Squamish United Church
Worldwide Communion October 4, 2026
Prayer of Illumination read by Val Stainton
Let us pray… Creator God, As we turn to your Word, open our hearts to
hear your voice in new ways. Help us to listen not only with our minds, but
with our whole selves. May your Word awaken us to the beauty of creation,
the wisdom of the earth, and our place within the web of life you have
created. Give us eyes to see what we have overlooked, ears to hear what
we have ignored, and hearts willing to respond to your call. May your Spirit
guide us today, drawing us closer to you, to one another, and to all
creation. Amen.
Gospel Reading: Gospel of Matthew 21:33-46
The Parable of the Tenants
“Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard.
He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then
he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. When
the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect
his fruit.
“The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned
a third. Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and
the tenants treated them the same way. Last of all, he sent his son to them.
‘They will respect my son,’ he said. But when the tenants saw the son,
they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’
So, they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those
tenants?” “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will
rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at
harvest time.”
Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
“Therefore, I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you
and given to a people who will produce its fruit. Anyone who falls on this
stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew
he was talking about them.
They looked for a way to arrest him, but they
were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.
Sermon: One Bread, Many Nations: Gathered at Christ’s Table
Imagine the vineyard Jesus describes. The owner has prepared everything
with care. He has planted the vines, built a wall, dug a winepress, and
raised a watchtower. Then he places the vineyard into the hands of
tenants. They did not create it, but they are trusted to tend it. When harvest
comes, the owner sends servants to receive the fruit. Instead of sharing
what the vineyard has produced, the tenants act as though it belongs only
to them.
That trust is the heart of the story. The tenants forget that they are
caretakers. They begin to live as owners. They keep the harvest, reject the
messengers, and finally kill the owner’s son. Jesus tells this parable to
religious leaders who have been given responsibility for God’s people.
Their calling was to help faith bear good fruit, but power had become more
important than faithfulness.
It is easy to hear this story and stand outside it. We may picture those
tenants as people nothing like us. Yet Jesus invites every generation to
step into the vineyard. We also live in a world we did not make. The earth
beneath our feet is God’s gift. The church is not our possession, it belongs
to God. Even the faith we hold was handed to us by people who prayed
before we were born. We are here for a only a season, trusted to care for
what belongs to God.
Today, that truth is visible on our Communion table. We see breads
connected with different lands and cultures. Each loaf carries the story of
grain, soil, labour, and home. No single loaf can tell the whole story of
God’s people. Yet when the bread is brought to Christ’s table, it becomes
part of one holy meal.
“One Bread, Many Nations” does not mean that our differences disappear.
Christ gathers people without erasing their stories. At this table, a person
does not need to leave their language, culture, body, or history at the door.
The bread is shared because grace is shared. We come as we are, and
Christ makes us one body.
Jesus then speaks of the stone the builders rejected becoming the
cornerstone. He is speaking about himself. The Son cast out of the
vineyard will become the one on whom God builds a new community.
Human beings often decide who belongs near the centre and who must
remain outside. God begins with the rejected one. The table of Christ
therefore cannot be guarded as private property. It belongs to the one who
welcomed those others dismissed.
This changes how we approach Communion. We do not come because we
own a place at the table. We come because Christ has invited us. We
receive bread that we did not grow and grace that we could never earn.
Then we are sent back into God’s vineyard to produce the fruit God seeks.
That fruit appears whenever someone who expected rejection finds
welcome. It grows when what has been entrusted to us is shared rather
than protected.
In a few moments, we will come forward to receive from one table. Around
the world, other followers of Jesus will do the same in ways shaped by their
own communities. The bread may look different, but the host is Christ. The
invitation is grace. The calling remains the same.
So come to the table as a guest. Receive the bread as a gift. Look around
and remember that Christ is gathering a family larger than we can see.
Then leave this table ready to tend God’s vineyard faithfully, so that the life
we share bears fruit for the world God loves. Amen.
Sermon Hymn: TLUS#22; Build a Longer Table