Pentecost Eight

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (proper 12) – July 26, 2020 | Sermon Text: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 | Pastor David H. Brooks |

There is an ongoing battle that happens every summer in the suburbs. Homeowners try to grow pristine lawns, but they find their efforts thwarted by many unseen foes. You mow, fertilize, spread selective herbicides and pesticides, water the grass with your sweat and your tears but it still happens: the weeds that your neighbor several doors down grows with abandon appear in your yard. And you know the danger, for what starts small can quickly erupt and conquer your turf in a matter of weeks.

There is an ongoing battle that happens every day on the internet. A political newsflash, a celebrity with foot-in-mouth disease, a funny pet or child or neighbor or stranger—and you have the footage.  So you crank up your laptop, your tablet, your phone and open your favorite app so that you can turn that captured moment into a meme that will commandeer the internet. You edit just so, add goofy fonts, maybe a bit of that electronic glitter or confetti and post it to your favorite social media. Maybe it’ll catch on and get retweeted ‘round the world, because you know that what starts small can quickly ferment response.

Silly examples aside, Jesus wishes us disciples to understand that God breaking into the world should not be underestimated just because it appears small. One of the issues that we face as human beings is that we are not in a good position to judge God on the basis of scale. What I mean when I warn us against such judgements are two points: one, both God himself and how he governs all things are items too large, too vast for us to comprehend.  In much the same way as we get swamped by the enormous distances in the universe, so we find ourselves literally out of our depth when we try to apply human-scaled judgments to the God of that universe. Luther is famous for arguing that God will only be known through Jesus and the signs that are given via Jesus—baptism, eucharist, absolution, Christian community. To “get behind the mask” of Jesus Christ is to fall into the hands of what Luther called the “hidden God” who is only a source of awe-ful fear and confusion. That God is loving and kind is demonstrated in Jesus; to try to avoid that human scale is asking for trouble.

The other point is that we tend to overlook, even discount the small. Twice in Matthew Jesus connects the working of God to mustard seeds. Today we heard that the tiny seed of the kingdom can grow and spread and bless.  In Matthew 17 Jesus declares that the faith that comes from that tiny mustard seed-sized kingdom can accomplish amazing things. Focusing on “big” can be a real temptation to small congregations, causing them to denigrate who they are or their capabilities in ministry. They see how the “big church” is doing things and wonder if they are measuring up. But the work of growing in Christ happens best not in a large scale gathering but in small groups, even one-to-one. Most Christians prefer to tune their Christian life and participation to the larger Sunday worship, and miss the blessing and grace that comes with deeper spiritual relationships that can only be accomplished in a smaller friendship group. You want that mustard-seed-sized faith to grow? Join in a small group of like-minded friends that will hold you accountable, that will encourage you to try new things, will support you when you fail, and celebrate you when you succeed. Such time spent in such ways is like seeds that grow or leaven that multiplies: it will work its way through your life.

And as that seed—the seed that is the Word—grows in your life, then the small things of this world take on a new resonance. We recently discussed with our confirmands Luther’s Table of Duties, which in a wonderful way bring down to human scale the wondrousness of God’s Kingdom, where the call to love the neighbor is no longer an otherworldly idea but takes root and becomes a sturdy truth. The idea that our daily work—how we use our work tools, how we conduct our daily affairs, how we engage in commerce—are means by which all men and women experience dignity, love and possibility opens to us all the blessing of the kingdom. It is not great power that makes blessing possible; rather it is the small, daily actions of those who get up each morning and live according the holy faith within them that causes branches of blessing to grow, or leaven of goodwill to expand, or treasures of friendship to be found in the midst of emptiness, or  pearls of joy to be discovered in unlikely places, or the net of justice to be deployed, or value discovered in both old and new. Amen.

Pastor David H. Brooks

Durham, NC USA

Pr.Dave.Brooks@zoho.com