THIS year saw an event take place in London that has not happened in Britain for seventy years — The Coronation of a Monarch. Many of us watched the live television coverage of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s coronation, and were struck by the number of prayers said throughout the ceremony asking for God’s blessing upon the new King. Another large part of the service in Westminster Abbey involved the presentation of various symbols of Kingship, and in particular a crown, an orb, and a sceptre. Before the King was crowned, he was given an orb, representing his powers and responsibilities, and also a sceptre, which signifies good governance. Like the Crown, the Orb and the Sceptre have a Cross on the top of them. The reason that these three objects are surmounted by a cross is to signify that all power comes ultimately from God, who reigns over all. This symbolism is important. When we acknowledge Christ as King we are saying that He is above all human power and authority, and we affirm that God is supreme. We, as Christians, declare that our primary allegiance is to God alone, and not to the things of this world. 

In our first reading this morning, from the prophet Ezekiel, we see God speaking as a shepherd caring for His flock. This image lies behind Jesus’ description of Himself as the Good Shepherd in John’s Gospel (Jn 10:11-18). Jesus uses imagery from the Hebrew Scriptures to show that they are fulfilled in Him; that God’s promises are coming true. Jesus the Good Shepherd is a hopeful and encouraging image, one which we need today as much as ever. God is not absent or disinterested in us or how we live our lives, quite the opposite, as these words from the prophecy of Ezekiel show:

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak (Ezekiel 34:15-16)

This vision of care, healing, and reconciliation, is exactly what Jesus promises and demonstrates in the Gospels. This should not surprise us, as there is a continuity between the Old and New Testaments. What is promised in the Old is fulfilled in the New. The Word of God finds its fullest expression in the Word made Flesh, Jesus Christ. Our Lord takes the image for His teaching from the words of Ezekiel’s Prophecy:

“As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and male goats.” (Ezekiel 34:15-16)

So this morning we come to the last of Jesus’ teaching concerning the end times: the Sheep and the Goats. It is not a parable, Our Lord does not say, ‘The Kingdom of Heaven is like…’ Instead, in the last section of teaching in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus is looking towards the future, and to the end times. We have had teaching on the wise and foolish virgins, and the talents, to encourage people both to be ready, and to prepare for Christ’s Second Coming as Lord and Judge of all. This is what is envisaged by the beginning of His teaching:

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.” (Mt 25:31-32)

Christ comes in His glory first when He is crucified. This is the glory of God. Our Lord reigns from the tree, and our crucified Saviour will return as the judge of all. As those involved in keeping animals will know, sheep and goats need to be separated. Sheep are hardier than goats, so they can sleep outside, whereas goats need shelter at night. Normally it is easy to distinguish the two animals from each other since sheep’s tails point down, and goats’ tails point up. The sheep and the goats are two of the three groups mentioned in the text, but there is also a third group which it is easy to overlook: that is those who are in need, the least of Christ’s brethren.

When Jesus describes his criteria for judgement he says:

“‘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, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’” (Mt 25:34-36)

Here we see faith lived out, and put into action. Jesus is telling us how Christians should live in the world, making their love visible and demonstrating it in acts of service. Those who are placed on Our Lord’s right are genuinely surprised to be there. At which point Christ answers:

‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ (Mt 25:40)

Our Lord’s brethren are those disciples who listen to His’ words, who believe in Him, and who do His will. In other words: you and me. We are to be Christ’s ambassadors, sharing the Good News of the Kingdom, and bringing His healing and reconciliation to the world. Jesus’ teaching tells us that we are called to be like Him, to carry our own cross daily, as He is about to do. This is why Our Lord institutes the Eucharist on the night before He dies, so that we may be strengthened to carry on the proclamation of His Kingdom, and His saving Death and Resurrection.

We celebrate Christ as King because He reigns from the Cross, reconciling God and humanity by His death. The throne of God is in fact the Cross. This is where Christ is raised up and reigns in glory, the glory of self-giving generous love. Christ bears forever the marks of the nails and the spear because they are the marks of love. This is the glory of the Kingdom, and we are called to share and participate in it, to make it a reality here and now.

