Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost
What follows is a worship service which, I pray, you can participate in at a time(s) that are convenient to you. This 'service' will take about forty five (45) minutes.
I pray that you will feel called to ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE in this service.
The text that is in regular typeface (that is what you are reading at the moment) is to be read quietly, while the text that is in bold face (like you are reading right now) is meant to be read aloud.
Opening Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we commence our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
A Call To Worship:
We meet in the name of God,
Creator of the universe,
source of true humanity,
mother and father of all. Amen.
An Assurance of Forgiveness:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
The Sentence For Today (let us say aloud):
Search for the Lord and his strength; continually seek his face.
The Special Prayer For Today (let us pray aloud):
Grant us, Lord, not to be anxious about earthly things, but to love things heavenly; and even now, while we are placed among things that are passing away, to hold fast to those that shall endure; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Our first reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Our second reading for today:
(click the 'play' button below to listen)
Gradual Hymn:
Let us continue by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we raise out voices in praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
Listen to David speak to this gospel
or, if you prefer, you can read the sermon, below:
Sermon for 17th after Pentecost, 27th September 2026
Welcome sisters and brothers and peace be with you. MAY the words of my mouth and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. <Amen>
“That’s not fair!” How many times have you heard people say that?
I think we can all understand a reaction like that because somewhere deep inside most of us there is a strong sense of fairness.
We believe that people should get what they deserve:
Work longer — receive more.
Work harder — receive more.
Do more — receive more.
Now, that is precisely where Jesus’ parable, in Matthew 20:1-16, begins to challenge us. <PAUSE>
Jesus’ story of a landowner who goes out at different times of the day and hires workers for his vineyard is well known. As is the conclusion of the parable when the workers line up at the end of the day to be paid and everyone receives a full day’s wage, irrespective of how long they actually worked.
“That’s not fair!”, shout some of the workers and then comes the question that goes right to the heart of the parable:
“Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?”
Leading Jesus to conclude:
“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” <PAUSE>
This is one of those Gospel passages that can make many us uncomfortable, because, if we’re honest, we may find ourselves standing with the workers who were hired first.
We understand them. They worked all day. They carried the heat. They did the hard work. They earned their money. Then someone comes along at the last minute and receives exactly the same. It just doesn’t seem fair. <PAUSE>
However, Jesus isn’t giving us a lesson about employment contracts. He is giving us a lesson about grace and grace is often profoundly uncomfortable, because grace means that God’s love cannot be calculated according to our achievements. God doesn’t love us more because we have been Christians for fifty years.
God doesn’t love us less because we came to faith yesterday.
God doesn’t measure His love with a stopwatch.
God doesn’t have a spreadsheet in heaven with columns headed:
Prayer. Church attendance. Good works. Failures. Mistakes.
and then calculate exactly how much love each person deserves.
God’s love is grace unbounded and that grace means that God’s goodness is not something we earn … It is something we receive. <PAUSE>
There is another important detail in this parable. The people who were hired last weren’t lazy. They weren’t necessarily refusing to work. They were standing in the marketplace because no one had hired them. They had been overlooked. They had been passed by.
Perhaps they were older. Perhaps they lacked experience. Perhaps they weren’t as strong as the others. Perhaps they simply hadn’t been in the right place at the right time … and Jesus reminds us that God’s kingdom sees people whom society overlooks.
The last. The forgotten. The rejected. The person who thinks, “There is no place for me.” The person who thinks, “I’ve wasted too much of my life.” The person who says, “I’ve made too many mistakes.” The person who says, “Surely God couldn’t want someone like me.”
To all these, Jesus says, “Come into the vineyard. There is still work to do. There is still a place for you. There is still grace.” <PAUSE>
What a wonderful truth about God’s kingdom this is … BUT … perhaps the hardest part of this parable isn’t that God welcomes the last - perhaps it is that God asks the first to rejoice when He does. That’s much harder.
It’s easy to celebrate God’s grace when we are the ones receiving it. It is much harder when somebody else receives the grace we think they don’t deserve.
HUGE DANGER SIGN - this is where ‘comparison’ becomes extremely perilous. We look at another person’s life and think:
“Why should they get that?”
“Why should they be forgiven?”
“Why should they be welcomed?”
“Why should they receive another chance?”
“After everything I’ve done, why should they be treated the same as me?”
But the Gospel of Jesus Christ asks us a different question:
Why should anyone receive grace? The answer is … They shouldn’t … Neither should we …BUT that’s what makes it God’s unbounded grace. <PAUSE>
Following Jesus is not a competition between Christians. Following Jesus is not about keeping score. The kingdom of God isn’t a prize awarded to those who have accumulated the most points.
God’s generosity of grace is a gift offered to everyone. To the first. To the last. To the strong. To the weak. To those who have been faithful for decades, and to those who have only just begun. <PAUSE>
There is something wonderfully hopeful here.
The man hired at five o’clock didn’t have much time left, but one hour was enough. One hour was enough for him to enter the vineyard. One hour was enough for him to become part of the work. One hour was enough for him to receive the generosity of the landowner.
This tells us something about God … It is never too late. Never too late to turn back. Never too late to begin again. Never too late to discover faith. Never too late to say:
“Lord, here I am.”
