From the Vicar...

"The kingdom of heaven is like..."

This is the way Jesus introduces many of his parables in the Gospel of Matthew. The parables are meant to help Jesus' listeners - and us, listening in 2,000 years later, to catch a glimpse of this new realm of existence that Jesus is proclaiming. The parables are meant to teach, to shed light on this new reality, but they are also meant to shock and unsettle us, for the kingdom of heaven, the realm of God, is, above all else, something that transcends and challenges all human values, all expectations, all of our comfortable ways of thinking about things and living.

This Sunday, we will hear another of those "kingdom of heaven is like" parables: the parable of the laborers in the vineyard. This parable is one of my favorites, but it is also among the most challenging and unsettling of all of Jesus' parables.

Unlike many of Jesus' parables that reference a world and experiences very different from our twenty-first century lives, an agricultural world populated with sheep and shepherds, farmers, masters and slaves, this parable has elements that hit very close to home. Few of us have worked in a vineyard, but most of us have worked for a wage. We know the meaning and value of a day's work, we have a good sense of how much we are worth. Many of us also know the frustration of supervising workers, dealing with personalities, with the pressures of deadlines and dissatisfaction with the quality or amount of work accomplished in a day.

What I love about this parable are these questions that arise when we think about the story, about the people in it, the relationships, the lives and livelihoods. There's so much emotion in it all. The landowner has made one group of workers ecstatically happy, another group he's enraged. There are power issues, motivation issues, and a host of matters related to fairness in human dealings. But what is this parable telling us about the kingdom of God, about the nature of God?

The easy answer of course, is that it seems to indicate that our God is a God of generosity. But there's something else important in the parable. It opens us to consider our expectations. We expect God to fit our standards of fairness and justice. The parable reminds us that the kingdom of God doesn't reflect our expectations and values. That's really the point of many of the parables, is it not? In this Sunday's parable, a landowner behaves unexpectedly, perhaps even absurdly, toward his workers. The kingdom of God, similarly, is unexpected; it doesn't meet our assumptions.

To respond in gratitude to God's generosity is a great challenge. It is also a gift. The reign of God offers us an opportunity to experience the love and grace of God. It also invites us to respond gratefully to God and in that response, to begin to share our experience of God's love with others. That gift is not for ourselves alone; we only begin to experience it when we share it with others.

Faithfully,

Fr. Chip

Inquirers' classes continue weekly at 7 p.m. at Christ Church

This course presents an overview of our Christian Faith, as well as how this faith has been preserved and practiced within the Anglican tradition, of which the Episcopal Church is a part. While offered to prepare candidates for Confirmation or Reception into the Episcopal Church, it can also serve as a refresher for long-time members or as an introduction to Christianity for those who have not belonged to a church and wish a deeper understanding of what Anglican/Episcopal Christians believe. All sessions, unless scheduled otherwise to meet the needs of participants, will be held on Thursdays at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Church, Portsmouth.

This evening: The Bible - Tracing the roots of our salvation history as recorded in the Holy Scriptures. How do we apply the Bible to our lives today? Exploring ways to study the Bible and some tools to aid our exploration.

Next Thursday, Sept. 25: Church History  - The struggles of the early Church, leading to the creeds and the challenges of the Church in the Medieval Ages, the Protestant Reformation on the Continent and in England. The birth of the Church of England in America and its transformation into the Episcopal Church we know today.

Photo Directory nearing completion

Our Directory is in the last stages of completion. We have so many new parishioners who need to be included; we've decided to have one more picture day: Sept. 28 at Trinity Church following the 8:45 service.

Anyone who has not had their picture taken (from either congregation) may do so.  Even if you are not having your picture taken for the Directory, we still need you to fill a form out, as it covers permission for publishing your photo in the Newsletter, Web Pages and other media.

Upcoming dates

Our Shared Ministry Cycle of Prayer

Each week, in both of our churches, we pray for one ministry we share and one or two households in each church. About once every six weeks, we will instead using the Shared Ministry Collect we prayed throughout the opening months of our Shared Ministry.

In our prayers the next two weeks, we give God thanks for...

Blessing of the Animals - Oct. 5 at Christ Church

On Sunday, Oct. 5 at 12:00 noon, children and adults are invited to celebrate God's creation through a special "Blessing of the Animals" service, to be held on behalf of both congregations on the Christ Church lawn. Oct. 5 is the Sunday nearest the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi (Oct. 4), and in Episcopal churches across the country, people of all ages are being encouraged to bring their pets for a blessing as a way of honoring that gentle saint's memory.

Francis was known not only for his humility, but his love of God's creation. At the Blessing of the Animals service that day, you are invited to bring your cats or dogs, hamsters, gerbils, fish, rabbits or birds to receive God's blessing. More exotic species, such as snakes, turtles, or lizards, are also welcome, as long as they are caged for their own as well as the congregation's safety.

Fr. Chip will call all who have pets at home, but forgot to bring them, forward for a blessing to "send home" - or you may bring a stuffed animal as a "stand-in." You are encouraged to invite friends to join you that day, either to witness the blessing of your pet or to bring pets of their own for a blessing.