27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (2)

But we are often guilty of acting as if we own the church. Since the church is God’s gift to us, shouldn’t we be asking what does the owner want us to do. What does the Lord want us to do? What does he require? What would Jesus do in this situation? We all have opinions about the church and what it is and how it should be managed—and there is nothing wrong with that. But really there is only one question that counts, “What does the Lord of the Church wants us to do?”

When we are asking ourselves:

What do we want from this church?

What do we need to do to keep this parish going?

What do we need to do make worship meaningful across all generations?

What do we need to do to teach all children of the love Jesus has for them?

What do we need to do to make the best use of the properties and facilities that will further God’s work in this community?

and whatever other important questions arise, we always need to remind ourselves that this is not our church, this is God’s Church. The Church is ours on loan. The one who created the church, paid for it with the death of his Son. And so the first and final question that needs to be asked is this, “What does the Lord of the church, the owner of the church, want us to do.” “How can we be the best tenants possible and serve our Master faithfully.”

The church is God’s. I can’t make God’s Word speak to you on Sunday, no matter how hard I work on the sermon. When God touches your life though what happens here on Sundays, it’s a gift: God’s gift, not mine.

When you come to the altar and receive the bread and wine, Christ’s body and blood, this is God’s gift to you personally and to us as his Church. The church is gathered under the grace of God, not through our best and earnest efforts.

When the forgiveness of sins is pronounced in the penitential rite at the commencement of Mass, I can’t make you believe this, you can’t make yourself feel better about your guilt. This is God’s gift to you whether you feel any different or not. It is real. It is true. It is a gift from Jesus himself.

So we can take heart. The church is not all left up to us. This is God’s church, God’s service, God’s people.

I said in the beginning that this parable of Jesus is a parable of judgement. Jesus concludes by saying, “And so I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits.” Was Jesus only talking about the church of his time? Could he also be saying this to us today? Is it possible that the church, the gospel, this gift may be taken from us and given to others.

A university lecturer was with his family, visiting the town where he was soon to take up a teaching position. As they entered town, they passed by a large, impressive church.

“We’ll go to that church on Sunday,” the man said to his family.

On Sunday they got up and walked to church. As they neared the building, they could hear music, loud music, guitars, drums, emanating from the neo-gothic building.

A smiling usher greeted them at the door. When the door opened, they could see that the service had begun. In the service there was a band in full swing. People of all ages were singing and clapping to the music.

“Is this a Methodist church?” the man asked the usher.

“Oh, no,” said the usher. “We rent this from the Methodist church. Let me take you to where the Methodists are worshipping.”

And the usher took him around the corner of the building to a small chapel where there was gathered a small group of mostly older people who were struggling through a service.

It was obvious from the magnificent church building that this had once been a thriving, lively congregation. What they once had, had been given to another.

Jesus told this parable about the wicked tenants to bring the church of his day to repentance. It has the same effect on us today. When we read this we realise how often we forget to ask, “What would the owner want us to do”? We realise that so often we have wanted our own way and not sought what was the will of Lord of the Church.

We are here today because we have a Saviour who has died and risen for us. We have Master who has given his life for us so that we can have forgiveness and eternal life. May God through his Holy Spirit continue to bless his church and give us an ever-greater vision of what he wants for the church and what it means for us to be the church, people bringing a rich and fruitful harvest for God. As great as the temptation always is to be a cosy and comfortable and to simply look after ourselves, let’s be open to the prompting and guiding of the Spirit to be a witnessing and serving church.

Shortly we’ll gather for the Annual General Meeting of our parish. This is a time to celebrate who we are and the work that has been done in and for our parish by a number of people. But as we reflect on this and as we look to the coming twelve months, let us keep at the forefront of our minds the wisdom of today’s parable: this is not our parish, it is God’s; and this parish is entrusted to us to take good and sensible care of it, recognising that what is undertaken is undertaken for the benefit of us all. May God richly bless us as we strive to do this in his name.