Author: Chip Salzgeber

Matthew 15: 21-28

We do not have to look far these days for stories about borders.

• Whether its boat people rescued in the Mediterranean from leaky vessels.
• Or lines of asylum applicants trying to pass from Mexico to the United States.
• Borders loom large in our awareness.
• Borders are where two cultures rub against each other.
• At times the friction generates a certain heat…as cultures clash.

 

Borders played a role in the time of Jesus as well.

• There were no such things as checkpoints or border guards.
• But there was an awareness among travelers when they were passing from one country into another.

 

In the border regions there were certain villages where people of one ethnicity…or one religion…predominated.

• Everyone knew this.
• Sometimes you only had to walk a few miles before suddenly finding yourself in a different world.
• This is what happens to Jesus and his disciples when they cross into a certain village in the district of Tyre and Sidon.
• Jesus has left behind the lands he knows best and has crossed into the country we now know as Lebanon.

 

A Canaanite woman…a native of that region…calls out to him for help:

• “Have mercy on me…Lord…Son of David…my daughter is tormented by a demon.”
• But Jesus ignores the woman’s desperate plea.
• And his annoyed disciples say:
• “Send her away. She keeps shouting after us.”
• And if that wasn’t enough…Jesus says: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But here’s the thing…this woman will not take no for an answer.

• She’s got a daughter who’s very sick.
• She kneels and repeats her plea.
• And holy cats…the next words from Jesus are:
• “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.”

 

O My Gosh!

• Jesus does not just brush her off.
• He does not just mumble some bureaucratic excuse and move on.
• For cry-in out loud…he insults the woman.
• To call someone a dog…in that culture…was harsh.
• No one kept dogs as pets.
• But dogs kept the rat population down.
• So…they were tolerated and allowed to hang around and forage for food.

 

Now you must admire the Canaanite woman…she is so cool!

• Even after enduring the insult…she keeps it up.
• She turns the slur around and spins it into a virtue:
• “Yes…Lord…yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.”
• Darn good theology!
• Even Jesus leftovers are enough.
• To heal and to save.
• It’s a startling moment.
• And then something changes in him:
• “Woman…great is your faith!
• Let it be done for you as you wish.”
• And with that…the daughter is healed.

 

OK then…what a relief.

• To remember that Jesus was both fully God and fully human.
• No dualism here.
• And the Canaanite woman’s quick wit exposes Jesus’ humanness.

 

Martin Luther says this:

“She catches Christ with his own words. He compares her to a dog…she concedes it…and asks nothing more than that he let her be a dog…as he himself judged her to be.

• Where will Jesus now take refuge?
• He is caught.”

 

Well…what can we learn here.

• We learn that Jesus does not let his off-the-cuff answer…the typical…expected answer for a person of his place and time…stand.
• He pivots…acting in a deeply merciful and loving way.
• Jesus quickly recognizes his error and corrects it.

OK then…let’s consider a story that all too often happens at the border.

• It’s a 2004 Israeli film called The Syrian Bride.
• It’s a fictional story…but it is based on real-life situations that have happened.
• And still happen…in the borderlands between Israel and Syria.

 

It is the story of a young woman named Mona…a member of the Druze people.

• The Druze are an ethnic minority who have lived in the three nations of Israel…Syria and Lebanon for centuries.
• They have their own language and their own religion.
• They are grudgingly tolerated by the larger nations within whose borders they live.

 

Mona and her family live in a Druze village in the Golan Heights…

• That strategic region Israel captured from Syria in the Six-Day War of 1967.
• The border between those two nations is among the most heavily fortified in the world.
• And one of the most difficult to cross.

 

The problem is that Mona is engaged to marry a man…one of her own Druze people…

• Who happens to live across the border in Syria.
• The two families know and respect each other.
• But she is sad at the expectation of leaving her family.
• What makes the parting even sadder is the harsh fact that…
• Once Mona crosses that border…the Israelis will never let her return.
• The only way Mona will ever see her family again is if they can contrive to meet in some neutral country.
• What a world.
• No wonder we are going to Mars…there is no peace here.

Her wedding celebration is an odd one…because of the border that runs straight through the middle of it.

• First there’s a lavish wedding feast…put on by Mona’s parents…for all the people of their village.
• The groom is not present…he has not been given permission to enter Israel.
• As soon as the party’s over…Mona and her family drive to the border for the tearful farewell…
• She crosses through the chain-link and barbed-wire fences alone…to meet her new husband and his family.
• The actual wedding ceremony will take place on the Syrian side…with no members of the bride’s family present.

It has taken months to obtain the necessary visas from the two governments.

• The Israeli border officer stamps Mona’s passport.
• Then a female officer of the Norwegian army…a member of the U.N. peacekeeping force.
• Escorts her through the fence into no-man’s land.

It is there that a perfect storm of bureaucracy arises.

• It seems the Israelis have just changed the type of rubber stamp they use on the passports of travelers leaving the Golan Heights.
• The new stamp declares that Mona is leaving Israel.
• This is not okay with the Syrian border guards…because their nation has never given up its claim to the Golan Heights.
• If they let Mona into their country…
• Does that mean Syria is giving up its claim to the Heights?
• Mona…wilting in the hot sun in her wedding dress…has become a symbol of everything that’s dysfunctional between those two nations.
• Even though she…as a member of the stateless Druze people…does not belong to either one.

Tense negotiations ensue.

• Phone calls are made to Jerusalem and Damascus.
• Jeanne…the sympathetic Norwegian officer…borrows a metal folding chair from the Israelis and carries it over for Mona to sit on.
• And…also gives her a couple bottles of cold water.
• Jeanne practices a kind of shuttle diplomacy…
• Driving her U.N. jeep back and forth from one immigration-control booth to the other.

