May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Pentecost 10
PROPER: 12A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: July 28,2002
TEXT: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-49a The Kingdom of Heaven
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. . .
like yeast . . .
like treasure hidden in a field . . .
like a merchant in search of fine pearls . . .
like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind.
ISSUE: Jesus startles his listeners with parables of what God’s kingdom, or realm, is like. In each case it is not exactly what they would have expected. Like the mustard seed, it is available as a weed and is open to all, but many despise and reject it, trying to get rid of it. Like yeast it rotten moldy bread, and impure, and the kingdom of God is being made available to the impure. Like a treasure, God’s kingdom is simply given without having to earn it, yet worth so much, it has to be shared and given away. Like a precious pearl, you sell all to possess the kingdom of God. Like the fish in the net, we are all possessed by the grace of God. Throwing bad fish away has to be questioned. These parables teach of God in a burlesque sort of way. Yet, they dramatize the all-encompassing love of God for the creation.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The selected verses from Matthew’s Gospel account give us something of a shopping list to tell what the Kingdom of God is like. It is like a mustard seed, like leaven, like treasure or a precious pearl, and a great catch of fish. These parable of the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Kingdom of God, or the Empire, or Realm of God were very unique and strange to the people who first heard these parables. In fact they were striking caricatures of a most unusual images. The domain of God, the realm or empire of God, would be thought of in rather triumphant terms. It would be a mighty place set aside for the worthy and pure participants in an ardent faith. Even today there are images of the Kingdom of Heaven or of God as a fenced in place, like a gated community, where St. Peter stands at its only entrance of Pearly Gates. Its streets are thought to be paved in gold with many mansions for people who have gone on to their reward. While these are interesting images they are quite different from the images that Jesus used for the Kingdom of God.
The first image is that of a mustard seed. It is as if someone planted a mustard seed, a very tiny seed, in his field. It grows up and all the birds of the air come and nest in its branches. What a startling image this is. It is hardly triumphant. Only a lunatic would plant a mustard seed in the first place. Mustard plants were weeds. Once they got started you couldn’t get rid of them. They were really more like bushes than trees. They did have some healing qualities in them and could be used as a laxative. They were hardly big, but were bountiful, and birds came and nested in them and ate the seeds. The vision of great national triumph of the time was for the nation to be like the great and tall cedars of Lebanon. But the great nations often grew big, arrogant, and corrupt and fell, taking everything with them. God’s kingdom is not grand in this sense. It is as humble as a weed that provides seed for its creatures, and all the birds can nest in its refreshing shade. It is a humble bush for all people, very unlike the triumph states and arrogance of the world God’s realm is a realm for all people, humble and simple, bountiful, and like a weed it cannot be stomped out. It just comes up abounding somewhere else.
Furthermore, the Kingdom, Realm, Domain, Dominion of God is like a woman who mixes yeast with three measures of flour until it is all leavened. This parable would really have gotten people’s attention and started them thinking. Any story or parable that featured a woman as its star figure would have been suspect, but Jesus did have a reputation for associating with women in sharp contrast to the social restrictions of his time. The woman mixes the yeast with the flour. Actually the people of this time did not have yeast. What they used to leaven bread was old moldy bread. Their bread was something like sour dough. At the Passover Feast, all yeast or leaven was removed from the house, because it was considered moldy, unclean, and an impure substance. Here is a woman, who herself would be considered at times unclean, mixing moldy bread leaven with three measures of flour. That was a enough flour to make a whole truck full of bread. It was enough bread for a whole town and then some. What’s going on here? The kingdom of God is like a woman mixing impure leaven with flour and coming up with enough bread to celebrate a Messianic Feast! God can and will handle the impurities of the world, and invite them into the feast, and the Messianic Banquet in the Realm and Dominion of God! God can use the last, least, lost, and the worst to His best advantage.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that someone finds hidden in a field. In a time when banks were not very secure, and unlike they are today, many people buried their wealth for safety. Some how or another a man finds treasure. It just falls into his lap. He keeps it hidden and decides to buy the field at the cost of everything that he has. That was pretty dumb. He sells everything he has to buy a field with treasure that he could never use. Legally, the treasure belongs to the original owner of the field. The Kingdom of God is a treasure indeed. It is God’s own precious realm. No one, however, owns it, or is more entitled than anyone else. The Pharisees could not lay claim to it, any more than the Catholics, or the Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, and all the others. The treasure is God’s, it cannot be possessed, it can only be lived in.