We ourselves are not called to judge. That is God’s job. Our Heavenly Father will judge with love and mercy. Instead, we are called to love God and neighbour, to follow Him, and to proclaim the Good News of His Kingdom, today and every day. So that all creation may bow before Him and worship God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

TODAY, in 2023, when we hear the word ‘talent’ we understand it to mean someone’s particular skills and abilities. We all have different talents which compliment each other. Some folk have musical abilities, others are good with numbers, or have a talent for baking or flower-arranging. We all have our individual God-given talents. However, in the Roman Empire, when Jesus told the parable in today’s Gospel, a ‘talent’ was a unit of measurement. A single talent weighed approximately 30kg. This means that in today’s money a talent of gold would be worth approximately £1.5 million. That’s a lot of money! Much more than Jesus’ listeners would ever earn. By using such large sums of money in His parable, Jesus is being deliberately shocking in order to give His words a stronger impact 

The Parable of the Talents isn’t actually about money. It appears to be so, on the surface, but instead it draws together strands from Jesus’ teaching throughout the Gospel to make some important points.

“The kingdom of Heaven is like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property.” (Mt 25:14)

This is a parable about the Kingdom, about how to live a Christian life here and now. It is also about what will happen at the end of time, when Christ will return, and there will be the Last Judgement. This is why today’s readings include a passage from Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians which states:

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night” (1Thess 5:2)

To paraphrase Monty Python’s Flying Circus’ well-known phrase: ‘No-one expects the Spanish Inquisition!’, ‘No-one expects the Second Coming!’ Except of course we do, because Jesus has told us all about it, and has warned us to be ready, like the Virgins with spare oil for their lamps in another of Jesus’ parables. 

In today’s parable, before the master goes away, he divides up his property between his servants:

“To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability” (Mt 25:15)

The division of resources is not equal, but rather each is given an amount appropriate to his own abilities. The servants who have been given five and two talents each double their money. However, the person who was given one talent (still a huge amount of money), simply buries it in the ground. In the parable the servants have not earned the money they are given, but they have been given it. In the parable of the Sower, Jesus indicated that those called to the kingdom would produce different yields. These variances in our own talents should not be the basis for envy and jealousy, because our differences are gifts given in service to one another — so are the talents given to the servants of a man going on a journey. It is not unfair that they were given different amounts. Rather what is crucial is how they regarded what they had been given, and how they used their talents. 

It is clear that the servant who received one talent feared the giver. This was because he assumed that gifts could only be lost or used up. In other words, the servant with one talent assumed that they were part of a zero-sum game, meaning that  if someone wins, someone else must lose. The servant who feared losing what he had, turned his gift into a possession — it was a thing, and it was his thing. But by contrast, the first two servants recognised that trying to secure the gifts that they had been given means that they would be lost — so they put the gifts to use for the glory of God. In the same way we are all called to use our talents to glorify God, not simply for our own gain.

The servants who receive either five or two talents are both thankful and generous, but the servant who received one is only interested in power and control. At one level this servant stands for the Scribes and Pharisees whom Jesus has been criticising and castigating for their negative approach to God, using religion to control others, rather than building a society based on love and generosity. 

The parable represents God’s desire for a society in which humanity can flourish, freed from fear and greed, filled with joy and sharing the Good News. The point of wealth is not for it to be acquired for its own sake, but so that it may be a blessing to others. God wants humanity to thrive by being loving and generous to each other. This theme runs through all our readings this morning.

The servants who are assigned five and two talents are both praised for being ‘good and faithful’. They have acted morally and have demonstrated their faith. In return, they will be rewarded. The problem is with the servant who was given just one talent and hid it in the ground. He explains his actions, saying:

‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.’ (Mt 25:24-25)

This servant does not love his master, he fears him. He does not take care of what has been entrusted to him, because he simply sees it as a possession, a thing. This person neither loves his master nor cares for what was entrusted to him. By hiding the wealth in the ground, he squanders the opportunity his master has given him. The servant is is jealous and resentful, he controls the situation and is unable and unwilling to respond with generosity.