Both families are looking on in astonishment and horror.

• From opposite sides of the border… they can see each other…and they can see Mona…
• Forlornly sitting there…surrounded by barbed wire.
• Her fiancée is on the scene as well…pacing nervously on the Syrian side…helpless to do anything.
• Because the Syrians will not let him cross into no-man’s-land to sit with his bride.

Negotiations drag on…hour after hour.

• Finally…the Norwegian liaison officer gains a small concession from the Israelis.
• The Israeli immigration officer agrees to cover over the offending rubber-stamp image with White-Out.
• But the Syrians decide this is still not good enough.
• It appears that the wedding will be delayed by weeks…even months…if it can happen at all.

But wait! Mona…who has been sitting there all this time…the picture of composure…takes matters into her own hands.

• She gets up without a word…and begins walking…with great determination…towards the Syrian border.
• She has no passport…it’s still in the hands of the Israeli immigration people.
• She has no luggage…and she’s wearing a wedding dress.
• Will the Syrian border guards shoot her?

Everyone is so completely dumbfounded by her decision to cut the bureaucratic red tape and just walk across that no one stops her.

• Mona walks right through the Syrian checkpoint unchallenged…and into the arms of her new family.
• Despite all the assaults of racism and sheer bureaucracy…love wins.

 

The same happens with Jesus and the Canaanite woman.

• The same can happen in the borderlands of our own lives…if we let it!

Matthew 14: 22-33

The Sunday supplement magazine…USA Weekend…ran a cover story sometime back titled:

• “Fear: What Americans Are Afraid of Today.”
• In a scientific poll…the magazine uncovered the things Americans fear most:
• A car crash.
• Inadequate Social Security.
• Not having enough money for retirement.
• Getting Alzheimer’s.
• Being a victim of violence.
• Being unable to pay current debts.
• Well…fear is a powerful force in our lives.

 

That’s why today’s lesson from Matthew’s Gospel is important.

• In last week’s Gospel Jesus had fed five thousand men and their wives and children.
• And now the Master needed some time alone.
• He sent the crowds home and the disciples out in a boat on the Sea of Galilee…
• While he went to a mountain to pray.

 

The Sea of Galilee is a large body of water.

• It is nearly eight miles wide at its widest point…and more than 12 miles long from north to south.
• Set in the hills of northern Israel…the Sea of Galilee is nearly 700 feet below sea level.
• In places…the sea plunges to depths of 200 feet.
• The sea’s location makes it subject to sudden and violent storms as the wind comes over the eastern mountains and drops suddenly onto the sea.
• Storms are especially likely when an east wind blows cool air over the warm air that covers the sea.
• The cold air (being heavier) drops as the warm air rises.
• This sudden change can produce surprisingly furious storms in a short time…as it did in Jesus’ day.

 

Of the twelve disciples…Peter… Andrew…James and John were all fishermen.

• They knew the Sea of Galilee very well.
• They knew that at this time of year…mid-spring…
• The Sea of Galilee was subject to strong gusts of wind.
• The late afternoon and evening were not a good time to be out in the middle of the lake.
• The four fishermen must have been wondering why their Lord was sending them out in the lake during this time.
• They must have been thinking:
• “Jesus must be up to something.”

 

The boat was being buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.

• And shortly before dawn Jesus went out to the boat.
• Walking on the water.
• The rough wind was whipping the surface and large waves were forming.
• And when the disciples saw Jesus walking on the lake…they were terrified.
• “It’s a ghost” …they cried out in fear.
• But Jesus immediately said to them:
• “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

 

Then…during it all…

• Simon Peter says:
• “Lord…if it is you tell me to come to you on the water.”
• “Come on” Jesus said.
• Then Peter got down out of the boat…
• Walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
• But when he saw the wind…
• Peter became afraid and began to sink…and he cried out:
• “Lord…save me!”
• Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him.
• “You of little faith…why did you doubt?”

 

On December 1, 1941…a now deceased friend of mine…Carl Nordin…

• Was sent to the southern Philippine Island of Mindanao to establish an air base with his unit.
• Less than six months later Sergeant Nordin was captured by the Japanese…
• Becoming a POW.
• For two years he was imprisoned on Mindanao before boarding a Japanese hell-ship destined for Moji, Japan.
• He spent the remainder of the war working on the railroad in Yokkaichi.

 

Throughout his time in captivity Carl detailed his imprisonment and conditions and his thoughts on the camps in a secret diary that became the basis of his book:

• “We Were Next to Nothing”.
• He wrote his words on the wrappers that packs of cigarettes came in.
• Carl recounts the horrors of the prison camps…
• The torturous journey on the hell-ship…
• His journey through fear…death…guilt and pain…
• That brought his mind and soul to joy…life…forgiveness and peace.
• And his faith in the Christ of God that provided him the strength to survive.

 

Carl’s homecoming back to the United States was shaded by a disease that he returned with…schistosomiasis…

• Bugs on the brain.
• This led to post-war brain surgery.
• And learning how to walk…talk and read and write again.
• He eventually became a postmaster.

 

What I want to recount to you is this:

• Carl Nordin stepped out of the boat.
• In fear and trembling.
• With his eyes on Jesus the entire time of his incarceration and torture.
• And when fear overwhelmed him.
• When he felt he was about to go under.
• When he felt he was about to sink.
• When he felt he was about to hit bottom.
• Jesus was there to catch him.
• To hold him up.
• To carry him.

 

Carl…my friend…taught me this:

• Let go of our faith…and we will surely sink.
• Just hold on and look for Jesus’ hand reaching out to us.
• We can make it through any storm.

