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Trinity 16: The Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard

‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.’

‘‘Oherwydd nid fy meddyliau i yw eich meddyliau chwi, ac nid eich ffyrdd chwi yw fy ffyrdd i’, medd yr Arglwydd’ (Isa 55:8)

Imagine this scene: a child stands in front of their mother with an unhappy look upon their face. ‘But mummy’ they cry, ‘I want some pudding!’ The mother explains that they must eat their dinner first. However, the child remains unconvinced. As they become aware that they are not going to get their own way, they say the immortal words: ‘It’s not fair!’ Many of us would prefer sponge and custard to Brussels sprouts. It’s just more fun to eat. In 2026, we are mindful that we still live in a world where people go hungry. At a deep level we are all concerned by matters of fairness. Our God gives us a vision of justice, where in the words of the Magnificat: ‘He puts down the mighty from their seat and has exalted the humble and meek’.

Our readings this morning all have something of a paradoxical quality to them. Both the Scriptures, and the Christian concept of God, are rooted in paradox. The ability to hold two contradictory views should be impossible and yet it is not. There is a good reason for this: God is a mystery, knowable, yet hidden; understandable, yet beyond our grasp. It can sometimes be a struggle to understand these paradoxes. Whilst this struggle is part of the process of coming to know God, we also have accept the fact that our mental efforts can never be enough. We simply have to experience the mystery.

The prophet Isaiah proclaims the Divine message to bring Israel back to God: 

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts (Isa 55:6-7)

The message is clear and simple. There is a right way to live and a wrong way. The prophet’s task is to proclaim God’s message, to call people back:

let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. (Isa 55:7)

God longs to treat humanity with compassion, and to forgive our human failings. He is a God of love and mercy, both in the Old Testament and in the New. In Scripture there is a consistent message of how God creates everything, sees that it is good, and loves what He has made. Our Heavenly Father is generous and loving because that is who He is. God cannot be otherwise. 

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord (Isa 55:8)

If God were to think and act in a human way then all we could expect would be punishment for having sinned and fallen short of what is expected of us. However, God shows divine justice and mercy. Therefore, we can put our hope in His love to heal and restore us, to an extent that we, as humans, cannot even imagine:

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isa 55:9)

We are able to experience the mystery of divine love through the Church and her Sacraments, which are effective signs of grace that manifest God’s generous love in the world. These are just a part of the mystery of God’s love for us which we can never fully comprehend, this side of Heaven. 

In our second reading this morning, St Paul is writing to the first Christian community that he founded in Europe. He is under house arrest in Rome, facing trial and execution. It is a joyful letter, arguably his most joyful letter, despite being written as Paul faces martyrdom. As a society we have become more afraid of death and dying, and the subject of our own end is something many of us would prefer not to think about. For Paul, however,

to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil 1:21)

The Apostle states that if he lives, he will live in Christ, and he will proclaim the truth of the Gospel with his words and with his deeds. Paul believes that if he dies it is gain, because his death will bear witness to Jesus, by sharing in His suffering and death. Paul has hope in the resurrection to eternal life in Christ.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues His teaching about the Kingdom of Heaven with the Parable of the Labourers in the Vineyard. Our Lord explains that God’s Kingdom is a place where human values are turned on their head: 

So the last will be first, and the first last. (Mt 20:16)

This is why the first labourers to be paid are those who have only worked for only one hour. By the time the labourers who have toiled the full twelve hours come to be paid they expect to be given more, even though they had agreed on the standard wage for their day’s labour. The parable is fundamentally about salvation. Salvation is a gift from God and not a reward for work done by humanity. We cannot earn it. Instead, we receive it freely from a loving and generous God. Likewise there are no grades of salvation, just as there are no classes of Christian. We are all one. In the Kingdom of God we all are equal. 

This equality is a radical statement by Jesus. It is a clear declaration that God’s grace is abundant and inexhaustible, and is freely offered to all who accept it. There is no such thing as a higher rank of Christian. God treats us all in the same way and loves each and every one of us. Though I serve God and His people as a priest, I was not chosen for this role by being a better Christian in the first place. Clergy are not superior Christians. All the baptized are equal in the sight of God. This morning’s gospel reminds us of the important truth that salvation is the free gift of God, which we receive in our Baptism and which is strengthened through the Sacraments of the Church. We cannot earn our way to Heaven!

