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The Gift of Grace
Sunday morning service from Rugby School. The chaplain, the Rev Richard Horner, preaches on grace. The Choir of Rugby School is directed by Richard Tanner.
The abundant and surprising nature of God's grace is the subject of worship from the Chapel of Rugby School. As the pupils there and across the country prepare to sit both internal and public exams, the chaplain, the Revd Richard Horner, reflects on the need for grace during the most testing times. What does trust in God's grace really mean when we are under pressure? At a time when young people face so many pressures, the service explores ways to support and enhance their mental health and wellbeing.
The service is introduced by the headmaster, Peter Green and the Choir of Rugby School is directed by Richard Tanner. The music includes Montiverdi's 'Cantate Domino', Harold Darke's 'Kyrie' and John Rutter's 'The Lord's my shepherd'.
Readings:
Numbers 21:4-9
Romans 3:19-26
Matt 20:1-16.
Last on
Sun 14 May 2017
08:10
ĂŰŃż´ŤĂ˝ Radio 4
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Script
This script cannot exactly reflect the transmission, as it was prepared before the service was broadcast. It may include editorial notes prepared by the producer, and minor spelling and other errors that were corrected before the radio broadcast.It may contain gaps to be filled in at the time so that prayers may reflect the needs of the world, and changes may also be made at the last minute for timing reasons, or to reflect current events.
Radio 4 Opening Announcement: Â ĂŰŃż´ŤĂ˝ Radio 4. Â Itâs ten past eight â time to go live to the Chapel of Rugby School for this weekâs Sunday Worship. Â Itâs led by the Assistant Chaplain, Lisa Greatwood, and by members of the school. Â The preacher is the Chaplain, the Reverend Richard Horner, and the Head Master, Peter Green, will give a welcome after the opening piece of music from the school choir: âCantate Dominoâ â Â âSing to the Lord a new song.â
CHOIR: Cantate Domino (Monteverdi)
HEAD MASTER:Good morning and welcome to Rugby School.  Here among the glorious high Victorian architecture of the School Chapel, with its stained glass and striped brickwork, the 800 boys and girls of our school regularly gather to pray, to sing, and to reflect upon lifeâs biggest questions.  Our opening anthem invited us to âSing to the Lord a new song.â  The words come from the Psalms.  The composer, Monteverdi, was born in 1567, the very year of our schoolâs foundation.  This year weâre celebrating our 450th anniversary with a year-long series of special events.  Founded in the reign of Elizabeth the First, Rugby School has grown and changed with the years, and now in the time of the second Queen Elizabeth, with a confident eye on the future, we look back with gratitude for all that has led us to this point. From our very beginning the Christian faith has been the guiding principle of our school.  Our Latin motto âOrando Laborandoâ is translated: âby work and by prayerâ.  Work doesnât just happen in the classroom, but in every endeavour of human life.  Prayer, too, doesnât only happen in chapel, but in our willingness to see God in all things and to serve God in all things.   By prayer and by work, and only by those two together, do you become a whole person.  That wholeness is Godâs desire for us, and only by his grace can we achieve it.  Itâs what we aim for in our school life, and we sum it up in our contemporary tag-line â âWhole person, whole pointâ.
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:The theme of this morningâs service is Grace. Â Godâs grace is the undeserved favour he shows to his people. Â We see example after example of that grace at work as we look back over the life of our school â and as we look at our own lives as well.
Our first hymn sings of that grace which âlike the Lord, the giver, never fails from age to ageâ.  âGlorious things of thee are spokenâ.  CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN + BRASS: Glorious things of thee are spoken (Austria)
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Christ the light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts.  In his light let us examine ourselves and confess our sins. Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have failed you as your apostles did, and we ask for your mercy and help.When we put selfish gain before right action;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we fail to stand beside those who are in need or in pain;   Christ, have mercy;All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we allow our interest in material things to overshadow our spiritual life;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we fail to offer our lives in service to others, as you offered yourself for us;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us.  Cleanse us from our sins by your precious blood, and graciously restore us to your service, for your praise and glory, Amen.  ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Almighty God, Father of mercies, you have reconciled the world to yourselfthrough the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ,in your grace not counting our sins against us.By the power of your Holy Spirit,Forgive what is past and guide what shall be,That we may live and serveIn your strength alone,this day and ever more.Amen.
