Worship and Devotions

Welcome visitors and old friends. Welcome regardless of belief, ethnic background, sexual orientation, gender, socio-economic status, marital status, age, abilities, or life situation. Welcome believers and doubters as well as doubting believers. Welcome to share the fullness of Christ's love for the world!(Adapted from The welcome message from the Thomas Community in Finland. "Celebrating milestone moments" by Rev. Jukka Joensuu. Canada Lutheran January/February 2024 Vol. 39 No. 1; chorus of ELW 523)

Sunday September 20, 2026

Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost

Matthew narrates one of Jesus’ controversial parables in which Jesus says that the reign of God is like that of a landowner who pays his workers the same wage no matter what time of day they began to work. When God changes God’s mind about punishing Nineveh for their evil ways, Jonah is angry. Yet God is gracious and merciful, abounding in steadfast love. In baptism we receive the grace of God that is freely given to all. As Martin Luther wrote, in the presence of God’s mercy we are all beggars.

In the beginning, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters. And God called them good.

Come Holy Spirit and cleanse the waters.

The prophet saw a river flowing from the Temple, and wherever the river flowed, everything lived.

Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the Earth.

Jesus cried out, "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me... Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water."

Come, Holy Spirit and heal your people.

(Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2026 page 20 adapted.)

Music

Shall We Gather At The River

Shall We Gather At The River | Hymn With Lyrics | Dementia Friendly

Readings

Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; Philippians 1:21-30

Gospel - Matthew 20:1-16

Alternate First Two Readings

Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145: 1-8

Gospel -Matthew 20:1-16

(Version from The Inclusive Bible)

Glory to you, O Lord.

Jesus tells a parable about God’s generosity, challenging the common assumption that God rewards people according to what they have earned or deserve.

¹“The kindom of heaven is like the owner of an estate who went out at dawn to hire workers for the vineyard. ²After reaching an agreement with them for the usual daily wage, the owner sent them out to the vineyard. ³About mid-morning, the owner came out and saw others standing around the marketplace without work, ⁴and said to them,‘Yougo along to my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is fair.’ ⁵ At that they left. Around noon and again in the mid-afternoon, the owner came out and did the same. ⁶Finally, going out late in the afternoon, the owner found still others standing around and said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day?’ ⁷‘No one has hired us,’ they said. The owner said, “You go to my vineyard too.’ ⁸When evening came, the owner said to the overseer, ‘Call the workers and give them their pay, but begin with the last group and end with the first.’ ⁹When those hired late in the afternoon came up, they received a full day’s pay, ¹⁰ and when the first group appeared they assumed they would get more. Yet they all received the daily wage. ¹¹Thereupon they complained to the owner, ¹²‘This last group did only an hour’s work, but you’ve put them on the same basis as those who worked a full day in the scorching heat.’ ¹³ ‘My friends,’ said the owner to those who voiced this complaint, I do you no injustice. You agreed on the usual wage, didn’t you? ¹⁴Take your pay and go home. I intend to give this worker who was hired last the same pay as you. ¹⁵I’m free to do as I please with my money, aren’t I? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ ¹⁶Thus the last will be first and the first will be last.

The Gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, O Christ.

Sermon

The Ocean Depth of Grace by Pastor Carol Dennison

Matthew 20:1-16 Cf. Jonah 3:10-4:11

When last we met in person, we heard Peter confess that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. What has happened since then?

Jesus began to tell them that he must go to Jerusalem, suffer greatly at the hands of the leaders, chief priests and scribes, be killed and be raised on the third day. (Matthew 16:21)

Peter told him there was no way that was going to happen and Jesus called him Satan and a stumbling block! Jesus also told them those who became his followers must take up their cross and follow him- implying it will cost them their lives.

Then the Transfiguration happens and Peter, James and John are there! God’s voice comes to them telling them ““This is my Son, the Beloved; with him I am well pleased; listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)

Coming down from the mountain, Jesus heals an epileptic child and tells them again what is going to happen to him: “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into human hands, and they will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.”(Matthew 17:2-23)

They return to Capernaum where he spends a lot of time teaching them about forgiveness and humility! We have been hearing some of that these past few Sundays. Finally, Jesus sets out for Jerusalem with his disciples. What teaching will Jesus be trying to emphasize on this last leg of the journey towards his death?