A merchant of jewelry finds the pearl of pearls. He goes and sells everything he has to own the precious pearl. The pearl may well be a pearl of wisdom. He sells everything he has to possess the greatest wisdom of the world. The Kingdom of God is like that. You have to sell all you have, get rid of all your junk, and the things that possess you and obsess you, and receive the wisdom of God in a heavenly realm of love and forgiveness. The man sells it all, takes up the cross of love and service and enters into the realm of the wisdom of God.
Look at these parables and what are we left with in terms of what God and God’s Kingdom is like. It is very earthy, like a humble weed. Everyone, Jews and Gentiles, is worthy to abide in it. There is food for all. It is earthy and timely and in the here and the now, but not like the triumphal dreams of the arrogant and those hungry for power. It’s wisdom is love. It is non-possessive but lived in by the pure and the impure. It is a treasure to be cherished. There is the spiritual abundance of dwelling with God. Jesus saw the potential of a remarkable unity and at oneness with one another and with God. God and God’s realm is a way of life.
What about the net that was thrown into the sea? The fisherman gathers up the fish. There are good fish and bad fish, maybe shellfish, scavengers, and other types of sea creatures that Jews of the time would not eat. They are thrown away. Only the good stuff is kept. Sometimes the Good News of the Gospel is too good. Matthew throws in this last parable that contradicts all the rest. It was hard to believe that God could be so all loving. Many biblical scholars do not attribute the fish net parable to Jesus. They think it was a later addition by Matthew, who was himself Jewish, and who was addressing a Jewish community. He or the early church had to do away with bad people, and set some kind of boundaries. Maybe, the bad people mention was intended to address the Pharisees, who wouldn’t follow Jesus. Maybe? It’s hard to say. Sometimes we just don’t know everything, or we have to be critical of biblical content.
But for the present, the Kingdom and presence of God is readily available to all. We can live in it now as a great treasure of forgiveness and love, with bountiful room and spiritual nourishment for all. Step into the kingdom now in all of its abounding budding. We need it; the violent and greedy world needs it. To be in the kingdom is our only hope.
Sunday, July 28, 2002
Sunday, July 7, 2002
Pentecost 7
May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you, O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer. (Psalm 19:14)
SEASON: Pentecost 7
PROPER: 9A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: July 7, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 11:25-30 – “Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I and gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
ISSUE: A yoke is that which controls, and that which must fit properly. The passage addresses a people who are strictly controlled by the powers and authorities over them, which is quite burdensome, and that does not fit their condition. Jesus teaches what it means to be his disciples and followers of the Father. The yoke fits their condition, and ours, and it is the control of love.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This section of the Gospel account of Matthew gives us some respite from the strong demand to be our Lord’s disciples. In past passages the call to discipleship meant enduring difficult times and facing hardships in a very anxious and upset world. They were burdensome times. Finally, the word to the disciples is to Take the yoke of Christ upon you, and learn from him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The passage opens with a rather obtuse way for Matthew’s Gospel account. At first you might think that you were reading the Gospel account of John: “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.” In order to best understand what this all means is to understand what it was like to live in Jesus’ time. It was a time and system of patronage. Poor people needed assistance from the wealthy leadership. They sought out brokers who would direct them to those that might help them in terms of leading them to wealthier people who could assist them. In this passage, Matthew is indicating that Jesus is the broker, or mediator that leads the poor to the great patron, God the Father. And many poor peasant people who had come to know Jesus were coming to know and understand that Jesus was leading them back to the Father, while some of the wealthier leaders were providing barriers and rules, laws, that prevented access to God the Father. These were supposed to be the wise and intelligent, like the educated Pharisees. But their teachings were often great burdens that stifled a relationship with God, rather than facilitating relationship with the mercy and compassion of God. Infants, meaning the poor peasantry, slaves, are gaining through the teachings of Jesus the wisdom of knowing God as love and compassion, and being in relationship with God. Jesus, the broker, is revealing the way to God.
