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A Sermon by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
Nelson Cathedral
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Readings:
1 Kings 3:5 - 12
Romans 8:26 - 39
Matthew 13:31 – 33, 44 - 52
Father may my words be true to your word and our hearts open to hear you.
In Jesus’ name.
Amen
This is a conversation between Socrates and a proud young man.
The young man says: "Oh great Socrates, I came to you for knowledge."
Socrates led him down to the sea into waist-deep water. "Tell me again what you want," he said. "Knowledge."
Socrates pushed him down under the water, holding him there for 30 seconds. "Now, what do you want?"
The young man spluttered, "Wisdom, oh great Socrates."
Again the philosopher pushed him under. When he let him up again he asked, "What do you want?"
"Knowledge, oh wise and..." he managed to spit out before Socrates held him under again, this time even longer. "What do you want?" repeated Socrates.
The young man coughed and gasped. "Air!" he shouted, "I want air!"
Socrates replied, "When you want knowledge as much as you want air, you′ll get knowledge." Then the old man returned to the shore.
Do we want knowledge of God and much as we want the air we breathe?
In our Old Testament reading God praises Solomon for asking for the gift of wisdom, the ability to discern between good and evil.
Solomon could have asked for great material wealth, to be a ruler over many kingdoms, or to live a very long life.
But Solomon asked for wisdom, for knowledge that comes from God.
In Matthew 13:52 Jesus tells us that we need to be trained for the kingdom of heaven. Training means knowledge, learning, and the gaining of wisdom.
Jesus spent 3 years training his disciples.
They didn′t gain understanding in just one lesson.
In fact they carried on learning long after Jesus′ death.
Knowledge, understanding what is meant by the kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, doesn′t come easily, which is why Jesus used so many different parables to help his hearers to understand.
In today′s gospel reading Jesus spoke the kingdom in parables of a mustard seed, yeast, treasure, a fine pearl and a net.
The mustard seed and the yeast are both very tiny
but both grow into something many, many times bigger.
The treasure and fine pearl are both of great value
and the net catches fish, some good and some bad.
So let′s look at these analogies of the kingdom of God
and see what wisdom and understanding we can gain.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed that is planted in the ground.
The seed receives all that it needs to grow, rain, nutrients from the soil
and sunshine. God provides these.
But the farmer has a part to play too.
The farmer prepares the ground, adds fertilizer, keeps the land free from weeds and provides more water when it is needed.
The mustard seed grows and becomes a great tree,
large enough to support others and provide shade for those who need it.
God′s kingdom is planted in our hearts.
God provides the essentials of life but we have a part to play too.
We must give time and attention to what God has sown in us.
We must nurture our faith and make time for growth.
When we are mature in our faith then we can be a shelter for others too,
we can even produce kingdom seeds to plant in other′s lives.
The yeast multiplies all by itself
but the bread maker has to add flour and kneed the dough so that the yeast is spread evenly throughout it. The woman then waits for the dough to rise, kneads the bread again and finally places it in the oven to cook.
Only then has the yeast brought forth nourishing bread.
The small amount of yeast has multiplied and provided bread for a whole family.
Three measures of flour are enough for a large family.
And the woman always keeps a little of the yeast aside to use for the next batch of bread making. The yeast like the seed has to be fed,
with honey and water to keep it alive and enable it to multiply.
The kingdom is something that grows and multiplies from small beginnings,
it spreads from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth.
but again we can see that we have to work together with God
the yeast must be acted upon.
The kingdom of God is like treasure. It is of great worth.
So much so that the person who finds it,
even though they come across it by accident,
joyfully sells all that they have to buy the field where the treasure is buried.
From this we learn that we can find the kingdom in unexpected places
and that there is a cost to acquiring the kingdom.
We must be willing to sacrifice all of ourselves, to surrender everything to God,
but this is something that brings great joy, it is not a burden.
How much we are willing to sacrifice shows
just how much the kingdom is worth to us.
The merchant is searching when he finds the pearl of great worth,
he has been on this journey for a long time.
This tells us that the kingdom is to be sought after
and that there are great rewards. The kingdom has a great value.
A pearl was a possession of beauty and highly prized.
Jesus repeats the need for the merchant to sell everything
so that he can buy the pearl of great worth.
As Socrates replied to the young man,
"When you want knowledge as much as you want air, you′ll get knowledge."
The same can be said for seeking the kingdom of God.
When we are willing to sacrifice everything we have to find and value the kingdom, then we will have played our part.