In contrast to this, God generously gives His own Son to die and rise again for us. He does this out of love. None of us fully deserve the gift of God’s love and forgiveness in Jesus Christ. It is not something that we have earned. It is not a reward. Rather it is a transformative gift from a loving God, which we are called to receive. The God who will come to judge us, and all humanity at the Second Coming, is a God of love and mercy, whose hands bear the mark of nails, wounded for love of us. Judgement and mercy go hand in hand. If we love God, and if we love our neighbour, then we are living the life of the Kingdom, here and now, free from fear.

So let us flourish in our life together, encouraging one another, so that we may all be built up in faith, hope, and love. Together let us share in the joy of the Kingdom by living generously. Acknowledging our individual talents let us sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

‘Gwyn eu byd y tangnefeddwyr: oherwydd cânt hwy eu galw’n feibion Duw’

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God’ (Mt 5:9)

For over one hundred years people in this country have gathered on the Sunday closest to Armistice Day to give thanks to Almighty God for all who have served and died, and also for the peace in which we currently live. We give thanks for those who continue to serve and protect us, and we give thanks for the work of the Royal British Legion, who have raised money to support service personnel for over one hundred years. We wish them continued success in their important work.

As we recall the sacrifice made by people from the villages in which we live, from this country, and from all over the world, our remembrance must be an active one which has an effect on our lives. We remember the generosity of those who gave their lives to ensure that we can live free from warfare and suffering. Such generosity must leave a mark on our lives, and help us to learn from the mistakes of the past, and endeavour not to repeat them in the future.

The concept of peace is not simply the absence of war, but the right ordering of the world around us. It means living the way God wants us to live. That means living in harmony, and love, one with another. That is why Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, calls peacemakers are children of God. To live in peace is the will of God. Our Creator wants humanity to flourish.

Human nature leads people to long for wealth and power, and some are willing to stop at nothing to acquire these things. Christ, however, shows us another way — the way of love and gentleness, which longs to heal and reconcile. This is what Christ proclaimed on earth, and continues to do — Jesus’ loving example allows us to experience the peace of the Kingdom of God, where wounds are healed and divisions reconciled. Humanity, it seems, while desiring peace, constantly finds itself drawn into warfare of one sort or another. Usually wars are fought for political ends, with the cost being borne by ordinary men, women and children. 

Both in Ukraine and the Middle East we see the misery and cost of conflict. We continue to pray for the people of Israel and Gaza and Ukraine. We pray for all victims of warfare: the dead, the injured, and refugees, and we pray for peace and justice to reign throughout the world. 

So is there a way out of this endless cycle? In short, Yes. The alternative is in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the Cross, who gave Himself and suffered for our sins and the sins of all humanity: past, present and future. The slaughter of millions of people which characterised the wars of the last century is an act of brutality which nails Jesus to the cross. And yet He goes to His death gladly, for love of us. It is this act of total self-giving which shows us what true love is, and how we too need to fashion our lives after this pattern of love.

Our reflections on war and peace take place within the context of a Eucharist. On the night before He died, Our Lord and Saviour commanded His disciples to do this in memory of Him, and we have done so on a hundred thousand successive Sundays. To remember His Death and Resurrection, and to be fed with His Body and Blood, so that we might be transformed into His likeness, transformed by that act of self-giving love. 

We must always remember that Jesus’ loving self-giving is done to reconcile humanity with God. While we are conscious of our failings and shortcomings and our need for God, we must always remember that we are a people who are forgiven, who are loved by God in a way which has the power to transform our lives. Our lives can be transformed when, and if, we learn to love not only our friends and family, but also our enemies. Only then can swords be beaten into ploughshares and spears into pruning-hooks. Only then can the peace for which people fought, struggled and died become a reality in our world.

As individuals, as a community, and as a nation, we are thankful for those who sacrificed themselves for us, and we honour their memory by treasuring the peace won at so great a cost. Christians are serious about peace, because it is the will of God, and the means of human flourishing. Each of us are thankful that we are alive today and able to give thanks for those who gave their lives for us. As part of our thankful response we are called to commit ourselves to being peacemakers in our own lives, in our community, and in our world. What greater tribute could there be to the fallen than for us to work for a world where all may live in peace and security. By doing this we honour their memory and share the treasure they have given us through their selflessness. We should be selfless and generous, following their example and the example of the Generous God, who loved us so much that He gave His Son to die for us.