Jesus is questioned by some Pharisees about marriage and divorce and tells them that it is the hardheartedness of humans that has resulted in divorce being allowed. Instead they should follow the path of faithfulness in marriage or not get married at all. This upsets his disciples too!

Then people bring their children for Jesus to bless and the disciples try to put them off. Instead Jesus tells them to let the children come to him because they are just the sort of people to whom the kindom of heaven belongs. We are not told how the disciples took that.

Next a rich young man comes and asks Jesus a question our world would relate to with ease: What must I do to have eternal life? Under Jesus’ questioning he says he has kept all the commandments so what else does he need to do? Sell your possessions, give the money to the poor and come, follow me. The young man leaves grieving. Jesus then tells his disciples that it is very, very difficult for the rich to enter the kindom of heaven which so astonishes the disciples- don’t the rich get whatever they want?- and they ask Jesus, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus replies that while it is impossible for humans, nothing is impossible for God.

Peter then asks a more personal question: We’ve left everything to follow you. What will we have?

Jesus promises that when the Son of Man comes in his glory to judge the world, the twelve will sit on thrones to judge the twelve tribes of Israel. That sounds good! Then Jesus continues: Everyone who leaves all for my sake will receive a hundred times more and inherit eternal life. Then he makes an even more unusual statement: Many who are first will be last and the last will be first.

What? That doesn’t sound right or fair!

Then Jesus tells the parable we have just heard. It reflects a society under Roman rule where heavy Roman taxes bring many into debt and result in their land being taken to become huge estates often owned by the rich or by absentee landlords. Some are permitted to become tenant farmers, but many others can only find work as day labourers working for near-starvation wages. Note that the denarius, the usual daily wage, is only enough to keep they and their family going for a day. The alternative is begging, or being sold as slaves to pay their debts.

In the parable it is the owner of an estate who goes out to hire labourers for his vineyard. This is NOT usual. Ordinarily it is the manager who does that! Furthermore “vineyard” hearkens back to Isaiah , Jeremiah, and other prophets for whom this was a standard way of referring to “the house of Israel” thus inferring that this landowner is God. Those first hired agree to the usual daily wage. Each successive visit by the owner to the hiring place, results in more workers being hired and promised to receive what a fair wage. They may not earn enough but perhaps their families and they will able to have something to eat.

This is not the only unusual thing about the parable. When the end of the day comes, the owner tells the manager/overseer to pay the last workers first and they receive the usual daily wage, as do all the workers including those hired first who had agreed to work for this wage.

That’s not fair! We worked all day and they only worked part of it!

That’s what you agreed to, isn’t it. I choose to pay these others the same as you. I can spend my money as I please. Or are you envious because I am generous? Then comes the kicker: Thus the last will be first and the first will be last. When have we heard that before?

Immediately following the parable Jesus again tells them what is going to happen in a very few days: “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and on the third day he will be raised.” (Matthew 20:18-19) The response by James and John is to seek places of honour at his right and left when he comes in his glory!

What’s in it for me? How will I be honoured? Why should you save them? They don’t deserve it and I do! We can relate to these questions. Yet this parable and our reading from Jonah instead focus on what song writer Leoni calls “The ocean depth of grace…” (“God, how can we forgive” God, How Can We Forgive (Leoni)) God’s favour, love, gifts, provision, care are not earned by us but given by God. Our work and our actions, our love and care for others and creation, are a response to this endless grace of God.

Despite the fact that we have learned about this we are often like Jonah, who knowing God is “a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness, relenting from violence” (Jonah 3:2b), tries to run away from having to show love, forgiveness and care to everyone and is angry with God when God shows the Ninevites mercy. We want them to suffer, we want them to fail, we want them to get what we feel is coming to them. Yet God says to us, as God said to Jonah and to the disciples: I created all of you, the whole universe. I gave birth to all of you, I love you, and I sent my Son, Jesus, to live among you, to show you what I am like, and to suffer, die and rise again so that your sins are forgiven, and you can be assured of my love, my Presence, my care for you always. I sent my Holy Spirit to live in you, to guide you, to show you the way. My grace is deeper than the deepest ocean, and never ends for you or for all people and all creation. I AM not you! My will is done on earth as in heaven. You ask me for that when you pray. Now accept that my will is for ALL people to live, to know me, to be saved! Rejoice in that grace and pass it on especially when you don’t want to do it, when you don’t like the people or think them unworthy! They also are worthy. I died for them too!