Speaking of Heaven, we often forget the fact that it is full of people who have sinned. However, they are loved by God and love God, and trust in His mercy and forgiveness. The more we experience and understand the overwhelming love and generosity of God, the more marvellous it becomes. To repeat the prophet Isaiah, God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, His ways are not our ways. 

As Christians we need to respond to God’s generous love. If we are to be truly thankful then our gratitude should affect who we are and how we live our daily lives. As we prepare to give thanks to God for another harvest safely gathered in, we share what we have, so that our harvest offerings will feed the hungry, and bring joy to those in need. By doing so, we put our faith into practice and make the Kingdom of God more visible. United with all creation, we sing the praise of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion, and power, now and forever. Amen.

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Trinity IV – The Good Samaritan

This year I have re-kindled my love of reading fiction. I have been introduced to some new authors by books lent to me by friends and neighbours or recommended by my wife. Taking time to lose yourself in a good book is one of life’s greatest (and cheapest) pleasures. Everybody loves a good yarn. Stories are also a useful way to make a point and to convey a deeper truth about human nature. They help us to understand who we are and how we should live. As Jesus travels from Galilee to Jerusalem He teaches, using parables, vivid stories we know and love. As I said, everyone likes to hear a good yarn, but the parables are much more than that. Jesus uses parables to explain the Kingdom and His Mission — who He is, and what He is doing — so that His followers can understand and share that knowledge with others.

In today’s Gospel, Our Lord encounters a legal expert. This lawyer wants to put Jesus to the test, to check whether what He says is acceptable under Jewish religious law. This man of the law asks Him: 

“Athro, beth a wnaf i etifeddu bywyd tragwyddol?”

“Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Lk 10:26)

Jesus replies by asking the lawyer to tell Him what is written in the Law, and questions how, as a legal expert, he interprets it. The man replies, by reciting scripture:

‘Câr yr Arglwydd dy Dduw â’th holl galon ac â’th holl enaid ac â’th holl nerth ac â’th holl feddwl, a châr dy gymydog fel ti dy hun.’

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself.” (Lk 10:27)

The first part of the lawyer’s answer is a quotation from the book of Deuteronomy (6:5), part of the Shema, a Jewish declaration of faith in God, which begins ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one’. The second part is a quotation from Leviticus (19:18). This summary of the Law outlines humanity’s duty both towards God and also towards our neighbours. This legal expert understands how he should behave, and how he should live his life. He has basically repeated Jesus’ teaching word-for-word. So far, so good. The lawyer then asks Our Lord another question:

‘Ond yr oedd ef am ei gyfiawnhau ei hun, ac meddai wrth Iesu, “A phwy yw fy nghymydog?”’

‘But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbour?”’ (Lk 10:29)

The lawyer wants to legitimise himself, and so he asks Jesus to define his terms. In a legal argument, this is a typical response. However, the lawyer’s motives are questionable. He is interested in self-justification, in making himself look good. Our Lord is happy to answer, and does so with a parable: The Parable of the Good Samaritan. This well-known story is set on road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Despite being a major route, it is steep and windy (a bit like some of the roads around here!), dropping over three thousand feet in seventeen miles. The road takes a traveller through lots of empty desert land, where bandits made a living robbing travellers. The sight of someone who has been attacked and robbed was probably not an unusual one along this route. 

In the parable, a priest and a Levite pass by one such victim, crossing to the other side as they do not wish to become ritually impure. Under Jewish law, if they touched a dead body, they would become unclean, and unable to offer sacrifice and worship in the Temple until they had been ritually cleansed. Rather than risk this, these Temple officials assume that the man is dead and simply pass on by. Soon afterwards another traveller sees the man who has been attacked:

‘Ond daeth teithiwr o Samariad ato; pan welodd hwn ef, tosturiodd wrtho. Aeth ato a rhwymo ei glwyfau, gan arllwys olew a gwin arnynt; gosododd ef ar ei anifail ei hun, a’i arwain i lety, a gofalu amdano.’

