♬ You are invited to stand, if you are able and comfortable, for the sung portions of the service. Please wear your mask for singing.
GATHERING AND GREETING
Welcome & Announcements
On this 29th United Nations International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, we come together as church to call to mind the divine community that God imagines for all God’s people. A community of love, justice, dignity, and full participation. A world without poverty. In Canada, nearly 5 million people live in poverty. One effort toward God’s kin-dom is the call for a Guaranteed Livable Income program. Together may we reflect on the Word and be moved into the world.
Land Acknowledgement: As we gather, we acknowledge with respect the history, spirituality, and culture of the K’omoks First Nation and the Coast Salish peoples on whose traditional and unceded territory we meet. We also honour the heritage of all Indigenous peoples as we recognize the need to seek a new relationship between the descendants of settlers and of those who were here before colonization. As a congregation of The United Church of Canada, with them, we take responsibility both for past injustices and the need for healing and reconciliation. We love and honour this land upon which we meet and live and all whose footfall has trod and will tread upon it.
The Singing Bowl is Sounded and the Lantern is Lit
Call to Worship:
We gather together
as grateful people seeking Christ’s Word made new
for this time and this place.
We gather together
to do all we can to live the Creator’s intention
of community of right relations,
of community of peace.
We gather together
ready to act as the Spirit guides us.
With our seeking, our living, our acting,
we worship God.
―Right Rev. Richard Bott, inspired by a prayer by Hallett Llewellyn (Rev. Dr.
Opening Prayer
―Rev. Barry Morris, Longhouse Council of Native Ministry, Vancouver
Good, gracious God:
As we thank you for each precious breath,
breathe on us the Spirit of liberty, that it move to extend us to do justice, love kindness, and move humbly―
with and for thy creation, thy peoples, thy liberation from oppressions, inequalities,
indignities, and insecurities of inadequate basics, including thus a livable income.
In the accompanying name of the Anointed One and those before us, ahead of us, and beside us.
HYMN: VU #603, “In Loving Partnership We Come”
HEARING AND REFLECTING:
Scripture Readings:
Matthew 20:1-15
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage,[a] he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. 5 When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6 And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ 8 When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage.[b] 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage.[c] 11 And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ 13 But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?[d] 14 Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[e]’
Acts 4:32-35
32 Now the whole group of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one claimed private ownership of any possessions, but everything they owned was held in common. 33 With great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold. 35 They laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to each as any had need.
Reader: Holy Wisdom, Holy Word. Thanks be to God!
Reflection: “To Each as Any Had Need”
I’d like to begin with a little bit of background to why I chose this worship theme today.
Although my family roots are in the social gospel, my return to the church was through contemplative practices and I have spent the last 10 years or so trying to figure out how the two work together. As I have wrestled with that question, I have had to acknowledge that, when it comes to social justice, I am better at talking the talk than walking the walk. I have had to conclude that I just don’t have the confidence, conviction or courage to put myself on the front lines as so many do including, I think, some of you. So I ask myself, “How can I make a difference and stand up for the issues that my mind, my heart, and my faith tell me are important?”
As a minister, I am in a privileged position where I have regular access to an almost-captive audience for my thoughts and positions . (but please be assured that the doors aren’t locked!) It’s tempting to take advantage of this platform, but I have a lot of reasons for not doing so. A big one is the feeling of many church members that politics doesn’t belong in the pulpit. While I might disagree, I also have to honour the desire of many to come to church to learn, to be comforted, and not to be confronted or challenged by what they hear. I have seen too many relationships between minister and congregation break down when the minister is perceived as too obviously promoting a particular political or economic agenda.
I also take seriously the role of preaching to relate what is happening in our world to the scriptures, the story of the people of God that are the foundation of our faith. So my usual approach is to begin with Scripture, typically the prescribed lectionary readings, and then consider how the texts speak to contemporary issues.
But today I’m doing something I rarely do, beginning with the issue and using Scripture readings that speak to that issue, instead of the other way around. And I do it because this feels to me like a unique situation, one where the church can take specific steps to encourage the passing of legislation that puts the gospel into action. Our national church has led the way, and this is an opportunity for us as a faith community and as individuals to be part of the effort. In this service, I am leaning heavily on resources provided by the UCC including a wonderful sermon by former Moderator Marion Pardy.