 

Matthew concludes by writing:

• “When they climbed into the boat…the wind died down.
• Then those who were in the boat worshiped him…saying:
• ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’”

 

Here is a true key to life:

• We may be in the safest of places…but if Christ is not with us…it is the worst of places.
• And we may be in the worst of places…the most horrendous storms…sinking…and if Christ is with us…we are in the safest of places.
• It is in the storms of life we are most likely to discover who Christ is.

 

Jesus said:

“Take courage. It is I. Don’t be afraid.”

Matthew 14: 13-21

There is only one miracle story told in all 4 gospels…and two gospels tell it twice.

• So…it must be important.
• That miracle is the feeding of the 5000.

 

The best theological commentary on the feeding of the 5000 was told by Parker

Palmer…a Quaker theologian and author.

• The story takes place a long time ago when there were no security lines at airports.
• No electronic screening…and you could pretty much carry whatever you wanted in your briefcase or purse onto the airplane.
• Anyone here remember when you could smoke on an airplane?

 

Well…Parker Palmer was on a flight from Chicago to Denver that pulled away from the gate…

• And taxied and taxied and taxied for a long time.
• You know the feeling.
• You look out the window and you are not near a runway in line to take off but are out in a remote corner of the airport looking at a chain-link perimeter fence.
• Your heart sinks as the engines wind down.
• The pilot came on the intercom:
• “I have some bad news.
• There’s a storm from the west…exactly where we are headed.
• Denver is shut down.
• There are no alternatives…So we will be staying here for a few hours.
• That’s the bad news.
• The really bad news is that we have no food on board.”
• (This story is also from the days when there was real food on airplanes – not just a measly bag of peanuts or pretzels).

Everyone groaned…some became angry. But then one of the flight attendants stood up in the aisle and took the mike.

• “We’re really sorry here folks.
• We didn’t plan it this way…and we can’t do anything about it.
• We know that for some of you this is a big deal.
• You are hungry and were looking

forward to a nice lunch.

• Some of you have a medical condition and really need food.
• Some of you may not care.

 

So…I have an idea.

• We have a couple of empty bread baskets up here…and we’re going to pass them around.
• Everybody put something in the basket.
• I know some of you have brought a little snack along…just in case.
• Peanut butter crackers…candy bars.
• Some of you have Rolaids…Life
• Savers…chewing gum.

 

And if you don’t happen to have anything edible…you have a business card or a picture of your kids or a bookmark.

• The thing is…I hope everybody puts something in the basket.
• And then we’ll reverse the process.
• We will pick the baskets up at the back of the plane and pass them around again.
• And everybody can take out what he or she needs.”

 

“Well” …Palmer said… “what happened next was amazing.

• First…the complaining and griping stopped.
• People started to root around in pockets and handbags and briefcases.
• Some stood up and retrieved luggage from the overhead racks and got out boxes of candy…
• A salami…Italian sausage…cheese… crackers…a bottle of wine.
• Yes…it was in the day you could actually do that.
• Now people were laughing and talking.

 

The flight attendant had transformed a group of anxious people focused on their

need…deprivation…and scarcity.

• And into a gracious community of sharing.
• And in the process creating an abundance of sorts.”

 

The flight eventually took off and landed.

• And as he stepped off the plane…Palmer found the flight attendant and said:
• “You know there’s a story in the Bible about what you did.”
• She said… “I know that story.
• That’s why I did it.”

 

In the early Christian church…when the community gathered…under the cover of darkness…to break bread and drink wine and remember Jesus…

• They always read this story about the day he fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish.

 

Well…there is a back story to all of this.

• What did Jesus hear that made him withdraw to a deserted place.
• Well…Jesus heard that his cousin John (the Baptist) had been beheaded by Herod.
• All because a young dancing girl…and a king under the influence of too much wine…got greedy.

 

John’s followers bury him and go find Jesus to tell him what happened.

• It’s brutal and terrifying.
• Just like the images of mass shootings we see every week now.
• It stunned Jesus as much as it stuns us.

 

Added to the shock is the grief.

• John was family and a childhood friend.
• They shared a deep faith and fierce commitment to their people.
• And now…John is gone…murdered…in a senseless way by cruel people.

 

So…Jesus withdraws to be alone.

• But the people heard about John…too.
• So…they follow Jesus…because they are shaken and scared and…as it turns

out…sick and hungry.

 

“Send them away” the disciples advise.

• “You need to be alone. They can go find food somewhere else.”
• But Jesus has compassion for the crowd and tells the disciples.
• “No. Feed them…give them something to eat.”

 

Well…they looked at the crowd…assessed the need and their own meager resources…and came to the

very sensible conclusion:

• There is not enough…we have nothing.

 

We have all uttered that same thought…felt that same thing.

• I have nothing.
• How many times do we see the insignificance of our abilities.
• The inadequacy of our treasure.
• And think we have nothing to offer?

 

We compare what we have to what other people have.

• Whether it’s the size of our bank account or the size of our church.
• And think that in comparison…we have nothing to offer.
• We wish we had more…thinking that we are too small…or our gifts and abilities are too inadequate or too

insignificant to make any difference.

 

But we forget that God uses everything we have…even 5 loaves and 2 fish…to

transform the world.

• We forget that every parable about God’s kingdom…every teaching Jesus had about how God creates something glorious…starts with something small.

 

Never once did Jesus say the kingdom of heaven is like a fortune 500 company with super happy shareholders.

• Or…The kingdom of heaven is like the mega church in our community with 3000 people…5 services…and a 20-million-dollar facility with a perfectly paved parking lot.
• Or…The Kingdom of heaven is like the beautifully kept home in that lovely neighborhood where the schools are great and the children are well pressed.

 

No! Jesus said: The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Which is something so small you practically need a magnifying glass to see it.

