Eleventh Sunday After Pentecost
Year A, RCL
July 27, 2008
All Saints’ Bentonville
Gospel:
Jesus put before the crowds another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it 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."
He 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."
"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.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." And 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."
The kingdom of heaven is like two strangers who arrive at the Vicar’s door and announce that they intend to buy the empty wooded lot next door. The Vicar and Vicar’s wife are distraught because they fear they will lose the serenity of living next door to a quiet forest.
The kingdom of heaven is like the coming of a surveyor who surveys the wooded lot adjacent to the Vicar and discovers that the Vicarage contains 20 more feet of lake front property than previously thought. The Vicar and the Vicar’s wife dance a “happy dance” on their dock.
The kingdom of heaven is like the silent heat that greets the Vicar when he returns home in mid afternoon and discovers that the air conditioning unit has failed. The unit is old and must be cast aside and replaced by one that is new. There is no dancing.
The kingdom of heaven is like the cooling breeze that accompanies a thunderstorm on a summer evening. There is relief from the heat and the Vicar and the Vicar’s wife sleep peacefully through the night.
And so it was that I learned, for the umpteenth time that we can’t depend on circumstances to provide us with happiness. Our participation in the joy of creation comes from within.
In each of the parables from Matthew, Jesus relies on the familiar, everyday activity of peasant life in order to tell his story: the farmer planting a small seed that that grows into a great tree, the woman using yeast to bake bread, the merchant who finds a valuable pearl, and fishermen catching fish of every kind. And then, in asking the disciples if they understood the parables, Jesus makes the point that he is using something old, the familiar everyday activities of peasant life, to show them a very different way of being in the world – bringing out of his treasure “what is new and what is old.”
That is part of what we have to offer here at All Saints’. Both the old and the new – combining an ancient liturgy with a theological understanding that speaks to contemporary hearts and minds. Weaving the two worlds together. Finding understanding of the old in a way that is transformational, that doesn’t merely reinforce old self-congratulatory, ways of knowing.
But it is more than just a blending of theology and liturgy. Here at All Saints’ we are in the business of finding treasure anew. We are seeking, not simply to grasp God’s transforming purpose for us, but to be grasped by that purpose. Seekng, not just understanding of what God is up to in the world, but being open to personal transformation as well. It is easy, and tempting, to regard parables as tidy moral lessons applicable in all times and in all places. But without a particular context, they are virtually meaningless.
Let’s place these parables we just heard in the larger context of Matthew’s gospel. The parables are told to the crowd. The crowd is listening to Jesus’ message about the empire he is proposing, as an alternative to the Roman Empire in which they live. And the listeners are struggling between their allegiance to the elite – the social, political, and religious leaders of their day – and the radical alternatives Jesus is teaching. The disciples, who also hear Jesus’ message, have bought into the message, at least partially, and with a more sympathetic ear are seeking to understand what it is Jesus is talking about.
And if we are to understand what the parables are saying to us in Benton County we have to understand our context as well. We are home to what is perhaps the most powerful corporation in the world. Great wealth and financial struggle exist side by side. Racism and homophobia are ugly realities. It’s a church-going community, but one dominated by Biblical literalism. Materialism is the order of the day.
And here, in the midst of all that, is All Saints’. We are a tiny upstart of a church -boldly proclaiming that all God’s children are welcome, just as they were created. And daring to suggest that God wants us to use our brains as well as the Bible to understand what God is saying. We are a community that cares about the environment and seeks justice for all creation. We are a parish that seeks social change and risks being transformed in the process. We are a part of something different.
Just over two years ago, I arrived in Bentonville - driving my pickup, towing a small U-Haul trailer, containing virtually everything I owned. I spent my first night in town at La Quinta. They are pet friendly and would allow my old dog Tyke to sleep upstairs in my room, on the floor, close beside the bed. I spent most of the next day looking for a place to live. I found a small garage apartment, just a few blocks from here, on Southwest “F” Street. The apartment was across the street from the cemetery, the kitchen window overlooking the grave of Bentonville’s most famous resident – Sam Walton.
The landlord didn’t normally accept pets, but he agreed to meet my dog. Tyke went through his collection of tricks - sit, shake, lie down - and he passed the audition. After signing the lease I shook the landlord’s hand and said, “Freddie, you are my best friend in Bentonville.” And it was true. He was, in fact, the only person I knew in the entire county.
It was a small beginning – a mustard seed of a beginning. And from that seed has grown what I think has become… a shrub - not yet a mighty tree capable of providing much shelter for the birds of the air, but a healthy, growing, vibrant, shrub. Many of you have been involved, from early on, in the nurturing and tending of this shrub of a church. But if the potential of All Saints’ is to be realized – if we are to grow into the tree we are meant to be, if we are to provide shelter and to feed all God’s children, we must risk being transformed in the process.
Earlier this week I emailed each of you about being part of the effort to ensure that every person who enters the doors of All Saints’ is welcomed in a way that assures them that they have found a home with us. Providing the kind of sanctuary that the ancient Benedictine monasteries of Europe once offered travelers – with a greeting and prayers and food. Many of you have responded to my request to be a part of the Hospitality Guilds of All Saints’. Hospitality is the lifeblood of a growing church. And if you believe in what we are doing, if you believe that we have something important to offer, I urge your participation in a new parable, a new way of envisioning the kingdom of heaven.
Buried in those cryptic, brief, sayings concerning mustard seeds, yeast, buried treasures, and pearls of great price is transformational wisdom. Each parable providing a clue, a way of grasping just what it is that God is up to in this place. But if we are to be grasped ourselves, if we are willing to be changed, made anew, we must enter into the parable and become part of the story. That’s God’s invitation.