GOSPEL: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

31 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." 33 He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

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. 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. 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. 51 "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like...”

• The kingdom of Heaven can only be described in parables. No other form of explanation will serve. Unlike the last two Sundays, Jesus offers no explanation or key to understanding the parables. They are short little things that he appears to rattle off quickly. It is possible that the writer of the Gospel gathered these sayings together even though they may have been uttered at different times, or they may have been parts of one day's teaching.
• The kingdom of heaven is like...
  • ...a mustard seed
  • ...yeast
  • ...a treasure hidden in a field
  • ...a pearl of great price
  • ...a fisherman's net
• How can the kingdom of heaven be like all these things? The simplest answer is that the Kingdom can be all these things because it IS all these things.
• If we are to interpret these parables at all, we'd do well to look at the common threads in them. One is agricultural and uses the mustard seed as it's sign.
• The next is a parable of baking, yeast, and rising dough... kitchen things. Here Jesus uses what was considered “woman's work” in his day and by using the image of kneading and baking, gives it a special dignity in the realm of parables.
• The treasure hidden in the field and the pearl of great value use business and might even appear to be a bit underhanded and sneaky.
• The fisherman's net would be well know to his disciples since so many had made their living as fishermen. In any event, all of the parable use figures familiar to all of the crowd that was addressed that day.
• The common thread of these parable is the idea of hidden-ness in each of the parable. The mustard seed is so incredibly small that if you sneeze with one in the palm of your hand, you'd never find it again. The yeast in a loaf of bread can never be removed or found once it's added. The treasure begins the story hidden and is hidden again. The net does it's work hidden under the water, but it takes in whatever is before it and leaves the separation until later.
• Even though Jesus makes reference to a future judgement and a separation-to-come, these parables, like all parables, are more about the present than the future. The mustard seed grows now and becomes a tree that is home for the birds. The yeast is mixed into the dough now and leavens it now. The treasure and the pearl are found and seen a valuable in the present. Finally the net is out and catching right now, without any concern for sorting, evaluation, or judgement.
• Just so the kingdom is around us and is active now. It is subtle and quiet and simple now. It is found in the ordinary and might even be encountered accidentally. As with the net in the parable, it scoops up the good and the bad, the righteous and the evil, the worthy and the unworthy.
• It also changes those who are part of it. The parables of the buried treasure and of the pearl of great value tell us that the kingdom is often found by those who are not necessarily looking for it specifically, by those who stumble upon it. The person who found the treasure did not know it was there, but when he found it, his life was changed. The merchant in search of fine pearls sold all he had to acquire that pearl of surpassing value. Both characters found their treasure and discovered that their lives were changed by it.
• In our own lives, the kingdom does not require preliminaries or prerequisites, but when the kingdom is encountered, it brings with it motivation for change and even a desire to live a changed life. This could be a definition of the life of grace. God gives; we receive and in receiving, all we do and all we know is changed. Better than changed – renewed or reborn.
• These simple, short parables tell us so much in so few words. They tell us of the kingdom of heaven, as it is with us now and as it will be when the time comes. They comfort us by saying there is a place for us in the kingdom as it grows secretly and quietly. They challenge us to, in Biblical words, “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near!” The kingdom is shown and we respond in the grace given to us.
• Hold onto these simple words of Jesus and in them, let us lead what could be called simple lives of Christian loving faithfulness and humility. For that is the way the kingdom spreads - in the simple, quiet, humble deeds and words of those who believe.

The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost --- 20 July 2014

(This was the congregation's annual "Indoor/outdoor picnic service." The service was rather informal and held in the fellowship hall. We discovered that the service and picnic held outdoors was uncomfortable, especially when/in the mayonnaise began to "turn" in the potato salad.)

GOSPEL: Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43
24 He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26 So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27 And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, "Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?' 28 He answered, "An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, "Then do you want us to go and gather them?' 29 But he replied, "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30 Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.' " 
36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples approached him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man; 38 the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are collected and burned up with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will collect out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, 42 and they will throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Let anyone with ears listen!

