1st February Trinity 2010, Bread of Life

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20: 1-16

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

 1^st February Trinity

February 7, 2010

Matthew 20: 1 – 16

A kingdom is a realm or a sphere. It implies a boundary or border. In today’s reading Christ uses the term ‘the kingdom of the heavens’. The way that He uses it, we cannot think of this kingdom of the heavens as a place in the afterlife, a place we can only enter after death. His kingdom of the heavens is a place here on the earth. It is a sort of parallel universe that happens alongside or within our earthly lives. Its boundaries are drawn by our awareness of it, our attention. It exists wherever the spiritual and the earthly are united in the now of the human heart.

This earthly-heavenly kingdom is a place where we are called to work, to engage our wills, in community with others. God calls each of us, wants to ‘hire’ anyone who is willing to work ‘heartily’ now, in and for this heavenly-earthly realm. God’s kingdom is created by His wish, His desire, that the spiritual and the earthly intersect. His reward, the day’s wage, is the same for all—we receive what we need to sustain us for the day’s work.

In the middle of each Act of Consecration of Man we pray, along with Christ, the words He taught us. They are the keys to the doorway to the Kingdom: May what the Father wants for the earth happen through our deeds. We can trust that we will be given daily nourishment that will sustain us for His work. With Christ, we pray to the Father:

May your kingdom extend itself

in our deeds and moral conduct.

May we so perform your will

as you, Father, have laid it down

in our inmost being.

Spiritual nourishment,

the bread of life,

you give us superabundantly

in all the changing conditions

of our lives.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] From a contemplation of The Lord’s Prayer, by Rudolf Steiner, transl. by C. Hindes.

1st February Trinity 2012, Loving the World

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20: 1-16

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

 1^st February Trinity

Feb 5, 2012

Matthew 20:1-16

The story in today’s reading seems to be about fairness. Those who worked the entire day feel entitled to more than a day’s wage, because those who seemed to do less received the same day’s wage.

But on a social level, the story is actually about a generosity that is beyond fairness. The master, the great and generous heart of the world, would give daily bread, sustenance to all. Human dignity requires that all be sustained, regardless of circumstance. That is also our own human task—to work to feed others, not just ourselves.

On yet another level, this story is also about the wider reasons we labor on earth at all. Each day we come back from the fields of night, where we received our inspirations for the work of earth. We are all day laborers working on our own sense of self, our own integrity, our own great-heartedness. To be without outer work is to suffer loss of meaning, loss of relationships to others, loss of a sense of self and one’s place in the community.

For we have all come to labor on the fields of earth to build up our own inner strength, and to join with others in doing God’s work of earth. The poet Mary Oliver wrote:

My work is loving the world.

….Let me

keep my mind on what matters,

which is my work,

which is mostly standing still and learning to be

astonished.

Which is mostly rejoicing….

which is gratitude, to be given a mind and a heart

and these body-clothes,

a mouth with which to give shouts of joy

to the moth and the wren, to the sleepy dug-up clam,

telling them all, over and over, how it is

that we live forever.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Mary Oliver, “Messenger”, in Thirst

1st February Trinity 2013, Expecting More

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20: 1-16

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

First February Trinity

February 3, 2013

Matthew 20: 1-16

In the economic sphere, modern thinking often applies a hierarchical standard based on production numbers. And what one is paid is often kept secret.

Amazing that the gospel presents a pay situation of full disclosure. The master contracts with each worker for just enough to support his life for a day. Those working more hours did not earn more. Nor did those who worked fewer earn less. Each simply received the day’s need, for doing as much as they could. The day’s wages are given on the basis of daily need and on human dignity, not on the number of hours worked.

Christ offers this story as a likeness of the kingdom of the heavens, which is a kingdom arising in human hearts. He shows us that expecting more than, more than what others get, more recognition, more praise, more pay than others, is not what we human beings on earth have actually contracted for. For the true being of the economic sphere flourishes in an atmosphere of brotherhood.

 

We have all agreed to work on fields of earth. Our work on earth gives us the opportunity to earn both the integrity of our selfhood, and a healthy relationship to our fellow workers.

In order to develop both, we must avoid comparisons. Some come early to the field, some late. Comparing ourselves with others, and expecting more for ourself is deadly here. It poisons our both integrity and our cooperation. For we have no way of knowing another human being’s true standing. And we have no right to denigrate their contribution to the work.

All we can be sure of is that the Master’s task is urgent—the harvest needs to be brought in. And we need all the workers we can get. It’s not about what is more advantageous to me or even about what appears to be fair. We are working for the Father. The Father will give us what we need for our daily bread. 

www.thechristiancommunity.org

1st February Trinity 2014, Generous Reward

1st February Trinity

Matthew 20: 1-16

 

The kingdom of the heavens is like a man, the master of his house, who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. Agreeing to pay them one denarius a day, he sent them out into his vineyard.

At about 9 o’clock he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace, and he said to them, “Go also into my vineyard, and I will give you whatever is right.” So they went.

He went out again at about noon and at 3 o’clock and did the same. At 5 o’clock he went out and found others standing there, and he said to them, “Why do you stand here all day idle?” They said, “Because no one has hired us.” He said, “You, too, go into the vineyard.”

And when evening came, the master of the vineyard said to his steward, “Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.”

Those who had been hired at 5 o’clock came forward, and each received one denarius. Therefore, when it was the turn of those who were hired first, they expected to receive more. However, they too also received one denarius each. They took it, but they began to grumble against the master of the house. “These men who were hired last only worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.”

 

However, he answered one of them, saying, “Friend, I am not being unjust to you. Did you not agree with me for one denarius? Take what you have earned and go. I wish to give to the man hired last the same as I give to you. Have I not the right to do as I wish with what is mine? Or do you give me an evil look because I am generous? Thus will the last be first and the first will one day be last. “

1^st February Trinity

February 9, 2014

Matthew 20:1-16

This gospel reading about the workers in the vineyard has meaning on many levels. Commonly it is read as a lesson in social justice. This story is also a metaphor for our many lives on earth.

We are all wanting to work on the earth for the Kingdom of the Heavens. Some of us arrive early in the Earth-Day and have labored long. Some of us arrive later, and some barely in time. At the end of the aeon, the end of the Earth-Day, we all receive the same reward—the ‘one denarius’ of our completed selfhood. That is what we have agreed upon with the Master. We each receive the same unique one-ness. The mistake is in thinking that we deserve more than others.

We are all laboring together. Some must labor for selfhood long and hard, with suffering; others seem to acquire it with less effort; but they too have suffered; they have suffered the meaninglessness of not being engaged in the work.  But a selfhood that operates in love is the generous reward of the Master of the kingdom of the heavens; it is the reward for those who show up for the Great Work, no matter how early or late they come to it. The poet says:

A certain day became a presence to me;

there it was, confronting me -- a sky, air, light:

a being. And before it started to descend

from the height of noon, it leaned over

and struck my shoulder as if with

the flat of a sword, granting me

honor and a task. The day's blow

rang out, metallic -- or it was I, a bell awakened,

and what I heard was my whole self

saying and singing what it knew: I can.[1]

www.thechristiancommunity.org

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[1] Denise Levertov, “Variation On A Theme By Rilke (The Book of Hours, Book I, Poem 1, Stanza 1)” in Breathing the Water