Hidden Messages

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 12A)

Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Ok, pop quiz . . . what is the kingdom of heaven like? We’ll make it easy. Multiple choice.

 

As we just heard, our Gospel reading for today contains not one, not two, but five parables, all beginning with “the kingdom of heaven is like.” Each time, followed by a short story—sometimes as short one sentence. Stories drawn from the fabric of everyday life. Stories about farmers, homemakers, merchants, fishermen. Stories that the hearers could relate to, because they either lived the life portrayed in the parable, or likely knew someone who did. Each story, taken at face value, seems to be pretty simple. Yet, each story is intended to paint a particular picture, drawing on the individual and communal experiences of the hearers. Pictures that, when looked at long enough, reveal multiple layers, and begin to reveal hidden messages.

 

This is the beauty of parables. At least to the original hearers. Jesus was teaching basic truths about faithful and righteous living—or as in today’s Gospel, about the kingdom of heaven—using images his hearers could relate to. Images that transcended the words spoken. In this way, Jesus’ teachings became more than just words; more than just images from everyday life. They became grounded in their everyday lives and experiences in a way that allowed them to take root, just as the plants in the parables we have heard the last couple of weeks.

Read more!

The Holy Ambiguity of Weeds Among the Wheat

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 11A)

Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

For the second week in a row, we have Jesus telling a parable involving the scattering of seed. And for the second week in a row, this parable is a bit of a head-scratcher. So, for the second week in a row, we have the telling of the parable to the crowd followed up with a private session between Jesus and his disciples in which he explains the confusing parable. While both today’s Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds and last’ week’s Parable of the Sower entail the scattering of seed, that’s about where the similarities end. The Parable of the Sower entailed the scattering of seed with wild abandon so as to maximize potential growth. Today’s Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, on the other hand, entails a much more methodical, intentional, and nefarious sowing of seed. A sowing, not with the intent of maximizing potential growth, but with the intent of maximizing potential damage. And the meaning of the seed differs, as well. In the Parable of the Sower, the seed represents the word of God, and we—those who receive God’s word—are represented by the various types of soil. In today’s Parable of the Wheat and the Weeds, we are represented not by type of soil but by type of plant—by the wheat and the weeds.

Read more!

Sower of Abundance

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 10A)

Matthew 13.1-9, 18-23

The Rev. Michael K. Fincher

 

I am always intrigued by what made it into the Gospels and what did not. As we know, with the exception of the birth narratives in Matthew and Luke, the Gospels focus almost exclusively on Jesus’ three-year public ministry. Obviously, the Gospels cannot provide minute-by-minute, blow-by-blow accounts of Jesus’ life between the time he was baptized by John until his death and resurrection in Jerusalem. The authors are naturally only interested in the major things. Significant miracles, such as the feeding of the 5,000, the healing of the man born blind, and the raising of Lazarus. Significant teachings and parables, such as the parables of Good Samaritan and the Prodigal Son.

 

As followers of Jesus, we are left to try to figure out for ourselves just what these recorded events—the healings and miracles, the teachings and parables—mean in our own lives of faith. That is one of the jobs of the Church, one of the jobs of the clergy: to help facilitate that process of digging into the stories presented and figuring out what Jesus meant through his words and his actions. Not always an easy task. Sure, we can sometimes take Jesus’ words at face value. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind . . . and . . . You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Mt 22.37, 39). Pretty clear-cut. Although, we try to complicate things by splitting hairs over such questions as “who is my neighbor?” But by and large, a lot of Jesus’ teachings require some work on our part to figure them out. Particularly when it comes to the parables. Those seemingly simple stories that illustrate a moral or spiritual lesson. And, admittedly, at times, those stories are not so simple. Sometimes, they are a bit cryptic. Leaving us scratching our heads, trying to figure out just what Jesus is really trying to say.

Read more!

Religious Freedom and Striving to Be Perfect

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (Independence Day)

Deuteronomy 10.17-21; Matthew 5.43-48

St. Gregory’s, Long Beach

 

Today we take a break from our liturgical calendar. While it is still the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, I have chosen not to use the propers—the readings and collect of the day—assigned for this particular Sunday. Instead, I have chosen to use the propers for Independence Day. Even though, according to the rules guiding liturgical celebrations, I should not be doing this since Independence Day was yesterday and not today. However, I felt that this liturgical infraction was warranted given the fact that yesterday we celebrated a milestone in our nation’s history: the celebration of the 250^th anniversary of declaring our independence. And also warranted given what seems to be happening to religious freedom after 250 years of independence. So, in honor of our Founding Fathers and Mothers, I am exercising my religious freedom so that we can collectively celebrate who we are, where we have been, and where we are today, as one expression of God’s people in the United States of America. And, to look at where we go from here if the liberties declared 250 years ago are to continue for another 250 years, God willing.

Read more!