Sunday Worship 4th October

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Christ Triumphant, Ever Reigning"

Today's Gospel

Matthew 21:33-end                               The Parable of the Wicked Tenants

“Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a winepress in it, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went away. When the harvest time had come, he sent his slaves to the tenants to collect his produce. But the tenants seized his slaves and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them in the same way. Then 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 get his inheritance.’ So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Now when 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 lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the produce at the harvest time.”

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 amazing in our eyes’?

“Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people that produces its fruits. The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and it will crush anyone on whom it falls.”

When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.

Reflection

To understand the parable that forms the Gospel reading today, we really have to look at the Old Testament reading that precedes it from ‘The Book of Isaiah 5.1-7’. This is written in the form of a love song from God to his people. It is often called ‘The Song of the Unfruitful Vineyard’. In this, the prophet sings of a vineyard (Israel), planted on a fertile hill and tended with great care (by the people of Judah) cleared of stones, planted with choice vines, equipped with a watchtower and wine vat. 

Despite this care, the vineyard produces wild or rotten grapes instead of good fruit. 

God gives the people every opportunity to flourish and to thrive, but instead, time and again they produce only sour fruit – violence, bloodshed and exploitation. Therefore, God declares He will remove its hedge, break down its wall, and let it become a wasteland, unpruned, overgrown, and deprived of rain. God expected justice and righteousness but instead found horror and cries of distress.

Jesus is speaking this parable to his disciples and the crowds gathered. We must understand that he knew exactly who he was speaking to, and not least, who he was speaking about - the religious leaders, the pharisees and the scribes, and the people would have no doubt that he was drawing examples from the book of Isaiah, and relating to them in a round-about way that the leaders of this day, who were every bit as bad as those vineyards that Isaiah sang about! Jesus is warning them that the power and the privilege they enjoy as God’s chosen people is in dangerous waters – it can be removed easily if God wanted to do so. We might wonder why he is being so provocative, why so outspoken? Maybe he could have landed the parable more subtly, without the stark comparisons being made?  But here, Jesus is still in grave dispute with ‘those in charge’ over the loss of his cousin and his friend, John the Baptist, and whether they accepted he was a prophet. He has launched at them the parable of the Two Sons, and then goes straight into this parable, just in case they have not quite grasped the concept in the first place. 

In the parable, the prophets are sent (as the servants of the tenants) and are repeatedly killed by the tenants, (the Old Testament tells us that God’s prophets - including John the Baptist, are killed time and again by the people God has sent them to), until God sends his own Son, and then sure enough, they plot and plan to kill him too, (which of course they go on and succeed with also). 

On first reading this parable, it can feel a little bleak – where is the hope as the story builds? But then, of course, comes the crux of the matter, as Jesus quotes Psalm 118: “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” Even though the tenants kill the Son, the parable points beyond death to resurrection: The rejected stone becomes the cornerstone and the Son’s death leads to the kingdom being opened to new people who will bear fruit. 

The hope is that God’s love, patience, justice, and kingdom cannot be stopped — not by corrupt leaders, not by violence, not even by the killing of His Son.

In times gone by, people sometimes mistakenly thought that when Jesus says the vineyard will be given to “others who will produce fruit,” this was a rejection of his chosen ‘people’ Israel, and at this point, promotes Christianity to the theological ‘number one’. However, this is a dangerous path to tread. At no point does God reject his chosen people – they were chosen, they remain chosen. He is not talking about replacing Jews with Christians. He means that the covenant is open to all nations, that those who respond to Jesus will be welcomed and become a faithful community of fruit bearers. Christianity does not replace Judaism; it teaches that God entrusts His kingdom to all who respond faithfully — an invitation open to Jews, Gentiles, and anyone who bears fruit. In Romans, Paul explains this beautifully – he explains that God does not plant a new tree. He says there is one tree, the covenant people of God, rooted in the patriarchs. Christians are not a new tree, we are wild branches grafted in. The simple truth is the original tree remains beloved, chosen, and alive. But the new branches keep it thriving. 

What was rejected becomes the foundation, what was wild is now welcome, what was broken is now healed. What hope can be found here, what love is demonstrated and what inclusion we receive.

As we journey through this next week or so, let us check that we have our hearts and minds on being the good and robust fruit bearers Jesus called us to be. As the parable states, ‘this was the Lord’s doing, and it is amazing in our eyes’  Rev Kirsten x

Our Prayers

Father God, thank you that your love is wider than our boundaries and your mercy deeper than our understanding.