Let’s begin with the story, often referred to as “The Labourers in the Vineyard”, which Marion Pardy renames as “The Parable of the Caring Vineyard Owner”. It begins with the vineyard owner, someone we would now call a good business person. This vineyard owner needs workers so he goes to where the unemployed labourers congregate, hoping for temporary work, and he hires a few of them for the day. It’s important to note here that the NRSV translation uses the word “idle” to describe these workers, which we hear as lazy, but the Greek word argeo is more accurately translated as not working. There were many reasons why they might have been unemployed, but a common one was that small landowners, unable to make a living, often accumulated so much debt that they were forced to surrender their land to their creditors. When Jesus taught his followers to pray, “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”, it was almost a life or death prayer. “Leave us with what we need to make our living, and we will do the same for others.”
The vineyard owner returns to the market several more times as the day wears on, hiring a few more workers each time. And here’s the twist: at the end of the day, the workers are all paid the same amount, whether they worked all day, half the day, or just the final hour! Unsurprisingly, the people who worked all day are not happy. “It’s not fair! I worked longer and harder than this guy! Why does he get the same wage?”
Isn’t that the same objection that we often hear to any social welfare legislation? Social assistance, subsidized housing, free supplies of safe drugs, and more. We hear about the lazy “welfare queens”, the bums on the street who don’t want to work and don’t deserve a place to live, the addicts who deserve their fate because they have made bad choices. “I have worked hard for what I have”, we hear, “Why should those losers be as comfortable as I am at my expense?”
But laziness is not the cause of poverty. The cause of poverty is an unequal distribution of resources that favours the wealthy inheritors of power and property over those whose only resource is the labour of their hands, who were born into a system that fails to recognize the value of all persons, that denies the dignity of their humanity.
Let’s hear from one person who is clearly not lazy, who is working three jobs but struggles to support her family:
Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=mk3CQIrxzXU&feature=youtu.be
When the first workers to be hired complain that they should be paid more than the ones who only worked a short while, the vineyard owner answers, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage?…I choose to give to this last the same that I give to you”. The vineyard owner chooses to pay each worker what they need to survive that day.
By campaigning for a guaranteed livable income, we are also making this choice. We are listening to the stories from Jesus about what the kingdom or kin-dom of God should look like, the stories about what life is like when we follow God’s way here on earth. In Jesus’ time, this parable was a strong political statement contrasting the way of compassion, justice and fullness of life for all people with the kingdom of Caesar, of military might, hunger and oppression.
The first Christians understood this call to a new kind of kingdom. In Acts 4 we hear how the first little group of believers tried to live out Jesus’ parables: “There was not a needy person among them, for as many as owned lands or houses sold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold…and it was distributed to each as any had need.”
If we were to share this lifestyle description without context, it would probably be denounced as socialist at best, maybe even Communist. In fact, didn’t Karl Marx himself say “From each according to their ability, to each according to their need?” How many would recognize that Marx’s words were actually a close echo of the Acts of the Apostles?
Today we have the opportunity to speak from our faith for a legislative change that in a small way would help to build the kin-dom of God. Today we can make the case that no one in our country should live in poverty, that there is enough for everyone, that everyone is entitled to a livable income regardless of perceived merit.
Let’s watch a brief video about a basic income for Canada:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=qlwyTtPY0vY&feature=youtu.be
This is a good explanation of one rationale for a basic income, although I would argue that it places too much emphasis on jobs lost to automation and doesn’t explore the inequalities in our economic system.
There are some questions for reflection in the bulletin related to these videos, and I hope you’ll spend some time discussing them with friends and family. In the meantime, I’d like to share some thoughts about possibilities for follow-up action.
Looking for some encouragement to become more active on social justice issues, I recently participated in a UCC webinar called “How to be a Christian Activist.” The resource person was Cheri DiNovo, a United Church minister who served as an Ontario MPP for 11 years. During that time, she successfully introduced more private members’ bills than anyone else in Ontario history, and more pro LGBTQ2+ legislation than anyone in the history of Canada.
A few key points from her webinar were:
- We have more power than we think. The UCC is still the largest Protestant church denomination in Canada.
- Work with people who are passionate about an issue because of their own experience.
- Find a champion in government. They may not be from the party you expect! Approach representatives until you find someone sympathetic to your issue.
- If you can, approach representatives personally rather than by letter. Ask for 15 minutes of their time, be clear what you want to talk about and who you are representing, and give them a printed outline no longer than one page of bullet points.