 READER 1:Our first Bible reading comes from the period when the Israelites were travelling from slavery in Egypt to their new home in their promised land.  In this Old Testament example of Grace, Godâs justice demands that he punish the people who rebel against him, but at the same time he gives them a way to escape that punishment.  The people are spared, and they donât even have to do anything â just turn towards the sign God gives them, and look upon the source of their forgiveness.  Many years later, Jesus would refer to this account when he described his own death on the cross; the ultimate gift of Grace which this story foreshadows.  The reading is from the book of Numbers.   READER 2:They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go round Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, âWhy have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!âThen the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, âWe sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.â So Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, âMake a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.â  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:As the Israelites lifted their eyes to the bronze snake, so in later years they would sing of lifting their eyes to the hills and seeking the help of God.  Centuries later, Mendelssohn set their song to music . . . .
CHOIR: Lift thine eyes (Mendelssohn)
 READER 3:Our second Bible reading is another story of grace.  Jesus preached using parables, and this one is part of a series in which he explains to his hearers what the kingdom of God is like.  The parable of the labourers in the vineyard makes the point that our idea of what we are worth - what we deserve - may not fit in with the economy of Godâs kingdom.  It is, after all, a kingdom of grace, where blessing is given to those who donât deserve it.  Its message is not particularly hard to understand, but it can be hard to accept â for us, hearing it 2000 years later, just as for its first hearers.  The reading comes from Matthewâs Gospel: READER 4:Jesus said, âThe kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them one denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.âAbout nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the market-place doing nothing.  He told them, âYou also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.â  So they went.âHe went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.  About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, âWhy have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?âââBecause no one has hired us,â they answered.âHe said to them, âYou also go and work in my vineyard.ââWhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, âCall the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.ââThe workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received one denarius.  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.  But each one of them also received one denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.  âThese who were hired last worked only one hour,â they said, âand you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.ââBut he answered one of them, âI am not being unfair to you, friend. Didnât you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Donât I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?ââSo the last will be first, and the first will be last.âÂ
CHOIR, ORGAN + BRASS: Jubilate (Simon Johnson)Â Â SERMON â CHAPLAIN:That was Simon Johnsonâs setting of Psalm 100 â Jubilate Deo â specially written for our School Choir.
One day, not long ago, I went to the pub â and when I got there, quite late in the evening, I discovered that it was quiz night.  I also discovered at a table in the corner a little group of my dear colleagues crouched over their answer sheets competing in the pub quiz with the same fervour and perfectionism that they bring to the marking of essays and the writing of reports.  They spotted me and very kindly asked me to join them.  They even generously implied that I might be of some help in their efforts.  Well, it was late in the evening, nine of the ten rounds of the quiz had already been completed, and the teachers were in the lead going into the last round.  I sat down ready to do my very best to aid them to victory.   The quizmaster stood up and announced that the last round would be on the subject of . . . penguins.  Iâm afraid I was of practically no use at all in that particular field.  I contributed one answer, based on a vague childhood memory from London Zoo.  But the combined brilliance of my colleagues carried the team over the line in first place.  