Sermon for 22 September 2002, 8.00am Communion, St Mary Magdalen, Sheet, published on www.trikeshed.com

Bible readings: Philippians 1:21-end, Matthew 20:1-16

This is the first Sunday service of our interregnum. How do you feel about it? After the tears and the laughter of last Sunday I must confess to a certain very human anxiety. I’m anxious about this period of time without the guidance and reassurance of our vicar, and I’m anxious too about who will be our new vicar (I can’t really say replace Sarah). I shouldn’t be, but I am.

Well there’s plenty of anxiety in our two Bible readings, which is kind of reassuring in itself. Paul in his letter to the Philippians has quite a strange sort of worry. He’s worried because he doesn’t know whether he wants to live or to die! He is in prison, we don’t know for sure where or when - possibly far away in Rome, or maybe in Ephesus, but wherever he is he’s had his share of suffering at the hands of the authorities, whether they’ve been stirred up by the Jews or whether they on their own account have got worried that he’s undermining the state religion. He has made many enemies so death is a real possibility. And yet when he begins to think about it he realises it’s not necessarily a completely bad thing. He has experienced the reality of meeting Jesus in his life, but if he dies he will be even closer to him, as in those famous words in another letter, "now we see in a mirror dimly, then we shall see face to face". So death can be something to look forward to, but then that leaves him with a sense of unease, because death may sometimes be attractive but somehow he shouldn’t want to die.

Our Gospel reading has a different and a kind of anxiety hidden within it. This is the parable of the workers in the vineyard, and the landowner who hires some very early, say 6 or 7 am, some more at 9, more at noon, then 3pm, and even at 5pm. They all clock off at 6pm and, scandalously, all receive the same wages. A 12 to 1 pay disparity! Enough to bring the most moderate out! Now just think about these different groups of people, the early starters, the middle brigade and the eleventh-hour layabouts. Which group has the most anxiety? The ones who were unemployed most of the day? We might think so, but let’s take a look. There’s a subtlety about how the deal is offered each time by the landowner. The early birds were the ones who needed the offer made most clearly, they had to know they were getting their denarius and so that was what the landowner offered. The ones who weren’t hired until after coffee or after lunch were simply told they would get a fair wage, and the leftovers were not offered anything at all, just told to go off and work. So the most anxious crowd were probably the early starters. They had more to lose.

So we have Paul worrying whether he wants to live or die, and the workers worrying about how much pay they’ll get. All part of life’s rich pattern. So what happens to this anxiety? Well both Paul and our Lord Jesus in very different ways have a clear message. Three simple words: It doesn’t matter! These words will get repeated quite a lot because it’s a theme which links our readings. For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain. It doesn’t matter. And one denarius is what you receive – it doesn’t matter how long you’ve worked. Whatever’s bugging you, it needn’t. Somehow God’s love for us is so enfolding whatever awkward angle we may be sticking out at, it’s all the same to him, he can cover it over. Now nothing is static in this Christian life – that’s for sure. The Holy Spirit is on the move! He can take us by the hand and lead us from anxiety to a God-given sense that whatever is giving rise to our anxiety really doesn’t matter. The Church hasn’t been too hot on this over the centuries. She seems to prefer hang-ups rather than pack up her troubles. This is one of those areas, I think, where eastern spirituality seems to have something to teach us.

But, as I said, the Holy Spirit is on the move. This journey doesn’t end with "it doesn’t matter". It is the truth but it isn’t enough. Because to God it really does matter. Paul as he goes on this journey guided by the Spirit starts out worried, he then tells himself it doesn’t matter at all, and in that moment of relief and relaxation he listens to God. And he becomes convinced (as he says himself) that he should remain alive as an encouragement and an example to his friends in Christ. And maybe because he has faced this question of death with such equanimity, because he has allowed himself to be taken on this journey, he is now able to speak with exceptional clarity and courage. It’s very courageous what he says. So much of his experience has been suffering at the hands of authority – even in Philippi, where he’s writing to, he was thrown into jail. And what does he say? "Conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ". The words used actually have the sense of "be good citizens". This is of an empire whose regime has been persecuting him. He gives such amazing encouragement and it comes from the heart. Particularly, "do not be frightened in any way by those who oppose you". It’s a good message for us. We may not be a suffering or persecuted church, but if I can come back to our interregnum, it’s an exciting but also a quite dangerous time in so many ways. So Paul’s words are very true for us and when we see the process that has gone on in his mind and how close it is to our experience, their impact is magnified.

And what are we to make of the landowner with his quirky economic principles? His journey is backwards and forwards to the market place; the Holy Spirit takes us from the anxiety of the fair deal to the wonderful "so what?" of his decision to pay the same to everyone, but where does it lead? What’s it all about? Is this a parable to teach us how to organise labour? Well perhaps not, though it’s good to be reminded that not everything has to be reckoned and measured and weighed and timed. Is it something to do with the Jews and the Gentiles; the Jews being the early access partners as the business jargon has it and then the Gentiles coming along at the eleventh hour? Possibly, but it goes further than that. Just before the parable Jesus says, but many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. And at the end he says, So the last will be first and the first last. Now this is a great theme in the New Testament, think of Mary’s song, the Magnificat. It means for us, in this anxious and fearful generation, don’t be anxious, relax, it doesn’t matter, but also don’t presume on any status or position you may have. That can be turned upside down, but only according to God’s wonderful generosity. It’s funny, isn’t it, that everyone gets the same wages but does Jesus say "the first and last will all be the same"? No, he says the first shall be last and the last first. Well of course if you compare what they received with their expectations of what they deserved, then it becomes topsy-turvy. The message to us is that God will defy our expectations by doing something even better.

What’s the point then of being anxious? We can truly say it doesn’t matter, whatever it is we might be worrying about. But then God takes over and suddenly our well-being, our walk with him, our work, our reward, our role in his Church and our community, our unity and our strength now become, through the love of Jesus Christ, the most important matters in the world.

© Mike Knee, 2002

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