Let both of them grow together until the harvest

• Maybe we should have a discussion today rather than a sermon. The picnic lends itself to it.
• A few points -
• This is not how to take care of crops, is it? Letting the weeds grow with the main crop would damage the crop. So we're not talking about advice on agriculture. This was probably obvious to Jesus' listeners.
• Jesus points his parable to groups of people – evil doers go to the furnace of fire while the righteous shine like the sun in the Kingdom of God. Could this be applied to each one of us individually as well as to the world at large? We all have within us the good and the bad since we are simultaneously saint and sinner. The weeds and the wheat grow within us all our lives long until the harvest. Only then will they be separated.
• We may be tempted to apply this parable to the future, looking forward to a time when all wrongs will be made right. However the parable most likely applies to us and to the church NOW. It offers the challenge to us now not to take matters into our own hands, to up-root all we consider wrong or sinful. This challenge reminds us that judgement is ultimately God's and God's alone.
• There is an arrogance involved in deciding which plant is the wheat and which is the weed. In the parable, the weed is said to look a lot like the wheat. As the landowner says: "No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.” Leaving things alone is hard, especially if what we're leaving alone is annoying or disturbing.
• It may be surprising to us (I know it is to me.) that what we consider a fault or a hindrance to our growth in the Lord might be just the opposite. Paul had received special insight and even revelation from God for use in his ministry and for himself personally. He also received other gifts he was not comfortable with, ones he did not want. He spoke about it in this way in his second Corinthian letter: Therefore, to keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given to me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.’ So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”
• Now this may be an extreme case but it illustrates what I said. What Paul asked to be rid of – and we don't know what that was – is revealed to him the way God' power would be made manifest to him and through him, to us. What we might consider a trouble or a fault just might be a way of allowing God's power and grace into our lives. The Canadian song writer, Leonard Cohen, wrote “There's a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in.” (“Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.” - Groucho Marx)
• This sermon might be more than a little bit disjointed. I found that there was more meaning to this parable than simply asking God why there are the good and the bad in the same place. The question we might be asking is why there are both the good and the bad in THIS place, meaning our heart.
• One last thing: a commentator on this passage noted that the primary word, “let”, used in the phrase “Let both of them grow together until the harvest” in the original language is the same word used in Matthew's version of the Lord's Prayer. Only there is is translated “forgive.” As always, it is the grace and forgiveness of God that makes the difference.

The Fifth Sunday after Pentecost --- 13 July 2014

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

1 That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: "Listen! A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell on the path, and the birds came and ate them up. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and they sprang up quickly, since they had no depth of soil. 6 But when the sun rose, they were scorched; and since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 Let anyone with ears listen!"

18 "Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. 20 As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. 22 As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. 23 But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." 

But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.

• I took the liberty of looking over old sermons in preparing this one. Now there is a very good chance that no-one here – including myself – would remember what I preached on three or six years ago. Still it didn't want to go over old ground again and again, although there's always some virtue in further reminders of the Gospel. Nonetheless, I wanted to find a something new to say.
• In Jesus' preaching, he used figures and examples that would be commonly understood by his listeners. Since farming was such a common occupation, agricultural examples would make a lot of sense to just about everybody.
• The examples used in this parable – of the seed falling on different types of ground – would make sense to all the listeners. They might chuckle a bit at the image of the farmer tossing seed on the foot path, on the rocks, and in the weed-choked ditches, since no good farmer would waste seed on places where obviously nothing would grow. They would get the message.
• At the end of the story as it was told to the crowd, we hear of the yield of the grain. The yield is tremendous, 30, 60, or 100-fold. Surely no one would turn that down!
• The yield varies in each harvest and with each plant, but the yield is there.
• Now we know that Jesus is not giving a lecture on farming and how to increase the harvest. He is talking about the Kingdom of God and discipleship. When the Word of God is sown, some will hear the Good News and some will not. This is where what looks like wasted seed comes in; the Great Sower does not give up. He continues to sow the seed of the Gospel over and over again, even on ground that does not appear to be hospitable to the Word.
• What does the prophet Isaiah say? “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” What looks like us to be failure might be for God a further preparation of the ground. This will only be known at harvest-time... and it will probably surprise everyone.
• As to the harvest, Jesus says in the parable that the seed that lands on the good soil will bear fruit and that the yield might vary. There is a reminder for us in this.
• As much as we might try to do otherwise, we compare ourselves to others. We do it in so many areas of our lives – financially, socially, athletically, scholastically, you name it. We also do it spiritually.
• We say to ourselves “I'll never be a saint, so there's no sense in trying. I'm all I'll ever be. That's just how it is.”
• Truth to tell, none of us here might be preachers like Peter or Paul or Luther. We might not be great theologians like Karl Barth or Philip Melanchthon. We might not be great missionaries like the apostles.
• However, we are Christians just like all of those people I've mentioned. We have received the gift of God's saving grace just as they have. We have each received gifts of the Holy Spirit and have probably been given gifts we are not even aware of.
• Now for the hard part. It is very hard to break ourselves of the very human habit of comparing ourselves and our lives to others. As was said earlier, we do this in so many areas of our lives. Using the figure of the harvest from our Gospel parable, the reaping of the harvest is what is important and each will bear fruit as they will. It does not appear to upset the sower in the parable that there are different yields for the different plants. The fact that they bear fruit at all is far more important. Applying this to our own lives, None of us are expected to be like any other. Each of us who hear the Gospel and “understand” it will bear fruit according to our own ways and our own style, our own abilities and our own graces.
• There is an old saying: “Grow where you are planted.” A deeper relationship with our Father is possible no matter where we find ourselves because it is grace that give the growth. Both the Word and the “good soil” are grace-filled. This is far more important than what we think of our spiritual surroundings.
• There is a final note – the sower keeps sowing, day by day, year by year, life by life. No matter where the seed falls at first, he continues to sow. Each of those types of soil could easily be taken as symbols for part of our own lives as well as different types of people. It is the persistence of God's grace that will ultimately make all the difference. In time, the rocks may be moved or broken up and good soil exposed. In time, the footpath may be abandoned and become a garden. In time, the weeds may be removed or a stronger seed might be sown. All that is up to our gracious God – who never gives up.

