September 20, 2026, at St. William, St.Agnes, and St. Peter Churches in Naples, FL

Isaiah 55: 6-9 + Psalm 145 + Philippians 1: 20-24, 27 + Matthew 20: 1-16

It is easy to convince ourselves that after keeping the rules, saying our prayers, being faithful and nice we have fabricated for ourselves a great reward, leaving us to assume that what God in God’s goodness has given us, is something we have earned. It isn’t until we see God’s goodness to others, especially to those we don’t like, that we can begin to see the goodness of God for the wonderful miracle that it is, and that goodness is what is revealed with these verses of Matthew’s Gospel.

This story can easily disturb and distract us with questions over what is fair or what is just. When that happens, we miss the real issue at the heart of the story. In a world of competition that has winners and losers, where score keeping and ranking is how we measure who or what is best, this Gospel message is bewildering. While the behavior of the vineyard owner is the focus for Jesus revealing that goodness of God, we can’t help but notice the behavior of those who worked through the day. I have always wondered why they could not imitate the generosity of the owner by taking the whole crew out for dinner. But no, they have to be watching what everyone else gets and deciding that there is something unfair about getting what they agreed to. In our system, they should probably get a bonus, but they don’t.

We hear this story and cringe at what it says about God, and we might feel ashamed at what it says about us because we carry around notions of what is fair and what is not, and this story offends most of those notions. It is easy to agree that the owner can run his business the way he wants to, but his payroll policies make us uncomfortable. The question is greater than just about hours worked. It is something else entirely. If the owner is going to play favorites, we want to be the favored ones. If the owner is going to be generous, we want some of that generosity.

Jesus could have told this story differently with those hired first paid first, avoiding conflict. But he did not because he wanted those hired first to see something. The only way to really see the goodness of God is to see that goodness as it is given to others. The fact is, we are too wrapped up in our own skins, too bundled in our own needs to see truly what God gives us. Perhaps what we might see, sometimes to our shame, is that God treats us all the same, because in God’s eye, there are no favorites, and no one is the best. For what Jesus says to us today is that we are all equally loved by God, the good, the bad, the faithful, the unfaithful, the rich and the poor, the white and the brown, the straight and the gay, the sinner and the saint. Those grumblers speak the most important words of this Gospel when they say: “You have made them equal to us.” That is exactly what God has done.

September 13, 2026, at Saint Peter and Saint William Parishes in Naples, FL

Sirach 27: 30-28:9 + Psalm 103 + Romans 14: 7-9 + Matthew 18: 21-35

Followers of Jesus are to follow him, not admire him. Too many in this world fail to see a difference, and there are way too few followers while the number of admirers grows all the time. All you have to do is pay attention to many who are running for public office these days. They seem to have discovered that admiring Jesus Christ publicly will get them votes. Followers of Jesus organize their values around the values of Jesus: justice and peace. They judge what is good and right and what is evil and wrong according to the teachings of Jesus learned from what Jesus says as well as what Jesus does.

We pick up a parable today that reminds us that the Christian community is a community of the forgiven and forgiving. Peter’s question at the beginning locates this forgiveness in the family or the community when he says: “Lord, if my brother sins against me…” These debtors all seem to belong to the same household. If you remember, last week’s Gospel provided a three-step system for forgiveness. The last step was taking the matter to the community. Today we get a look at how that third step might work.

There has been a lot written on the subject of reconciliation. Once we thought the process began with the offender repenting of the offence and then asking or begging for forgiveness. We all know how that works. “Until they ask for forgiveness and admit that they were wrong, I’m not going to even think about forgiveness.” The frequent failure of that process has led to better thinking that is a lot more like the way God works. This new thinking suggests that reconciliation begins with the one offended offering forgiveness and that this willingness to forgive transforms one from being a victim to being a survivor. It is quite possible that such graciousness may touch the heart of the offender, who might also be transformed from offender to friend. Think about it. Which is better being a victim or a survivor. Which is better, being an offender or a friend. That’s what is at stake here.

It is difficult to forgive someone who has offended us. It may be that our honor is at stake or that our very person has been threatened. Deep feelings get involved. When we have been hurt, we want to inflict pain in return and even the score. Most people would not blame us for feeling like this. In fact, they would even encourage us in retaliation. However, retaliation is the way of the world and not the way of the Lord. What a horrible mess our lives would be if God chose to inflict revenge on us for our sin.

Peter wants to count how many times one offers forgiveness. His idea is like keeping score. You get just so many chances, and then you’re done. What Jesus teaches in response is that we learn to be more God-like when it comes to forgiveness. No score keeping, just divine generosity that heals and restores the human family to unity and peace with the hope that in God’s eyes we shall all be friends.

September 6, 2026, at Saint William and Saint Peter Churches in Naples, FL

Ezekiel 33: 7-9 + Psalm 95 + Romans 13: 8-10 + Matthew 18: 15-20

We are living through an age historians may call the age of blame or maybe the age of the victim. If anything happens that we don’t like, it is someone else’s fault, and we become the victim. The instruction given by Matthew today is to victims. His instruction is for the victim to take the initiative. Remember how it started: “If your brother sins against you.” There is no room in the teaching of Jesus or in the conduct of Christian life for sitting around, licking wounds, and crying: “Poor me.”

None of us can avoid being victims, but we can avoid the victim mentality and all the whining and complaining that goes with it. What is necessary is respect for the offender which is why the matter is first handled privately. There is no need to tell everyone how terrible that offender is, to shame them before everyone else. What Matthew goes on to suggest is that if the matter is not resolved privately, perhaps one or two others might help. At this point, it very possible that those others may see things a little differently than the victim. Sometimes it does take two to quarrel or to fight. There is always the possibility that the victim did or said something causing the offender to react. Notice that what seems to be required of everyone is the willingness and ability to listen.

When everything fails, there comes that suggestion from Matthew that those who refuse to listen should be treated as a Gentile or a tax collector which sounds at first like a suggestion to avoid or to shut out the other. However, we might want to remember that Jesus spent most of his time among the Gentiles. He visited them often, cared for them, and cured them. He ate in their homes and called one tax collector to be his disciple. So that suggestion does not propose a complete break or the final end of a relationship. Those words about binding or loosening are serious, and they should be heard as a warning not as a power to be used. This passage closes with the best suggestion of all, that we pray together. It raises the hope that old wounds can be healed, that offenses can be forgiven, and that victims and offenders may find themselves together with Jesus in the midst of them.