The yoke is easy and the burden is light with Christ. The yoke is a unique image. A yoke was wood made by a carpenter, which Jesus was reported to be. There are a couple of things that it is important to understand about the yoke. First, the yoke must be made to fit the animal that would bear it. They were custom made. Second, the yoke was used to control the animal. Jesus is saying, my yoke is easy, my burden is light, my control of you is light and uncomplicated.
The people of the time were carrying heavy burdens and were often severely controlled, with no control of their own over their lives. Unscrupulous landowners, who made heavy demands, controlled peasants. Peasants lived a day to day existence, while wealthier religious leaders grew fat on the tithes of the poor. They often hoarded the money rather than making it readily available to the needs of the poor. There were some 613 laws in the Book of Deuteronomy that were to be followed in order to please God, according to Pharisee leadership. Not all of the Laws were bad. Many Jews, even today, rejoice in keeping the laws of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, and consider it to be an honor to do so. However for the poor some of the laws were almost impossible for them to keep, and the economic rules and taxations were extremely burdensome.
It has been said that Jesus was like a Martin Luther of his time. He had the wisdom to redeem the time with its economic exploitation, and its heavy economic and religious subjugation. Jesus offers a new way that was rooted in the Apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus 51:25 (Sirach): “Come to me, all you that need instruction, and learn in my school. Why do you admit you are ignorant and do nothing about it? Here is what I say. It costs nothing to be wise. Put on the yoke and be willing to learn. The opportunity is always near.”
Taking on the yoke is required. We are all under the control of God. But the key point is that the yoke of Christ is easy; it fits. The burden is light and less controlling. It is the yoke of love and compassion. It is the gift of grace. The yoke of Christ is love. It fits the human condition. We need to be loved, and we need to share love. We love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our minds, and with all our strength. That is our yoke, to love God, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Is that especially easy? Of course not. Loving people, who are sometimes are to us not loveable is not easy. Loving ourselves is not always easy either. But that is the demand. We are under that yoke, that command, that control from God. But it fits the need and contributes to the health of the human condition.
Living in the world today certainly has its burdens. Demands are made upon us all the time, and many times we feel that we have no control. The pain and suffering we may bear may at times, be as if the yoke upon us does not fit. It rubs, chaffs, annoys, and burdens.
Some know the burdens of having to care for aging parents, who are not always in the best of health or moods. Some have the burden of being those who still have children to care for in addition to aging parents. The burden of ill health of any family member is a great distraction to a family.
Some have the burdens of looking after young children in an extraordinarily difficult time when the cultural sexual mores is quite lax, and access to drugs and alcohol is so available. Young people today are so vulnerable in a dangerous culture.
Dealing with all the loss of loved ones is a very stressful burden. Miscarriages are difficult. Alcoholism and drug addiction are vicious burdens in a family. Dealing with the burden of a divorce is terribly disruptive to a family and creates enormous stress. All around us we deal with life’s difficulties.
The burdens we bear are not just personal. As a nation we bear the burdens of terrorism and other destructive forces that do not appreciate our pursuit of freedom, and government for the people, by the people, and of the people. Our nation with all its power and authority seems to be the policeman for the world, not an easy position to have in the world. We bear the burden and difficulty of breaking away from old prejudicial traditions that stifles the freedom of some peoples on the basis of their gender, race, or religion.
As Christians we bear the burden and the yoke of Christ’s discipleship. We are called to spread the gospel without excuse, and to make God’s church grow and be a resource for the world. We bear the burden of being the conscience for government officials, and not linked to the government. We are called to give generously without counting the cost, not even of a handicapped ramp. We are called upon to be the servants of God in a trouble and anxious world.