• We so often feel like we have nothing to offer…when in fact God does God’s best work with nothing.

 

God created the universe out of nothing.

• God put flesh on dry bones.
• God put life in an old womb.
• God looks upon that which we dismiss as nothing…insignificant and worthless and says:
• “Ha! Now…that I can do something with!”

 

Today…God invites us to look at this beautiful world around us…and see richness and abundance.

• God takes what we have…no matter how little there is…and does great work…transformative work…healing work.
• We might see nothing…but God sees limitless possibilities…enough to feed 5000 people.
• In this story God challenges our assumptions and stretches our imaginations to learn that even when we do not think we have what is needed…
• What is needed is still at hand.
• And it is enough.
• It is more than enough.

Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52

Many people go on eBay in search of precious items…and sometimes they are surprised by what they find.

• A man named Morace Park…a British antiques dealer…paid $5 for an old film container.
• When he opened it…he found a never-released Charlie Chaplain moved called “Zepped” worth $60,000.

 

Then there was Philip Gura…an American literature professor.

• He paid $481 for a photograph of poet Emily Dickinson.
• No big deal…you might say.
• Well…in fact it is a big deal.
• His photograph of Dickinson is only the second photo known to exist.
• He discovered it was priceless.
• Maria Ariz…a community nurse from New Jersey…
• Went on eBay and paid $16 for a pair of jeans.
• When she wrote the seller to ask about other sizes…the two fell in love.
• And then they got married.

 

Unexpected treasures:

• Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a tiny mustard seed.
• But once planted…it grows into the greatest of shrubs and provides a hospitable home for the birds of the air.
• Or it is almost invisible…like yeast.
• But when added to flour it has a powerful effect…causing a loaf of bread to rise.

 

Jesus described the kingdom of heaven as a set of unexpected finds:

• A treasure hidden in a field.
• A pearl of great value.
• A net that catches fish of every kind.
• He wanted his disciples to know that the kingdom is an unexpected treasure…hidden in everyday life.
• He wanted them each to see themselves as the master “who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”
• To see the kingdom of God in both the new parables of Jesus and the old teachings of the Hebrew lawgivers and prophets.
• This acknowledgment of value in the new and the old fits the agenda of Matthew…the writer of the gospel.
• Who wanted to connect the ministry of Jesus to the history of Israel.
• Throughout his gospel he presents Jesus as a second Moses…
• Giving new laws and teachings to Israel and to the world.

 

Choosing the right prize is important because there will be a final reckoning.

• The parable of the net speaks of a separation of good fish and bad fish.
• “So…it will be at the end of the age” says Jesus.
• The decision to pursue the treasure of the kingdom of heaven has eternal consequences.
• The kingdom is a prize that changes a person’s life for all time.
• You must pick your prize well…Jesus pronounces.
• And pursue it with sacrifice…passion and purpose.

 

So…what are our treasures?

• Are they small but valuable?
• Unattractive but important?
• Old or new?
• Are they hidden in a field…or on eBay?
• Our treasures say a lot about ourselves and what we value.
• Jesus says elsewhere that “where your treasure is…there your heart will be also.”
• The treasures that we pursue in this life give the clearest indication of what inhabits our hearts.

 

My friend…Rabbi Naomi Levy tells the story of Beth and Eric.

• Rabbi Naomi was to officiate at their wedding.
• But a week before…it was all coming apart.
• When they met with Naomi…they could barely look at each other.

 

“What’s the matter?” the rabbi asked.

• After an awkward silence…Beth began sobbing:
• “Eric wants to wear red Converse high-tops with his tuxedo.
• He’s making a joke of our wedding.”

 

Then Eric blurted out:

• “What about the tablecloths! Tablecloths…tablecloths.
• I’m sick of hearing about tablecloths.
• Beth wants pink…my mother wants blue…and I’m caught between two bickering hens.”

 

Rabbi Naomi smiled.

 

• This was not the first time she had seen a couple get stuck in the trivialities of planning a day instead of a life.
• Then Rabbi Naomi said:
• “Listen…we can talk about the sneakers in a little while.
• But first…tell me again how you first met.”

 

A long awkward silence.

• Then Eric finally spoke.
• “I was at Starbucks and my eyes landed on this beautiful creature just sitting there drinking coffee and reading a book.
• And I thought to myself…if I could just get up the nerve to talk to her and she smiles back at me…
• I’ll be the luckiest guy in the world.”

 

Beth laughed and continued the story.

• “So…he comes up to me and he smiles at me and there is a giant hunk of food caught between his two front teeth.”

 

Rabbi Naomi remembers:

• “Now they both started laughing and suddenly Beth saw how red Converse high-tops actually kind of matched Eric’s quirkiness.
• And that it would not ruin the wedding if he wore them.
• It might even give it warmth and flavor.

 

“Next Eric said he was sorry he did not back Beth up on the tablecloths.

• And he admitted his mother has really bad taste.
• He said: ‘I know you want things to be beautiful.
• I so admire how you care about creating something special.’”

 

Before long…their laughter mixed with tears and their hearts softened.

• And Beth and Eric were back on the road to creating a beautiful life together.

 

We often become so obsessed with the “search” that we miss the “treasure.”

• We are so focused on the “net” that we miss the good we have collected.
• Beth and Eric got stuck in the details of planning a day instead of a life.

 

In the parables of the buried treasure…the pearl and the net…

• Jesus challenges us to see our lives and the world around us with eyes of faith.
• To recognize the many blessings and good things that are ours already.
• The “treasures” and “pearls” of lasting value are the things of God.
• The love of family and friends.
• The support found in being part of a community.
• The sense of joy and fulfillment found in serving and giving for the sake of one other.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

The American writer E.B. White…who wrote the children’s book Charlotte’s Web…once offered this observation:

• “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog. You understand it better…but the frog dies in the process.”
• The same thing is true of the many parables Jesus told.
• Parables are a little like poetry or song lyrics in that there usually is not just one explanation of their meaning.
• And it is no secret that these interpretations can vary widely and wildly.

