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| What treasure new and old is God calling forth in you? |
© Seth Olson 2020
July 26, 2020—Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
July 26, 2020—Eighth Sunday after Pentecost
You may find a video of this sermon by clicking here (sermon begins at 14:40).
Okay, that’s not how the story went, but come on, the followers of Jesus understood all these parables. They had wise and discerning minds like God granted King Solomon? Are we joking here? The disciples who would soon after Jesus’ crucifixion be hiding in some apartment over a garage in the outskirts of Jerusalem comprehended the magnificent profundity of their rabbi Jesus and his stories… This seems hard to believe, right?
I still don’t think we get what Jesus was saying in most of his parables and we’ve had 2,000 years of practice. However, this lack of full understanding is okay. As Saint Paul put it in our epistle, the Spirit helps in our weakness and intercedes with sighs too deep for words. As we breath in these parables, we gain new insights each time we hear them. Our understanding of the parables moves because parables themselves move. They curve, like parabolas. And, why wouldn’t they?
We are not talking about something static, but the dynamic, ever-expanding, enriching enigma that is the Kingdom of God, the Reign of Christ. Like grasping for an eel, holding onto exactly what the Kingdom of Heaven is remains a slippery endeavor. But, as we struggle God is with us and if God is with us and for us, who can be against us?
Still, we wonder, what’s the Reign of Christ like? Jesus told us and still tells us over and over again. He said, it’s like…
It’s like a mustard seed. That one seems easy enough. It starts small, but given time and light and water it grows. Soon it’s not only good for itself, it’s good for others. Some might rest in its shade. Whew, that sounds nice! Don’t we all want that right now—to rest in God and the shade of what God provides? What else?
The Reign of Christ is like yeast. Oh, we get that one! Maybe those disciples weren’t lying. We put yeast in with flour, water, salt, maybe honey, give it a mix, and put it somewhere warm—what happens? It expands. It grows. Okay, so the Kingdom of God is growing. What else is it?
The Kingdom of heaven, that is where God reigns, is like a treasure. Yes, it is! We can get behind that. Who doesn’t like the idea of finding buried treasure?[1] We yearn for discovering such a gift in our lives. But… if I’m being honest. That parable sounds confusing. The standard interpretation is that one person found, then buried treasure, while another sold everything to go buy the field. This seems to make sense. But, it almost sounds like one person found, then buried treasure, then that same one went and sold everything to reclaim the buried loot. That makes no logical sense, but even that sounds like life in Christ. Listen: sometimes we have to gain it all, then lose it all, just to gain it all again… If you disagree, may I suggest the Book of Job!
Regardless when we compare God’s Kingdom to treasure what we know is that all of us are in search of something that is so captivating that we will give up everything else to take hold of it. That’s definitely what life in Christ is like. We must become less—selling what we have—Christ must become more—taking hold of the treasure.
This happens in a spiritual, but very real way to each of us in Baptism. There we die, so that we might be reborn through Christ and in Christ. RAD! That’s radical, but that’s the Reign of Christ! What else is it like?
The Reign of Christ is like an episode of Antique Roadshow. Wait, that’s not right. That’s not what Jesus said. Still a collector appraised a pearl of great value and upon realizing its value she had to have it. Is this not what the Kingdom of heaven is like? Life with Jesus is so compelling that we want to stop everything else we are doing so that we might live in this new way. That sounds so good right now!
At this very moment don’t we want nothing more than to give away all the craziness of the last five months, so that we might live an abundant life? Except maybe that doesn’t mean we actually give away the last five months or that we have to wait to go somewhere else. Rather, maybe we live this life in a new way right here, right now. In this Gospel lesson, Jesus repeatedly said these things are like the Kingdom of heaven, and now seems like the right time to tell you that heaven is not something that only happens after we die or some other place where we will go.