And do you know what those lovely people did?  They gave to me, who had turned up for the last round and made almost no contribution whatsoever - the late arriving labourer in the vineyard - an equal share of the prize.  I tried half-heartedly to protest that this wasnât fair â but they insisted.I donât think they realised how they were acting out a Bible parable, nor how the immediate scribbled note in my little red book meant that before long their act of grace would be recounted to you this morning. Our theme this morning is Grace.  Which sounds very nice.  It makes us think perhaps of a dancer or a gymnast; or of the prayer we say at mealtimes - other meanings of the same word. But Grace in the Bible, if we really understand it, might not at first delight, but rather, shock us.  For there is something about the Christian religion that some people find very hard to accept, and that something is grace.  The Bible reading we heard today goes right to the heart of it.    Jesus told the story of the vineyard, and said: the kingdom of heaven is like this.  In other words, hereâs a picture about how God wants our life and relationships to be ordered. One morning the vineyardâs owner went down to the market place at daybreak to hire some casual labourers for the day.  They agreed to work, and he agreed to pay one Denarius for the dayâs labour.  At mid-morning he went and got a few more workers.  And again at lunch time.  And again at five-o-clock in the afternoon.  Then at the end of the day they all lined up to get paid.  The people who had just arrived and done an hourâs work got given one Denarius, which was frankly pretty generous.  So the people who had done the full eight hours were expecting quite a serious pay cheque.  But when their turn came, they also got given one Denarius.  And the cry went up, âItâs not fair!â Whatâs not fair? asked the owner of the vineyard.  You agreed to do a dayâs work for one denarius didnât you?  Whatâs the problem?  Well the problem, of course, was the apparent huge injustice of people who had worked hard all day long under the hot sun getting exactly the same reward as those who just rocked up at the end of the day.  And the problem for us who read this story today is that Jesus is saying - yup, that is exactly what God is like.  And we donât like it. Grace is undeserved favour.  And Jesusâ story of the labourers in the vineyard, that parable of grace, goes to the heart of why some people donât like the Christian faith.  Itâs not surprising.  It runs against the grain of one our most cherished and deeply held values â the value of hard work and fair reward.  It tells us that when it comes to our relationship with God, different rules apply from those that guide our relationships with our employers, with our teachers, with all that we learnt at our motherâs knee, even our relationship with the law of the land. It tells us, to use theological terms, that salvation cannot be earned.It punctures that most widespread misunderstanding â that Christianity is about doing good. It blows out of the water the idea that anyone can earn Godâs favour. No wonder people donât like this parable or the message for which it stands â especially people like us, good people, well brought up people, people who understand the value of behaving well and doing the right thing.  It turns our respectability upside down, and says that the uneducated criminal alcoholic dirty homeless tramp might be closer to God than we are.  Which is perhaps why Jesus ended his story by saying âThe first shall be last, and the last first.â Because Christianity is not about being good.  Itâs not for people who think they are good.  Itâs for people who know that they are bad, who know that what matters is not to be better but to be forgiven.  To be on the receiving end of the sort of forgiving grace that says, I donât care whether you laboured all day - or whether you just turned up at five-o-clock with your empty hands held out to receive in trust whatever I have to give.  Such grace can be hard to accept â both by those who feel that they have spent their whole lives labouring to earn Godâs favour, and also by those who feel unworthy to turn up late and receive identical generosity.  Maybe thatâs you.  But if you like the idea that this parable illustrates, if thereâs part of you saying . . . . âI wish it were true . . . . how wonderful if it could be trueâ . . . . well, all you can do is hold out your empty hands to the master of the vineyard and trust him to reward you; not because you are good, but because he is good.  Not because of your merit, but because of his grace.  You will not come away empty-handed.
 CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN:  Jesu, lover of my soul  (Aberystwyth)  Â
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Â In Jesus, the human face of God, we find one who is close enough for us turn to for comfort in sorrow, for protection in trouble, and for forgiveness and love when we have done wrong. Â This too is a gift of Godâs âplenteous graceâ as Charles Wesley put it in the hymn we have just sung. Â With that gift in our minds, we turn to prayer, bringing our concerns and the needs of the world to him.Â
PRAYERS:Â READER 1:Â Gracious God, we bring our thanks for the gift of life, with its joys and responsibilities, its opportunities and challenges. Â We bless you for our health and daily food, for shelter and care, the love of family and the loyalty of friends. Â For work well done, for games well played, for truth learned and goodness shared. Â In your loving grace you give us more than we deserve; help us to respond by offering our lives in service of you and of our neighbour, not because we hope thereby to win your favour, but in joyful thanksgiving for the love, acceptance and forgiveness which you pour out upon us.God of all grace;ALL: Â Hear our prayer
READER 2:God of all creation, you have given the rules by which the world turns and the flowers grow, the wonders of science and nature that humankind will spend millennia discovering and exploring. And you have taught men and women how to live together in this world that you have made.  Forgive the disobedience which makes us put our own desires above your commandments.  Hear our prayer for our rulers: for the Queen and her ministers, for those who are campaigning and for all who will be voting in the current general election, that we may be wisely and righteously led. God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayerREADER 1:God of peace, we pray for the world with all its troubles.  For all whose lives are affected by violence and unrest; for those who live with the tension caused by the threat of war; and for those in places of power.  For those who have been driven from their homes, and those who feel that they have no choice but to leave their home to seek a better life elsewhere.  We pray for the homeless and for refugees; for people living in lands where famine and drought have taken the lives of many; and for all who are persecuted for their beliefs.  Comfort your people in their times of trial, and strengthen those who are working for justice and the freedom of all.Almighty God, have mercy on all who, by hurting and harming one another, insult you, who created us in your image.  God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayer
READER 2:God of all comfort, we pray for those who are suffering today.  We remember those among our own friends and family who are unwell, and we think of people we know who are going through difficult times; the bereaved and the lonely, the lost and the confused.  We pray for those who are in hospital, for the medical staff who care for them, and for those who anxiously watch beside them.As the season of examinations begins, give purpose and peace to all who study.  We ask not that you do for us that which we ought to have done for ourselves, but that with clear minds and patient preparation we may give of our very best.God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayer CHOIR, ORGAN + OBOE: The Lordâs my shepherd (Rutter) ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:We join our prayers with the unspoken prayers of our hearts, and with the prayers of Godâs people throughout the world, as we say together: ALL:Our Father,Who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,For ever and ever. Amen
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:The final hymn is a favourite of ours here at Rugby.  Itâs a prayer that God would guide and sustain us in the challenges of our life and bring us safely through to the other side.  In this and thousands of other schools, for the next few weeks exams will be at the front of our thoughts; for those joining us on the radio, perhaps other concerns lie ahead.  Whatever the challenges may be, the God of Grace will be our guide.  This morningâs service began with the invitation to âSing to the Lord a new songâ.  It concludes with songs of praises that never end. CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN + BRASS: Guide me O thou great Redeemer (Cwm Rhondda)  CHAPLAIN: May God your strong delivererredeem you by his graceLead you with his loveAnd ever be your strength and shield;And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you now and for ever more.  Amen  ORGAN: PLAYOUTÂ
Radio 4 Opening Announcement: Â ĂŰŃż´ŤĂ˝ Radio 4. Â Itâs ten past eight â time to go live to the Chapel of Rugby School for this weekâs Sunday Worship. Â Itâs led by the Assistant Chaplain, Lisa Greatwood, and by members of the school. Â The preacher is the Chaplain, the Reverend Richard Horner, and the Head Master, Peter Green, will give a welcome after the opening piece of music from the school choir: âCantate Dominoâ â Â âSing to the Lord a new song.â
CHOIR: Cantate Domino (Monteverdi)
HEAD MASTER:Good morning and welcome to Rugby School.  Here among the glorious high Victorian architecture of the School Chapel, with its stained glass and striped brickwork, the 800 boys and girls of our school regularly gather to pray, to sing, and to reflect upon lifeâs biggest questions.  Our opening anthem invited us to âSing to the Lord a new song.â  The words come from the Psalms.  The composer, Monteverdi, was born in 1567, the very year of our schoolâs foundation.  This year weâre celebrating our 450th anniversary with a year-long series of special events.  Founded in the reign of Elizabeth the First, Rugby School has grown and changed with the years, and now in the time of the second Queen Elizabeth, with a confident eye on the future, we look back with gratitude for all that has led us to this point. From our very beginning the Christian faith has been the guiding principle of our school.  Our Latin motto âOrando Laborandoâ is translated: âby work and by prayerâ.  Work doesnât just happen in the classroom, but in every endeavour of human life.  Prayer, too, doesnât only happen in chapel, but in our willingness to see God in all things and to serve God in all things.   By prayer and by work, and only by those two together, do you become a whole person.  That wholeness is Godâs desire for us, and only by his grace can we achieve it.  Itâs what we aim for in our school life, and we sum it up in our contemporary tag-line â âWhole person, whole pointâ.