When reading and hearing parables we bring along our current condition and situation so that as we read the parable the parable also reads us.

• It speaks to us in ways that may be remarkably different from the way it speaks to other people.
• Because those other people are not experiencing anything like what we are going through now.
• It’s not that nobody knows what Jesus’ words mean in the parable of the Wheat and the Tares.
• It is that everybody knows what they mean.
• And each person has a different answer…even if the answer is a puzzlement.
• Parables…at least as Jesus used them…are not meant to provide us with one single truth to be adopted by all hearers.
• They are much richer than that.

 

In our reading today we have what is known as the parable of the weeds or tares.

• The tares and the wheat are growing together in the same field.
• Servants ask the landowner if they should pull out the tares…but the owner says no.
• It is better to wait until the wheat is ripe and then gather both the tares and the wheat at the same time.
• And only then separate them.

 

An experienced farmer knows that in its early stage of development…this weed…also known as bearded darnel…closely resembles the wheat plant.

• As the plants start to grow…hardly anyone can tell the difference…including knowledgeable farmers.
• Also…the roots of the tares and the roots of the wheat get intertwined as they grow.
• So…if you try to pull out just the tares…you will uproot the wheat too.
• And as a result…lose almost the entire crop.
• That is why you wait to harvest both wheat and weeds together.

 

The following is one of a hundred stories I could share with you.

• After all…this past June I celebrated my 49^th year in the ordained ministry in the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Church In America).
• His name was Bob Moore.
• He was sentenced to a correctional home for juvenile offenders in the town where I was serving.
• Knowing the director of the home well…I would often cover when they were short a house staff counselor.
• Bob was a tough kid…a real challenge…a weed!
• Just getting him to go to school…he was a tenth grader when he came to us…was a challenge.
• For three years we ministered to him.
• And gradually he began to come out of his wicked funk.
• He became part of the community and began to thrive and flourish.
• He was smart and talented and creative.
• Well…in his senior year he was named young man of the year by the State of Wisconsin’s Education Association.
• But wait…he was a weed and should have been removed.

 

We see here that the followers of Jesus who heard him tell this parable were confused and asked him to explain what he meant.

• So…Jesus provides an explanation that sounds as if it could be reduced to this single stark conclusion:
• Righteous people will be saved for residence in heaven while wicked people will go to hell.
• But the simplicity of that interpretation may be a good clue that Jesus is just giving his followers what the apostle Paul…in 1 Corinthians 3:2…calls “milk…not solid food”
• Because Paul’s hearers “were not ready for solid food.”

 

And we know from countless examples in the gospels that the disciples of Jesus often did not understand him.

• They were not ready for solid food.
• So…in Jesus’ explanation of this parable…it is fair to say that he was simply offering his hearers theological milk…not meat.
• Jesus reduced the parable to a two-dimensional story about heaven and hell.
• But Jesus’ parables are always richer and more involved than they at first seem.

 

Well…OK then…the world is full of weeds.

• In other words…there are people and powers who seem driven toward destructive ends.
• Not unlike the weeds in the farmer’s wheat field.
• How else do we explain so much of history…
• Which the great French philosopher Voltaire once described as:
• “Hardly more than the history of crimes”?

 

Like the weeds and wheat in their early stages…

• It is hard to distinguish who is in a full and healthy relationship with God and who is not.
• Put in terms of the heaven-hell division often drawn from this parable…
• It is hard to tell who is going to heaven and who is going to hell.
• Think about it.
• Most of us have been through a kind of living hell sometime in our lives.
• And we know others who are currently living in a hell on earth.

 

Well…it is not our job to draw conclusions or make judgments.

• As Christians…we are in the Grace…Forgiveness…No Judgement business.
• Not the judgement business.

 

What Jesus wants us to know through this parable is simply that we are responsible for our actions and thoughts.

• And that at some point we will have to explain ourselves to God.
• Our job…Jesus insists…is to open ourselves up to receive the grace of God so that…as he says…we may “shine like the sun in the kingdom of our Father.”

 

The Bible contains history…poetry…allegory…metaphor and wonderful challenging stories that are to help guide our lives today.

• This is why Jesus insisted at the very beginning of his ministry that the kingdom of God has drawn near.
• And that we can live in that kingdom today.
• Even as we recognize that it has not yet come in full flower.

 

We will miss a lot of the beauty and challenge in the parables of Jesus…

• And his many other teachings if we insist that there is only one way to understand them.
• The word of God is deep and rich and worthy of our time.
• It is full of truth and beauty for you and for me.
• And we would do well to find out how others hear them.

 

Finally…let me say…that if I explained this homily to you…

• You might understand it better…but liked E.B. White’s frog…
• The homily would die in the process.

Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

Every year…the national Future Farmers of America meets to announce the FAA’s “Star Farmer” award…given to only one of thousands of entrants.

• Last year…the honor went to Peter Bliss of Merced (Mer- ‘said), California.
• Bliss was honored for his 417-acre project farm…growing crops such as cotton…almonds and wheat.
• When he started the farm…he had only 30 acres he inherited from his grandfather.
• Young people like Bliss are crucial to the U.S. economy.
• It’s a well-known truth: No farmer…no food…no future.

 

Non-farmers tend to romanticize the farming life.

