Sermons from St Faith's
Parables
Revd Denise McDougall, 27
July, 2014
Last Monday I was lucky
enough to be at Celtic Park watching the dress
rehearsal for the C. Games. The atmosphere was
electric and the athletes, the Clydesiders and all
the hundreds of officials involved in the
organisation and delivery of the games were
beaming with joy, hope and expectation as their
various dreams begin to unfold. The athletes, the
established names and new names of those embarking
on their sporting journeys are all after the
ultimate prize, the treasure found in a medal,
treasure only achievable by listening and learning
from a coach with far greater wisdom than the
athlete, constant training and huge sacrifices!
But the coaches can only do so much the rest comes
from how their wisdom has been received and
responded to. Eventually those who have listened
intently and worked tirelessly towards their goal
will be rewarded with the treasure of a medal.
Jesus was the coach in today’s gospel reading, he
told parables which communicate meaning but both
at that time and now need personal interpretation.
A quotation from Anthony de Mello’s ‘The Song of
the Bird’ says, A disciple once complained: “You
tell us stories, but you never reveal their
meaning to us.” Said the Master: “How would you
like it if someone offered you fruit but had
chewed it before giving it to you?”
And so today we heard five short parables. They
are all very brief and don’t have a section of
explicit interpretation. Some scholars believe
that the parables with meanings aren’t from Jesus’
lips but interpretations of the early church.
Today we hear about the Kingdom of Heaven - the
Kingdom of Heaven being the gathering of all who
belong to and live for Christ in the name of the
Father and today’s reading addresses how to
establish ourselves in that Kingdom. Jesus likens
it to a mustard seed, yeast, hidden treasure, fine
pearls and a net, all things that the Jewish
peasant would be familiar with.
The first two parables are addressed to the
crowds. The first story is about the microscopic
seed which may look insignificant but is capable
of growing into an enormous tree providing shelter
and shade for the birds, it is a symbol of growth
and hospitality within the kingdom and the birds
symbolise the nations of the world. Jesus tells
the crowds that the Kingdom is beyond the old
confines of Judaism and extends to include a home
for the Gentiles as well. The potential is there
although initially it is hidden. Similarly with
the yeast, it can transform the whole loaf. Yeast
is a disturbing element in the dough, it makes it
rise and become active. Aren’t we sometimes called
to disturb situations that have become dull or
when people who have become complacent? So yes,
humans can be transformed and in turn they can
with effort transform society.
Generations of people from Jesus’ day until now
have questioned how there can possibly be a
Kingdom when there are so many atrocities going on
in the world.
But do let’s acknowledge that despite the
appalling failures and sins of nations and
individuals it is without doubt that Christians
throughout the ages have made a difference and do
have an amazing record in compassion, health care,
education, justice, those whom society rejects and
so on and although it seems hard to accept the
dough does continue to rise and seeds that are
sown today, despite their size can grow and spread
into something huge and magnificent and we are led
closer to our ultimate goal.
After these two parables Jesus leaves the crowds
to think about his words and he moves on to
talk to the disciples with two more stories which
stress the incalculable value of the Kingdom, both
stress the cost of gaining it and the fact that it
will cost all we have. He talks of surprises and
treasures. First we hear about treasure found by
accident by a poor man engaged in ploughing a
field when his ploughshare suddenly hit on a box
of treasure. He reburied it until he was able to
buy the whole field. Although that does sound
rather dubious ethically Jewish law states that’
if a man finds scattered money, it belongs to the
finder.’ The point is clear that suddenly against
all the odds we can discover Christ! I have heard
many stories from people who have told me about
one specific moment when they recognised Christ in
their lives.
The treasure in the next parable was a perfect
pearl which was not found by accident but by
conscientious and patient searching. Despite other
pearls of value on the market there were none to
compare with this one. This is how some people
come to know the Kingdom of God, they try many
faiths, ideologies and philosophies but then there
is one moment of great joy when the glory of God
is revealed to them. The treasure was stumbled
upon and the pearl was sought after yet both men
were prepared to sell everything in order to keep
their findings. What a gamble; someone else
may dig up the treasure or the pearl merchant may
have got it wrong! Our paths towards the kingdom
do involve taking drastic risks but those risks
are worth it as we will ultimately be given the
confidence of well-invested faith.
We then come to the final parable in the series
which highlights judgement and separation and like
the sports’ men and women at the games we need
patience and above all else perseverance; then at
the end of our risk taking journey we will be
judged. The coming of Jesus began the process of
the final judgement and as Jesus taught and lived
the Kingdom the world was sharply divided in two,
those who followed him and hung on his every word
and those who rejected him and stuck blindly with
the old ways. The kingdom of God captures both
good and bad people and the message is given to
both alike. It is still like that today and will
probably stay that way until God remakes the whole
world in justice and truth. We are all are given a
chance to grow and be transformed. And eventually
the time comes when judgement is made. God keeps
the good. He loves all including the bad but he
does not want them to stay bad. Those who
have shaped and formed themselves around
injustice, lies and corruption will find they are
like the bad fish only to be discarded and the
parables end with the rejection of some human
souls by God.
The disciples claimed that they understood, I
wonder do we fully take on board that our life
choices will determine whether we are gathered
into the Kingdom or rejected from it. We
have stark choices to make and need wisdom to
recognise our deepest longing for the treasure
still to be found.
So what holds the parables together? It is the
scribe in verse 52, he is the disciples and he is
us. He is the one to use these stories to plant
small ideas which will feed family, friends and
the world. He is the one who shows that the
treasure is so beautiful that it is worth
sacrificing all that we have to possess it. These
parables although clear and familiar to us they
need to be reread on a regular basis, then we
realise they do set us challenges on two levels,
our understanding and our actions. As Tom Wright
says, understanding without action is sterile;
action without understanding is exhausting and
useless.
The parables seem to speak for themselves but like
the competitors in Glasgow we need to hear the
coaches’ words over and over again until they
become second nature. And so we too need to
constantly think and reflect on Jesus’
words. In time perhaps we can be sure of our
thinking, speaking and living, then confidently
put into practice words and actions that are
rooted in the old but also bear new, fresh fruit.
It is through faith we enter the kingdom of God,
through faithfulness we stay in the kingdom of God
and through faith we bear fruit for the kingdom.
And yes, although the cost is considerable the
treasure will be priceless!
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