"The Kingdom of Heaven Is Like . . ."

THE SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST

Year A, Lectionary 17

July 27, 2014

Romans 8:26-39

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Pastor David Tryggestad

Concordia Evangelical Lutheran Church

Duluth, Minnesota

The kingdom of heaven is not for a future time only; it is a present reality.

Our Gospel for today continues Jesus’ string of parables about the kingdom of heaven. Two weeks ago we heard the parable of the sower: “Listen! A sower went out to sow.” The sower sowed seed on various kinds of soil. Last Sunday the parable of the wheat and the weeds: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among he wheat . . .”

Today Jesus expands the images of the kingdom of heaven beyond agricultural ones: “The kingdom of heaven is like at mustard seed . . . the kingdom of heaven is like yeast . . . the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field . . . the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls . . . the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea . . .”

What are some themes or conclusions we can draw from these sayings?

I’d like to suggest some places to start the conversation.

The kingdom of heaven permeates ordinary, everyday stuff of life. The kingdom of heaven grows and expands imperceptibly. The kingdom of heaven produces a harvest. The kingdom of heaven exists in the midst of weeds; it includes fish of every kind. The kingdom of heaven is worth everything we have. The kingdom of heaven is hidden.

The kingdom of heaven permeates ordinary, everyday stuff of life. Jesus speaks of everyday, down-to-earth images and experiences. His audience knows about seeds and weeds, and nets and fish. His audience knows about yeast and bread. His audience knows about workers in a field stumbling across something of value; his audience knows about sellers scouring through rummage sales and antique stores looking for something of great price. The kingdom of heaven permeates ordinary, everyday stuff of life.

The kingdom of heaven grows and expands imperceptibly. Jesus speaks of seeds sprouting and growing, through we can hardly understand it. Jesus speaks of the smallest of seeds growing to become the largest of shrubs, growing to become a tree. Jesus speaks of yeast mixed within measures of flour. My wife, Lynn, bakes a lot of bread. She tells me that only a small amount of yeast—about one and one-half teaspoons—can work its magic in three cups of flour. Imagine how effective the lives and witness of a handful of faithful Christians might be when mixed together with the world!

The “three measures” of flour in our Gospel would make enough bread to feed 100 people. Our grandson, Miles, works in the kitchen at Camp Vermilion this summer, and they make bread every day to feed that many. Three measures is the same amount of flour from the story in Genesis of Sarah preparing a feast for the three strangers who visited her and Abraham, the strangers turning out to be God’s very self! Imagine that God might show up under various guises adding leaven to our despairing world. The kingdom of heaven grows and expands imperceptibly.

The kingdom of heaven produces a harvest. In the parable of the sower, from two weeks ago, the seeds fall on all kinds of soil: on the path, on rocky ground, amidst thorns and thistles, and in good soil. The result is a harvest of thirty-, sixty-, a hundred-fold. A very small amount of yeast produces great quantities of bread. The kingdom of heaven produces a harvest.

The kingdom of heaven exists in the midst of weeds; it includes fish of every kind. “Pastor, I’m not sure how I should relate to my relatives, friends, and acquaintances who are not Christians. I’m not sure I should have much to do with them.” It’s a question and comment I hear often. I was asked a version of it again this past week when someone approached me unannounced in my study. I wonder if the question is not addressed in at least two ways in our Gospel for today. First, leaven must be mixed with the flour to do its work. Christians who withdraw from the world can have no positive influence on the world. Second, Jesus insists, in these parables and elsewhere, that the Church is a mixed bag: the church consists of wheat and weeds; the church has good fish and bad; the seed of God’s word falls on all kinds of soil. It’s not our job to be attaching labels to others. God will sort all of this out in the end. We would do well to attend to our own individual lives, striving to respond in obedience to God’s call and claim on our lives, striving to be “good soil,” to be yeast. The kingdom of heaven exists in the midst of weeds; it includes fish of every kind.

The kingdom of heaven is everything we have. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls: on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Living life here and now in the joy of God’s love is worth everything we have. One praise song puts it: “Nothing can compare to the promise I have in you.” And that promise is not only for a future life; it is for here and now. Living life here and now in the joy of God’s love affects everything we do and every decision we make. The kingdom of heaven is everything we have.

The kingdom of heaven is hidden. It is like the smallest of all seeds. It is like a tiny amount of yeast working unperceived in the midst of measures of flour. It is a treasure hidden in a field. It is a pearl of such value that the merchant searches unceasingly to find it.

The kingdom of heaven is hidden in the midst of not only the ordinary, everyday stuff of life; the kingdom of heaven is hidden and almost obscured in the midst of the suffering and brokenness of life.

Lynn and I attended the Bluegrass Festival at Camp Vermilion yesterday. Hundreds of folks from across northern Minnesota came together, in part, for the great music that included a musical group from Colorado called “Jerusalem Road.” More importantly—and this became more and more evident as the day progressed—we came together to experience the loving and blessed community of faith that is Voyageurs Lutheran Ministry. Not only did former staff come together to reunite with each other and with current staff, but the thick web of deep and meaningful relationships across generations was evident, and all were welcome! We were all made to feel a part.

It was profoundly moving to meet and talk with the parents of Libby Hill, the VLM staffer from Kansas who was tragically killed in a car accident last summer during the week of July 4. Her parents came, not with bitterness and resentment, but with love and grace. They came wanting not only to retrace Libby’s steps from last summer when they brought her here, filled with excitement and enthusiasm, but also to share in a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven that is at the heart of the mission and ministry of VLM.

Their daughter Libby gave everything she had—her very life—to share in that glimpse of the kingdom of heaven, and they wanted to share that which Libby had shared  and to share with the other staff members, especially with those who were on staff with Libby last summer. One of those is Jonathan Vickers from London, who almost lost his life in that accident and who returned for the third summer in a row. Jon also has experienced that same glimpse into the kingdom of heaven that is VLM.

The Apostle Paul tells us in our Second Reading that the “Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words” (Romans 8:26). It is especially in those times when the kingdom of heaven is hidden and seems to be not only obscured but obliterated, when we do not know how to pray, that the Spirit intercedes for us. No doubt Libby’s parents did not know how to pray in receiving the news of their daughter’s death, as the Spirit interceded on their behalf with sighs too deep for words. No doubt Jonathan’s parents and brother and sister did not know how to pray as they took the first flight they could from London, not knowing whether they would find their son and brother alive or dead when they got here, as the Spirit interceded on their behalf with sighs too deep for words.

The Good News is that the kingdom of heaven is in our midst as a present reality, even in its hiddenness, bringing forth an abundant harvest of love and joy. The Good News is that, in this kingdom of heaven, both here and now and in eternity to come, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus!

Thanks be to God!