You have tended one tree through all generations, welcoming all who turn to you, grafting all by grace. May the rejected stone become our cornerstone, and may your kingdom bear fruit in us, in justice, kindness, and courage, for the healing of the world you love. 

Amen.

Today's final hymn is "I, The Lord of Sea and Sky"

Notices

Next Sunday is our Harvest Festival, and there will only be one service in our parish, at 11.15 at St Thomas' Church.

Sunday Worship 27th September

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "At the Name of Jesus"

Today's Gospel

Matthew 21:23-32 The Authority of Jesus Questioned

When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

“What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.”

Reflection

In today’s gospel passage we hear Matthew’s account of Jesus’ authority being challenged.  So before we go any further it is perhaps useful to think about who was challenging him and why. 

The people who were challenging Jesus’ authority were the Pharisees, Scribes and elders of the temple. They were the leaders. 

The Chief Priests could trace their spiritual connections back to Moses. The Scribes were the most learned theologians in Jewish society. The Elders had many years of experience and had the unquestioning respect of the people. 

They had significant religious and political power and did not want to give that up to anyone else. They not only wanted the power but they craved the recognition and the prestige. So much so that some of them showed no compassion for the poor and the sick and they despised those they judged to be sinners. 

So, why did they challenge Jesus?

They have no doubt heard the stories of the prophet John the Baptist who was baptising  thousands and thousand of people in the River Jordan – a baptism of repentance and encouraging them to turn away from their sinful ways. 

Then along comes Jesus. The, so called, prophet from Nazareth – the one who John the Baptist referred to as the Lamb of God. The one who has healed the sick, cured the lame and brought the dead back to life. The one who when he entered Jerusalem on a donkey was celebrated and acclaimed as the Messiah – the anointed one who will save the world. 

Then, the first thing Jesus does when he enters the courts of the Temple is to cause havoc – overturning the tables of the money changers and the traders who were exploiting the worshippers with the complicit approval of the leaders. He then proceeds to cure the lame and sick within the Temple, thereby blatantly demonstrating his divine power to heal human brokenness and associated with the marginalised and outsiders. He was challenging the power of the leaders. 

But not with might or wealth, he was challenging them with compassion and love. He was challenging them about their own neglect. Their inability to lead by example and to follow God’s will. He was challenging their inability to care for the people of God because of their own corruptness and love of power.

Everything Jesus said and did was confrontational; and a challenge to their status and power.

So they in turn challenged Jesus and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” 

But Jesus has absolutely no intention of getting engaged in some abstract debate about the nature of his authority. He didn’t need to show off to prove that his authority is greater than theirs. He had already demonstrated his authority.

The authority of Jesus was worked out in his welcoming of sinners and prostitutes. The authority of Jesus was worked out in his welcoming of little children. The authority of Jesus was worked out in his welcoming of the outcasts and those on the margins. 

So instead, he asks them a question that will cause them to struggle and be forced to reflect on the true nature of authority itself. Jesus asks, “Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?”

They are flummoxed and unable to answer, because as Matthew rightly explains, no matter what they said, the answer was bound to cause upset to someone or other. If they agreed that John the Baptist’s ministry came from God, then Jesus would say, “So why didn’t you listen to him and follow him?” But if they said that his ministry was not from God, then the crowds would have turned on them because they loved John the Baptist and believed he was a prophet.

 

So they are forced to concede and reply that they cannot answer. In doing so, they exposed themselves for who they really were….. their chief concern was to protect their standing in society and to protect their reputations. They didn’t give an answer because they were frightened they would lose that privilege. 

We might therefore ask - In a fractured world full of conflict both international and local, how does this apply to us today? 

The lessons of this Gospel reading have intense messages for all leaders, and people in authority, be that at national government level, in our church, or even a local football team. The key to how we respond is always to address the question, are we going to put God’s will or our own first?

Are we prepared to stand up for what is true and right in the eyes of God and to live out our ministries by the standards of Jesus? Are we prepared to show spiritual and political leadership do what we know is right? Are we willing to make personal and even courageous sacrifices to do what is right - even at the expense of personal gain and popularity. 

Are we doing God’s will in the things we do and say, and are we, like Jesus, putting others first and loving one another?         Rev. Paul

Our Prayers

Heavenly Father, We pray for leaders and people in power. 

For those who lead countries, organisations and churches 

to those who lead local voluntary groups and societies. 

Help us all to work for the benefit and good of everyone 

and to be fair and equitable in all we do.

In Jesus’ name we pray.  

