Reverend Ref +

SERMON
10 PENTECOST
PROPER 12A

Last week I talked a little about how Jesus lived in an agrarian society and that was why so many of his parables revolved around farming and issues of farming. The sower, the weeds and the wheat, and this week the mustard seed - another farming-type image. Well, I was only partially right.

What we get today are five parables in five sentences. The kingdom of heaven is like . . . . a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a pearl of great value, and a fishing net. These parables have something to say about the kingdom of heaven individually, and they have something to say about it corporately.

Individually, the mustard seed, the yeast and the net point out that the kingdom of heaven has a bigger effect than we might originally comprehend. The tiny little mustard seed grows and provides a safe place for birds to nest. It also provides shade from the sun for other animals and people. All birds, regardless of type, are free to nest in its branches. All people, regardless of gender or political persuasion, are free to rest in its protective shade.

The yeast affects all of the flour. Those who bake know that it doesn't take alot of yeast to do the job. If the kingdom of heaven is like yeast, then it doesn't take alot to make a change. In some ways, that yeast, you and I, will affect the world; whether it be an invitation to church, living your lives as an example to others, or how I, as priest of this parish, reach out to the people in this community. What God does through us is like what yeast does to flour, it changes it on some unseen level and raises it to new heights.

And the net catches fish of every kind, both good and bad. The net is relatively small compared to the sea, but that small net caught fish of every kind. And if the net is catching both good and bad fish, as the end of the parable indicates, then maybe we shouldn't be so discriminatory as to who we want to bring into the church. If you read past the assigned readings, you will see once again that Jesus says it is the angels who will separate the good from the bad, the righteous from the unrighteous. We don't know who those people are, so maybe it isn't a bad idea for us to catch everything and let God sort it out in the end.

Then there were the two treasures, one accidental and one intentional. One man is surprised and the other is pleased. We can be toiling away, going to church every Sunday, dragging ourselves to vestry meetings, Thursday night Eucharists, soup suppers or whatever other idea the vicar comes up with, not sure why we are doing what we are doing, and suddenly find peace and joy and meaning in it all. And if you want a good example of that, ask Polly about the whole Easter Triduum event this past spring. Ask her about the Good Friday service where we crucified Jesus, and about the Holy Saturday service in the bare church with the altar covered by a funeral pall because Jesus was dead, and about the flame and the lighting of the church at the Easter Vigil. Ask her about being surprised.

Or we can be searching intentionally for the deeper meaning of life, the universe and everything. That search can take us to Christianity or Islam or Judaism or some New Age crystal worshiping thing or standing out in the trees. That search can lead us all over the place and finally lead us to discover the one pearl of great value that makes us shout for joy. We may still be surprised when we find it, but the difference is that at some level we were expecting to find it. And that doesn't make it any less valuable.

These are two different paths to a prize of great value, but notice that each person has become totally committed to gaining the discovered treasure. Each person gives up what they already have for the expectation of gaining something better. Are we as committed to Jesus as the two men in the parables were committed to their own discovered treasure?

Each of these one-sentence parables has something to say to us individually, and you could tease out a whole lot more than I have just done. But I find it just as compelling to look at them corporately. What do they tell us if we take them together?

The kingdom of heaven is like . . . . a seed that grows, yeast in some flour, a surprise, the end of a search, a fishing net. All of these things were everyday occurrances in the life of the people with whom Jesus spoke to. The kingdom of heaven is in the details of everyday life. The kingdom of heaven is like a tiny baby, a new grandchild, one that was born in a manger. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, traditionally thought of as evil, but an everyday item that can have a positive impact. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure of good news or the result of a long search.

But we have trouble seeing that. We wait for signs from above; or we plot out prophecies and start making a checklist of when Jesus will return in a blaze of glory; or we establish our own criteria as to who the good and bad fish are, hopeful that God will see we've already got the good ones picked out.

What we need to do is be like Solomon in today's OT reading who humbly asked for a wise and discerning mind. We need to be humble and ask for the wisdom to see God's work and the kingdom of heaven in the here and now.

The kingdom of heaven is like . . . . everything you see around you. Don't look for something spectacular to show up miraculously in the future; look for the miraculously spectacular in the details of today. John the Baptist said it, and Jesus said it: The kingdom of heaven is near. Don't wait for tomorrow.