Of course Jesus′ death and resurrection has paid the price for our entrance to the kingdom but we have to seek, value and work with God in bringing about his kingdom in our lives, and here on earth as it is in heaven.
Part of our work, our training is explained in v52:
"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 is once again compared with treasure,
but what do the new and old treasures mean?
The old treasure is the wisdom of God
revealed through the Law and the prophets over centuries
and the new treasure is the brand new vision of the kingdom
as revealed by Jesus.
Matthew in his gospel wants to bring the old and new together.
His purpose in writing the gospel is to help Jewish people, well versed in the old treasure, to be open and willing to receive Jesus′ new treasure.
In case you are wondering why Matthew talks about the Kingdom of Heaven, not the kingdom of God, it is because the Jews would not refer to God directly, would not use the name of God.
The new treasure comes from Jesus teaching and these new understandings aren′t just wonderful ideas on their own - they require a decision.
The final parable in this section is about the fishing net.
The net brings in good and bad fish.
At some point in time there has to be a sorting out, a judgement.
It is very like the parable of the weeds in the chapter before
or the parable of servants looking after those in prison, hungry or sick
all have the same sting in the tail.
There will be a judgement day.
There will be a separating of the good and the bad
those who believe and act on their belief
and those who choose not to believe.
Once again we have a part to play.
God does not force anything upon us but shows us great treasure that may be ours and asks us to choose, to say "Yes" to God,
to act on our understanding
Why does Jesus choose to use so many analogies?
Because he wants us to understand what we are choosing
and to remember his teaching.
I′ll guarantee that if we hear a sermon or a talk the one thing that we can easily recall afterwards are the stories, the analogies. These are easiest to remember.
But there is more to stories than just remembering.
If I tell you I went on a walk across some paddocks and the mud clung just like treacle you can immediately see in you mind′s eye what it was like.
You can picture it.
You know what treacle feels like; you know how hard it is to scrape off a spoon, or off your boots if the mud is so sticky.
A picture is worth a thousand words and a word picture saves just as many words.
It also hooks into a different part of the brain.
It makes a link to the visual area and conveys a message of truth,
a concept that can be taken in without great theoretical explanations.
Jesus wants us to understand and grasp the truth of the kingdom
so that we can do something with that truth.
Our reading from Romans adds a yet further dimension to our learning.
This reading builds on Jesus words in John′s gospel
In John 14:25 - 26 Jesus told us:
"I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you."
The Spirit is with us showing us how to live, encouraging us, interceding for us, communicating with Christ, with God in heaven.
The Spirit enables us to stand up under great trials
so that God can use all things that happen to us for good.
That doesn′t mean that Gods wants us to face hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or the sword.
Or even that we should look for such things.
But the Spirit of God is walking with us as we face these trials.
Through these trials we learn about God and we draw nearer to God.
I pray that this is the case for all the bishops at Lambeth.
And even if our bodies die our spirit will live on in God′s heavenly kingdom.
For the kingdom of God is eternal.
Another of its attributes!
To add to our understanding here is a textbook definition of the Kingdom of God.
The Kingdom of God is a foundational concept wirthin Christianity.
It constitutes the central theme of Jesus of Nazareth′s message in the synoptic Gospels. The phrase occurs in the New Testament more than 100 times, and is defined almost entirely by parable. According to Jesus Christ, the Kingdom of God is within (or among) people, is approached through understanding, and entered through acceptance like a child, spiritual rebirth, and doing the will of God. It is a kingdom peopled by the righteous and is not the only kingdom.
God is sovereign, omnipotent, omniscient and the ruler over all of His creation. However, the designation "the kingdom of God" compasses that realm which is subject to God and will be for eternity. The rest of creation will be destroyed. Only that which is part of the "kingdom of God" will remain.
So what understanding and wisdom have we gained this morning?
And what action can we take in response to our knowledge?
Jesus asks us to be willing to put the kingdom of God in the number one place in our lives, to allow God′s yeast to work through the whole of our lives,
to give the mustard seed the opportunity to grow in our hearts.
Jesus asks us to treasure the kingdom and to seek it.
Then we can have the assurance that when the time for judgement comes,
we will receive our place in God′s kingdom for all eternity.
Will we continue to grow in our understanding?
Will we give a high priority to seeking the kingdom of God?
And will we value our knowledge of God more than the air that we breathe?
I ask all these things in Jesus′ name.
Amen.
The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf
This sermon was written and delivered by The Reverend Yvonne McLean tssf at Nelson Cathedral, 27 July 2008 8:00 and 10:00