Let us pray. O God, help us to let go of our self-centeredness, our judging of others by our standards not yours, our lack of love for those we don’t think worthy. Help us to really mean it when we say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Help us to trust our lives to you, to bear the fruit of your Spirit, and to show your tenderness and compassion, kindness and mercy to all around us especially when we find that hard. Amen.

Music

Faith Begins By Letting Go

Faith Begins By Letting Go (With Lyrics) - ELW/ACS 1004 - Youtube

Prayers of Intercession

Reminded of God’s gracious and abundant love, we offer our prayers, confident that God hears us.

A brief silence.

Hold your church accountable for our unwillingness to share your good news and our anger at your generosity to others. Nourish us by your grace to be witnesses to your love. Encourage, sustain and guide our leaders, both lay and ordained. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Guide scientists and researchers studying responses to the climate crisis and bring all those who agreed on measures to ease climate change and slow or stop it, to carry through on their commitments. Turn all who govern away from selfish gain and toward your promise of good for all.Support those working to establish justice, and lasting peace, and bring about the restoration of truth, freedom, and human dignity. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

We pray for oceans burdened by plastic and chemical waste; for coral reefs bleached by warming seas; for great whales navigating through labyrinths of nylon and ghost nets; for the microscopic life, the plankton and the krill, now mingling with the invisible dust of synthetic waste; for the rivers that carry our runoff — the fertilizers, the dyes, and the heavy metals. Turn our guilt into grace and our apathy into action. Make us a people who live justly and bring healing to every shore and stream. Where water flows, Lord, let everything live, trees for food and leaves for healing. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Convert our hearts, O God. Where we have treated water as a commodity, teach us to receive it as a sacred gift. Where we have consumed without thought, teach us simplicity. Where we have used water without reverence, teach us to protect it as a gift entrusted to every generation and honour water as a source of life for all. Where we have been silent and tolerant of injustice make us courageous protectors of rivers, defenders of seas, and companions to those who suffer water injustice until justice and mercy flows like the river of life. Where water flows, Lord, let everything live, trees for food and leaves for healing. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Encourage any who cannot work or who cannot work a full day with the truth that their value comes from your everlasting love for them. Provide for those who are injured, ill, in mourning and for all in any need; the families of all who have died from toxic drug overdoses; the unhoused everywhere; the families of all murdered and missing Indigenous persons; all those affected by the wildfires, floods, landslides and earthquakes; and others whom we name in our heart. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Show employers the benefits of equal pay standards for all their employees. Reconcile conflicts between employees. Fill places of employment with camaraderie and bring an end to employment disparity. Hear us, O God. your mercy is great.

Strengthen all those in this congregation whose labor serves the needs of others in the community. Inspire all in this congregation to support community endeavors with our time and talents. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Here other intercessions may be offered.

Comfort us with the promise of the resurrection as we remember all our loved ones whose desire to be with Jesus is fulfilled. Hear us, O God, your mercy is great.

Grant the prayers we have offered, what we have forgotten to ask, and whatever else you see that we need. We ask this in Jesus’ name.

Amen.

Music

In Sacred Manner

In Sacred Manner - ELW/ACS 1071 - YouTube

Blessing

May the God who sprung water from a rock, quenching the thirst of those who wandered in fear, spare us from the drought of a senseless life. May the God who flows from the wells of salvation, and who is Living Water to the foreigner, the stranger, and the unknown, keep us in peace. May the God who rolls on like a river, changing the course of the world with streams of righteousness that guide the Church's vessel in this world, empower us to work for transformation. And may the blessing of our merciful God, the Father, + the Son, and the Holy Spirit, keep us and preserve us in eternal life. Amen. (Season of Creation Celebration Guide 2026 Anglican Episcopal Church of Brazil page 28 adapted.)