Pentecost 18, Year A (2026)

Ezekiel 18: 1–4, 25-32 / Psalm 25: 1–9 / Philippians 2: 1–13 / Matthew 21: 23–32

 

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, September 27, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

 

“A MYSTERY OF FAITH: TO LOSE IS TO GAIN”

(Homily text: Matthew 21: 23–32)

 

Just a few minutes from now, as part of our Communion liturgy, we will affirm the Mystery of Faith, saying, “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again”.

Another mystery of faith, not part of our worship, but an indispensable reality of our walk of faith, is this principle: In order to gain God’s favor, we must be willing to lose our own sense of self-worth, importance and status.

We’ll pick this theme up again in a moment.

Before we do, let’s remind ourselves of the setting of this morning’s appointed Gospel text, from Matthew, chapter twenty-one.

At the beginning of chapter twenty-one, Matthew describes Jesus’ triumphal entry into the Holy City of Jerusalem, on Palm Sunday. Then, we read that He drove the money-changers out of the Temple (see Matthew 21: 12–13).[1] This action set up the confrontations with the authorities that would culmination in Jesus’ death on Good Friday.

Then, the Lord curses a fig tree that bore no fruit on His way back into the city (see 21: 18–22). The meaning of this may have to do with the unfruitful ways of God’s people 2,000 years ago, and the importance of the Lord’s disciples to have faith, which will bring about success and fruitful work in God’s name.

This brings us to today’s confrontation.

The chief priests and the elders of the people approach Jesus, and demand to know by what authority He is teaching. The subtext here is to challenge His learning and background. Elsewhere in the Gospel accounts, we read statements like, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son (meaning, the son of a common laborer, a carpenter)?” And also, “Where did this man get all this (learning)?”

Jesus sees through their intent, posing a question to them, instead of answering their question. He asks, “The baptism of John, where did it come from?”

Matthew tells us that they discussed their response among themselves (perhaps they stepped aside to do so).

Their quandary in crafting an answer tells us a lot about their values and their concept of themselves. They ponder the answer, noting that if they say that John’s baptism was of heavenly origin, then Jesus will ask them why they didn’t believe and accept John’s message. On the other hand, they think, if we say that John’s baptism was of human origin, then they realize that they will incur the wrath of the people, who regarded John as a prophet. So, they say to Jesus, “We do not know”.

It’s obvious that the chief priests and the elder of the people valued their place in society, their prestige and their power. They are afraid of losing those perks of being of the priestly caste of the prominent leaders of the people.

They seem to be more concerned with those things than they are of the possibility that someone’s work and message could actually be the hand of God at work among them.

How could the chief priests and the elders have missed an important lesson, which is found throughout the sacred writings of Moses[2]? It is that message which says that God hates haughty and proud people who are unwilling to lose their own sense of self-importance.

Following the non-answer given by the chief priests and the elders, Jesus tells a parable, now known as the Parable of the Two Sons. In the parable, two sons are described: One initially refuses to go work in the vineyard, but later on, he reconsiders and goes. The other one give lip service to his father, agreeing to go, but doesn’t.[3]

Then, Jesus tells the chief priests and the elders that the tax collectors and the prostitutes will go into the kingdom of God before them, because they saw God’s hand at work in John’s ministry.

The difference between the chief priests and the elders and the tax collectors and the prostitutes is that the latter group has little-to-nothing to lose. They have no prestige[4]. They had no standing in society. They were to be shunned and to be looked down upon.

Those who have little-to-nothing to begin with have little to lose when God’s call comes along. If we think about it, those who think they have a lot (a prominent place in society, many possessions, for example) must overcome their warped sense of self-importance in order to enter the kingdom of God. No wonder that Jesus says that it will be more difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom than it is for a camel to thread the eye of a needle.

In truth, each and every one of us is – in God’s sight – entirely without the ability to vaunt ourselves into acceptance with God. By our own merits, we have no standing with God.

So then, to lose any sense of self-importance that may lie in our hearts and minds is the beginning of a rich and fruitful relationship with God.

