community, because our goal, ultimately, is not to derive personal satisfaction and fulfillment from our faith, but to participate in the salvation of the world. To do this, we need companions along the way. As Paul puts it, he’s ready to face his own death, but he’s glad to be alive because then he can help the Philippians and by extension the whole church. Part of the joy of being a faithful follower of Jesus is helping others grow in that faith.
Anne Lamott, a learner herself, writes about why she makes her son go with her to church: “Most of the people I know who have what I want—which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy—are people with a deep sense of spirituality. They are people in community, who pray, or practice their faith; they are Buddhists, Jews, Christians—people banding together to work on themselves and for human rights. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle; they are part of something beautiful.”
This is not to say that living together in community is always easy. Community makes demands on us that we don’t always want to bear. It’s easy in churches, too, to lose sight of what’s most important and get caught in conflicts over both fundamental and petty differences, caught in cycles of over-working ourselves, or caught in confusion or plain old boredom. So it’s important to step back and remember why we come together each week—why corporate worship is vital to a healthy prayer life, why service alongside our brothers and sisters is both nourishing and necessary.
The truth is that, like those laborers in the field, we do not have a monopoly on God’s grace, instead, God calls us to share the good news of the gospel, and to help each other live into it. Paul encourages the Philippians, writing, “Only, live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that, whether I come and see you or am absent and hear about you, I will know that you are standing firm in one spirit, striving side by side with one mind for the faith of the gospel.”
My secondary title for this sermon is, you may have noticed, “What is the Point of Coming to Church?” For most of you, since you’re here, it’s pretty obvious you have at least some idea of your own. But let me share with you a final image of the church that I hope will be both an encouragement and a reminder. Sometimes people think of church as a big washbasin—a place to go and wash off their souls before going back to living their regular lives. Far be it from me to disapprove of a clean soul.
But I think a better analogy is that of a base camp for mountain climbers—we come back here from our hard labors for rest and nourishment, to trade stories, get better tools, and learn new techniques. But ultimately the purpose of the base camp is to help us go back up the mountain—to do the ministry we’re called to do.
In the next few weeks and months, the visioning team will be helping our church as a whole do an inventory of the base camp. We’ll check our supplies, see if some tents need to be moved around, determine if everyone has warm jackets to wear, and listen for God’s word on what mountain we’ll be climbing next. While the official kick-off isn’t for a few weeks yet, I invite you to begin your reflections now on the particular gifts of this particular base camp. What makes this church a particularly good jumping-off point for ministry? How might we challenge ourselves to grow deeper in our love for God and neighbor? Where is God calling us to next?
As I said in the beginning, the day laborers who began their work for the owner of the farm both got and did not get what they expected. When their focus was on outdoing each other and receiving more pay than a fellow worker, they were disappointed. But each of us has been given many gifts and more through God’s generosity. Let us share with each other, then, the joy of working for the coming reign of God. We may be surprised to receive much more than we could ever expect. Thanks be to God. Amen.
posted by Amy Sens at 3:30 PM
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