Not all of us are comfortable with this personal approach, but letters can also be effective and the UCC has provided us with many helpful ideas and resources. I have made a few copies of a letter template and put a link to other online resources in the bulletin. I hope you’ll take a look and follow up with an action. However small it may seem, it will make a difference.
In her sermon, Marion Pardy shared a Jewish traditional story that says, “When God, the Holy One, gets up in the morning, God gathers the angels of heaven around and asks this simple question: “Where does my creation need mending today?”
On this International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, what do we answer when God gets up in the morning and asks us, “What in my world needs mending today?” How do we live out the parables of Jesus and the example of the first Christians? As Marion Pardy says, “In the midst of all that is broken in our world, we also celebrate the goodness – the mending that you and I have done and can do to eliminate poverty and to attend to the brokenness in our own lives and the lives of others.” Let us work patiently and persistently to build that kin-dom of God where “all are given their daily bread” becomes a reality in our world. All my relations. May it be so.
Questions for reflection:
- What in the videos relate to your experience?
- What values are being expressed?
- What would you affirm in the video? What questions remain for you?
- What action possibilities does the video suggest for you? You may find some ideas here: https://united-church.ca/social-action/act-now/create-guaranteed-livable-income-program
HYMN: MV#154, “Deep In Our Hearts”
WE RESPOND IN PRAYER AND ACTION
A Shared Time for Reflection, Prayer and Offering
You are invited to reflect in silence, to light a candle or place a stone or shell as an expression of your intention or prayer, and/or to place an offering in the basket. If you get up to move about, please maintain safe physical distancing.
Offertory Prayer:
We dedicate the gifts returned to you, generous Creator, as signs of our fierce love for others and protection of human dignity, as an example of our community of faith becoming an instrument of your mending, and as evidence of our commitment to Christ’s mission of self-giving. Bless us and what we give as our response to your abundant love. Amen.
Prayers of the People
―GLI prayer, Rev. Susan Eagle, Chair, Shining Waters Social and Ecological Justice Commission, with Barry Rieder, Jane Finch Community Ministry
God of all peoples,
Creator of a grand cosmos and tiny infants,
Source of nurture and creation,
you call us into relationship with each other.
We remain in our own judgment
when we turn away from those of us who suffer
in the midst of affluence and pandemic
and the struggle to survive.
Open us to the cries of others
and our hearts to your persuasive Spirit.
May we acknowledge the needs among us
and advocate for the fair distribution of resources.
May we learn the politics of justice and adequacy,
that we may act with justice,
love kindness, and move with humility.
Today we remember all who struggle to survive.
We specifically hold in our hearts
low-income racialized communities,
who have experienced the most challenges with COVID.
We pray for our political leaders,
that they act with compassion
as they are asked to give leadership
to implement a guaranteed livable income.
Remind us, Holy Wisdom, that through your love
we encounter in each person, friend, or stranger
Christ’s light and love in the world.
Grant that we may promote the justice and acceptance
that enables peace, a true shalom.
Help us to remember that we are one world and one family.
And so we pray together as one family in the words that Jesus taught us:
The Prayer of Jesus (an adaptation by Parker Palmer):
Heavenly Mother, heavenly Father,
Holy and blessed is your true name.
We pray for your reign of peace to come,
We pray that your good will be done,
Let heaven and earth become one.
Give us this day the bread we need,
Give it to those who have none.
Let forgiveness flow like a river through us,
From each one to each one to each one.
Lead us to holy innocence
Beyond the evil of our days,
Come swiftly Mother, Father, come!
For yours is the power and the glory and the mercy—
Forever your name is All in One.
HYMN: MV#173, “Put Peace into Each Other’s Hands”
Commissioning and Blessing
Go in peace and go in love, accompanied by the Holy Spirit, to be Christ’s face and hands and feet and strong loving hearts in the world. Thanks be to God! Blessed be.
Response: AMEN!
Choral Closing: VU#964, “Go Now in Peace” (once in unison, twice as a round)
Go now in peace, go now in peace.
May the love of God surround you
Everywhere, everywhere you may go.
Offertory Prayer by Gord Dunbar, used with permission from Gathering, Pentecost 2, 2021.
Additional prayers and resources from https://united-church.ca/sites/default/files/2021-08/worship-sample_gli.docx