Perhaps someone listening today feels that they have wasted years.
Perhaps someone thinks they should have come to God sooner.
Perhaps someone thinks their past disqualifies them from God’s future.
But Jesus says, “There is still room in the vineyard.” <PAUSE>
Finally, perhaps, the question this Gospel leaves us with is not, “What do I deserve?” BUT “What am I going to do with the generous gift of God’s grace I have received?”
Will I use it to compare myself with others or will I use it to welcome others?
Will I resent God’s generosity or will I rejoice in it?
Will I ask WHY someone else has been given another chance or will I thank God that another person HAS been given another chance? <PAUSE>
You know, when we truly understand grace, we discover something extraordinary - God’s generosity towards another person does not diminish His generosity towards us.
There is enough grace. Enough mercy. Enough forgiveness. Enough love. The vineyard is big enough for all of us.
I runga e te Ingoa o te Atua, te Matua, te Tama me te Wairua Tapu. <AMINE>
Pause and Reflect
Just take a moment now to pause. Bow your head, close your eyes.
Allow these words of Holy Scripture and this interpretation of them today to speak to you.
An Affirmation of Our Faith
Let us affirm our faith by saying aloud, and together, "The Apostles Creed":
... and now let us pray for the Church, the World, and Ourselves, giving thanks for God's sacrifice and goodness.
Let us pray aloud, and together:
Generous God, you do everything possible for our spiritual growth and well-being, but yet some so often choose the path of hostility and rejection.
Let us pray trustfully to the God who has loved us into being and cherished us all our lives.
(Longer silence for personal reflection.)
Almighty God, we pray for all who play an active role in all our faith communities for pastors,; for Readers and Lay Ministers; for administrators; that they will know how to strike the right balance between their work and family lives.
We pray that You will give them courage when they need to resist being controlled by others, and will teach them to take control with understanding, always reflecting the love of Your Son, Jesus Christ.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Creator God, refugees continue to flee from crisis throughout the world, and over half of them are children.
Lord God we pray for all those who have willingly invested their time and energy in serving the most vulnerable in the world, that they will find opportunities to rest, and will be strengthened for their work.
We also remember aid workers throughout the world working in places and situations that are no longer newsworthy; give them the encouragement to continue their invaluable contribution of love and care for those people rebuilding their lives after man-made or natural disasters.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Father God, we pray for all those working on the land. In vineyards and olive groves, those producing citrus fruit, almonds and walnuts. Help them in their labours especially in these times of climate change and enable them all to get a fair price for the tremendously hard work they undertake.
We pray also for the world’s supermarket chains asking that they put the welfare of the farming community before massive profit achieved through exploitation.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Loving God, we pray for abundant life for anyone we know who has recently been given bad news about their health or the health of a loved-one.
Lord, help us know what to say and when to speak. May we always be ready to give practical help whenever we can and to ensure that those on their own are able to manage and cope with the day-to-day life.
Give the song of joy to all who are now on the road to recovery and recuperation and the song of thanks to all who helped them on that road.
We especially raise before You now all those who have asked for our prayers from around the world … those we know in New Zealand, in Singapore, in Argentina, in France, in Australia, in the US, in Canada, in Austria, in Ukraine, in China, in Germany, in the Czech Republic, and any others we now name aloud, or in the silence of our hearts, and those who are known only by You.
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Merciful God, when death separates from us those we love and we find it hard to live without them, take from us all bitterness and resentment and help us to remember that death has no power at all over the peace you give and the love we shared with the departed goes beyond the grave.
We pray for all the faithful departed, may they now rest in eternal peace as they most surely have risen in glory.
We especially raise before you at this time our recently departed sister and brothers Maria (Chile), Michel (France), Damian (Wales)
(Short Silence) Lord in your Mercy: Hear our prayer
Holy God, as we prepare for the week to come, help us to know Christ and the power of his resurrection day by day and in the sharing of his sufferings to become more like him in his death.
(Short Silence) Lord, in Your mercy: hear our prayer
Forth in the peace of Christ we go; Christ to the world with joy we bring; Christ in our minds, Christ on our lips, Christ in our hearts, the world’s true King.
Merciful father: accept these prayers for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. AMEN
Remembering that we are confident to pray this day, and every day, because Jesus Christ continues to teach us:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Save us from the time of trial
and deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever. Amen.
Let us conclude our prayers by praying together and aloud:
God of mercy,
you have given us grace to pray with one heart and one voice,
and have promised to hear the prayers
of two or three who agree in your name,
fulfil now, we pray,
the prayers and longings of your people
as may be best for us and for your kingdom.
Grant us in this world to know your truth,
and in the world to come to see your glory. Amen.
The Blessing
May The Risen Lord Christ turn His face towards each and every one of you.
May He cause His light to shine upon you, and
may He grant you His peace, and
The blessing of Almighty God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
be with you and all of those whom you love,
on this day and forever more.
A Closing Hymn:
Let us conclude our worship today by watching, and please do feel free to sing or read aloud the lyrics, as we unite in another hymn our praise and thanksgiving.
When you are ready - click the "play" button on the video window, below:
The Dismissal
Go now, go out into the world
to love and serve The Lord.
Go in peace.
AMEN, we go in the name of Christ.
