October 4, 2026
How do you press on? Paul writes, “Forgetting the past, I strain toward what lies ahead, toward the goal.” And what is that goal? begs the text.
There are plenty of bad situations to name. The fever of life is intense right now. Turn on the news of airplane distress, economic hardships, and war. Whether mass shootings or nor-easters, whether political gridlock or questions of the political future, whether incompetency or problems too complex to contemplate, it can be hard to press on, to keep on, keepin’ on.
Athletes often train towards a goal. Businesses and academics sets standards If we get the right job, have the right degree, achieve success or a good reputation, if we have a stellar resume and money for retirement, then we will be secure. Then we can make it. As much as we want to keep our eyes on a prize, we get distracted by our past achievements, our past failures, our temporal comforts, and our misplaced sense of ownership over things that were never ours to begin with.
Saint Paul bragged about how super-religious he was, how stellar he sought to be. He had every reason to be confident, he says. Devout to a T, even blameless, to quote him. Yet of his own internal struggle, he discovers that he is made righteous in the eyes of God, not because of his reputation or religiosity, but because of faith in Christ. Compared to dying and rising with Christ, everything else is loss; everything is rubbish, in some translations as dog dung. And Paul presses on.
Anguished Martin Luther was overwhelmed by sin, meaninglessness, pain in the world and guilt, afraid of judgment and damnation, Luther was stuck, often paralyzed by his own anxieties and worthiness. At that time, religion was a transaction. Buy an indulgence and get into heaven. And support the building of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, of course. The coins of salvation were to support the greed of the empire. The common quote of the day: “as soon as a coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs.”
The reformer Martin Luther found solace in these words of St. Paul. All our religious devotion, all our good works, important as they are, do not make us righteous, do not justify us in the eyes of God, do not save us. Rather, we press on in worship and service, not to affect God, but as a response to God’s unconditional acceptance of us. Sharing in Christ’s dying and rising, to quote Paul, is what propels us. Learning from our losses and then getting up again in the morning. We have the option to do nothing or everything, but we begin only in God’s grace.
A vineyard calls for great responsibility, from the highest level of leadership to those charged with the daily care of the vines. Everyone has a role. Similarly, we all have responsibility for the care of our planet, which is not just a practical concern but a spiritual imperative rooted in biblical teachings. Today’s parable, paired with the commemoration of St. Francis, calls us into deeper love and care for the earth.
God has showered humanity with gifts and blessings, but humanity continues to abuse those gifts. We have been entrusted with a creation to care for, and in our shortsightedness we abuse and pollute the earth, even bringing about the extinction of entire species. The vaquita is a species is endangered in the Gulf of California in Baja California, Mexico, with 10-20 of the animals remaining often caught in illegal fishing nets.
We have been given the ability to create so many wonderful things, and even this gift we abuse as we gather and keep as much as we can for ourselves.
The documentary The Empire of Pain details how the Sackler family built wealth exploiting human pain in excessive profits on Oxycotin and Valium. After lawsuits, bankruptcy and activism, museums and universities stripped the Sackler name.
Another documentary titled Eyes on the Prize details the civil rights movement in the United States from 1954-1985 of ordinary citizens in nonviolence, community, acts of love, and vision.
In Jesus’ parable, the tenants resort to violence, greed, and self-entitlement on the false promise of the heir’s inheritance. Working the vineyard and the gift of the land is nothing we can ever fully own or possess. Faithful discipleship means using our voices and hands to cultivate Christ’s vineyard—serving people who lack basic resources, combating injustice, and acting in ways that align with the kingdom of God.
What is God’s call in your life? What is distracting you today? Are you looking backward at past failures or former glory? Are you holding tightly to things that belong to God?
Where does that leave us? How to press on? We press on, even beyond the difficulty of the vineyard parable because of God’s mercy and compassion.
Today we celebrate the call on John’s life as he is baptized, drowning the evil around, abounding in God’s grace and belovedness and celebrating God’s call on his life living into the assurances, love, forgiveness and peace of God. From the full life of a career, education, and family, John stands today in God’s grace, accepting in faith that God calls and names him beloved as God’s own.
In the end, it’s not about being good enough, religious enough, holy enough. It’s not about finding God, getting to God, making a deal with God; rather it’s about being found. It’s the goals on which we press to and from: the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Receiving the good news day after day: God accepts you as you are and then calls you to more than you can imagine. Grace.
Because of God’s unconditional acceptance, we have a share in the suffering of Christ and the promise of his resurrection.
In the words of Gladys Knight and the Pips, “Sometimes it takes imagination, and making the best of a bad situation to keep on, keeping on.” That’s why we’re here, so God may lift us. To lift one another. And then to press on to a future in which God promises to be faithful. God keeps on, keepin’ on. And that’s our hope.