Eighth Sunday after Pentecost July 26th 2020

Matthew 13:44-58

 ‘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.’ When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place. He came to his home town and began to teach the people in their synagogue, so that they were astounded and said, ‘Where did this man get this wisdom and these deeds of power? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all this?’ And they took offence at him. But Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour except in their own country and in their own house.’ And he did not do many deeds of power there, because of their unbelief.

Reflection: How does one describe or illustrate the kingdom of heaven? There are so many thoughts and ways but I find it very difficult to capture the Kingdom in any way with words or human concepts. No one impression will be sufficient. How we imagine what the kingdom of heaven is like could well depend on what we need the kingdom of heaven to be. 

I am sometimes asked what I think the kingdom of heaven is like…. And I find that often what I have gleaned from the conversation and a person’s situation flavours my impression of what the kingdom is like as I describe it to them. The kingdom of heaven is many things to many people and perhaps this is why Jesus offers so many parables one after another. 

The richness of the kingdom is the fullness of the mystery of God in all its wonder and glory. And to me, one of the exciting things about the kingdom is that the promise of the parables about the kingdom of heaven reveals that even when the kingdom is not seen, it is near. This means that it can be missed or blocked out by the complications of life. The good things and the tough times of life can all veil the kingdom from our eyes and our awareness of it and yet the kingdom is ever present in all its abundance.

I read somewhere that Jesus’ parables remind us that when we think about faith and the kingdom, ultimately its revelation isn’t an intellectual idea but an experience, an experience of the creative and redemptive power of God that continues to change lives. This experience of God transforms and refines. It saves and liberates. It brings peace, joy, the fullness of and abundance of life as well as all the gifts that only God can supply….

I wonder where do you look for abundance? -What is it that will fulfill all that you could ever want or hope for? I wonder, what is your most precious possession? What is your ultimate desire- do you have one? Most of us have things that are precious to us-                         Maybe it’s something others would also value highly, or perhaps it’s something that means a lot only to us personally. 

Matthew devotes this entire Chapter 13 to the Kingdom of God. The parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds amongst the wheat, the mustard seed and now in this series of short parables, Jesus invites his disciples to imagine that the kingdom of God is like something of incomparable understanding or value that is worth everything you have.

These parables are, when you listen closely, all rather different. In the first of what we have before us today, the main character’s behavior is a perhaps a little doubtful. He finds a treasure in someone else’s field, hides it to ensure no one else finds it, and then buys the field in order to claim the treasure. It’s a little like realising a farm in Bellingen is sitting on a huge gold deposit and not telling the elderly couple living there so you can buy it from them cheap. All this man cares about is getting that treasure.

The merchant in the second parable is someone we can admire more easily. He has spent his life trading pearls. Finding a perfect specimen of pearl, he sells all he has in order to possess this one. All he cares about is getting that one pearl.

These two parables have this concept in common: the simple recognition of stumbling upon something of supreme worth and doing anything to get it. Jesus is suggesting that this is what the kingdom of God is like. It’s so desirable that one would do anything for it.

But wait, there’s more. The focus of the third parable shifts our attention from our desire to find the kingdom instead to God’s desire to find all of us. …I like the thought of us being the treasure of God. This parable has the kingdom as a net, a net that catches all manner of fish. For God wants to draw all of us into the kingdom, catching us up into God’s grace. Without discrimination or choosing, all are caught in the net together.

This last parable follows on from last weeks’ gospel and the explanation of the parable of the wheat and weeds because there is also the sorting of good fish and bad, that is, those who will enter the kingdom and those who will not. Notice that the job of sorting isn’t given to us, but to God’s angels, therefore, we shouldn’t be too quick to assume we have the abilitytell good fish from bad. 

However we understand the parables, I suggest that their purpose is not to create a theology of judgment of the end times.Instead Parables are meant to draw us in, giving us a glimpse of God’s nature and kingdom. Parables invite us to reconsider our assumptions. In this case, these parables invite us to imagine that the kingdom Jesus preaches and enacts is worth way more than what we might at first imagine. They stir us to trust that the good news continues to grow in the world and is for everyone, not just a few select. They also point to Gods sovereignty and rule.

 When we listen to the words of Jesus, we don’t only hear those words but we have the opportunity to actually feel the force they employ upon us. Words, in short, are powerful. The words of Jesus are life changing, if only we hear! Unfortunately, it’s not just people in our present day who question God’s authority and Kingdom. For in the final portion of our gospel today we see that even those who were with Jesus and saw him and heard him in the flesh, doubted and denied the truth of his teaching. 

And so, we have before us today an invitation. God is inviting us into the kingdom that he promises. The words in the Parables don’t describe the kingdom of God as much as they actually evoke some element of God’s reign and reality that breaks into our lives. They draw us in, they invite us to be moved by the parable, to feel in our bones, in our inner self what it means when God gets involved in our life and in the world. The surprising presence, even invasiveness, of God’s reality and reign becomes a part of our very being. This is exciting stuff. It means that the kingdom of God in the seed or the yeast, in whatever way God is touching our lives, is allowed to grow and flourish. 

Jesus’ parables remind us that the faith we preach and the kingdom we announce ultimately isn’t an intellectual idea but an experience, an experience of the creative and redemptive power of God that continues to change lives. This becomes more valuable than ANYTHING! It consumes our very being.

I have to admit that I often fall to the temptation to read these parables as something like a proverb: “big things sometimes have small beginnings” or “don’t judge something based on its size.”  And while this makes sense on a superficial level, as each parable talks about something small – a mustard seed or a bit of yeast – blossoming into something much grander. It doesn’t add up when you realise that neither mustard seed nor yeast was viewed positively in Jesus’ world. Mustard was a weed, dreaded by farmers the way today’s gardeners dread weeds like ‘farmers friend’ or ‘nut grass’. Just one little plant can soon take over your garden. Similarly, when mentioned in the Bible, yeast was often used to represent sin and evil that spread throughout the world.

So, why would Jesus, compare the kingdom of God to these weeds of contaminant? I suggest that it is because both mustard seed and yeast have a way of spreading beyond anything you’d imagined, permeating a system and taking over a host. God’s kingdom could be like that – far more potent than we’d imagined and ready to spread to every corner of our lives? 

In light of this, how might we then regard everyday invitations to read the Bible, study God’s Word, pray, and worship if we thought these things might lead to our lives being infiltrated, changed, and taken over by God’s reality and rule? I have to wonder if it is not just about God’s work in us but our desire for him to work- this is where we will find the richness of the kingdom and the supreme value of the gift/ the prize/ the ultimate blessing of kingdom living. I wonder if it’s about realising that the things of this world don’t/ won’t bring fulfilment.

A song that I love that speaks of this is, ‘Consuming Fire’ by Tim Hughes … It says there must be more than this- (You can watch it by clicking on this link).   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XOBBUu_23M

The world can draw us in by empty promises. The Kingdom draws us in with the fullness of God.

David Lose says, ‘Be careful. People who have been infected by the gospel have done crazy, counter-cultural things like sharing all they have with others, standing up for their values in school or the workplace, looking out for the underprivileged, and sharing their faith with the people around them.’ 

Let us pray: Dear God, kindle our hearts to value your kingdom beyond anything or anyone else, that it might permeate our lives and we live to seek to share this treasure with all we meet. In Jesus’ name, Amen.