“I want to tell you about something wonderful. Well, it's kinda like a weed—you go to plant some good seed and you didn't realize that mustard seed was mixed in with it—but when things start growing that mustard plant, that weed—well it's more like a tree it's so big—so big even the birds can nest in it. What d'ya think?
Well, it really is wonderful. Well, it's kinda like when a person makes bread. What if she was making about 100 loaves for a great feast, how much of that yeasty starter do you think she'd need. I know it looks yucky—but she only has to take just a tiny bit makes all that bread rise perfectly. Don't you think I'm telling you about something wonderful?
It's so wonderful that I'll bet you'd sell your house and your car and your hi-fi system and your computer—make that both your computers and both your cars—to get enough money to buy it.
And by the way, those who don't get on board with my fabulous offer—it's gonna be just too bad for those jokers! They will be so angry—they might even cuss you out—when the time comes and they see what you have is so much more wonderful than anything they could ever hope to have. You will be livin' well. They'll be suffering!
Do you understand? Are you with me? This will be so wonderful—so wonderful—it's like brand new—but still as wonderful as what you've always liked, but even better. Are you with me here?”
I'm not sure Jesus' descriptions of the “kingdom of heaven” really worked to convince his listeners they should sign on. He's comparing it to a weed and to yeast which people considered necessary, but “unclean.” And would you be ready to give up everything you have to be part of the kingdom? If not, he ends with a bit of a warning. The righteous ones will be included in the kingdom where they will have both tradition and something new as well. Unlike today, back in New Testament times, new ways were not automatically considered better.
Perhaps Jesus wanted to bring up short those who chose to follow his call and be his disciples. Perhaps he wanted them to think about what being his disciple meant for their lives. The people for whom Matthew was writing certainly had to decide whether believing in the Good News Jesus taught and died for was worth the risk. Was believing that God had done something entirely new and wonderful in Jesus worth enduring persecution and possibly death? Jesus' resurrection and his teaching meant that nothing could ever be the same for those who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. It meant that believers should live as though the world could end tomorrow. The writer Annie Dillard says we should be wearing crash helmets in church when we pray for God's kingdom to come, as we do every single Sunday!
The world hasn't come to the end of time yet. Most of us don't expect that it will anytime soon. And we live in a country where we will not be arrested and killed for our Christian faith. Nevertheless, these parables still have a message for us in the 21st century in our relatively safe and relatively prosperous environment.
How do these images in these kingdom parables speak to us? What challenge do they offer us?
We have to begin by thinking about what Jesus meant by the kingdom of heaven and then we have to decide whether we can commit ourselves to working for the spread of God's kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is not something that will only come when the world ends. From the evidence in all four Gospels we believe that the reign of God in the world began with Jesus' being born as a human being and was confirmed by his resurrection. To most of the world it was barely noticeable, like the mustard seed of the parable, but it had begun. Jesus taught about the nature of the reign of God in his preaching and his teaching. In the gospel of Matthew we can hear it most clearly in what we call the Sermon on the Mount, reported by Matthew in Chapters 5, 6 and 7 and in Jesus' teaching about the righteous life in the last part of Chapter 25.
In these passages Matthew showed Jesus as encouraging his listeners to love peace, to be merciful, to care for the poor and downtrodden, to go beyond the moral behavior prescribed by the Ten Commandments, obeying the spirit of them as well. He taught to give without desiring recognition and to practice our piety with humility as well. He gave what we call “The Lord's Prayer” as the prayer all disciples should not only say, but also live by. We should pray for the coming of God's kingdom. We should practice forgiveness, in the same way God has forgiven us. The need for God's forgiveness rings true, because we will fall short of the mark as we try to live as Jesus taught.
Is this way of life such a treasure for us that we commit all that we have and all that we are to the work of the God's kingdom? Some folks did decide to do so and lived in a way that we honor and admire today. We call them, “Holy Women, Holy Men,” and we are encouraged to remember their lives on their special days.
But what about our lives today here in Brookside and Newark and Bear and Glasgow and Wilmington? What about our lives as we live in our Christian community called St. Nicholas? The legends about our patron—and legends are all we have because neither he nor a contemporary wrote about his life—emphasize his generosity and his concern for the poor. I believe we as a church do respond when we have events like our auction, our soup sale and our yard sale to raise money for worthy causes in our community. Our contributions of food and volunteer work in our food pantry show our commitment to the spread of God's kingdom as well. As individuals and families, we also give our time, talent and treasure to support works of mercy in the communities where we live.
These parables commend these choices, but they also challenge us to continue. For indeed we are to be like the “scribe trained for the kingdom of heaven.” Jesus compares that scribe to a householder who will bring out new treasure for the kingdom. Let us continue to act in ways that offer new treasure, something we have not offered before—something that we may not have realized was needed—to support the spread of God’s kingdom.
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