• But farming is not just about cows and plows.
• The hours are long and involve manual labor.
• Fields need to be plowed…crops must be sown and irrigation pipe needs to be moved.
• Crops are vulnerable to any number of diseases and might be ravaged by pests.
• Farmers are at the mercy of natural elements.
• One hailstorm can ruin a season.
• And if the crops survive disease…pestilence…drought and natural disasters…
• There is often only a small window for harvesting.

 

Then there are the animals:

• They need help coming into this world.
• They must be fed and medicated.
• Nursed and treated and given pasture.

 

Farming requires the patience of Job.

• Crops do not appear magically overnight.
• Jesus said: “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies…it remains just a single grain…but if it dies…it bears much fruit.”

 

So…every farmer knows that if the mud’s not flyin’…you’re not tryin’.

• And the work is never done.
• Yet…despite the long hours and arduous work…most farmers would not leave the farm.
• For them T.G.I.F. is short for “Thank God I Farm.”

 

It is likely that the people who gathered around Jesus on the northern slopes of the Sea of Galilee were either farmers on break…

• Or people connected in some way to agriculture.
• 90% of the people in the ancient world earned their living by working the land.
• Galilee was no exception.
• This was an agrarian culture.
• And although many parts of Palestine were difficult to farm…much of Galilee was fertile and flat.

 

When Jesus spoke to the people…he told stories.

• And on this occasion…he probably saw a farmer sowing a crop of barley.
• Although Jesus grew up in a carpenter and stone mason’s shop…
• He knew farmers and he knew farming.
• The evidence for this is scripture itself.
• In fact…Jesus was so knowledgeable about agribusiness…he could have developed a college syllabus for farming.
• The syllabus is at the end of this worship text.

 

Jesus’ parable is a lesson about what plagues most of us:

• Developing the skill of managing the process.
• Initiating the production.
• Managing production and completing the task.
• Or…Jesus would have put it this way:
• Sowing…growing and mowing.
• The seed…the soil…the harvest.

 

A teacher at an elementary school asked her students to write an essay about what they would like to be.

• At home that evening…while grading the essays…the teacher read one student’s essay that made her start to cry.

 

Her husband walked in just at that moment.

• “What’s wrong?”
• “Read this. It’s one of my students’ essays.”

 

Her husband sat down and read:

 

• “I would like to be a television set.
• I want to take its place and live like the TV in my house.
• I would have my own special place.
• And have my family around me.
• They would take me seriously when I talk.
• I would be the center of attention and people would listen to me without interruption or questions.

 

“I want to get the same special care the TV set receives even when it is not working.

• I would have the company of my dad when he arrives home from work…even when he is tired.
• And I want my mom to want me when she is sad and upset instead of ignoring me.
• And I want my brothers to fight to be with me.

 

“I want my family to just leave everything aside…every now and then…just to spend some time with me.

• And last but not least…I want them all to be happy and entertain them.
• I just want to live like a TV.”

 

The husband looked up.

• “That poor kid. What horrible parents!”

 

The wife looked at him and said:

• “That essay is our son’s.”

This mom and dad discovered…to their dismay…

• That the love and relationship they are trying to nurture in their home is being choked.
• Choked by the thorns of so many hours in front of the television.
• And withering by a lack of attention and care for one another.

 

Today…Jesus reminds us to model the sower of today’s Gospel within our own homes and households.

• To sow seeds of encouragement.
• To sow seeds of joy.
• To sow seeds of reconciliation.
• To sow seeds in the earth of our own gardens.

 

Today…Jesus is asking us to do the patient work of realizing the harvest God has promised.

• Today…Jesus is asking us to trust and believe that our simplest acts of kindness and forgiveness may help the seed that recreates and transforms us.
• Today…Jesus is asking us to trust and believe that our humblest offers of help and affirmation may be the seed that re-creates and transforms our homes and hearts.

Jesus was so knowledgeable about agribusiness, he could have developed a college syllabus for farming, and it might’ve look like this:

 

• Farming 101: How to Plant Crops — Matthew 13
• Farming 102: How to Control the Weeds Among the Wheat — Matthew 13:24-30
• Farming 103: The Care and Feeding of Sheep — Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15:1-7; John 10:1-18
• Farming 201: How to Tend a Vineyard — John 15:1-11
• Farming 202: Managing Human Resources — Matthew 20:1-16; Matthew 21:28-45
• Farming 301: The Care and Feeding of Shrubs and Trees — Matthew 24:32-35; Mark 4:30-34; 13:28-33; Luke 13:6-9
• Farming 401: Thinking Outside the Barn — Luke 12:16-21; Matthew 10:16; Luke 16:8-9

Matthew 11:16-19, 25-30

Jesus said: “I thank you Lord of heaven and earth…because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

• Why hide things from the wise and learned?
• Isn’t it the usual way of affairs for the wise and learned to know things that are simply beyond the grasp of little children?
• Isn’t it the other way around:
• Little kids cannot grasp things that learned adults can?

 

Well…there is a reversal going on here…typical of Jesus…typical of the Bible.

• Younger brothers are picked instead of the eldest.
• Infertile women give birth.
• The greatest shall be humbled…the humble…exalted.
• Whoever would be greatest must be slave of all.
• The hungry are filled…the rich sent away empty.
• The first shall be last…and the last…first.
• Itinerant fishermen are picked to be apostles.

 

Today…Christ extends his invitation to all his little ones who would regard it:

• “Come to me…all you who are weary and burdened…and I will give you rest.”

 

I would like to share with you something about a little one…a little-known American immigrant.

• His name was Korczak Ziolkowski.
• Korczak was born in Boston in 1908 to Polish parents and orphaned at the age of one.
• He spent his life being shuffled through a series of foster homes in poor neighborhoods.
• Though he never received formal art training…
• In his teens he worked as an apprentice to a ship maker…
• And began to demonstrate his skill in carving wood.