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:The theme of this morningâs service is Grace. Â Godâs grace is the undeserved favour he shows to his people. Â We see example after example of that grace at work as we look back over the life of our school â and as we look at our own lives as well.
Our first hymn sings of that grace which âlike the Lord, the giver, never fails from age to ageâ.  âGlorious things of thee are spokenâ.  CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN + BRASS: Glorious things of thee are spoken (Austria)
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Christ the light of the world has come to dispel the darkness of our hearts.  In his light let us examine ourselves and confess our sins. Lord Jesus Christ, we confess that we have failed you as your apostles did, and we ask for your mercy and help.When we put selfish gain before right action;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we fail to stand beside those who are in need or in pain;   Christ, have mercy;All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we allow our interest in material things to overshadow our spiritual life;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us. When we fail to offer our lives in service to others, as you offered yourself for us;   Christ, have mercy:All     Lord, forgive us and help us.  Cleanse us from our sins by your precious blood, and graciously restore us to your service, for your praise and glory, Amen.  ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Almighty God, Father of mercies, you have reconciled the world to yourselfthrough the death and resurrection of your Son, Jesus Christ,in your grace not counting our sins against us.By the power of your Holy Spirit,Forgive what is past and guide what shall be,That we may live and serveIn your strength alone,this day and ever more.Amen.
 READER 1:Our first Bible reading comes from the period when the Israelites were travelling from slavery in Egypt to their new home in their promised land.  In this Old Testament example of Grace, Godâs justice demands that he punish the people who rebel against him, but at the same time he gives them a way to escape that punishment.  The people are spared, and they donât even have to do anything â just turn towards the sign God gives them, and look upon the source of their forgiveness.  Many years later, Jesus would refer to this account when he described his own death on the cross; the ultimate gift of Grace which this story foreshadows.  The reading is from the book of Numbers.   READER 2:They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go round Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, âWhy have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!âThen the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, âWe sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.â So Moses prayed for the people.
The Lord said to Moses, âMake a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.â  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived. ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:As the Israelites lifted their eyes to the bronze snake, so in later years they would sing of lifting their eyes to the hills and seeking the help of God.  Centuries later, Mendelssohn set their song to music . . . .
CHOIR: Lift thine eyes (Mendelssohn)
 READER 3:Our second Bible reading is another story of grace.  Jesus preached using parables, and this one is part of a series in which he explains to his hearers what the kingdom of God is like.  The parable of the labourers in the vineyard makes the point that our idea of what we are worth - what we deserve - may not fit in with the economy of Godâs kingdom.  It is, after all, a kingdom of grace, where blessing is given to those who donât deserve it.  Its message is not particularly hard to understand, but it can be hard to accept â for us, hearing it 2000 years later, just as for its first hearers.  The reading comes from Matthewâs Gospel: READER 4:Jesus said, âThe kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  He agreed to pay them one denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.âAbout nine in the morning he went out and saw others standing in the market-place doing nothing.  He told them, âYou also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.â  So they went.âHe went out again about noon and about three in the afternoon and did the same thing.  About five in the afternoon he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, âWhy have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?âââBecause no one has hired us,â they answered.âHe said to them, âYou also go and work in my vineyard.ââWhen evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, âCall the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.ââThe workers who were hired about five in the afternoon came and each received one denarius.  So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more.  But each one of them also received one denarius.  When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner.  âThese who were hired last worked only one hour,â they said, âand you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.ââBut he answered one of them, âI am not being unfair to you, friend. Didnât you agree to work for a denarius?  Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you.  Donât I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?ââSo the last will be first, and the first will be last.âÂ
CHOIR, ORGAN + BRASS: Jubilate (Simon Johnson)Â Â SERMON â CHAPLAIN:That was Simon Johnsonâs setting of Psalm 100 â Jubilate Deo â specially written for our School Choir.