In this time of serious wars and conflicts around our planet we pray for all those caught up in events beyond their control. In our Church and chapel communities we pray for peace and for the love of God to fill the world, making God’s love a reality here and now. In doing so, we give sincere thanks the sacrifice of our forebears. 

We will remember them.

IN 1936 RMS Queen Mary was launched and was at that time the largest ship to cross the oceans. Through four decades and a World War she served until she was retired as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California. During the conversion into a hotel her three massive funnels were taken off to be scraped down and repainted. But, on the dock they crumbled. Nothing was left of the ¾inch steel plate from which they had been formed. All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years. The steel had rusted away. While it looked fine from the outside, inside it was a different story. Appearing to be something you are not is the fundamental problem with hypocrisy.

In the Gospels the main targets for Jesus’ criticism are the contemporary Religious Authorities, and those who are hypocritical. This is because do not practise what they preach. They appear to be one thing when they are in fact something quite different.

The first reading this morning from the prophet Malachi condemns people who withhold animals from sacrifice to God and break their vows by offering something blemished. Malachi criticised the priests for not honouring God or teaching the truth. They have fallen short of what God requires of them and led His people astray, and their actions are not unlike the Pharisees in the Gospel.

Jesus comments that the Pharisees are good at telling other people what to do, but not at doing it themselves:

“The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practise and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practise. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger.” (Mt 23:1-4)

Here we see hypocrisy in action: do as I say, not as I do. It is an easy trap to fall into. Telling someone to do something is straightforward, but doing it yourself so that you can be an example is much harder, it takes considerably more effort. The Pharisees unwillingness to practise what they preach undermines their claim to religious authority. They profess to be experts, teaching the Law from the seat of Moses, but their religious observance is all for show.

“They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honour at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places and being called rabbi by others.” (Mt 23:5-7)

For the Scribes and the Pharisees religion is all about show, a display of piety, and honour, power, and prestige in society. This allows them to become puffed-up with pride and self-importance. They think that they are better than others and more important. People show them genuine respect, but they have become arrogant and self-absorbed. They have fallen into the trap of thinking that they are better than they are and have forgotten the important fact that all that they have, all that they are, their talents and abilities are in fact gifts from the God they are called to serve.

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.” (Mt 23:8-10)

Our Lord then begins to teach about humility, beginning with the titles people use. It isn’t that titles are bad in themselves, but rather the attitude which can go with them. Which encourages some to use titles to exert influence over others and misuse that power. Here we see where the Scribes and Pharisees have gone wrong, rather than using their position for good they have become selfish autocratic hypocrites, who fail to practise what they preach. They place intolerable burdens on others, while living a life of ease themselves. God the Father and Jesus Christ do not operate like this. God is loving, not a tyrant, and Jesus will soon demonstrate this love for all the world to see.

“Our blessed Lord began His public life on the Mount of the Beatitudes, by preaching, ‘Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the earth.’ He finished His public life on the hill of Calvary by practising that meekness: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’” [Fulton J. Sheen The Cross and the Beatitudes, 1937 p. 3]

Jesus teaching has been leading up to the key point that He is trying to make:

The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Mt 23:11-12)

What really matters is humility. It goes hand-in-hand with love of God and neighbour, and it characterises Our Lord’s Life, Death, and Resurrection. Jesus embodies love, humility and gentleness. He practises what He preaches, just as St Paul does in his dealings with the church in Thessaly. 

“For you remember, brothers, our labour and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.” (1Thess 2:9)

In contrast to the corrupt Old Testament priests and the hypocritical Scribes and Pharisees, in Paul we have an example of kindness and true pastoral ministry, rooted in Jesus. For Our Lord, ministry is sacrificial and finds its fullest expression in the Cross. Each and every Sunday we gather to do what Jesus did on the night before He died, so that we, the people of God, might be nourished with Word and Sacrament. Jesus gives himself for us, so that we can be fed with Him and transformed by Him, who gave Himself to death, so that we might live. 