‘But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him.’ (Lk 10:33-34)

Samaritans and Jews generally kept separate from each other. They had profound theological differences, and the Jews worshipped on Mt Zion, while the Samaritans worshipped on Mt Gerizim. When the Jews went into exile in Babylon, the Samaritans remained behind. Despite the fact that they all worshipped the same God, they were completely estranged from each other. However, the Samaritan has compassion. He is deeply moved to help someone in need, and so he crosses the cultural boundaries and takes care of the man. We are told that he pours oil and wine on the injured man. This was current medical practice. It was also what one would do at a sacrifice at the Temple. Therefore, it is possible that Jesus’ image relates to some words of the prophet Hosea:

‘Oherwydd ffyddlondeb a geisiaf, ac nid aberth, gwybodaeth o Dduw yn hytrach na phoethoffrymau.’

‘For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.’ (Hosea 6:6)

The priest and the Levite are concerned with sacrifice and purity, but the Samaritan shows the mercy that God desires. He binds up the injured man’s wounds, treats them, brings him to an inn, and takes care of his needs. The parable shows true love and mercy in action.

Traditionally the Church has also seen deeper meanings at work in this story. It has understood the Parable of the Good Samaritan in a symbolic way, which explains both the human condition, and Christ’s saving work. In one reading, the traveller represents Adam, and stands for all humanity. His wounds are those of sin and disobedience. The Samaritan is Jesus, the one who has compassion on us. The inn stands for the Church, the place where sinners are healed, and the oil and wine are the sacraments of the Church, which heal us. However, Christ is also the man wounded for our transgressions, who suffers for humanity, to heal our wounds.

Such an interpretation shows us how rich this parable is. Jesus tells it to His followersas He is travelling up to Jerusalem — the place where He will suffer and die. Our Lord is teaching His disciples what they need to understand in order to put mercy and love into action. Love and mercy are signs of the Kingdom of God. God’s Kingdom is where Jesus reigns from the Cross. It is where Christ overcomes sin and Death, to offer eternal life to all humanity. This is why St Paul can write:

‘Oherwydd gwelodd Duw yn dda i’w holl gyflawnder breswylio ynddo ef, a thrwyddo ef, ar ôl gwneud heddwch trwy ei waed ar y groes, i gymodi pob peth ag ef ei hun, y pethau sydd ar y ddaear a’r pethau sydd yn y nefoedd.’

‘Because God wanted all perfection to be found in him and all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and everything on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.’ (Col 1:19-20)

Our Lord’s Passion is a work of reconciliation. It is the job of every Christian to carry on that work. The Parable of the Good Samaritan is also about the reconciliation of people from different cultures — through Christ. Today Christians from so many different backgrounds gather together to read and study scripture. To pray together. To be healed and nourished by God, through the Sacraments. Both Baptism and the Eucharist are outward signs of spiritual grace, the power of God to heal, reconcile, and transform us all. We are gathered today in the ‘inn’ of the Church, so that God can heal us, and strengthen us to go out and share God’s saving love with others.

Following the example of the Good Samaritan, may we also be agents of God’s love and grace in the world. May we transform our homes, our communities, and the whole world. Filled with God’s love, compassion, and healing, let us give glory to God, Duw Dad, Duw y Mab, a Duw yr Ysbryd Glân. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. I’r hwn y priodoler pob gogoniant, arglwyddiaeth, a gallu, yn awr, ac yn oes oesoedd. To whom be ascribed all glory, dominion and power, now and forever. Amen.

James Tissot – The Good Samaritan (Brooklyn Museum)
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Trinity Sunday 2024: Transformed by God’s Love: Exploring the Trinitarian Faith and Sacramental Life

WE are all extremely fortunate to live in North Pembrokeshire for many reasons, and especially because we are close to so many hills. Mountains and hills take a lot of effort to climb, but once you have ascended, you can see for miles around. Hilltops are special places, and today’s Gospel takes place on one. Also, many other important and significant moments in Matthew’s Gospel take place on mountains including the Temptation, the Sermon on the Mount, the Transfiguration, and the Crucifixion. Our Lord also speaks His final words before his Ascension on a hilltop. 