 

In 1939…Korczak moved to the Black Hills of South Dakota to assist in the creation of the Mount Rushmore Memorial.

• Less than a year later…Korczak’s marble sculpture of Ignacy Jan Paderewski…
• Pianist…composer and prime minister of Poland…
• Won first prize at the New York World’s Fair.

 

Shortly afterward…he was approached by several Lakota Indian chiefs who asked him to build a monument honoring Native Americans.

• Korczak accepted the project and began research and planning for the sculpture.
• Three years later the project was put on hold while Korczak enlisted in the United States Army.
• He was wounded on Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy.
• After the war Korczak moved back to the Black Hills and began his search for a suitable place for the monument.
• The Lakota considered the Black Hills a sacred place and wanted the memorial built there.

 

When completed…the monument…a three-dimensional sculpture of the Indian Chief Crazy Horse sitting on a charging steed…

• Will be the largest sculpture in the world.
• To put the size of the memorial in perspective.
• Just Crazy Horse’s war bonnet is large enough to contain all the presidents’ heads on Mount Rushmore.

 

Korczak died thirty-four years after starting work on the mountain.

• The statue far from being completed.
• His final words to his wife were:
• “You must finish the mountain…
• But go slowly so it is done right.”

 

The whole thing was absurd.

• A man with no money.
• No training and no heavy equipment.
• Decides to carve a mountain.

 

Korczak had galleries of critics who threw barbs and insults at him:

• “You are crazy…you are a fool…you will never do it.”
• But every day he climbed his mountain and with a chisel here…
• A blast there…he moved tons of stone as his dream emerged from the mountain.
• Korczak knew he’d never live to see his work finished but this was no reason to stop.

 

As he lay dying…he was asked if he was disappointed to not see the monument completed.

• “No” he said… “you only have to live long enough to inspire others to do great things.”
• And this he did.
• As the mountain took form…the masses began to dream too.

 

Today millions come from around the world to see Korczak’s Mountain.

• And a professional crew works year-round to move the dream forward.
• It is no longer a question of if the statue will be completed.
• Only when.

 

Korczak’s greatest legacy is not a public one.

• The massive stone mountain that he conquered.
• But the mountain he first conquered in himself.
• A mountain that he climbed not alone but yoked to Jesus.

 

There are moments in all lives…

• Great and small that we must trudge…
• With our Lord at our side yoked to us…
• Into infinite wilderness…
• To endure our midnight hours of pain and sorrow.
• The Gethsemane moments…when we are on our knees.
• That these moments are given to us is neither accidental nor cruel.
• The Spirit of the living God Melts us…Molds us…Fills us…Uses us for ministry in the Kingdom of God.

 

Like Korczak’s monument…our mission will not be completed in our lifetime.

• And in the end…we will find that we were never sculpting alone.
• Korczak said:
• “I tell my children never forget that we are not complete beings in ourselves.
• There’s something greater that moves us.
• I was never carving a mountain.
• But God was carving me.
• While God was yoked to me…he was at the same time carving me.”

 

Many try to shoulder burdens alone…

• Burdens that Christ would like to shoulder with us.
• Jesus said: “My yoke is easy…and my burden is light.”
• To be yoked with Christ is to allow him to share the burden of our daily lives.
• To allow him to take off our shoulders the weight of trying to solve our problems alone.
• Being yoked with Christ is one of the secrets of a full and productive life.

 

Jesus stands today with the yoke upon His shoulder.

• He calls to each one and says:
• “Come and share my yoke…
• And let us plow together the long furrow of your life.
• I will be a true yokefellow to you.
• The burden shall be on me.”
• “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me” says Jesus…
• For I am gentle and humble in heart…
• And you will find rest for your souls.
• For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Matthew 10:40-42

To be welcoming is to exude a spirit of excitement and expectation.

• Welcomes are a smile…not a frown.
• Welcomes are open arms…not crossed ones.
• A welcoming spirit is positive and upbeat.

We experience this every day.

• When we were kids…and took the Chevy or Ford on a cross-country vacation…
• We stopped to take a photo at the state line where there was a huge sign that said:
• “Welcome to Wyoming”?
• The entire family was excited.
• Wyoming likes us!
• So how could we not like Wyoming in return?

Airports welcome us.

• Walmart welcomes us and even has greeters at the front door.
• A welcome is good news.
• We are accepted. We are wanted.
• More than that…here in Wyoming or at Walmart…everything will be done to make our vacation or shopping a save money…live better experience.

Hospitality is among the most ancient of human traditions.

• It’s about providing the essentials of life for another person.
• Especially another person who is on a journey.
• Food…water…a roof over one’s head.
• The offering of hospitality brings two people…guest and host…closer.

 

Most of us contribute to charitable causes.

• Especially those that aid the poor.
• We sign a check or click “enter” to send a contribution.
• But that’s not what Jesus recommends in our Gospel.
• Jesus says: “whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple…
• Truly I tell you…none of these will lose their reward.”

 

Jesus is saying:

• Get right in there and help God’s suffering children with your hands.
• That is our church’s slogan: “God’s Work…Our Hands.”
• Just a cup of water…how ordinary!
• But a cup of cold water handed over personally to a person who’s thirsty…that’s extraordinary!

 

Remember how Peter Falk’s character…Columbo’s MO…was to fumble around in his rumpled raincoat and smudged tie…

• Looking like the most incompetent detective ever.
• The perpetrator would relax:
• “I’ve got nothing to fear from this fool!”
• But then…as Colombo was leaving the room…
• He would always turn around and say:
• “Just one more thing.”

 

It was then that he would drop the critical question.

