Advent Lutheran Church

"Windows Into the Kingdom (Pentecost 6)"

Grace and peace to you in the strong name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

One of the benefits of preaching in your own congregation is that you know what the pastor preached the Sunday before! At least when I am here the Sunday before! Luckily I have been here the last two Sundays, so I have heard both Pastor Roger and Pastor Susan preach on the parables of Matthew 13 which is helpful for me in preaching this Sunday. 

Just a quick review – Pastor Roger preach on the parable of the sower, remember the story of the Sower who sow seed on the path, and the birds came and ate them up.  Other seeds fell on rocky ground, they died because they had no depth of soil, some seed was scorched by the sun, some fell among the thorns and were choked, and other fell on good soil. Pastor Roger explained “that parables, in ancient times, did not come with one-size fit alls, pre-packaged answers; instead, they invited the listener into the story to participate in deciding what the story meant for the listener in their own time and place. Parables were stories constructed of common, ordinary experiences that led to extraordinary endings.”  A couple other points that Pastor Roger made that stuck with me from his sermon were “We have a God who sometimes tosses seed in unexpected places using unexpected means” and “God the Sower continues his work and he uses you to do it. Where might God be casting a seed of abundance in you, and then where might he be casting you as a seed of forgiveness, of mercy, of peace, of hope, of encouragement.”

 Last Sunday Pastor Susan preached on the parable of the wheat and the weeds. How the weeds were planted with the wheat and the own of field told the workers to let them grow together, side by side. The parable points out how God is the one who will separate the weeds from the wheat.  She shared a story from one of the ELCA Church Council members that she serves with and his daughter Kate.  How his daughter struggles with life, and how he as her father continues to love her, but knows that it is God’s to decide about her life.  One of the phase that struck me from Pastor Susan sermon was this line – “You are not the weeds, nor the wheat.  You are the children of God who has created the field, and you are heirs with Christ of it.” And then how she ended her message with “But the Good News is that God loves you no matter what. God’s love never falters nor ends. God’s patience goes beyond time; God’s forgiveness covers even our attempts to try to be God and our failure to let God be God. And God will forever be God.”

The point of the Parables that Jesus tells in this 13^th chapter of Matthew is that it is about God’s kingdom!  Jesus shares thoughts, ideas, ways of inspiring and enlighten the listeners in ways that are unexpected.  Today we hear about the mustard seed.  As you gathered I hope that you had a pretzel with one of the different mustards, it is incredible how many different mustards are available. No plain French yellow anymore!  The mustard plant is amazing plant.  Just google Mustard Plant and see!  It is not a very attractive shrub, nor does it look very sturdy.  What is striding is how this lowly plant is the unexpected symbol of God’s kingdom.

 

The Yeast parable, some say is misnamed. What Jesus is talking about is leaven which is a rotting, molding lump of bread.  The woman who takes this leaven and hides it in the flour of 3 measures, meaning it could provide enough bread to feed more than a 100 people.  Lifting up an example of how the kingdom of God may take hold in hidden and unexpected ways.

The parable of the person who found a treasure hidden in a field, then goes and sells all that he has to buy that field! Is that really ethical? When I talked to those who came Monday night for Bible Study, we discussed if God is the one who sells everything, why would he do that?  We decide that God gives his Son, as Pastor Roger said, ”When God wanted to plant the harvest of mercy and redemption and forgiveness for all of humanity, the seed he planted was the single, solitary seed of his son.”

Or the parable of the merchant who sells everything for that pearl of great value.  The treasure is God’s creation!  God cherishes that creation and is willing to sacrifice for the sake of that which is treasures.  The parable of the net and the catching of fish of every kind.  It is not for us to sort out, that is God’s work.    

Jesus then closes these parables with a statement “there fore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out his treasure what is new and what is old”

As many of you know I serve on the Central States Synod staff as an assistant to the Bishop.  One of our missional directions is: Inspiring and equipping people to see what God is up to in their everyday life.  So today before you are some stations – of items that are new and some that are old.  Those who came to the bible study on Monday have assistant me in setting this up.  As you have heard the messages of the parable preached these last few Sundays, I invite you to these stations to see what God is up to in your life.  I have asked Janelle to play the sermon hymn softly, and give you time to go to the stations.  Also the stations can be visited by you after you have communed.   So let me explain the stations

-       Mustard seeds

-       Rising bread to punch

-       Hidden treasures

-       Prayer stations

-       Writing down of petitions

Just so you know I warned Pastor Roger and Pastor Susan that I might do this.  It is an experiment that I was part of at the Book of Faith Jubilee held at Luther Seminary this past Spring. It is a way to help you go a little deeper in thinking about the message. 

So let me close with this prayer

Gracious God, today as we hear the parables that your Son shared again, the old and the new inspires to experience your love, mercy, redemption and forgiveness for all that you have created.  Amen