Last Sunday we celebrated Pentecost, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the Church: a revelation of who God is, and how much God loves us, His people. This week we continue to meditate upon God’s love. This love forms a relationship so intimate that God is closer to us than we are to ourselves — that is something quite hard to get our heads around! Above all, God’s love is something to be experienced, rather than understood. Through this experience God transforms us, so that we can experience that love more fully, and finally enjoy it for eternity, in Heaven.

In today’s Gospel Jesus’ disciples have been told to go to Galilee, to a particular mountain, to meet the Risen Lord. They are obedient, and head north from Jerusalem. When the disciples arrive at the mountain, they see Our Lord and bow down and worship Him — just like the Wise Men did at His birth. Some of the apostles, however, doubt. They have not yet fully grasped the reality of the situation: the fact that Jesus has risen from the dead, is preparing to ascend to His Father, and send the Holy Spirit. Before His Ascension, Jesus comes to them, and speaks to them saying:

‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.’

‘Rhoddwyd i mi, bob awdurdod yn y nef ac ar y ddaear’ (Mt 28:18)

This, at one level, is a grand claim to make. But, it is the fulfilment of a prophecy about the Son of Man made by the prophet Daniel:

‘And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.’

‘Rhoddwyd iddo arglwyddiaeth a gogoniant a brenhiniaeth, i’r holl bobloedd o bob cenedl ac iaith ei wasanaethu. Yr oedd ei arglwyddiaeth yn dragwyddol a digyfnewid, ac ni ddinistrir ei frenhiniaeth.’ (Dan 7:14)

Jesus is true God and true man. He fulfils the prophecies of scripture. He also has authority, which He shares with His Church, empowering it to act in His name.

Our Risen Lord tells the disciples to ‘Go therefore’ ‘Ewch, gan hynny’ (Mt 28:19). They are not to stay put, but are called to be active in the world. The Church is given a mission to: ‘make disciples of all nations’ ‘gwnewch ddisgyblion o’r holl genhedloedd’ (Mt 28:19). The disciples, having been taught by Jesus, are empowered to teach the faith to others. The Church has a universal mission. No-one is to be excluded or left out. As well as being proclaimers of the faith, the apostles are also instructed to baptize new converts:

‘baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’

‘gan eu bedyddio hwy yn enw’r Tad a’r Mab a’r Ysbryd Glân’ (Mt 28:19)

This small detail is important. It matters. From the very beginning, the Christian Faith is a Trinitarian Faith. We believe in One God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Three persons, bound together in love, who invite the world to be in a relationship with Them.

Our Eucharist this morning began, ‘Yn enw’r Tad, a’r Mab, a’r Ysbryd Glân, In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit’, because this is the God whom we worship. We express our belief in the words that we use, and also in our actions. Our deeds show in a physical way what we believe. As Christians, we are called to live out the faith of our baptism in our lives. God, who is love, has shown that love to the world through His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the sending of the Holy Spirit. To be a Christian is to have encountered that love, and been changed by it. We are changed in our baptism, when we are born again to new life in Christ. Also, we are changed each and every time we receive Holy Communion. By God’s grace, Communion, whether physical or spiritual, transforms us. Through this Sacrament we are united with Christ, so that we may become what He is, and share in the love which is the life of God.

Before Our Lord leaves His disciples He makes them a promise:

‘And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’

‘Ac yn awr, yr wyf fi gyda chwi bob amser hyd ddiwedd amser.’ (Mt 28:20)

We are not alone. Christ is with us. He hears our prayers, and speaks to us in Scripture. This is very comforting to know. Jesus is with us in three ways. Firstly, through the sending of the Holy Spirit. Secondly, by being in the Church, which is His Body, and of which He is the Head. And thirdly, in the Sacraments which are outward signs of inward spiritual Grace. All these things are freely given to transform us into children of God. These blessings allow us, and all Christians, to share in the very life 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.