Göttinger Predigten
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Pentecost 8, 07/30/2017
Sermon on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, by Ryan Mills
Sermon on Romans 8:26-39 and St. Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 by The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills
1[Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;32it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
44“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.
45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46on finding one pearl of great value, he 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 caught fish of every kind; 48when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old” (NRSV).
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
To try and keep cool in this summer heat, one evening last week our family went down to one of the local lakes to go swimming. Neither of our kids are swimmers yet, so even with their various floatation devices there was a lot of holding on tight to the kids, promising again and again that I wouldn’t let them go off floating on their own. To add to the excitement, as we left the beach we noticed there was a policeman, or a park ranger, at the exit checking boats for invasive plants and mussels—and by his patrol car a sign reading: “Don’t let Invasive Species grab ahold of you!”
And maybe that’s the kind of warning that ought to accompany today’s parables. Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, that someone sows in his field, it begins as the smallest of seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree where all the birds of the air come and make nests.” We often like this parable, because we think: big things come from small beginnings, nice, it makes sense to us. But parables are also supposed to make us pause and get confused and realize God doesn’t always work in the way we think he should work. Mustard plants are an invasive species. To be seized by park rangers! Growing mustard seeds is like growing dandelions on purpose in your yard! Nobody grew mustard plants in the ancient world, in fact the ancient rabbis classified mustard plants as unclean: blemished and unholy. And the mustard bush is not a big beautiful tree, not like a majestic pine tree or a towering cedar, but a bush, a 6’ shrub, that nonetheless takes over, that grows like crazy, that can’t be stopped. So…God’s Kingdom is like a tiny little dirty throwaway seed that someone foolishly sows, but that nonetheless sprouts and grows and takes over, providing a safe place of refuge in which all the birds and creatures find a home. But what about you and me? What about the tiny seed of God’s Word, planted into you and me, the tiny seed of faith, it often doesn’t seem enough, does it? It often seems foolish or weak, doesn’t it? A Word spoken by your pastor, “You are forgiven”, an old hymn sung, water splashed, a piece of bread eaten, a sip of wine drunk; the seed seems too small, it can’t do it, it’s too foolish, and yet it grows. Our faith in Jesus Christ grows, our trusting in him grows until it takes over our whole life, until it crowds out everything the world is trying to grow in us, the little seed of God’s kingdom which takes over, grabbing ahold of you, and making a place for all of creation to be at home and belong, making you and me useful, giving us a reason, a purpose, of serving God by serving others, of not living for just ourselves anymore.
Or, Jesus says, “the Kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed in with three measures of flour and it leavened the whole batch.” The amount of bread this lady is trying to make is huge—enough to feed fifty people three meals a day for a week! And what does she have to make it, but one of those tiny little packets of yeast, dried up, dead looking, weird smelling, kind of gross, but amazingly alive, secretly teeming with life and thriving—unbelievable, ridiculous! Which is maybe what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. A tiny Word, a weird, unbelievable promise, the gross and foolish death of Christ on the Cross, his death mixed into you and me, secretly giving us overflowing, teeming life, God grabbing ahold of you, kneading you like a loaf of bread and making you rise into his own new creation.
Maybe that’s what we need to hear the most. Maybe that’s what Jesus’ parables today are all about. That God is grabbing onto us, that though his Kingdom looks like nothing to begin with, like a mustard seed or dusting of yeast, it still takes over, it makes us his own, it makes us useful for him in this world and on into eternity!
Romans chapter 8, which for most of us will be read at our funeral, assures you and me today that God meets us in our weakness, and that when we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for, the Spirit intercedes with us, God meeting you wherever your life seems foolish, or seems like a waste, God coming to you where you are weak and don’t have the answers. When you and your faith feel like a little mustardseed or a tiny leaven of yeast, that’s where God is secretly most active.
And what shall we say about all these things?, St. Paul asks us. What shall we say about all the things that make up our mustard seed, yeasty lives? “Who will separate us from the love of Christ,” Paul asks? “Shall hardship, or persecution, or famine or nakedness or sword?” Shall unemployment, or loneliness, or hard times, or rejection, or even the worst thing we can imagine happening, will that separate us from the love of Christ?
No, Paul says. NO. In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loves us. Right now, today, even and especially in our weakness, we aremore than conquerors, because we have a God who has given us himself in Jesus Christ, and with him will give us everything else we need.
“For I am convinced”, Paul says, “that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present or things to come, nor powers nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation”—nothing, nothing, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
Nothing can separate you. Think of that security. Of a God who will not let you go. Of a God who has grabbed ahold of you and won’t give up on you. Of a God you now cannot be separated from—not from you at your worst, not by anything the world throws at you, nothing you can imagine can separate you from him. He is yours, you are his. Like a Father whose grip cannot be undone, who keeps you secure, who has his strong arms tight around you, God’s Kingdom comes into your life, like a tiny seed, like a yeasty leaven, and by his grace, God takes over, grabs on, and will never let you go.
And the Peace of God which passes understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.