6. Sunday after Pentecost , 07/24/2011

Sermon on Matthew 13:21-52, by Walter W. Harms

31 He put another parable before them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches."

33 He told them another parable. "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened."

34 All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:[a]

"I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world."

36 Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, "Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field." 37 He answered, "The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.

44 "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

45 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

47 "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51 "Have you understood all these things?" They said to him, "Yes." 52 And he said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."

What's Is Valuable to You How many of you women own real pearls? By real, I mean pearls harvested from oysters. How many of you men have thought about buying your wife pearls? After looking at them, perhaps some of you said: "Just too expensive."

Too expensive-for what? Your pocketbook? Your value of your wife? Your overall evaluation of what is really of value to you?

On the Ginza in downtown Tokyo is the famous purveyor of pearls, Mikimoto. If one is interested in beautiful gems, a stop at that salon is a "must." I remember those two pearls distinctly. The size of quarters. Perfectly round. The color was perfect. The price? In ‘60ties prices, as I recall they were valued at $100 thousand a piece. In today's market, I expect over a million a piece. Rare beyond rare. They were way beyond anything I could think of buying. Almost 3 times my annual salary. There was no way I could even conceive of having those gems in my possession. Regardless of how I valued my wife and children, regardless of their rarities, those two pearls would not ever be mine.

Jesus tells us a parable, a story. It's a story about the kingdom of heaven, God's world, the world to which I hope you all belong. A merchant searches for pearls. He no doubt has some pretty nice ones in his possession already. Then, then he finds one of those Mikimoto pearls. But to get it he has to sell every other pearl he has in order to have that one, impossibly valuable pearl.

I recall Jesus telling a rich young man who wanted to be in God's kingdom that he had to sell all that he had, give it to the poor and follow him. Wow! If Jesus asked you to do that, how would you react?

If you found something, anything that you considered so valuable, so important that you had to have it at all costs, would you sell all and get that priceless object?

What is valuable to you? I know we have much in our homes today. Maybe it even is your home. Some of you might say family. In today's world, some of us might say our job-it's the only thing that keeps us from living on the street. Maybe it is your 401's, your IRA's, your stocks and bonds which although they seem to fluctuate like a flag in the wind provide stability to your lives.

What is valuable to you? What do you treasure?

A woman takes a little packet of yeast. Actually less than a tablespoon, put in some flour and you get a loaf of bread, a tray of sweet rolls, a feast for many. Now you could look at that yeast and say: "It's not going to do anything." But if you value that yeast to accomplish what you hope it will, it becomes most valuable.

Small, but mighty, you might say. That's what we might say about God's world, what Jesus calls "the kingdom of heaven."

It all starts very simply, for many of us. A small splash of water on our infant heads and, we're in! We call it baptism. It's like a small seed, a mustard seed which grows through nourishing Words and Sacraments until many in this world find in and thru us a place to find comfort, hope, help, and just the ability for us to accept a person who might otherwise be on the outside looking in.

It all starts when we wake up to realize who we are-persons with great disabilities. Why would anyone accept us? Why do we think, act and say so much which hurts us, hurts, yes even destroys others and for which there is no repair? Why do we think we are isolated, lonely, depressed and deprived? Why do we find ourselves as specks, like fleas on a dog?

Some of us function very well; we are liked; we do well in this world, but is that all there is?

Then the splash which put us into God's world becomes a wave of renewal, of rebirth, the eye opening event and we behold the Pearl of Great Price. It is God's world, not our world.

We find ourselves valued, loved if you would, when there is nothing lovely about us. We find ourselves clean when we felt that nothing could make us feel pure again. We discover that we have received a treasure which we could never afford in any way by ourselves. We have a relationship with our Creator that we thought would never exist and which we were sure was broken because we die. Suddenly we see that we will live always. We discover that this world isn't everything at all, but that there is the world of God's kingdom which is ours.

We live in a world like fish in the ocean-a world of good and bad. We may wonder if this world of ours will ever be sorted out. It will. There will be a close to this age and the angels of God will sort it all out. Those in the kingdom will be forever with their Lord.

You see from the beginning of time God has been with people. He was with Adam and Eve in the garden of creation. They didn't particularly want him until they found themselves outside. Then it became clear that they would need him, as much as Noah needed him to keep his little ark from leaking and sinking. A man called Abraham heeded God's call and without a map, no GPS device left the familiar to become God's man in a new land.

The story is endless of God wanting people to know he cares for them. David, a warrior king thinks he can do great things for God, but God takes that man and thru him brings us a warrior King who defeats all enemies.

That warrior King is Jesus. Believe it or not, (and it is always a matter of trust) Jesus has defeated all our enemies. The wretchedness of our corrupt nature and its eruption in our lives of evil of all kinds, our shortsightedness that see our mortal end as the end, and the taunting assaults on us by the master Liar are all obliterated. We are left with the skeletal remains of all of these, but our warrior is Jesus, the conqueror.

What is valuable to you? I would like to think that you might value being in God's world as of greater importance than goods, fame, child, or wife. As we see Jesus seemingly defeated there on the cross, we might think we, his children, aren't going to amount to much either.

But each of you, by the power of God's Spirit has in you a pearl which is of such value that it is more important than anything else in the world. That pearl is your relationship with Jesus.

It may seem small, it may seem unable to accomplish much, But that is looking at yourself as of little value to the one who loves you enough to be with you always.

Your word of hope, your act of kindness to others, your helping someone who needs you, here or wherever in the world, is so powerful that it changes the world into becoming more and more as God would have this world be for us and for all.

I know it's not tax time, but look at your assets, remember whose you are, note what is most valuable to you and then act on that appraisal. Amen

retired pastor Walter W. Harms
Austin, TX U. S. A.

E-Mail: waltpast@aol.com

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