To this difficult age, to the pain and suffering of our lives, to the burdens we all share come the voice of the Lord who leads his people to God. “Come to me all that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The passage does not say that there are not burdens and difficulties in life. There are. No one knew that any more than Jesus himself. But it is in accepting Him and turning to Him we find love to touch our feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy. Through him who also suffered and rose again, we are given hope in despair. We are strengthened for service. Through Him and with Him we are given patience, kindness, the ability to endure, and to continue in the Way of Christ, and in the process of bringing about the Realm of God, the Kingdom of God, the Reign of the God of Love and Peace. We come to realize life is difficult. We come to realize that we don’t have to be in control of everything, but that God is. (What a relief for some folk!) We come to find the strength to carry on, and in the worst of situation to know that beyond death and despair, there is hope, resurrection, and the dawning of a new day.
This passage from Matthew was good news to the poor and the disenfranchised of the time, knowing that God was with them in the battle for new life and freedom through following the way of Christ. It is good news in our age too. It is time to take on the yoke of Christ that fits well, and to be under his yoke, where his love and forgiveness for us and for one another is far more enduring than the arrogance, the rage, the fury, the hate our world stores up and imposes destruction. It is the yoke of strength that guides us into the way of love that is the ultimate power that stands up in the world. In communion with Christ we are in communion with one another, and we share one another’s burdens in love.
SEASON: Pentecost 7
PROPER: 9A
PLACE: St. John’s Episcopal Church, Kingsville
DATE: July 7, 2002
TEXT: Matthew 11:25-30 – “Come to me all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I and gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
ISSUE: A yoke is that which controls, and that which must fit properly. The passage addresses a people who are strictly controlled by the powers and authorities over them, which is quite burdensome, and that does not fit their condition. Jesus teaches what it means to be his disciples and followers of the Father. The yoke fits their condition, and ours, and it is the control of love.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This section of the Gospel account of Matthew gives us some respite from the strong demand to be our Lord’s disciples. In past passages the call to discipleship meant enduring difficult times and facing hardships in a very anxious and upset world. They were burdensome times. Finally, the word to the disciples is to Take the yoke of Christ upon you, and learn from him. “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
The passage opens with a rather obtuse way for Matthew’s Gospel account. At first you might think that you were reading the Gospel account of John: “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.” In order to best understand what this all means is to understand what it was like to live in Jesus’ time. It was a time and system of patronage. Poor people needed assistance from the wealthy leadership. They sought out brokers who would direct them to those that might help them in terms of leading them to wealthier people who could assist them. In this passage, Matthew is indicating that Jesus is the broker, or mediator that leads the poor to the great patron, God the Father. And many poor peasant people who had come to know Jesus were coming to know and understand that Jesus was leading them back to the Father, while some of the wealthier leaders were providing barriers and rules, laws, that prevented access to God the Father. These were supposed to be the wise and intelligent, like the educated Pharisees. But their teachings were often great burdens that stifled a relationship with God, rather than facilitating relationship with the mercy and compassion of God. Infants, meaning the poor peasantry, slaves, are gaining through the teachings of Jesus the wisdom of knowing God as love and compassion, and being in relationship with God. Jesus, the broker, is revealing the way to God.
The yoke is easy and the burden is light with Christ. The yoke is a unique image. A yoke was wood made by a carpenter, which Jesus was reported to be. There are a couple of things that it is important to understand about the yoke. First, the yoke must be made to fit the animal that would bear it. They were custom made. Second, the yoke was used to control the animal. Jesus is saying, my yoke is easy, my burden is light, my control of you is light and uncomplicated.
The people of the time were carrying heavy burdens and were often severely controlled, with no control of their own over their lives. Unscrupulous landowners, who made heavy demands, controlled peasants. Peasants lived a day to day existence, while wealthier religious leaders grew fat on the tithes of the poor. They often hoarded the money rather than making it readily available to the needs of the poor. There were some 613 laws in the Book of Deuteronomy that were to be followed in order to please God, according to Pharisee leadership. Not all of the Laws were bad. Many Jews, even today, rejoice in keeping the laws of God in the Hebrew Scriptures, and consider it to be an honor to do so. However for the poor some of the laws were almost impossible for them to keep, and the economic rules and taxations were extremely burdensome.