Christ’s life and death are the greatest demonstration of generosity, given for all people, for you and me, that we all may have life in Christ. In thanksgiving we join with all the saints to sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

In the first five books of the Bible there are 613 commandments. 248 of these are positive statements: ‘You shall…’, while 365 (one for each day of the year) are negative commandments: ‘You shall not…’. That’s a lot to remember! Someone once asked two famous rabbis, Shammai and Hillel for a summary of the Law which could be recited standing on one leg. Shammai refused to give an answer to what he considered to be a silly question. Hillel, on the other hand, replied: ‘What is harmful for you, do not do to your neighbour; that is the whole Torah, while the rest is commentary; go and learn it’. Rabbi Hillel was the grandfather of Gamaliel, who taught St Paul, and his teaching is close to that of Our Lord in today’s Gospel.

Jesus has just been debating with some Sadducees, the Jewish aristocratic priestly sect who denied the Resurrection. He has argued that understanding God as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob means that He is the God not of the dead, but  of the living. Therefore the Sadducees’ beliefs about the afterlife are wrong. These words no doubt cheered up the Pharisees (rivals of the Sadducees) immensely, so they decide to come along to see who this teacher is, and to ask Him some questions. 

‘And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”’ (Mt 22:35-36)

This is a fair question, and Our Lord’s answer is not surprising:

‘And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”’ (Mt 22:37-38)

In this answer Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 6:5, a piece of Scripture recited by Jews every single day. These are words affixed to Jewish doorposts, and begin ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one…’ This central declaration of faith in God highlights the fact that first and foremost humans are called to love God. These words define who God is, and how we should relate to Him. We are to love God because God loves us and cares for us. God’s love makes demands of us, and requires all that we are, all that we think, and all that we do to be motivated by love of God. Jesus then adds a second commandment:

‘And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets”’ (Mt 22:39-40)

By adding these words, Jesus introduced a revolutionary idea — that the love of God and the love of neighbour are interconnected and inseparable. Our Lord invites us to recognize the image of God in every person we encounter, and to love them as we love ourselves.

Through these two commandments, Jesus provides us with the roadmap to a meaningful and Christ-centred life. To love God with all our hearts, souls, and minds is to cultivate an intimate relationship with the Divine. This is an invitation to pray, to seek God’s guidance in all things, and to surrender our will to His.

This means loving our neighbours and ourselves as God loves us, with the same costly and generous love that our Creator has for us. Jesus cuts right to the heart of the Old Covenant to show that what He is teaching is the fulfilment rather than the abolition of the Law and the Prophets. We know from elsewhere in the Gospels that when someone asks the follow-up question, ‘Who is my neighbour?’, Our Lord tells the parable of the Good Samaritan, illustrating what costly love in action looks like.

This may sound straightforward, in theory, but in practice it is less so. It takes a lifetime of practice, which is brought about through three things. Firstly, our living together as a Christian community. Secondly through being fed by word and sacrament, and thirdly by living lives which put God’s love into practice. We are to live by God’s standards and not those of the world. Christian love makes no sense unless it is rooted in the person, teaching, and example of Jesus Christ. In Him we have the example of perfect humanity to live up to. We will try, and at times fail in our endeavours, but the point is that we keep trying. To love our neighbours as ourselves is a call to compassion, empathy, and service.

As G.K.Chesterton wrote: ‘when the world goes wrong, it proves rather that the Church is right. The Church is justified, not because her children did not sin, but because they do’. The Church is to be a community of love and forgiveness. Despite this phrase having been uttered many times, I suspect that all of us fail to grasp quite how radical a departure it represents. We are to love and forgive those whom we would rather not. The Church is not just a body of people like us, whom we like, where it is always easy to get on with one another. We grow in love and forgiveness when we are among people whom we may not like, whom we would not choose to be associated with. Nonetheless, we are called to love them, to forgive them, and at the same time to be loved and forgiven by them. Since the body of Christ is made up of all baptised Christians, we are talking about a lot of different people.

All human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, and are thus imbued with a fundamental dignity, and with rights. This is the foundation of human society, and it is the will of God. As Christians we have a duty to help the weak, the vulnerable, the marginalised, and the poor. These words remain as true for us today as when they were spoken three thousand years ago. They should cause us to reflect on how the society in which we live functions. Are we loving and generous towards the weak and vulnerable? To love our neighbours as ourselves is a call to compassion, to empathy, and to service.

