Worship Preview 11.15.26 "Yes and No and "No Fair!"

FIRST UNITED METHODIST

WORSHIP NOVEMBER 15th – 10:30am. “Yes and No and ‘No Fair!’...”  Rev. Christopher Eshelman preaching. Scriptures: Matthew 20:1-16, Matthew 21:28-32, and Matthew 25:14-30

Jesus most often taught in parables. Very often those parables are challenging to his listeners in the moment, and thus to us now. Sunday we will draw from three of them to help us explore how we hear these parables and apply them in our own lives. As we gather, we’ll hear about a man who has 2 sons – a common beginning to many stories in the Bible and one that probably brings several lessons to mind. In Matthew 21, Jesus tells a very short story – a man separately asks each his sons to work in the vineyard. The first son says no, but then reconsiders and goes and works. The next son says “yes, sir!” – but fails to follow through. When Jesus asks those he’s in dialogue with which son did what his father wanted, it was obviously the first one, despite having said no. His actions were louder than his words.

With that in mind, we’ll back up a chapter, hearing from Matthew 20. In this familiar parable, Jesus tells of a landowner hiring day workers for his vineyard. Those hired first thing in the morning are promised a denarius, a Roman coin that was a normal days wage for a worker. Several times during the day the landowner goes and calls more workers – the later hires only being told they will “be paid what is right.” At the end of the day, he instructs the foreman to pay the workers, but starting with those hired last – and each one gets a full denarius! When the earlier workers see that, they expect they’ll get more! They worked longer, after all - and then begin to grumble. The landowner points out they’ve received exactly what they agreed upon for the day and questions if he is “allowed to be generous with what is his.”  Sit with that awhile. It probably raises some complex emotions, especially if we identify ourselves with the earliest hires! Indeed, the last shall be first – but we ask, “are the first wrong to be jealous?” It is not “fair” - but we’d surely appreciate it if we instead saw ourselves as one of the last hired, wouldn’t we!  But before we can sort through those emotions, I’m having us also look at the middle parable from Matthew 25, commonly known as the Parable of the Talents. Here, a master going away entrusts three servants with a huge amount of wealth. A Talent, as a Roman era monetary amount, is something like 6,000 denarius – the amount a common worker might make in 15 to 20 years! One servant (or slave) is given 5 of these! Another 2, and the last 1. Again – even the one is an absolute fortune! You likely know the story. The first two put what they’ve been entrusted with right to work and, after a long time, when the Master returns, each has doubled the amount! The third, however, fears the Master and regards him as cruel - “reaping where he did not sow” and so he had dug a hole and hid the treasure – keeping is safe, but unproductive. The Master is furious!

Read in isolation, especially in our society with extreme wealth inequality, this seems an endorsement of the idea that God favors the wealthy. Yet read in the larger context of Scripture, where Jesus sits at the margins and so often challenges the rich and powerful, and where the landowners “unfair” generosity has just been celebrated, I think we are clearly called to go deeper with this. Again, who do we identify ourselves with? Why? What might have happened if, as the 3rd slave was unwilling to risk, the funds hadn’t doubled for the first 2, and instead been lost? What is common in both of these parables is the way we get distracted by comparison. The parable about the talents is how we see God and how we use whatever God has given us – not about comparing or ranking our gifts. Those who have much are expected to produce much – and remmeber, the men in question aren’t captians of industry, but household slaves. Do we identify with them in that? The parable about the landowner and daily workers is about justice and grace and how we see and experience God. It’s about God’s timeline and vision verses our own, and each is a call to reconsider our assumptions.

Tying them together today is that short story about what it means to say and to do. We are called to be bear good fruit with whatever we have been given. God has shown us mortals what is good – to act with justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with God. In these and other parables, Jesus is equipping us to follow him. Sunday we’ll explore each of these, consider again our Spiritual Gifts, our inheritance from those who have gone before, and the legacy we’ll leave to those who will be called “later in the day” after us. So, you are invited! Come just as you are – with your doubts and questions, with your laments and fears, and with your deepest hopes and joys. Whether you are a longtime member, have never been to church at all, or find yourself needing a change - together we will find our paths and share our journeys. Thanks be to God!

UPCOMING EVENTS:

•FEEDING FAMILIES IN HIS NAME: Wednesday, November 18th- A free, no obligation meal is served “to-go” style from underneath our portico from 5:15pm to 6:15pm each Wednesday, prepared each week by our members as well as several area churches and community groups. We aim to provide 400 meals per week.  If you would like to support this ministry, you can make donations online at: www.firstumcfortscott.org/feedingfamiliesdonation. Thank you.

•NATIVITY SHOWCASE – Part of “Christmas on the Bricks”. 

The community is invited to share your favorite nativity set with us Dec. 4-6th. Do you have Grandma’s Nativity set in the Attic or Basement like I did? Has it not been displayed in a few years, or maybe just in your home but few see it. Join our Showcase – each year since we’ve started we’ve had about 100 different Nativity sets from all around the world to help us kick off Advent and look forward to the birth of Christ. Join us!  Setup is 2-6pm Thursday, Dec. 3rd or 10am to Noon Friday, Dec 4th. Displays open to the public 5-8pm Friday, Dec. 4th, 10am to 2pm Saturday, Dec. 5th, and Noon to 2pm on Sunday, Dec. 6th. Displays must be taken down between 2 and 5pm Sunday, Dec. 6th.  Call 2231-1950 to save a display spot or get more information!