Amen

Today's final hymn is "Lord, For the Years"

Notices

Sunday Worship 20th September

 Sunday Worship

Welcome to Sunday Worship in Leesfield Parish on the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity. Our Church Services this morning are at the usual times of 9.15 at St Agnes' and 11.15 at St Thomas'.

If you are unable to be with us in person, you will find resources below to worship at home.

Our first hymn this morning is "Praise to the Holiest in the Height"

Today's Gospel

Matthew 20:1-16                 The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard

 ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the labourers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place;  and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the labourers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Reflection

          How many times have those of us who have had children to look after heard the words, ‘it’s not fair’? Especially where another sibling is involved? How many times have we thought it ourselves – I imagine if we are really honest, probably only in the past few weeks or so? When we might feel overlooked for something we think we have done well and has gone seemingly unnoticed, or someone takes the credit for something we have done. Often when we compare what we have or where we are at in our lives against others who seem to be doing so much better. ‘It’s just not fair’.

And today’s gospel parable is that very moment. The workers chosen first to work in the vineyard have toiled in the heat of the day, sweated and laboured for the boss, and get paid a fair day's wages. And then along come the next workers and the next, until gradually the last employed have only had to work an hour or so. Yet they all receive the same payment. Its just not fair! 

In the parable, those who have only toiled for an hour do not fare any better than those who have toiled all day, they come away with the same reward, and we can be forgiven for wondering, ‘where is the justice in that’. And this does not sit well with us. Our understanding of the Bible is generally that it challenges injustice, so that all God’s people can stand tall and be counted.

In this reading, everybody receives their share – nobody is underpaid, nobody is cheated out of what was rightfully theirs. But they all receive the same grace from God. The same salvation is available to all - no conditions attached. You may have read ‘Animal Farm’ by George Orwell – there is a line in it, ‘all animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others’. This book reflects the author’s thoughts on the Russian Revolution, where equality was the goal, but was soon manipulated beyond anything it had sought to put right. But here in God’s Kingdom, everyone gets their equal slice of the pie, the Kingdom of Heaven.

What Jesus seeks to educate about in this parable is that in God’s Kingdom, the expected norms are turned upside down. Salvation at the grace of God is offered. It is not a reward that can be earned. The Kingdom of Heaven does not have Penthouse rooms that the most deserving can aspire to. There are no ‘additional extras for loyal customers’ who have been visiting churches for years. There is grace extended to all who acknowledge that God is God, that Jesus Christ is King, and turn their hearts towards that light. Turning towards that light can never be mastered. We never reach a point where we have it ‘in the bag’. It is a daily commitment, where every time we slip into old ways, let ourselves down, do something we ought not to do, think we are more important than we are, put our needs before others, we can turn back into the light and acknowledge our weakness. This is not so much as feeling bad about our errors, and punishing ourselves, but about putting ourselves back on the right track, however many times a day, a week, a year, a lifetime it might take. 

When Jesus tells of the Vineyard Manager who speaks to those remaining in the market place, asking why they have been idle, they reply, ‘because nobody hired us’. They have waited to be shown, they have not been proactive, but they have been obedient and gone to the market place and are then happy to be shepherded. Jesus does not punish them for that, nor treat them any less. He knows that we cannot do it on our own, we need guidance from those around us and ultimately from God to show us where we need to be.

Last week we had our Confirmation service, with 33 disciples being confirmed in their faith by Bishop Mark - and what a joyful occasion. But there were no better seats or higher prizes for people who had been coming to church for years or people who were relatively new to it. There was the same welcome, blessing and presentation for each who gave their hearts to Jesus. 

As a hospital chaplain, I was asked a number of times, ‘is it too late to know Jesus’ by people whose earthly lives were ending. What a privilege to share this parable with them. To know that in turning to Him, we get His grace for toiling in His vineyard. Those who have known Jesus longer have had the joy of knowing him longer, but the salvation offered is the same whether a King or an addict. Whether we were born by chance in a wealthy place or in a place of poverty. If we turn into his light, and when we see his shining, beautiful face turn upon us, those differences will slip away. It is up to each of us to reflect that light into a world that is broken and hurting. Amen. 

Rev Kirsten x

Our Prayers

Heavenly Father, 

We thank you for the chance to toil in your vineyard and allowing us to be guided to and by you.

Help and guide us to share this joy abundantly, with all whom we encounter.

In Jesus name we pray. 

Amen

Today's final hymn is "Father God I Wonder"

Notices

Details of upcoming events can be seen in the posters below