In a world that is plagued by self-interest and division, let us heed the words of Our Lord. Let us commit ourselves to loving God with all our hearts, with all our minds, and with all our souls, while also loving our neighbours as ourselves. In this simple yet profound message, we find the essence of our Christian calling, and the promise of a life filled with God’s grace and love.

May the love of God, made manifest through Christ, guide us through all our days, and may our love for one another shine as a beacon of light in a world that so desperately needs hope and unity. Amen

SOMETIMES people ask loaded questions, in order to trap us into saying something unfortunate. If someone were to ask you, ‘Have you stopped cheating your taxes?’ answering either ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ would provide evidence that you had previously, or were continuing to defraud His Majesty’s Revenue. The way to reply is to say, ‘I have never cheated’. 

In today’s Gospel the Pharisees attempt to catch Jesus out in a similar way. They begin by seemingly flattering Our Lord:

“Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.” (Mt 22: 16)

While their words appear to be complimenting Christ, they are simply trying to lull Him into a false sense of security. Next comes the important question:

“Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?” (Mt 22: 17)

The Pharisees want to trap Jesus. If He says ‘Yes’ He appears to be supporting the Romans. This can then be used to cast doubt on His credibility, and write him off as a collaborator: He is not one of us, He is not a real prophet, a true son of Israel. If Jesus comes out against taxation they can brand Him a political troublemaker, a revolutionary, an enemy of the State. By saying ‘No’ Jesus would ally with zealots, religious extremists, and have made a provocative political statement for which He can be denounced. 

Thankfully, Our Lord is wise to their tricks:

‘But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why put me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius.’ (Mt 22:18-19)

Jesus sidesteps the loaded question by asking to see the coin used to pay tax to the Romans. A denarius is a small silver coin, ¾ of an inch in diameter, about the size of a modern 5p. It represented a day’s wages for a labourer, and worth approximately £75 in today’s money.

‘And Jesus said to them, “Whose likeness and inscription is this?” They said, “Caesar’s.” Then he said to them, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard it, they marvelled. And they left him and went away.’ (Mt 22:19-22)

The Pharisees come filled with malice, with a desire to catch Him out, but Jesus uses this as an opportunity to show them the proper order of things. You should pay your taxes but at the same time give God what is owed to him. That is a heart filled with love, love of God and of each other, a life which proclaims this love in the service of others and through the worship of Almighty God. This is where real power lies. This is the truly subversive aspect of Jesus’ teaching. This is what He proclaims in the Temple, in the very heart of the religious establishment. Christ shows people how to live life to the full. 

Jesus does not allow Himself to be drawn into the argument about whether it is idolatrous to use Roman coins with pictures of pagan gods on them. Paying a Roman tax with a Roman coin is fine, but what matters more is rendering to God the things that are God’s. 

Jesus is asking us all a difficult question. What do you and I, all of us, render to God ‘talwch i Dduw’ in our personal lives? If we claim to be disciples, then what does that actually mean in the way we speak and act? The Pharisees walk away from Jesus in amazement, but we cannot do that. We have to follow a different set of rules, which give us lives of freedom. In the power of the Holy Spirit the Truth can be proclaimed, the truth which sets us free from the ways of the world, free to love and serve God. Jesus is opposed to either the collaboration of the Herodians or the rigourist harshness of the Pharisees, and instead proclaims the freedom and love of the Kingdom of God. Because of what God has done for us, we are able to render to God the things that are God’s ‘talwch bethau Duw i Dduw’: lives characterised by the love and generosity which are at the heart of the Gospel. This is what really matters: living the life of the Kingdom here and now.

Loving God and loving our neighbour mean living in a way which leads us to thrive both as individuals and as a group of people. It involves turning our backs on the selfishness which surrounds us, and building a genuine community, like that founded by St Paul in Thessalonica in northern Greece. Everything we are, everything we have comes from God, and our primary allegiance is to Him. Christ demonstrates this by going to the Cross for us and all humanity: to demonstrate once and for all how much God loves the world, and longs to heal our wounds and reconcile us to each other and to Him. As we are nourished today by Jesus in Word and Sacrament, may we be built up and strengthened to live out our faith and to proclaim the reality of the Kingdom of God. May we invite others, that all may come to share in the fellowship of the feast and sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

Oswald Golter was a missionary in northern China during the 1940s. After ten years service he was returning home. His ship stopped in India, and while waiting for a boat home he found a group of refugees living in a warehouse on the pier. Unwanted by anyone else the refugees were stranded there. Golter went to visit them. As it was Christmas-time wished them a merry Christmas and asked them what they would like for Christmas.