The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost ----- 6 July 2014

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

16 "But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, 17 "We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.' 18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, "He has a demon'; 19 the Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' Yet wisdom is vindicated by her deeds." 

25 At that time Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 28 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 

"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants...”

• Once upon a time, there was an emperor. The emperor was a vain man and loved to dress in the finest clothing of the day. Two merchants came from a great distance and told the emperor that they would make the most wonderful suit of clothing for him. Of course, being a man of intelligence and good taste, his Imperial Majesty agreed.
• The day arrived to present the new suit of clothes at court and the emperor was eager to see his garments. The merchants arrived and opened their chest with the warning that only the finest bred people with the highest intelligence and the most refined taste could see the value of the clothes. With that proviso, they carefully gave the emperor his new clothes... which no one at court could see. Since the merchants had said only the smartest, most refined, and classiest people could perceive the value of the clothes, no one – even the emperor – said anything except to heap compliments on the emperor for his wise choice and excellent taste (which really means “Don't I have good taste, too?”) After all who wants to be known as a dullard or a clod. His Majesty duly admired his new garments while the merchants headed to the border with their money at top speed.
• At the grand parade the next day, the emperor arrived to the acclamation of the crowd... all of whom were aware that they'd be belittled as hicks at the least or imprisoned as traitors at the worst if they saw what they really saw. All except a small child,who said...
• Well, you know what he said. Who can tell me?
• Right.
• Jesus' words about the Father revealing to infants what is hidden from the wise and the intelligent has a bit of this old story to it. In the story, everyone's eyes were open but other factors made them blind. Only the young child would admit to seeing what was right in front of everyone's eyes.
• To be honest, our world and our society could not function without the wise people and the intelligent people. To be further honest, those two are not the same. We turn to our elders for wisdom since they've seen so much and overcome so much. We turn to intelligent people to solve so many of our problems and make good decisions. Don't we want the so-called “Best and Brightest” running our governments?
• But the wise grow tired and the intelligent grow cynical. It is left to the infants, the children, the simple to bring refreshment, joy, a new point of view, and often, truth. They see with new eyes and often see possibilities that the wise and intelligent refuse to see.
• A few days ago, I watched my 19-year old son play Legos with a friend's 7-year old son, and they both enjoyed it. (Really now, who doesn't enjoy Legos? ...Except when you step on them.) The house was full of noise, but the fresh air from their play was quite noticeable.
• We can't live with out the wisdom of the wise and the brilliance of the intelligent. In the same way, we can't live without the simple insight and the simple joy of those Jesus calls “infants.”
• Those are the people who hear the Good News and refuse to be side-tracked by things like John the Baptizer's desert lifestyle or Jesus' acceptance of tax collectors and sinners' hospitality. These are the people who have not yet learnt to see things as they aren't. They know the emperor has no clothes and they know that God enjoys a good laugh, a beautiful sunset, or the simple offering coming from the heart, no matter what the value of the offering.
• The infants know the reality of grace even if they cannot define it or put a value on it. They realize their own vulnerability and their own need, and in that, they can respond to God's gifts. They are the “poor in spirit” the Beatitudes tell of.
• These people may be the stranger, the visitor, the humble, the child, the artist – the ones who don't see things as we see them. They are the ones who can allow us to overcome both our self-satisfaction and our self-hatred. They ask the questions – either aloud or by silent presence – that will make us wonder and that will be God breaking through our toughened and scared hides and our tempered armour. These are the people who will embody grace to us. Because they are childish and sweet? No, because what has been hidden from the wise and the intelligent, the learn-ed and the clever, the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth and everything else, has revealed to the least of all... and with the least of all is where we'll find our God.

"I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants...”