Reflections for

25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Sep 21, 2014

Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 105:1-6, 37-45; (Jonah 3:10-4:11; Psalm 145:1-8;) Philippians 1:21-30; Matthew 20:1-16

Living by the Word

The last first

Matthew 20:1-16

Sep 09, 2008 by Craig Kocher

All day long a landowner has been going into the marketplace to hire workers for his vineyard and now only one group remains. The landowner says to the workers, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” They respond with one of the most painful lines in all of scripture: “Because no one has hired us.” The text does not say why they were not hired.

Features

Give and take

Leadership as a spiritual practice

Oct 04, 2005 by Anthony B. Robinson

Is leadership, specifically pastoral leadership, a spiritual practice? Dorothy Bass has defined practices as “those shared activities that address fundamental human needs and that, woven together, form a way of life.” Does leadership address a fundamental human need?

Living by the Word

A generous boss

Matthew 20:1-16

Sep 06, 2005 by In-Yong Lee

One of my friends once complained about the “unfairness” of her parents-in-law. Her husband was a first son who was competent in his work and conscientious in his care of his old parents. The point of discontent had to do with the parents’ favoring of the younger son, who was lazy and irresponsible, and who did nothing to deserve the extra favor bestowed on him. When my friend and her husband gave anything valuable to the parents, it inevitably ended up in the other son’s hands. While I was listening to my friend, I realized something that she did not understand. This was the parents’ way of loving.

Living by the Word

Your God is too nice

Matthew 20:1-16

Aug 28, 2002 by Gracia M. Grindal

When I was a kid growing up in the Willamette Valley, local teenagers and migrant laborers would go out together into the strawberry fields to help with the harvest. This parable, with its setting in the vineyard, describes the emotions of us workers—we wanted a fair wage for a fair day’s work.

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Revised Common Lectionary © 1992 the Consultation on Common Texts. Used by permission.