“We’re not Christians,” they said. “We don’t believe in Christmas.”

“I know,” said the missionary, “but what do you want for Christmas?” They described some German pastries they were particularly fond of, and so Oswald Golter cashed in his ticket, used the money to buy baskets and baskets of the pastries, took them to the refugees, and wished them a merry Christmas.

When he later repeated the incident to a class, a student said, “But sir, why did you do that for them? They weren’t Christians. They don’t even believe in Jesus.”

“I know,” he replied, “but I do!”

Most people like being invited to attend a party, and would greet an invitation with joy: especially if it were a wedding. There will be lots to eat and drink, music, dancing, everything you could want at a celebration. In this morning’s Gospel reading this is the image Jesus uses to introduce his Parable of the Wedding Feast. We can all sympathise with the king in the parable. He has every right to be annoyed. He has invited people, provided them with clothing, and they are either too busy to bother to come or mistreat those whom he sends to invite them.

The Good News of the Christian Faith, which this parable embodies, is one of generous hospitality: God is generous towards us, and so we are expected to be generous to one another. In this morning’s gospel, Jesus has gone to Jerusalem. He has cleansed the Temple, he has healed the sick and the lame, and is preaching about the love of God. In his parable we see salvation history condensed into a paragraph. And we see how God sent the prophets to invite people to God’s feast. However, most of the people are too busy, too concerned with matters of this world, so they ignore the prophets. Some of the prophets are killed, the city, Jerusalem, is destroyed, and still folk do not come. So God’s invitation is widened: all are welcome. 

If we turn to our own day, the invitation is still made, but many people are unready or unwilling to come to God’s banquet. They are too busy, their lives are too full. Going to a Eucharist on a Sunday morning is seen as one choice among many, with most people preferring to read the paper, wash the car, or spend time with their nearest and dearest. Lest we think that we are somehow better for being here, we can ask ourselves how committed we are We could all of us, I suspect, do more for the sake of the gospel.

In the parable the king stands for God. His servants are the prophets who are ignored, and then abused and killed. Finally all are invited, so that the Wedding Feast for the King’s Son is full. Then something strange happens:

“But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. And he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless.” (Mt 22:11-12)

People going to a wedding would be provided with a wedding garment, they were generally made from linen. These served both to show the generosity of the host, and also to stress a radical equality among the wedding guests. It didn’t matter who you were, or how rich or poor, all were dressed in the same clothes. So what does the wedding garment mean? Honestly, we don’t know, but a best guess is either baptism, or love, gentleness, and generosity. The point is that without being clothed with love of God and neighbour, the guest cannot be there. God is generous, but God makes demands of us, and expects us to live out our faith for all to see.

In the first reading from the prophet Isaiah we have a vision of the Messianic banquet, to which all people are invited:

‘On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined,’ (Isa 25:6)

These words find their fulfilment in the Eucharist, which Christ instituted on the night before He died. We have come together today to do what Christ did, and this is the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. May we come to it dressed in the garment of love. Oswald Golter, the missionary on his way back home wanted to celebrate the Incarnation, the Birth of Jesus with other people. It didn’t matter that they were not believers! What was important was that what happened in Bethlehem: a demonstration of God’s love. So Oswald’s response was to be loving in return, to show refugees, on the very margins of society, that they were loved and valued too. Our faith leads us to love people, to will their good, to celebrate with them. When we live out our faith, and put it into action in our lives, theory becomes reality. 

