Good Morning,
Morning Devotion led by Fr. Cameron Saunders, Assistant Priest of Christ The King Anglican Church, New Providence, Please share if you can 🙏🏼🙏🏼
Anglican Diocese of The Bahamas & The Turks & Caicos
Morning Devotion led by Fr. Cameron Saunders,
Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart, Lord. I want to be a Christian in my heart, in my heart, in my heart. Lord, I want to be a Christian in my heart. Hey President, good morning. These devotions are brought to you by the Anglican Diocese of the Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands on this Wednesday the 21st of August, 2024. I am Father Cameron Saunders, Assistant Priest at the parish of Christ the King in Richland Park West on the Island of New Providence and religious studies teacher in the secondary department of St. John's College. Let us pray. Almighty God, you have given your only son to be for us a sacrifice for sin and also an example of God's life, give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen. A reading from the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 20 verses 1 through 16a. Jesus said, "For the kingdom of heaven is like a land owner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After greeting with the laborers for the usual daily wage he sent them out into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o'clock he saw other standing idle in the marketplace and he said to them, "You also go into the vineyard and I will pay you whatever is right." So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o'clock he did the same. 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?" They said to him, "Because no one has hired us." He said to them, "You also go into the vineyard." 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." When those hired about five o'clock came each of them received the usual daily wage. Now in the first game they thought they would receive more but each of them also received the usual daily wage and when they received it they grumbled against the land owner 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." 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? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last the same as I gave to you. I am not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me or are you envious because I am generous." So the last will be first and the first will be last. Here ends the lesson. In this portion of the gospel for today we hear Jesus describing the action and activity of God in calling and inviting laborers into work for his kingdom. In order for us to get a deeper understanding of this parable I believe it is for us to have an understanding of culture, of first century Palestine when it comes to workers for hire. Oftentimes workers for hire would wait a certain well traveled places within a community as they may be hired for a day by those who own vineyards and other forms of work. Thus in this story we see that those who are hired at the beginning of the day were likely those who were fit and strong and looking as if they can handle the hard work rather in the heat of a full day. If we continue to read in this story with understanding the same culture we then see that those who were left behind were more and more rejects. Those who had some kind of impediment that would hinder them from being able to work a full day's labor. Thus in this story it is revealed how generous God is in calling all of us into work depending on our ability to work for him. I wish for us to consider them three things as you think about this parable today. Firstly, God prepares work for us depending on our ability and also on our inability. Secondly, God has a work and a reward for everyone. Thirdly, God invites all, calls all, draws all into some form of service. Yet it is our attitude, our expectations, our ego that oftentimes gets in the way of us appreciating or even seeing the work of God in the world. I never stand for us to think about these following questions. Firstly, the obvious question is, are we fairly paying wages to our employees? Are we properly compensating employees for the work that they do? Then thinking a little deeper, how are we then working for our God? Are we even working for our God? Are we agents of God's generosity? Are we following in God's way as he welcomes all into his service into his kingdom? Oswald Chambers writes in his daily devotional, my utmost for his highest, this, that there are many who work for God, but not nearly as many who work with God. We see in this parable a God who is generous and loving and inviting, who invites all into his service and rewards all equally. I wish to ask, are we doing the same in the way we work for God? Are we inviting others? Are we giving others opportunities to work for our God? Are we holding and hoarding work for ourselves? Are we keeping others who would fall in love with this God at bay because of our own pride, our own foolishness? Let us then, in this day, ask God to give us eyes to see him and his activity clearly, to change our hearts accordingly and continually for us to be allowed to become agents of God's generosity. Let us then be transformed into those who would invite the masters into his kingdom, that we may be transformed to work along with him, that we may perceive God's grace and offer God's grace, so that the knowledge of the glory of God may spread continually throughout his world, and Christ's name be glorified in his work, and he be loved in the experience of his person. Amen. Thank you for listening to these devotions and where you are able to please share them with a friend. But restful comments, blind, from bend and by a spree, a waiting fight is vision when thou hast need of me, live out thy life within me, oh Jesus, King of kings, be thou the glorious answer, to all my quest studies, in my heart, in my heart, Lord I want to be the Christian, Lord I want to be like Jesus, live out thy life within me, in my heart. Amen. Amen. (music) You