Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
July 30, 2023
the Rev. Todd R. Goddard, Pastor
Rush United Methodist Church
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 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.”
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.”
“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.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
“Have you understood all this?”
They answered, “Yes.”
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.”
| Centering Prayer |
In our Gospel lesson for this morning,
Jesus continues to teach his disciples
about the Kingdom of Heaven.
He teaches in parables,
inviting those who hear him
to come to their own conclusions.
Parables are vague by nature, designed to avoid a front-end conflict with potential adversaries.
Jesus often taught in parables to avoid a direct confrontation with the religious authorities in Jerusalem
and the civil authorities from Rome;
less they react before Jesus was prepared,
and have him arrested and killed prematurely,
preempting God’s heavenly design.
The risk Jesus makes
by teaching with intentional vagueness is that of mis-interpretation.
Not everyone will draw the same conclusions
from the same parable.
Cultural backgrounds, values, and experience are different for everyone.
How, then, the cynic asks,
can any conclusions be drawn from
the implied variability of Jesus’ parables?
Where is truth to be found?
…
The complexity of Jesus’ parable talk is simplified greatly by a number of his intentional strategies.
1. First, Jesus sticks to only a small, limited number of subjects for his parables.
He may have lots and lots of parables about the same topic
– like our Kingdom parables for today –
but the number of topics is purposefully reserved
for his most important themes.
This way
the audience is encouraged to experience many parables about the same theme.
When given sufficient room,
Essential Truth can be discovered very effectively,
by relating like parables together.
I think of this as giving Essential Truths “color.”
2. Secondly, Jesus reserves parable talk only for his most vital, essential themes –
– for example forgiveness,
love and compassion for God and neighbor,
and the Kingdom of Heaven.
On minor issues
or in an environment of privacy,
Jesus speaks quite freely.
He doesn’t tell a parable to the woman at Jacob’s well.
Neither does he use a parable with the individuals he physically heals or for whom he casts out demons.
I think of this as giving Essential Truths “depth.”
3. Finally, we find new meaning and expression
from the parables of Jesus
if we have a profound sensitivity to his nature,
his character,
his atonement and salvation.
Jesus was one who challenged authority,
reached out to the poor, the lost, the unclean, and the dispossessed.
So do his parables.
He was gracious and accepting without condition,
lifting people from the circumstances they found themselves in –
– or placed themselves in.
So do his parables.
Jesus was the only Son of God,
both human and divine;
when he speaks,
his words are the words of the Divine,
straight from the mouth of God.
The divinity of Christ
makes his parables Essential Truths, gifts from God,
worthy of our complete, undivided attention.
4. Finally, Jesus brings the gift of life;
through sin,
to redemption,
by means of the cross
– just like his parables –
and from redemption to eternal life, by means of the empty tomb
– just like his parables;
just like today’s parables of the Kingdom.
I think of this as giving Essential Truths “character.”
So what color, how deep, and what character are today’s parables of the Kingdom?
What Essential Truths can be mined from their nuggets?
What conclusions can be drawn?
…
The wait has been long and frustrating.
Each generation believes in its exceptionalism.
Truly these are the end times!
Christ will return at any time!
God’s kingdom will come with apocalyptic divine judgment.
The Bible says so.
Two thousand years of waiting
have required Christian believers, writers, and thinkers
to re-evaluate a messianic expectation
for a final, second coming,
and to consider
the Kingdom of Heaven
not as a future possibility,
but rather as
a past,
present,
and future unfolding reality.
The Kingdom of Heaven has come,
is come,
and will come again.
We affirm this each time we unify our voices in the litany,
“Christ has died, Christ is risen, and Christ will come again.”
We acknowledge this essential truth
every time we recognize the fact
that
all there is –
– the entirety of the cosmos –
– matter, and all things in-between –
– is a creation of God.
Life is solely the gift of a loving God.
We are God’s children,
this is God’s world,
and God is, even yet,
coming to final victory and glory.
It is inevitable;
This is God’s unfolding reality.
So, instead of talking about some future event,
allow our talk about the Kingdom of Heaven
to include God’s Kingdom that is already here.
…
What about these specific parables of the Kingdom for today?
We are given 5 parables with 4 elements of Truth in today’s carefully selected Lectionary texts.
1. Let’s take a look at the first one
in Matthew 13, verses 31 and 32.
Jesus tells his disciples
“The Kingdom of Heaven is like ….” The small mustard seed is sown into a field where it grows into a tree (v.31-32).
The logical conclusion that can be drawn is that
the apparent size of the Kingdom of Heaven
right here,
right now,
does not correlate with the fullness of God’s future kingdom.
There are a lot of preachers, scholars, believers, and followers
Through the ages
who think they know
just about all there is to know
about God’s heavenly kingdom.
This grandiose thinking is not limited to Christianity.