The Kingdom of heaven started even before the foundation of the universe and it has never stopped. This abundant life permeated the ages of Creation, it lingered in our first parents, and our faith parents (Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, Moses, Elijah, and Elisha), the prophets, teachers of wisdom, and martyrs. This life became most clear ironically enough in the death and then resurrection of Christ Jesus. So, when the theologian Belinda Carlisle sang, “Oh baby do you know what that’s worth, Oh heaven is a place on earth,” she was not just making a sensational earworm of the 80’s, she was also telling us the truth of the matter. The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom here on earth.
What else is it like? Well the Kingdom of heaven is like a net that is cast into the sea and it collects all kinds of fish. As it is brought to the boat, there’s a discerning moment that makes little sense if any at all. The good fish are put in baskets. The bad fish are thrown out. Jesus unpacks this story by saying the angels will collect the righteous ones, while the evil ones are thrown into the fire. However, if we play this story out, aren’t the good fish that are put into baskets actually the ones who are thrown into the fire when they are cooked? And, aren’t the bad fish actually thrown back into their natural habitat where they can live? What does this mean, Jesus?
Maybe it means the last will be first and the first will be last. Maybe it means that the analogy was lost in translation. Or maybe it truly is an invitation into introspection as we discern what parts of our lives are in right relationship with God and neighbor, and what parts need to be thrown out?
Now, all of these interpretations regarding Jesus’ parables may be edifying, beautiful, and helpful. And yet, there exist many other explanations about any one of these descriptions of the Reign of Christ. Truth be told you may interpret any one of these stories in a completely contradictory way than I just did. And, that’s okay!
Instead of arguing about it what might be more useful is looking to where these stories point us. They are intended to inspire us to see God’s Reign here among us. To understand that God is, as our collect put it, our ruler—that is the standard of measuring abundant life. And, God is our guide who helps us pass from temporal to eternal and to see that heaven and earth truly comingle in every moment.
So, maybe we can spend some time thinking what are the modern parables that will help us to know God? The Kingdom of heaven is like a facemask that shields us from harm. God’s Kingdom is like heroic healthcare workers that tirelessly give and give and give again to save others’ lives. It’s like a police officer and a protestor hugging in the street. It’s a pandemic—not of sickness but of compassion. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a UPS driver bringing treasures of all kinds, which reminds me.
There’s one more parable left. After Jesus asked the disciples if they understood all this, which sure (shakes head) we get all this stuff, right? (NO!) Well, then, the Kingdom of Heaven, Jesus tells us is like… but that’s not what he said? Jesus said, the scribes who have been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven are like a master of a household who brings out treasure new and old.
This parable is the most important parable we heard today. Mostly because I believe we are in a moment within the history of our world, the history of the Church (Capital C), and the history of our church (All Saints) in which we need to hear this message. We need to embody this story. We must live in this very parable. We are scribes—I know usually they are the foils in stories about Jesus, but not here. We must become these ones who look for and study our world, as we search for insights into what the Reign of Christ looks like. Some of it will look like the treasure we had before this pandemic—hold fast to that which is good! And, some of it will be novel—sing to the Lord a new song! We need it all!
Sometimes we think that because God is eternal and Christ’s love is changeless and the Spirit is always near that we must not change; however, that’s not true. The Church has always been changing and evolving since it began. It didn’t just stay in people’s homes around the Mediterranean. No, it spread and grew and evolved. Some of those changes haven’t been good and some of them have made all the difference. Likewise, some of those things onto which we have held haven’t benefited us, and that is like carrying around a suitcase full of things you don’t need. So, now on this blursday in this season of coronatide, I invite us all to become scribes who are in search of the Reign of Christ all around us.
What forgotten spiritual treasure do you want to bring out that will help you to see heaven on earth? What new gift do you have to share in this moment that helps you to see Christ’s Reign alive and well? We need to find treasure new and old here in the middle of the COVID pandemic, here during this pandemic of racism, here in this transitional time in our parish! Search for the treasure both new and old, and when you find it, share it! For as our Bishop Kee has repeatedly reminded us, we must hold fast to that which is good and sing to the Lord a new song. Amen.
[1] Thousands went in search of Forest Fenn’s buried treasure over the last decade: https://denver.cbslocal.com/2020/07/05/forrest-fenn-treasure-colorado-national-monument-dinosaur/
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