God expects us to put our faith into action in order to demonstrate and proclaim the Kingdom of God. So let us come to the Lord clothed with love, filled with His Spirit, transformed by the Eucharist. Let us also invite others to join in the worship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

OVER the last few weeks we have read or heard a lot of vineyards in our readings. Jesus has just told a parable about labourers in a vineyard, which we heard two weeks ago, and now, this morning, two of our readings are all about viticulture. Vines are important things: they grow grapes which make juice and wine, which people drink. But more than that, at a symbolic level, the vineyard stands for Israel, the land of God’s chosen people. The metaphor of the vineyard allows both Isaiah and Jesus to talk about Israel and their relationship with God. However, they do not have much to say that is good. Our readings are telling the truth about falling short of what God expects of us, His people, who have been made in His image and likeness. 

In our first reading today, the prophet Isaiah sings a love-song for his beloved, that is, God, who plants a vineyard on a hill, having prepared the soil and cleared away the stones. These actions are all signs of love and care. God defends the vineyard with a watchtower to give advanced notice of attack. There is also a vat for making wine out of the grapes. However, the grapes are wild. Wild grapes are weeds, which grow more vigorously, and their fruit is sour, not sweet. You cannot make good wine from sour grapes. This prophecy speaks of Israel being abandoned and destroyed. This is because God expects justice, but instead, is faced with bloodshed. God looks for righteousness, but instead, finds an outcry. The Hebrew for each pair of words is similar, so the prophet is using wordplay to make the point more strongly. Israel needs to repent, to turn back to God and follow His ways.

In this morning’s Gospel, Jesus continues to teach in the Temple, after His Triumphal entry on Palm Sunday. He has told the parable about labourers in a vineyard, and the parable of the two sons, and now He recites a parable about a vineyard and a son. Jesus sets the scene in a way which clearly refers to the prophecy of Isaiah which we have just heard. The chief priests and elders would have known the prophecy that Jesus was referring to. This parable has a number of servants being sent to collect the fruit:

And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other servants, more than at first. And they did the same to them. (Mt 21:35-36)

This is a description of how Israel acts towards prophets, such as Isaiah. Despite telling the truth and telling the people God’s word, they are mistreated and killed. Again and again the prophets call God’s people to repentance, to turn back to the Lord, and again and again they are ignored and mistreated. As a result, God sends His Son. As the parable continues:

Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ And they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. (Mt 21: 37-39)

Here Jesus is prophesying His own death. Soon, despite having just been welcomed into Jerusalem as the Messiah, Jesus will see the crowds turn against Him. Encouraged by the chief priests and elders (who are listening to what is being said) the people will call for Jesus’ Death. 

At the conclusion of the parable, Jesus asks the religious authorities what God will do, and they answer Him:

When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.” (Mt 21:40-41)

Their answer is telling. The chief priests understand what will happen, and that their actions will have consequences. They will be punished for not doing what God wants. Finally Jesus quotes from the Psalms (Ps 118:22) to explain the situation:

Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits.” (Mt 21:42-3)

Just like the prophet Isaiah earlier, Jesus uses clever word-play to reinforce His theme. Isaiah makes the point that the words for justice and bloodshed, and righteousness and an outcry are similar. Likewise, the Hebrew words for stone (eben, as in Ebenezer) and son (ben, as in Benjamin) are very similar, there is only one letter difference. Thus, when He speaks about the stone, Jesus is referring to Himself, the Son of God.

Jesus uses the Psalms to reinforce His interpretation of Isaiah. He is letting His listeners know that He must be rejected, suffer, and die like the Suffering Servant in Isaiah Chapters 52-53. Jesus also makes clear that salvation is now not solely for Israel, but also for the Gentiles. In fact it is for anyone who produces the fruit that God desires them to produce. This is the Christian proclamation in a nutshell.

Despite Jesus’ rejection and death, it is God’s love and forgiveness that are being proclaimed to the world. The Kingdom of God is a place of reconciliation, where wounds are healed, and lives are restored. Love is the core of our faith: God’s love for us, and our love for each other and for God. This is how God transforms the world: through love. God so loved the world, a world which He created, and restored, and redeemed. We, here, are living proof of that love, and we are given the task of tending the Lord’s vineyard. How can we live out that same generous love in our own lives? We need to work together, nourished by Word and Sacrament, and live lives of love and forgiveness. We are all called to proclaim God’s love to the world, and to invite others to enter the joy of the Lord. We do this so that all may sing the praises of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.