Irrational thoughts range from:
The outrageous
– “just strap some plastic explosives around yourself, son, and go walk into a crowd of people; paradise awaits you”
To the arrogant
– “there’s only 144,000 getting in, and I’m one of them, and you are not”
To the self-serving
– “break off all ties with family, sign your bank accounts and house over to me, drink some Kool-Aid, and together we’ll be in paradise.”
Some are known to baptize the dead.
Others will grant deification to a select group of males.
Yet others will attempt to literally “scare the hell out of you”
or try to tell you how you can earn your way into heaven.
Don’t believe a word of it!
The truth of the matter is
that all anyone knows
is equivalent to
the smallest possible seed.
Jesus tells us about that mustard seed,
and how it becomes a great bush or tree.
In other words,
as the lyrics of a secular song goes
– we’ve ain’t seen nothing yet!
2. The second parable of the Kingdom is about yeast.
Jesus uses yeast as his metaphor. Yeast mixed in
with three measures of flower
leavens all of the dough.
“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.”
(Matthew 13:33).
If thoroughly mixed,
yeast is evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Yeast yields Carbon-dioxide gas,
which is released as tiny bubbles.
Allowed to warm and rise, then baked in an oven,
Yeast leavened bread is light and uniform.
Parables of yeast informs me that
it is possible for
today’s Kingdom of Heaven
to be distributed everywhere,
leavening all people, cultures, and races.
A yeast-like Kingdom of Heaven is Not self-limited among us Christians.
Jesus stretches the Kingdom to include expressions of faith and revelation beyond our own experience.
To all the corners of creation,
to every part of the dough,
God has spread the yeast.
It may not be risen or baked just yet
– the Kingdom isn’t complete,
As far as I know –
but the Divine plan has been implemented,
and it will encompass all,
everyone and everywhere, throughout all creation.
3. The next two parables are linked together by a common theme; finding something valuable,
then risking everything to obtain it.
A treasure hidden in a field, when found, is worth selling everything to purchase that field,
and thus becoming the owner of the treasure.
And a pearl of great value, when found, is worth selling everything in order to buy it up
(v.44-45).
These two parables of the Kingdom
cause many of us some level of unease
because the treasure is obtained
by questionable means.
It feels like house rules,
Tilted in favor of the dealer.
It isn’t lying,
but it isn’t being forthcoming with information, either.
If the owner of the field
knew the property’s true value,
there wouldn’t be a sale.
When measured by
the criteria of similar parables,
the life and actions of Christ,
and by the consistence, Essential Truth of the Gospel,
I believe Jesus is pointing us in a new direction with urgency:
… the Kingdom of Heaven is worth
risking everything
to make certain
you are a part of it.
God Kingdom is more valuable than money,
more important than house, job, or family.
The Kingdom of Heaven is,
as the great 20th Century theologian Paul Tillich used to say,
of “Ultimate Concern”
to the disciple of Jesus.
There is no greater concern than living for the Kingdom.
4. Which leads us to the fourth and final theme for today from our parables of God’s Heavenly Kingdom.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
(Matthew 13:47-50)
Jesus tells his disciples that
just like a net catches all fish,
so too does the Kingdom of Heaven, that all might be judged and separated.
Those deemed unacceptable will be destroyed.
Those that live in denial of the present Ultimate Concern,
who have no faith in the One who is both the Alpha and the Omega,
are those who be found unacceptable.
Cast out.
Tossed into the fire.
Annihilated,
and every memory erased.
Again, I know this illusion of ire, weeping, and gnashing of teeth is one that we would like to deny or ignore and hope that it goes away.
But the fact remains,
God is the final judge,
in a system that has
no higher appeal.
…
These parables should serve as a corrective warning;
a gentle, yet deliberate directive,
for everyone of us
who seek a relationship of faith and love
with our God,
and with Jesus the Son.
As evident last Sunday,
be assured,
all of us who live lives of faith,
that we have nothing to fear in God’s final judgment.
It is God’s good choice to save,
to protect,
to gather in all God’s children.
…
So, today,
God’s Kingdom has come
just a little closer,
has made a little more of an inroad into our lives,
has gathered a little more clarity.
By these gems
given to us by Jesus,
we know that the apparent size of the current Kingdom of Heaven
has nothing to do with the fullness that is bound to become in the future.
We know the Kingdom isn’t complete as of yet.
The Divine plan has been launched.
It will encompass all,
everyone and everywhere, throughout all creation.
We know the Kingdom of God is so important
that it is worth risking everything
to make sure we’re a part of it.
And we know,
that just like a net catches all,
so too does the Kingdom of Heaven, that all might be judged,
and those deemed unacceptable will be destroyed.
There is danger and opportunity in today’s parables of the Kingdom.
Be sure to steer clear of the danger. At the same time,
Make haste to seize every opportunity God provides.
The Word of the Lord, as it has come to me.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
Breaking Yokes 