If we think about it, that’s the essential meaning of Holy Baptism, for in Baptism, we are admitting that we cannot save ourselves, and that we are dependent upon God’s mercy and love to accept us, and to begin to rework within us our own warped sense of self.

AMEN.

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[1]   The motivation for Jesus’ actions may lie in the practices that were going on in the Temple: The coinage that circulated at that time was Roman coinage, which bore the image of the emperor. As such, it was forbidden to be used for the buying of animals that were part of the sacrifices which were required by the Law of Moses (Torah). So the Temple used special coinage. The problem was that the rate of exchange between Roman and Temple coinage was governed by the chief priests. They were benefitting (and getting rich) off of this practice. In other words, they had a monopoly and a racket going.

[2]   The chief priests accepted only the writings attributed to Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) as being scripture.

[3]   Parables place something that people will generally know alongside some truth. This parable might place the tale of the two sons alongside the attitudes of the chief priests and the elders, when compared to the Gentiles who had come to faith in Jesus, and who were members of the church where Matthew was (quite likely) active.

[4]   Tax collectors were especially hated in that day and time, because they were often Jews who were collaborating with the Roman occupation by collecting taxes on behalf of the Romans. 

Pentecost 17, Year A (2026)

Jonah 3:10 – 4:11 / Psalm 145: 1–8 / Philippians 1: 21-30 / Matthew 20: 1–16

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, September 20, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

“GOD’S WAYS ARE (HIGHER) (BETTER) (WISER) (MORE GENEROUS) THAN OURS”

(Homily text: Matthew 20: 1–16)

 

Earlier in my ordained ministry, I served as Pastor for weekend retreats for Middle School and High School young adults. As part of our weekend, we sang a number of songs. One of them went something like, “His ways are higher than ours…His ways are wiser than ours…His ways are better than ours…” This song was accompanied by gestures to indicate the meaning.

Perhaps that song might characterize our Gospel reading, appointed for this morning.

In our reading today, Jesus lays out what we know as the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard.

So then, borrowing from our song, cited above, let’s look at some of the various aspects of the Lord’s teaching.

1.   God’s ways are higher than ours: No doubt, as Jesus tells us about the master who owned the vineyard, He is telling us that God has plans which are above and beyond our human capacity to fully understand. Perhaps that’s why Jesus tells us that the master says, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me?” (Matthew 20:15)

2.   God’s ways are wiser than ours: This aspect of the parable is related to the first one. Here, we might understand that, if the master (God) is generous to the workers who were hired later on in the day, perhaps the master might have some broader and better plan than the laborers could foresee.

3.   God’s ways are more mysterious than ours: To be sure, God’s ways are, at times, beyond our ability to comprehend. But God’s ways are always better and more beneficial to us than the ways that we can imagine those blessings to be.

4.   God’s ways are more generous than ours: Here we come to the central point (it seems to me) of the parable: God’s ways are far more generous than ours.

Now then, having come to the point where we consider God’s generosity, let’s explore this aspect of the Lord’s teaching in greater depth.

If it’s true that Matthew was engaged in argument with the Judaism of the day in the community where he was living and working (and I believe that this understanding of the setting of Matthew’s writing is a good estimation of Matthew’s situation), perhaps this teaching was aimed at those children of Abraham who maintained that their relationship with God amounted to some sort of a bargain. A bargain of the sort of “If we do this for you, then you owe us….”. Apparently, Jesus encountered that sort of an understanding which amounted to some sort of a “deal” with God, for many in Judaism seemed to feel that if a person was wealthy or had good health, then it must be that they were doing all the “right” things where God was concerned. Conversely, they felt that those who were sickly or were poor were being punished by God for some grievous wrongdoing.

The Lord’s teaching cuts against such an understanding. Jesus is telling us that a person’s efforts, done in the name of God, don’t amount to a direct relationship in terms of results and blessings from God. God will be generous in ways we can’t understand. (We’ll come back to this point in a moment.)

