Sermon by Canon Henry Whyte

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, 20 September

The bottom line is God’s grace 

Matthew 20. 1-16 

Woodrow Wilson was President of the United States from 1913 to 1921. He was asked, on one occasion, to say how long it took him to prepare a political Speech. He replied that “if you want me to speak for 10 minutes it will take me 5 hours; if you want me to speak for 5 minutes, it will take me 10 hours. But if you want me to speak for an hour, then I am ready now”. 

Some sermons go on too long and I have heard quite a number of them in my time.  But it really concentrates the mind to have just 5 or 6 minutes for these Zoom service talks. So without any further ado let’s ask - what is the point of the Parable that is our Gospel reading for today? What is Jesus trying to tell us through this story? 

Well as I understand it, the key to this story is found in the way that the employer treated those who he hired late on in the day. We heard how he took on more workers late on in the afternoon and, when the time came for them to be paid, these latecomers received the same amount as those who had toiled long hours and worked right through the heat of the day. 

Those who were taken on with just an hour or so before evening did not deserve to have a full day’s pay. But that is where the point of the Parable is found. And the point of the Parable is that God, does not treat us on the basis of what we have earned but always on the basis of His huge generosity. In other words God is the God of grace and the grace of God means His great love for those who do not deserve it. 

A woman in Africa had a son who committed some big crime  for which he was was brought before the ruler of his country or district.  She came before him to plead for her son and the ruler said that he deserved to die for what he had done. She said to the ruler  “I know my son deserves to die and that is exactly why I am begging for  mercy”. Her plea touched the ruler’s heart and he gave her son a pardon. 

The employer in the parable and the ruler in that story both illustrate the way in which God deals with human being like you and me. We may be people who have been active Christians all our lives, tireless in the life of the church and in the service of God. Some Christians may be what one might describe as “Johnny comes Latelies”.  But when you think of it not one of us, no Christian here on earth, is perfect in the sight of God.  I certainly would not like other people to know every secret thought and every wrongful action that I have done. Yes, I may have tried to serve God for many years but there is no way that this will me earn God’s acceptance. Which means that His acceptance of me and of all other  people  is always on the basis of His grace. If I needed to gain a certain percentage in order to be accepted by God what would His pass mark be? 80%? 70% 50%, 40%? If that were to be the case then what would happen to all those who fell short by just one or two percent? 

Jesus told this parable to teach us and remind us that the way God deals with us is always on the basis of undeserved love. It is not a parable about industrial relationships; it is a story that is pointing us to the immense and continuing love of God for those who do not deserve it.  Yes, there may be some people today who feel that they may be rather superior Christians  in the same kind of way that the elder brother felt superior to the Prodigal Son. But in God’s sight no-one is superior and all of us depend on the mercy and grace of God. Which is exactly what He offers to us and which is expressed so wonderfully in the sacrament that is Holy Communion. 

In the words of the great prayer in the Book of Common Prayer “We do not presume to come to this Thy table, O merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in Thy manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under Thy table. But Thou art the same Lord whose property is always to have mercy. Grant us therefore…. “And so on to the end of the prayer. 

I am sure that many of us who listen to this Zoom service are longing to be back in church for services of Holy Communion.  It is a service which reminds us that we not have to earn our acceptance with God. Our acceptance by Him is always on the basis of His grace and mercy in Jesus Christ. So there can be no room for any superiority in the Christian church because we are all on the same level ground before God.  

And so there is always hope for each one of us. There is always hope for every human being. However late in the day, however late on in life, whatever secret sins and wrongdoings we may carry within us, however far short we may have fallen in our lives, publicly or privately, we can come to God through Jesus to receive His mercy and grace through repentance and faith. It has been well said that we do not so much fall out of God’s grace as into it if we are but willing to receive it. Which means that as long as we have life and breath it is never too late in the day to be on the receiving end of the amazing generosity of God.

Amen.