Sunday, September 21, 2008Preacher: Pastor Gary Johnson
Readings:
Jonah 3:10-4:11
Philippians 1:21-30
Philippians 1:21-30
Matthew 20:1-16
Audio sermon link: http://fileresource.sitepro.com/filemanager/74/filecollections/422/58D7D696-A6D0-8FAD-AD0F-137D918F06E3.mp3
Pastor Johnson started by mentioning that today’s Gospel lesson is often referred to as the Sermon of Affirmative Action. Hey, somebody’s getting’ somethin’ for nothin’. That ain’t fair!
We take pride in our work and our working, our having earned our keep. We define ourselves by “what we do”, by our “busy-ness”. In admiring our being busy, we buy into the adage that our value-added IS our value. THESE PEOPLE who show up at 5 o’clock? What’s with them?
And I’ve been here workin’ and sweatin’ you-know-what since 8!
But this is the Kingdom of Heaven … and there’s no accounting sheet here (see Pastor Mohn’s sermon from last week …). In here, it’s not about an hourly wage earned; it’s about forgiveness (10 times the number you speak times the number you speak), it’s about love, it’s about being there.
We see the Heavenly Father full of gleefulness if the Prodigal Son shows up at all!!! And if he doesn't show up, the Father will go out and look for him!
This IS your Father’s workplace!
As I listened to Pastor Johnson craftily weave the lesson and sermon with that of the Prodigal Son, I was reminded that I’ve heard sermons here before about how it’s “not about the son … it’s about the father”!
I was also taken over by a metaphor of an emergency: a burning building, a sinking ship. About how in times such as these, even when Mr. 5 O’clock shows up running for the elevator door or shows up just as the last life raft is about to cut loose … the Captain is ecstatic to see another person “in the SAVED column”. In that scenario, isn’t it just plausible we’d extend a hand to someone who “showed up at 5 o’clock and did ‘way less’ than we did to earn their passage”? Maybe, just maybe, at such a moment, we realize we never earn our passage anyway.
In the heat of the burning building, all the rules are changed. Would we push anyone out of the last staircase down to salvation?
Maybe, maybe not …. But in the regular old Monday Morning working world, when we show up at 8 o’clock everyday and work ourselves hard and we watch Mr. 5 o’clock waste away his inheritance, squandering his keep, lulling around 
and then show up at closing time, we sure don’t expect he’s going to ge the fatted calf killed for the likes of him. Just as Pastor Mohn skillfully weaved Field of Dreams into yet another sermon last week, I’ll have to borrow it “one (last?) more time this week. When we see Mr. 5 O’clock get what we get for working since 8, we yell out “Hey, what’s in it for me?”
Pastor Johnson started by mentioning that today’s Gospel lesson is often referred to as the Sermon of Affirmative Action. Hey, somebody’s getting’ somethin’ for nothin’. That ain’t fair!
We take pride in our work and our working, our having earned our keep. We define ourselves by “what we do”, by our “busy-ness”. In admiring our being busy, we buy into the adage that our value-added IS our value. THESE PEOPLE who show up at 5 o’clock? What’s with them?
And I’ve been here workin’ and sweatin’ you-know-what since 8!
But this is the Kingdom of Heaven … and there’s no accounting sheet here (see Pastor Mohn’s sermon from last week …). In here, it’s not about an hourly wage earned; it’s about forgiveness (10 times the number you speak times the number you speak), it’s about love, it’s about being there.
We see the Heavenly Father full of gleefulness if the Prodigal Son shows up at all!!! And if he doesn't show up, the Father will go out and look for him!
This IS your Father’s workplace!
As I listened to Pastor Johnson craftily weave the lesson and sermon with that of the Prodigal Son, I was reminded that I’ve heard sermons here before about how it’s “not about the son … it’s about the father”!
I was also taken over by a metaphor of an emergency: a burning building, a sinking ship. About how in times such as these, even when Mr. 5 O’clock shows up running for the elevator door or shows up just as the last life raft is about to cut loose … the Captain is ecstatic to see another person “in the SAVED column”. In that scenario, isn’t it just plausible we’d extend a hand to someone who “showed up at 5 o’clock and did ‘way less’ than we did to earn their passage”? Maybe, just maybe, at such a moment, we realize we never earn our passage anyway.
In the heat of the burning building, all the rules are changed. Would we push anyone out of the last staircase down to salvation?