It may be true that the church that Matthew operated in was composed of both Jews and Gentiles. If so, then perhaps this parable assured those Gentiles, who had come to faith later than the earliest believers, were as equally welcome to enter into a relationship with God through Christ. They, like the laborers last hired, were to be valued just as much as the original band of the Lord’s followers.

Then, too, we ought to notice the need to respond in faith to God’s invitation to go into the vineyard of life and act in God’s name. Notice, in the parable, that Jesus tells us that the next workers to be told to go into the vineyard are told that they will be paid “whatever is right”. (Verse four) The workers aren’t told exactly what they will be paid for the hours that they work. They go into the work, trusting that the master will be just in his compensation for their efforts.

Before we end our consideration of this parable, we need to look at the matter of efforts and good work done in the name of the Lord.

Throughout the history of the Church, some Christians have maintained that doing “good stuff” is the substance and the central purpose of relating to God through Jesus. In the late fourth century and the early fifth century, a British monk named Pelagius maintained that we human beings didn’t need God’s help in order to save ourselves. The Church, in response, condemned Pelagius’ views, and labelled them as heresy.[1]

During his tenure as Bishop of Hippo[2], St. Augustine said that we human beings are so easily fooled. We can be fooled into believing that we can work our way up the ladder of God’s approval by our own merits and efforts.[3] Here again, today’s parable does away with that notion.

What then, are we to glean from today’s teaching?

Perhaps this: God calls each and every one of us into ministry in His name. As we respond to that call and engage in the Lord’s work in the world, we are not to keep some sort of a tally of the things we’ve done, in order to keep a tally of God’s blessings and favor. The two aren’t directly related to one another.

We can be assured of God’s generosity (surely a central point in today’s parable), a generosity that will be informed by God’s ways, which are higher, better, more mysterious and more generous than we can imagine.

AMEN.

 

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[1]   I have a short list of the basic, historical heresies that I think every Christian ought to know. The reason is that the Evil One keeps trotting out these old falsehoods again and again, often in slightly different packaging. The four on my list are: Marcionism, Gnosticism, Arianism and Pelagianism.

[2]   A Roman city in northern Africa

[3]   This last point figured prominently in the concerns and the causes of the Protestant Reformation in the sixteenth century. The Reformers saw (correctly, in my view) the practice of selling Indulgences as a form of Pelagianism.

Pentecost 16, Year A (2026)

Genesis 50: 15–21 / Psalm 103: 1–13 / Romans 14: 1–12 / Matthew 18: 21–35

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania on Sunday, September 13, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

 

“LEAKS: GOOD ONES AND NOT-SO-GOOD ONES”

(Homily text: Matthew 18: 21-35)

 

We begin this morning with a bit of humor…

It’s Sunday morning, and in the local Pentecostal church, the service is nearing an end. The altar call is given, and a man steps forward. Raising his arms, he begins to cry out, “Lord, just fill me up, just fill me up!” The man continues in this same way for a good while, and then stops to catch his breath, whereupon a lady in the front row says, “Yes, Lord, fill him up, ‘cause he sure does leak!”.

So then, let’s consider the matter of leaks, those sorts of leaks that are good and desirable, and which are the sorts that are good and necessary for a faithful walk with God, those sorts of leaks that we’d be better off if we didn’t lose what good things God would like us to have and to retain, and those sorts of leaks that we must make use of, if we are to be good followers of Jesus.

Three examples, demonstrating both sorts, come to mind…

If we think about it, and if we are honest with ourselves, all of us leak when it comes to the things of God. That is to say, we forget the things we have learned, or the things we have come to know. So, we need refreshers. We need God to fill us up again, in order to fill up the voids in our faith life that must be filled. That would be a good example of the less-than-optimal sort of filling up that each of us require, now and again. And, by the way, that’s one reason we gather in church Sunday by Sunday, because we need reminders, we need a godly boost to bolster our walk with God.

Just as bad is a condition in which we are unwilling to let the less-than-desirable aspects of our human nature to deliberately leak out of us, so that God can refill those spaces with His wisdom, insights and love.

