Rector's Sermon
2 October 2011

First Reading	Psalm	Epistle	Gospel
Exodus 20:1–4, 7–9	Psalm 19:1–7	Philippians 3:4b–14	Matthew 21:33–46

       If we were to pay serious heed to the statistics, we would know that this is not the most propitious time to look for a full time, well paying job. The general unemployment rate is over 9% and I suspect that the true under employment rate for people in their late teens and twenties right out of high school and college is considerably higher. Some at the top of their class are doing very well, but many others are finding difficult and discouraging prospects in today’s job market. There is plenty of stress and worry to go around, and at the very least we may be extra patient, kind, and understanding. When our society endures its many crises, the community of faith is always called to be a positive, healing and force of hope. We may not have the solutions or the power to quickly change the situation, but we can listen and pay attention to one’s suffering and dreams. People of faith are people for all seasons, affirming like any caring parent, that it is ultimately worth it for a person young or old to get as best an education as one is able, and to continue to be a life long learner and inquirer. Noah, for example, found his true vocation as a marine contractor and ship captain quite late in life. One of the greatest of prophets started out as what we likely would call today a migrant worker.  God is always on the side of life, never on the side of atrophy and despair. God believes in human evolution and hence so should we.

       This is not the time that increasing numbers of people are having their children baptized into a community of faith. Becoming a Christian today, bringing children up today in the fellowship of a church community is not nearly as popular as it once was. But God’s gifts are given nonetheless. Baptism is a gift, God’s gift, not something we have earned. That is why baptizing a helpless infant is such a powerful symbol. Baptism reveals God’s affirmation that each and every single one of us is a person of worth. God does not discount us, God does not give up on us, and God does not dump us in a pile of grim statistics and forget about us. 

       The Christian community has the responsibility to support parents as they bring up their children in a Christian environment. They need all the support we can give them in these difficult times. We rejoice when we have the privilege to baptize someone in our midst, because baptism reveals God’s hope, not only for our children and grandchildren, but God’s hope in all of us. Yes, we would like to guarantee that all good things will come to Natalie, Andrew, and Allison but that is not in our power. What is in the power of every one of us is the opportunity to do some good today and tomorrow and the next day. We may live intending to join in the process to redeem the world from meanness and sweeten it in some way; to live as a spark rather than as a damper.

       Two weeks from now, our bishop will be here to confirm four members of our church who are re-confirming their baptismal promises. It’s a brave thing for them to do. Again, most of their coworkers or classmates would find it odd that they even attend church. They are putting themselves in opposition to popular trends. They are the minority. Nonetheless they carry the seeds of faith for future generations. The Good News is that the power and gifts of confirmation do not depend on what the present world thinks of it. I personally admire these folk for arranging their schedules and giving a priority to something that the world gives short shrift or even scorns.

       I have no idea when the next great spiritual awakening in America will occur. I suspect that so-called tipping points are usually spotted afterwards, but rarely before. Yet those who live out their faith today, those who are baptized today, those who decide to be confirmed today, those who choose to support one another today, help God prepare the foundation for the future.  We are those living stones who, as Jesus reminded the disciples, become critical factors, the cornerstones and main building blocks, as it were, of a better society.

       In today’s Gospel Jesus’ sharp reply to those who question his authority is highly allegorical. There is a danger in us in spending much time discerning who Jesus was condemning as the bad tenants.  It is far healthier to understand thay we the tenants today in this world, we are the tenants of God’s vineyard, sent out to produce a harvest that comes from the seeds of peace, justice, compassion and hope in the human enterprise.

       We are given the gifts of baptism and confirmation, not really as rightful and deserving owners, but more as tenants so that we may in turn nourish, rejuvenate, repair, and pass on the fruits of God’s gifts to someone else, be it a child, a neighbor, a co-worker, or a fellow parishioner. Good tenants happily and reverently accept this responsibility and high calling. Bad tenants will find their gifts taken away and given to someone else. Ultimately, God’s purposes will not be thwarted, and you can see that in the eyes of those to be baptized and in the eyes of those who will take their baptismal vows again.

       And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.