One day, not long ago, I went to the pub â and when I got there, quite late in the evening, I discovered that it was quiz night.  I also discovered at a table in the corner a little group of my dear colleagues crouched over their answer sheets competing in the pub quiz with the same fervour and perfectionism that they bring to the marking of essays and the writing of reports.  They spotted me and very kindly asked me to join them.  They even generously implied that I might be of some help in their efforts.  Well, it was late in the evening, nine of the ten rounds of the quiz had already been completed, and the teachers were in the lead going into the last round.  I sat down ready to do my very best to aid them to victory.   The quizmaster stood up and announced that the last round would be on the subject of . . . penguins.  Iâm afraid I was of practically no use at all in that particular field.  I contributed one answer, based on a vague childhood memory from London Zoo.  But the combined brilliance of my colleagues carried the team over the line in first place.  And do you know what those lovely people did?  They gave to me, who had turned up for the last round and made almost no contribution whatsoever - the late arriving labourer in the vineyard - an equal share of the prize.  I tried half-heartedly to protest that this wasnât fair â but they insisted.I donât think they realised how they were acting out a Bible parable, nor how the immediate scribbled note in my little red book meant that before long their act of grace would be recounted to you this morning. Our theme this morning is Grace.  Which sounds very nice.  It makes us think perhaps of a dancer or a gymnast; or of the prayer we say at mealtimes - other meanings of the same word. But Grace in the Bible, if we really understand it, might not at first delight, but rather, shock us.  For there is something about the Christian religion that some people find very hard to accept, and that something is grace.  The Bible reading we heard today goes right to the heart of it.    Jesus told the story of the vineyard, and said: the kingdom of heaven is like this.  In other words, hereâs a picture about how God wants our life and relationships to be ordered. One morning the vineyardâs owner went down to the market place at daybreak to hire some casual labourers for the day.  They agreed to work, and he agreed to pay one Denarius for the dayâs labour.  At mid-morning he went and got a few more workers.  And again at lunch time.  And again at five-o-clock in the afternoon.  Then at the end of the day they all lined up to get paid.  The people who had just arrived and done an hourâs work got given one Denarius, which was frankly pretty generous.  So the people who had done the full eight hours were expecting quite a serious pay cheque.  But when their turn came, they also got given one Denarius.  And the cry went up, âItâs not fair!â Whatâs not fair? asked the owner of the vineyard.  You agreed to do a dayâs work for one denarius didnât you?  Whatâs the problem?  Well the problem, of course, was the apparent huge injustice of people who had worked hard all day long under the hot sun getting exactly the same reward as those who just rocked up at the end of the day.  And the problem for us who read this story today is that Jesus is saying - yup, that is exactly what God is like.  And we donât like it. Grace is undeserved favour.  And Jesusâ story of the labourers in the vineyard, that parable of grace, goes to the heart of why some people donât like the Christian faith.  Itâs not surprising.  It runs against the grain of one our most cherished and deeply held values â the value of hard work and fair reward.  It tells us that when it comes to our relationship with God, different rules apply from those that guide our relationships with our employers, with our teachers, with all that we learnt at our motherâs knee, even our relationship with the law of the land. It tells us, to use theological terms, that salvation cannot be earned.It punctures that most widespread misunderstanding â that Christianity is about doing good. It blows out of the water the idea that anyone can earn Godâs favour. No wonder people donât like this parable or the message for which it stands â especially people like us, good people, well brought up people, people who understand the value of behaving well and doing the right thing.  It turns our respectability upside down, and says that the uneducated criminal alcoholic dirty homeless tramp might be closer to God than we are.  Which is perhaps why Jesus ended his story by saying âThe first shall be last, and the last first.â Because Christianity is not about being good.  Itâs not for people who think they are good.  Itâs for people who know that they are bad, who know that what matters is not to be better but to be forgiven.  To be on the receiving end of the sort of forgiving grace that says, I donât care whether you laboured all day - or whether you just turned up at five-o-clock with your empty hands held out to receive in trust whatever I have to give.  Such grace can be hard to accept â both by those who feel that they have spent their whole lives labouring to earn Godâs favour, and also by those who feel unworthy to turn up late and receive identical generosity.  Maybe thatâs you.  But if you like the idea that this parable illustrates, if thereâs part of you saying . . . . âI wish it were true . . . . how wonderful if it could be trueâ . . . . well, all you can do is hold out your empty hands to the master of the vineyard and trust him to reward you; not because you are good, but because he is good.  Not because of your merit, but because of his grace.  You will not come away empty-handed.
 CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN:  Jesu, lover of my soul  (Aberystwyth)  Â
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:Â In Jesus, the human face of God, we find one who is close enough for us turn to for comfort in sorrow, for protection in trouble, and for forgiveness and love when we have done wrong. Â This too is a gift of Godâs âplenteous graceâ as Charles Wesley put it in the hymn we have just sung. Â With that gift in our minds, we turn to prayer, bringing our concerns and the needs of the world to him.Â
PRAYERS:Â READER 1:Â Gracious God, we bring our thanks for the gift of life, with its joys and responsibilities, its opportunities and challenges. Â We bless you for our health and daily food, for shelter and care, the love of family and the loyalty of friends. Â For work well done, for games well played, for truth learned and goodness shared. Â In your loving grace you give us more than we deserve; help us to respond by offering our lives in service of you and of our neighbour, not because we hope thereby to win your favour, but in joyful thanksgiving for the love, acceptance and forgiveness which you pour out upon us.God of all grace;ALL: Â Hear our prayer
READER 2:God of all creation, you have given the rules by which the world turns and the flowers grow, the wonders of science and nature that humankind will spend millennia discovering and exploring. And you have taught men and women how to live together in this world that you have made.  Forgive the disobedience which makes us put our own desires above your commandments.  Hear our prayer for our rulers: for the Queen and her ministers, for those who are campaigning and for all who will be voting in the current general election, that we may be wisely and righteously led. God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayerREADER 1:God of peace, we pray for the world with all its troubles.  For all whose lives are affected by violence and unrest; for those who live with the tension caused by the threat of war; and for those in places of power.  For those who have been driven from their homes, and those who feel that they have no choice but to leave their home to seek a better life elsewhere.  We pray for the homeless and for refugees; for people living in lands where famine and drought have taken the lives of many; and for all who are persecuted for their beliefs.  Comfort your people in their times of trial, and strengthen those who are working for justice and the freedom of all.Almighty God, have mercy on all who, by hurting and harming one another, insult you, who created us in your image.  God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayer
READER 2:God of all comfort, we pray for those who are suffering today.  We remember those among our own friends and family who are unwell, and we think of people we know who are going through difficult times; the bereaved and the lonely, the lost and the confused.  We pray for those who are in hospital, for the medical staff who care for them, and for those who anxiously watch beside them.As the season of examinations begins, give purpose and peace to all who study.  We ask not that you do for us that which we ought to have done for ourselves, but that with clear minds and patient preparation we may give of our very best.God of all grace; ALL:  Hear our prayer CHOIR, ORGAN + OBOE: The Lordâs my shepherd (Rutter) ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:We join our prayers with the unspoken prayers of our hearts, and with the prayers of Godâs people throughout the world, as we say together: ALL:Our Father,Who art in heaven,Hallowed be thy name.Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.Give us this day our daily bread,And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,For ever and ever. Amen
ASSISTANT CHAPLAIN:The final hymn is a favourite of ours here at Rugby.  Itâs a prayer that God would guide and sustain us in the challenges of our life and bring us safely through to the other side.  In this and thousands of other schools, for the next few weeks exams will be at the front of our thoughts; for those joining us on the radio, perhaps other concerns lie ahead.  Whatever the challenges may be, the God of Grace will be our guide.  This morningâs service began with the invitation to âSing to the Lord a new songâ.  It concludes with songs of praises that never end. CHOIR, CONGREGATION, ORGAN + BRASS: Guide me O thou great Redeemer (Cwm Rhondda)  CHAPLAIN: May God your strong delivererredeem you by his graceLead you with his loveAnd ever be your strength and shield;And may the blessing of God Almighty, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, be upon you now and for ever more.  Amen  ORGAN: PLAYOUTÂ
Broadcast
- Sun 14 May 2017 08:10ĂŰŃż´ŤĂ˝ Radio 4
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