The Bishop's Sermon- To Whom Was She Preaching?

"But into this picture, this commonplace situation of 1st century Palestine, or 21st century Africa, the grace of God breaks in. When, at the end of the day, all the workers gather to receive their well-earned wages, it turns out that they are not being paid an hourly rate, or apparently even in any way that is fair. From the perspective of labour relations or employment law, the owner of the vineyard is behaving in a way that is deeply unfair, and one that would today guarantee an instant wildcat strike. How can you pay everyone the same, whether they work for one hour or eight?"*


The Bishop preached about the owner of the vineyard behaving in a way that is "deeply unfair".

The Bishop preached about deeply unfair behaviour that would violate employment and labour law whilst she was in the very process of leading a deeply unfair process that violated employment law and resulted in a Lutheran congregation landing in an Employment Tribunal. The Bishop preached about the unfairness of the vineyard owner whilst making deeply unfair decisions and demands that deeply hurt a congregation, a pastor, a partner and small children. She preached grace whilst crippling the Lutheran Church in Great Britain with tens of thousands of pounds of legal fees. ( The legal fees over £50,000 was reported in the LCiGB Annual Report - though rather buried and not reflected in the accounts. )

Many a wise preacher has observed that a preacher reveals much in a homily.

"This rebuke reminds us that the story, not just this parable, but the whole of the great salvation story is not about what we do, but about what God does out of sheer grace." As the Bishop preached those words one wonders did her voice tremble or was it hopeful?

The Bishop preached, "why would we want to be miserly about sharing that joy?"

To whom was she asking?




*Anglican-Lutheran Society Conference 16th-20th September 2011
“THE WORD PREACHED – THE WORD READ” Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK
SERMON PREACHED IN SALISBURY CATHEDRAL
The Rt Rev Jana Jeruma-Grinberga (Lutheran Co-Moderator of the Society)

http://www.anglican-lutheran-society.org/Jana%20ALS%20Salisbury%20sermon.pdf