It has been said that Jesus was like a Martin Luther of his time. He had the wisdom to redeem the time with its economic exploitation, and its heavy economic and religious subjugation. Jesus offers a new way that was rooted in the Apocryphal Book of Ecclesiasticus 51:25 (Sirach): “Come to me, all you that need instruction, and learn in my school. Why do you admit you are ignorant and do nothing about it? Here is what I say. It costs nothing to be wise. Put on the yoke and be willing to learn. The opportunity is always near.”
Taking on the yoke is required. We are all under the control of God. But the key point is that the yoke of Christ is easy; it fits. The burden is light and less controlling. It is the yoke of love and compassion. It is the gift of grace. The yoke of Christ is love. It fits the human condition. We need to be loved, and we need to share love. We love the Lord our God with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our minds, and with all our strength. That is our yoke, to love God, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. Is that especially easy? Of course not. Loving people, who are sometimes are to us not loveable is not easy. Loving ourselves is not always easy either. But that is the demand. We are under that yoke, that command, that control from God. But it fits the need and contributes to the health of the human condition.
Living in the world today certainly has its burdens. Demands are made upon us all the time, and many times we feel that we have no control. The pain and suffering we may bear may at times, be as if the yoke upon us does not fit. It rubs, chaffs, annoys, and burdens.
Some know the burdens of having to care for aging parents, who are not always in the best of health or moods. Some have the burden of being those who still have children to care for in addition to aging parents. The burden of ill health of any family member is a great distraction to a family.
Some have the burdens of looking after young children in an extraordinarily difficult time when the cultural sexual mores is quite lax, and access to drugs and alcohol is so available. Young people today are so vulnerable in a dangerous culture.
Dealing with all the loss of loved ones is a very stressful burden. Miscarriages are difficult. Alcoholism and drug addiction are vicious burdens in a family. Dealing with the burden of a divorce is terribly disruptive to a family and creates enormous stress. All around us we deal with life’s difficulties.
The burdens we bear are not just personal. As a nation we bear the burdens of terrorism and other destructive forces that do not appreciate our pursuit of freedom, and government for the people, by the people, and of the people. Our nation with all its power and authority seems to be the policeman for the world, not an easy position to have in the world. We bear the burden and difficulty of breaking away from old prejudicial traditions that stifles the freedom of some peoples on the basis of their gender, race, or religion.
As Christians we bear the burden and the yoke of Christ’s discipleship. We are called to spread the gospel without excuse, and to make God’s church grow and be a resource for the world. We bear the burden of being the conscience for government officials, and not linked to the government. We are called to give generously without counting the cost, not even of a handicapped ramp. We are called upon to be the servants of God in a trouble and anxious world.
To this difficult age, to the pain and suffering of our lives, to the burdens we all share come the voice of the Lord who leads his people to God. “Come to me all that are weary and carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” The passage does not say that there are not burdens and difficulties in life. There are. No one knew that any more than Jesus himself. But it is in accepting Him and turning to Him we find love to touch our feelings of unworthiness and inadequacy. Through him who also suffered and rose again, we are given hope in despair. We are strengthened for service. Through Him and with Him we are given patience, kindness, the ability to endure, and to continue in the Way of Christ, and in the process of bringing about the Realm of God, the Kingdom of God, the Reign of the God of Love and Peace. We come to realize life is difficult. We come to realize that we don’t have to be in control of everything, but that God is. (What a relief for some folk!) We come to find the strength to carry on, and in the worst of situation to know that beyond death and despair, there is hope, resurrection, and the dawning of a new day.
This passage from Matthew was good news to the poor and the disenfranchised of the time, knowing that God was with them in the battle for new life and freedom through following the way of Christ. It is good news in our age too. It is time to take on the yoke of Christ that fits well, and to be under his yoke, where his love and forgiveness for us and for one another is far more enduring than the arrogance, the rage, the fury, the hate our world stores up and imposes destruction. It is the yoke of strength that guides us into the way of love that is the ultimate power that stands up in the world. In communion with Christ we are in communion with one another, and we share one another’s burdens in love.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
