Over the last two weeks the Gospel readings have included some of Jesus' parables.
This week we have five more of Jesus parables to listen to and read over and over. Jesus is inviting us to imagine the kingdom of God through his words. As we listen our imagination catch glimpses of something majestic and awe inspiring that may not see everyday; but that is just as real even if we don't perceive it.
A little over a week ago our family was driving back to a motel in Hot Springs South Dakota after seeing the night lighting ceremony at Mount Rushmore. We thought that it was a neat way to end the day. But we were going to see something even more unexpected. As we drove through Cave of the Winds National Park the two cars, about a half mile in front of us on the highway, slowed way down almost, but not completely, stopping. I woke my bride up not sure what was going on and put on the breaks myself. As she looked ahead she spotted a buffalo on the right side of the road next to one of the other cars. It was big and dark, and just as we prepared to pass by the first buffalo we looked to the left and saw two others silhouetted in the moonlight on a small ridge just a few feet from the road.
It was a once in a lifetime glimpse into the majesty of the prairie and great herds of buffalo who roamed there freely years ago. I wish now that we'd had our camera ready to get that once in a lifetime shot of two buffalo silhouetted by the full moon.
We came back through the same way the next day and got pictures in the daylight of buffalo in the very same field where we'd seen them the night before, but it was not the same at all this time. We had a glimpse of something majestic, and now in the day light it all seemed different. The buffalo were still huge and wild, but that moment of awe was gone.
Jesus words to the crowd gathered by Lake Galilee were an invitation to imagine the Kingdom of God. He talked plainly about the kingdom of God and comparing it to everyday ordinary mustard and yeast. Jesus told his listeners what the kingdom of God is like in his own terms. The crowds glimpsed the kingdom through his words. He didn't tell us the physical dimensions of God's kingdom; he told us it can start small like a mustard seeds. He didn't tell us the reach of God's kingdom he compared it to yeast's ability to transform flour and water from paste into bread. Mustard seeds are tiny; but Jesus said likened one to the kingdom of God pointing out the way something so small can grow into something so substantial and life giving.
Jesus talked about yeast's power to transform flour into risen dough for bread. When yeast is added to water and flour the basic ingredients are transformed into something more.
People yearn for moments of awe and wonder. We're spiritual beings who hunger for spiritual experiences. Real faith starts small and grows. We mistake faith for moments of awe and wonder. Faith's not chills running up and down the spine. Faith is believing that God can do what he says. In Matthew 13 Jesus revealed glimpses of God's Kingdom in the poetry of metaphors. He used words that we know are true because we believe. 2000 years later Jesus' words still start faithful imaginations running, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed..." "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast..."
Matthew 13 is really two different sets of parables. The first parables were spoken to a great crowd who came to visit him by the shores of Lake Galilee. The crowd was so great he went out a little way off shore in a boat to speak to them all.
Isaiah 6:8-9
Jesus friends ask him why he spoke in parables and he pointed all of them to Isaiah 6:8-9 about stubborn minds who heard but didn't listen. Then he just went on teaching parables. Martin Luther said that the parables, “...are like pictures of a sort, which show things to ... people as though before their very eyes Martin Luther, vol. 26, Luther's Works, Vol. 26 : Lectures on Galatians, 1535, Chapters 1-4 26:433
The second set of Parables in Matthew 13 were spoken to the disciples behind closed doors. Some people say that Matthew chose these parables of Jesus for his Gospel as words of comfort and hope for the early church who faced turmoil and persecution.
Many commentators believe that Matthew wrote for believers who lived in a painful no mans land as members of the first century church. They were not accepted as Jews and they were not accepted as Romans or Greeks. They were on the outside and still they clung to their faith. I believe Matthew put Jesus words together reminding the early church just how much they mattered to God and just how valuable their faith was not only for them individually but for every member of the church.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
Imagine hearing these words if you've been forced out of your home and kick out of your family because you believe in Jesus Christ. Imagine the promise of treasure beyond any other for a believer who'd given up everything because they now believed that Jesus was the risen Lord.
45 “ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Jesus knows what's in out hearts and minds. He knows what we value. He knows that we care about money and stuff and now he invites us to consider an earthly possession of great value, a pearl of great price, that would be worth the some total of everything else that we ever had or ever would have. Jesus didn't say this to the crowd; instead he spoke to his friends who would one day risk everything to share the Good News at the ends of the known world.
47 “ Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Jesus spoke these words to believers who would risk everything for his sake sharing the Good News that Jesus had died, risen, and that he would come again. He spoke these words inviting them to imagine the kingdom and those who would be inside and those who would be outside. He start simple, with every things, but his words invite us to see heaven and earth, paradise and hell not in our own terms but in terms that we can barely begin to imagine.
For 2000 years believers have pondered these stories. We've examined facet after facet of the God's kingdom. We look at these stories with wonder and fear as we glimpse our place in Jesus' kingdom through faith.
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