We
live by stories. We tell stories about our past. We tell episodes in our lives
or the lives of people we love. We use stories to share information, and also
to share emotions, hopes, and connections. We use stories to break the ice, to
reveal a little about ourselves. We share humor and drama. We use stories to
make sense of our world. If we knit all the stories together, it becomes a kind
of narrative of our life, which helps us make sense of our world.
We
are familiar with the parables of Jesus. The images stick in our heads long
after we remember the moral lesson or the point the preacher was trying to
make. The stories Jesus tells are more vivid and more true than a lot of the
words we live with. The news of the day seems like the buzzing of insects
compared to the simple and clear truth that Jesus offers.
How
simple are the parables of Jesus. Part of the reason that they stick with us is
because they appear to share a simple truth (which is the point of parables).
As we turn them over in our minds, there is a little sense of unease. There s
something that is not clear and it nags at us until we work through it.
Why
so difficult? Jesus could be more efficient and simply tell us true things. He
could share bullet points just like any PowerPoint we are used to seeing on a
screen. Instead, Jesus works a little magic. He tells us stories through the
imagery of parables. They intrigue us. We are captivated. He doesn’t tell us
the answer but leaves us to work on it (and the parable to work on us). Often
there is a simple interpretation, and there is also a little edge to it that
causes us to question our assumptions. Jesus is not interested in supporting
our comfortable assumptions. Jesus wants us to look at the world with new eyes.
Jesus
talks about seeds. A farmer throws seeds on a field. (He is not the sower from
another parable.) The farmer waits. He cannot make the sun shine or the rain
fall. Eventually the plants grow and the grain ripens. The farmer collects the
harvest. There is another seed. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds
and yet it grows into a huge bush. It grows so large that birds make their
nests in it.
The
parables tell us truth about the Kingdom of God. We are like the farmer. We sow
seed. We wait for God to produce new life. We gather in God’s abundance. The
Kingdom of God is also like the mustard seed. It looks small. Contained in that
small seed is everything necessary for life and growth and abundance.
There
are other ways to consider the parables. Perhaps the farmer is God. God sows
seed and waits for grow to occur without intervention? Perhaps God is the seed
that looks so small and insignificant in the person of Jesus, and yet a new way
of living springs up from his death and resurrection. There have been ages in
the church when people looked for hidden meaning and worked the parables for
every possible interpretation. Instead of talking about the parables, a way to
consider them is to consider how they affect us.
We
hear the parable and what do we feel? What seems to be the plain meaning of the
story without trying to prove anything? What truth is proclaimed? God is
generous. God gives life. We know this. We can list all the important
attributes of God. What we are not so good at is imagining what difference it
makes in our life.
We
know that God gives life in God’s good time. We talk about faith and our need
for more faith. Do we have faith of a farmer? Are we willing to wait and trust
for the good harvest? We understand this as a concept, yet how many of us are
willing to live this way in our busy 365/24/7 lives. We want efficiency and
convenience. Can we live with trust?
Consider
the mustard seed. Everything is needs to grow into a huge bush is contained in
that small seed. We know the power of the good news. We know how it gives us
life. Do we live as if we have all that we need? Are we more worried about
money than we are about spiritual life? It’s easy for us to get caught up in
defining abundance as having plenty of money. In our heads we know that God
offers an abundance that is more satisfying than money. Do we live as if this
were true?
I’m
going to try an experiment today. I’d like us to write our own parables. Let’s
start with an image of a simple thing in our minds. What is the truth of that
thing? What does it say about God or us or eternal life? How can we describe it
to bring out that truth? Let’s offer it and see if it helps us consider our own
perspective.
The
kingdom of God is like a dog. Dogs are loyal and eager to please. God is always
loyal to us and eager to show love to us. The kingdom of God is like a dog that
always sleeps at the foot of a bed ready to rise with its owner. Do I imagine
God so close and so willing? Do I not more often act as if God isn’t even in
the room?
I
know our parables are not the works of inspiration that Jesus crafts. God also
gives us imagination and inspiration. The kingdom of God is like a seed. The
DNA of God’s love is everywhere. The good news is contained in everything
created by the hand if God. I invite us to use the gifts God has given to know
more deeply how God lives in us. The kingdom of God is like… what? It’s right
outside your door.
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