And then, there’s those sorts of leaks that can work either for our good, or can threaten to impair our relationship with the Lord. I’m thinking here of the ability to share the good things of God that He wants to give us, and which we receive if we are willing to turn around and share those same good things with others.

This last point brings us to the matter of receiving and giving forgiveness, and to the Lord’s Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, which is our appointed Gospel text for this morning.

Matthew places this teaching right after the teaching about how the Church, and its members, are to resolve injurious behaviors in the Church. (This was our appointed Gospel text for last Sunday). Perhaps the context of today’s parable is important for our understanding of its importance.

Recall that, in the teaching we heard last Sunday, the Lord instructs an individual member of the body of Christ who’s been the recipient of bad behavior to approach the one who’s caused the problem, going one-on-one. If this doesn’t resolve the matter, then the Lord says that the injured party is to take one or two others as witnesses. If this next step doesn’t set the matter to rest, then the whole Church is to resolve the matter. Concluding the teaching is this instruction from the Lord: “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Peter, apparently thinking about this last comment, asks the Lord, “How many times should I forgive a sister or brother?” He then posits the answer as being “seven times”. No, the Lord says, not seven times, but seventy-seven times. Or – in other words – a limitless number.

Then we hear the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

Jesus spins out a tale in which a servant owes his master a very large sum of money. But the servant is unable to pay the debt, so the master forgives the debt. Leaving the master’s presence, the servant encounters a fellow servant who owes him a very small sum. The forgiven servant obviously forgets the blessing he’s just received in the forgiveness of his debt, for he grabs his fellow servant and demands payment.

The parable is told in hyperbolic terms, meaning that the Lord deliberately exaggerates the sums of money involved in order to provoke our response.

We are told that, unless we are willing to offer forgiveness to others, our Heavenly Father won’t be generous with us.

Here we come to the matter of leakages.

If we are unwilling to deliberately allow God’s goodness, God’s love, and God’s forgiveness to flow out of our innermost being, then there’s no space for God to refill. The truth is that we control the valve which regulates the outward flow. Surely, this is a mystery: Why would God allow us the freedom to choose to be generous with that which flows out of us? I don’t know the answer, but I do know that’s how it works.

We could characterize this truth by saying that, if we want to receive, we’ll need to be willing to also give. (I’ve heard that somewhere, have you?) Or, in order to get, we’re gonna have to be willing to give.

Where the matter of giving and receiving forgiveness is concerned, Matthew provides us with today’s parable. But he also provides us with the Lord’s Prayer, which reminds us that we want God to forgive us, just as we are willing to forgive others. Then, to be sure we’ve gotten the message, Matthew tells us plainly that, unless we are willing to forgive others, God will not forgive us (see Matthew 6: 14–15). (Matthew is fond of repeating himself – his Gospel accounts contain many examples where a teaching appears twice.)

Our prayer then might be that the Lord will fill us up, to the extent that we’ve created space for Him to do so.

AMEN. 

Pentecost 15, Year A (2026)

Ezekiel 33: 7–11 / Psalm 119: 33–40 / Romans 13: 8–14 / Matthew 18: 15-20

 

This is the written version of the homily given at Flohr’s Evangelical Lutheran Church (ELCA) in McKnightstown, Pennsylvania, on Sunday, September 6, 2026 by Fr. Gene Tucker, Interim Pastor.

 

 

“’SOCIAL GREASE’: AN ESSENTIAL TOOL TO ASSIST IN THE CHURCH’S WITNESS AND MISSION”

(Homily text: Matthew 18: 15-20)

 

 

Let’s think about grease this morning. (Yes, I know, this could be a messy subject!) Or, to be more precise, something we could call “Social Grease”.

Social Grease consists of those things that make it possible for human beings to live with, and to associate with, each other. Just as grease, when applied to a piece of machinery, makes it possible for that mechanical device to function more smoothly, so to does “Social Grease” reduce friction between people.

