Next Sunday, September 20, we’re going to do something a little different in worship.

We’re bringing cameras.

Not phones. Not selfies. Real cameras. The kind with a lens, buttons, and maybe even a strap around your neck. Ok, disposable cameras.

And we’re going to use them to help us notice what happens in worship.

Our Gospel reading for Sunday is Matthew 20:1–16, Jesus’ parable of the workers in the vineyard. It is one of those stories that makes us scratch our heads and say, “Wait. That doesn’t seem fair!”

The story goes a little bit like this: A landowner hires workers throughout the day. Some begin early in the morning. Others arrive later. Some work only one hour. At the end of the day, the landowner pays everyone the same.

The people who worked all day aren’t exactly celebrating.

And honestly, I understand why.

But Jesus isn’t really trying to teach us about fair wages or good employment practices. Jesus is inviting us to see people differently.

We are pretty good at ranking people.

Who was here first?

Who has worked the hardest?

Who has been a member the longest?

Who knows the most?

Who contributes the most?

Who belongs?

Who doesn’t?

Jesus turns those questions upside down.

The workers who arrived first and the workers who arrived last are all seen. All are valued. All receive the generosity of the landowner.

Which brings us to our cameras. During the children’s message, I’ll bring out a disposable camera and invite everyone to help me think about what cameras do. A camera helps us look closely and notice things we might otherwise miss. We’ll talk about how every face has a story—and how, just like the workers in Jesus’ story, every person we see is known and loved by God.

Then families, friends, couples, and individuals will take photos of one another during the children’s sermon time. We will pass the cameras from row to row, asking permission to take a photo, and snap as many as we can. Yes, we will give people an out who do not want their photo taken. The out is that they draw or write their family or friends on a piece of paper. After the children’s message, we will collect the disposable cameras to be used in fellowship, Sunday School, and youth group, with parent’s permission, of course.

Here is the point: We take photos not because worship is a photo shoot. Not because we need to document every moment. But because sometimes a camera helps us pay attention. The invitation is to notice the faces around us:

Look at the choir singing.

Look at the hands serving communion.

Look at the child listening to the story.

Look at the person praying.

Look at the person welcoming someone at the door.

Look at the person sitting quietly.

Look at the people gathered together.

Because here is what I want my people to remember:

Every face has a story, and every story has a face.

We may not know the whole story behind the face sitting next to us. Someone might be celebrating. Someone might be grieving. Someone might be filled with questions. Someone might be here for the first time. Someone might have been coming to church for decades.

We don’t know every story.

But we can remember that there is a story.

And God knows them all.

So next Sunday, as we hear Jesus’ words in Matthew 20 and as we take photographs during worship, perhaps we can practice seeing our congregation—and our world—a little differently.

Not as a crowd.

Not as categories.

Not as people who arrived early or late.

But as faces.

As stories.

As people whom God sees and loves.

Every face has a story.
Every story has a face.
And every face is seen by God.

PS Come back next week to see how we display the photos in worship!