Maybe, maybe not …. But in the regular old Monday Morning working world, when we show up at 8 o’clock everyday and work ourselves hard and we watch Mr. 5 o’clock waste away his inheritance, squandering his keep, lulling around 
and then show up at closing time, we sure don’t expect he’s going to ge the fatted calf killed for the likes of him. Just as Pastor Mohn skillfully weaved Field of Dreams into yet another sermon last week, I’ll have to borrow it “one (last?) more time this week. When we see Mr. 5 O’clock get what we get for working since 8, we yell out “Hey, what’s in it for me?”I listened to the Voice, I did everything it told me to do and not once did I ask “What’s in it for me?”
Who’s this Terence Mann guy you just invite into the cornfield when I BUILT IT???
Our Mr. 8 O’clock is very recognizable. They’re the ones taking care of their aging parent, making sure they’re at their doctor’s appointments, taking their medicine; they’re there when they get sick, they’re the ones calling the distant brothers and sisters, they’re the one there when their aging parent dies, they’re holding the reins, day after hot and scorching day … they’re in the hot vineyard. And they're more than likely Ms. or Mrs. 8 o'clock. And then Mr. 5 O’clock flies in from California for the funeral. And when he walks in, the surviving parent, their Mom lights up like a Christmas tree and hugs them ‘til it hurts. And Mom says, “I’m SO glad you’re here”.
The dutiful 8 o’clock sister or brother of the 5 o’clock prodigal son says “You have no idea what working in the scorching sun is, do you?
Who’s this Terence Mann guy you just invite into the cornfield when I BUILT IT???
Our Mr. 8 O’clock is very recognizable. They’re the ones taking care of their aging parent, making sure they’re at their doctor’s appointments, taking their medicine; they’re there when they get sick, they’re the ones calling the distant brothers and sisters, they’re the one there when their aging parent dies, they’re holding the reins, day after hot and scorching day … they’re in the hot vineyard. And they're more than likely Ms. or Mrs. 8 o'clock. And then Mr. 5 O’clock flies in from California for the funeral. And when he walks in, the surviving parent, their Mom lights up like a Christmas tree and hugs them ‘til it hurts. And Mom says, “I’m SO glad you’re here”.
The dutiful 8 o’clock sister or brother of the 5 o’clock prodigal son says “You have no idea what working in the scorching sun is, do you?
And you get the same as I do?!? ”
Who’s this Terence Mann guy you just invite into the cornfield when I BUILT IT???
Sounds like Ray gets a little angry. Well, when the lost son is found, who can be angry with the Father for his joy in finding him again. No matter what kind of scoundrel the son is, who can fault a father for crying tears of joy when he finds him and pulls him into that lifeboat or from that burning building?
You see … at that moment, it might be a good time to just stop and think; to think about what has brought the brother home … because, Pastor Johnson reminds us, often it is from around a corner where they have bottomed out, realizing that “back home” is their ONLY option. They have had some moment of dire realization, of transformation. Their road out might have been filled with wine, women, and philanderin’, but their road back was a tougher one.
To us who think we’ve been working since 8, it isn’t fair. To Mr. 8 O'clock, he's been trying to earn his Father's love, not realizing he already had it all along. To Mr. 5 O'clock, it's a hard look in the mirror that brings him to realize that home's the only place he's got left, the only road to salvation. To God, it’s about EVERYBODY, Mr. 8 O’clock AND Mr. 5 O’clock getting a FULL measure of God’s grace.
Who’s this Terence Mann guy you just invite into the cornfield when I BUILT IT???
Sounds like Ray gets a little angry. Well, when the lost son is found, who can be angry with the Father for his joy in finding him again. No matter what kind of scoundrel the son is, who can fault a father for crying tears of joy when he finds him and pulls him into that lifeboat or from that burning building?
You see … at that moment, it might be a good time to just stop and think; to think about what has brought the brother home … because, Pastor Johnson reminds us, often it is from around a corner where they have bottomed out, realizing that “back home” is their ONLY option. They have had some moment of dire realization, of transformation. Their road out might have been filled with wine, women, and philanderin’, but their road back was a tougher one.
To us who think we’ve been working since 8, it isn’t fair. To Mr. 8 O'clock, he's been trying to earn his Father's love, not realizing he already had it all along. To Mr. 5 O'clock, it's a hard look in the mirror that brings him to realize that home's the only place he's got left, the only road to salvation. To God, it’s about EVERYBODY, Mr. 8 O’clock AND Mr. 5 O’clock getting a FULL measure of God’s grace.
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