So, for example, we could say that having the ability to say “please” or “thank you” would constitute two forms of “Social Grease”.

Another example might be the ability to say “could you help me”.

Still another would be “I’m sorry”.

This last example leads us to today’s Gospel text, in which our Lord Jesus Christ lays out the means by which disagreements and tensions between members of the church are to be addressed. (It’s worth noting that our text this morning is unique to Matthew … none of the other two Synoptic Gospels[1] record this teaching.)

We should begin our examination of this teaching by noting some aspects of the text.

To begin with, notice that the final decision about the fate of the offender lies with the (entire) congregation. Apparently, the church that Matthew found himself in later on in his work had no clergy at all. That local church operated by what we would later call “congregational polity”, meaning that the local congregation handled its own affairs and made its decisions by agreement or consensus of its members.

Next, we should notice the progression of the action to be taken whenever someone in the congregation does something that is hurtful or offensive. The matter is to be dealt with one-on-one, with the injured person confronting the offender alone. If that doesn’t solve the problem, then the injured party is to bring two or three others as witnesses. This is in keeping with the Law of Moses (Torah), which required legal proceedings to be decided on the basis of two or three witnesses.[2] Then, the Lord says, if this second step doesn’t resolve the matter, then the entire congregation must weigh in on the matter. The wisdom of this approach helps to ensure that the disagreement is to be resolved in the smallest possible context. For Christian believers, this means that someone who’s been the recipient of hurtful actions is not to go around the congregation, spreading their convictions among the membership.

We might – at this point – pause to remember why this bit of the Lord’s wisdom is so critical to the church’s life, witness and mission.

We should be realists about the human condition, for the blunt truth is that, from time-to-time each one of us has the capability of doing or saying things that injure others. In some cases, the things one can say or do are so damaging that the church’s unity is threatened. The church’s witness to the wider (unbelieving) world is imperiled. I believe it’s this sort of very serious stuff that the Lord has in mind.

St. Paul reminds the early Church, which was composed (more often than not) by people who had come out of a pagan culture and lifestyle, that now that they had come into relationship with the Lord, a new way of believing and a new way of acting is necessary. Paul’s letters are sprinkled with admonitions which remind these early believers that being a Christian believer means that life is now different. Paul often goes on to say that the Church’s unity affects its mission and its witness.

For small congregations, frequent use of the “Social Greases” that are available to us human beings is essential to the church’s unity. Small churches oftentimes can fall into factions, one group harboring ill will or animosity against others, sometimes over something that had happened a long time ago. Larger churches have as a resource, larger groups of people, whose presence can buffer the strains that can develop here and there. Not so with small churches. Newcomers and visitors to the congregation can sense the tensions that are present in the membership. Sometimes, that means that visitors will decide to continue to shop around for a church elsewhere.

This morning’s Gospel text seeks to make use of the “Social Grease” of the words “I’m sorry”. (To my way of thinking, being able to say “I’m sorry” is one of four basic forms of “Social Grease” that enable us to get along with others as we make our way through life.)

One final thought is, perhaps, worth noting:

This bit of the Lord’s teaching is couched in between the Parable of the Lost Sheep (beforehand - see Matthew 18: 10–14), and the Lord’s admonition that we are to be ready to offer forgiveness to others in generous amounts (Matthew 18:21 and following) as the Lord tells His Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

Perhaps the wider context of what precedes and what follows this morning’s appointed text can remind us that the God’s intent is to seek out the lost and the forgotten. And, in addition, we – as the Lord’s followers – are to be ready to forgive others again and again.

If this guess is correct, then perhaps what the Lord is telling us to do whenever we encounter someone who doesn’t seem to want to acknowledge their transgressions, is to continue to seek them out, in order that our continued engagement might prompt a change of heart. After all, when the Lord tells us that we are to treat unrepentant persons like “tax collectors and Gentiles”, we ought to remember that it was exactly those sorts of people that He went out of his way to reach with the Good News of God.

AMEN.

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[1]   The three Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke.

[2]   In accordance with the provisions of Deuteronomy 19:15.