Weekly Liturgy : September 28-October 4
Matthew 21:233-46
NIV Translation
33-34 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.
35-37 “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.
38-39 “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
40 “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”
41 “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
“‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43-44 “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
45-46 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
REFLECTION
from John
Regularly, Jesus asks us to judge things (people, theology, programs, etc) by their fruit. The fruit of this story isn’t violence and it isn’t vengeance. It isn’t power.
In fact, it’s the victim of violence in this story that becomes the image of good fruit and the foundation upon which our systems of power and vengeance crumble.
May we have ears to hear.
PRACTICE:
Outward Mindset Application
Do you feel compelled to confront someone about their negative impact? First consider the objectives of their behavior. Before you confront them, spend some time celebrating the goodness underneath their negative impact. Do you notice any change in your strategy of confrontation when you do this?
Non-Violent Communication Application
Sometimes we mask judgments in the language of feeling.
Examples:
“I just feel like he’s always a jerk to me.”
“I feel like this is the best day of my life!”
Examples:
“I’m sensing that he is upset with me often.”
“I can’t remember the last time I felt this happy!”
Pathway Toward Center
Enthusiasm (loving God by through celebration and praise):
A common centering practice for many people is to keep a gratitude journal. At the end of each day this week, write three things down that brought you joy.
Questions for Reflection
What sort of power and influence do you celebrate or try to emulate in the world? Do you ever find yourself wanting your team/political party/country to dominate the other side?
How might Jesus respond to this impulse in you?
“Liturgy” refers to the habits and practices humans use to form community around shared values and meaning. At Church at the Park, we desire to be a community of practice, becoming people who see the world through the eyes of the marginalized, making meaning through the lens of pain and suffering, and committing ourselves to non-violence in a wounded world. This weekly email is intended to provide pathways of practice for becoming the type of people who embody these values.
Many of our reflections on each week's text come from other sources. If you're interested in reading more of what inspires us, here our our two favorite reflections.
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