• The insignificant-sounding afterthought that sprung the trap.
• The steely logic behind the question would catch the perp unawares.
• And they would stumble into a contradiction that would incriminate them.

 

At the end of Jesus’ long list of parting instructions…

• It’s as though he turns to go away…then stops.
• But the “one more thing” he says is no trap.
• It is a vital word of instruction.
• Don’t shrink from offering a cup of cold water to “these little ones.”

 

He’s been telling the disciples what a tough world it is out there.

• They are going to be scorned and rejected in some villages.
• In other villages they will receive wonderful…spirit-filled hospitality.
• They will not know…as they enter the next village…what to expect.
• They need to trust God every step of the way.

 

And then Jesus says:

• “Whoever welcomes a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward.
• And whoever welcomes a righteous person in the name of a righteous person will receive the reward of the righteous.
• And whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple…
• Truly I tell you…none of these will lose their reward.”

 

A cup of cold water seems like such a little thing.

• But it’s not.
• Cold water was a rarity in Jesus’ culture.
• He could have just said “a cup of water.”
• But he said: “a cup of cold ”

 

Well…most of us can get cold water whenever we want it.

• It’s as easy as taking ice cubes from the refrigerator.
• We have refrigerated water…water fountains and water coolers.
• Sit down in a restaurant and a glass of cold water just appears.

 

Yet…getting a cup of cold water in Jesus’ day was not so easy.

• There was no running water.
• No refrigeration.
• A household’s water came from the village well.

 

Early in the morning one of the women or girls walked to the well with a clay jar.

• Filled it and came back with it balanced on her head.
• She would place the water jar in a shady space inside the house.
• But as the hours passed it lost that cool…crisp…fresh-from-the-well taste.

 

By late afternoon.

• The time most thirsty dinner guests were likely to arrive.
• You were lucky if room-temperature water was what you had left.
• At that time of day…a room in a first-century Palestinian house…was hot.

 

If someone brings a cup of cold water to one of “these little ones” …

• One of Jesus’ disciples…whom he’s sending out to do God’s extraordinary work in ordinary ways.
• It means she got up…ran to the well…and came back with fresh…cool water.
• A special trip…a special effort…for a special person.

 

That’s what hospitality is.

• Last week we attended a memorial grave-side service for our beloved niece Kate in Wisconsin.
• Susan and I were house guests in my sister and brothers-in-law’s home.
• They made that extra effort.
• They went that extra mile to make it exactly right.
• Great food and a perfect bed and wonderful conversation.
• Oh…and cold water…what a joy!
• It was the acts of kindness Beth and John did not have to do.
• We did not expect it…but they did it anyway.
• That is what GRACE is!

 

So many gifts in this world are given according to the ordinary calculus of human values:

• An eye for an eye.
• You take care of me…I take care of you.
• You scratch my back…I scratch yours.
• You’ve done the work…you are entitled to be paid.
• A cup of ordinary water from the household jar.
• It is all anyone is entitled to.
• Oh…but cups of cold water are not so common.
• They are as rare now as they were in Jesus’ time.

 

A cup of cold water.

• Not just any water.
• Cold water.
• A gift nobody deserves.
• Because it is nothing but grace.
• It is free.
• It is priceless.
• It always has been.
• It always will be.
• We receive without price.
• Now…we give without pay.

 

We are alike in our thirst.

• We are alike in our need.
• And the only person who can quench that thirst is the one who offers not just ordinary water.
• But living water forevermore.

Matthew 10:24-39

“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to this earth” we hear Jesus telling the twelve disciples in Matthew this morning.

• “I have not come to bring peace…but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father…and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law…
• And one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.”

 

Oh My…this is tough stuff!

• Breaking up of families.
• Not bringing peace to this world.
• But rather division and a violent sword.
• This is harsh.

I have seen these words of Jesus used to justify war or the breaking up of families because a parent is undocumented…

• Or because a family member comes forward about their sexual orientation.
• And the list goes on.

But here’s the thing:

• When we read the Gospels in their breadth and scope this message is so out of character for Jesus.
• The one who proclaims good news to the poor and who brings liberation for the oppressed.
• The one who commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves.
• To welcome the stranger.
• To feed the hungry.
• To provide health care to those who are sick.
• The one who sought to tear down walls that diminish.
• And who gave his life so that the world might be saved.
• Well…let’s take a closer look.

Our gospel this morning comes a bit after our Matthew reading we heard last Sunday.

• Last week we saw Jesus summoning the Twelve and commissioning them to continue his work in the world.
• And now today we hear Jesus telling the disciples about what it means to be a disciple:
• One who will bring the good news of Jesus out from the dark and into the light.
• One who will not just whisper Jesus’ good news but who will proclaim it for all to hear.

OK then…as Jesus explains this…he gives the Twelve a sharp warning about what they will face when they do follow Jesus in this good news work.

• And it’s not pretty.
• Just before today’s passage…Jesus says to the Twelve:
• “See I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves.
• Beware of those who will hand you over to councils and flog you in the synagogues.
• You will be dragged before governors and kings because of me.
• People will hate you because of my name.
• Some of you will be betrayed even by those you love.
• Even brothers will betray brothers.
• Fathers will betray children.
• And children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.”

Why? Because Jesus’ good news disrupts.

• It challenges the status quo.
• It is a threat to the Empire and those who hold power in it.
• And so there are going to be people who will get ticked off and will resist it… and often will do so with force.
• Being a disciple of Jesus is risky business.
• And this is what Jesus is warning the Twelve about.
• Jesus did not come to keep the peace.
• Rather he came to make peace.
• A kind of peace that would bring about the sword from those who found it threatening.
• A kind of peace that would cause divisions.
• Even among family members and friends.
• A kind of peace that would bring about Facebook wars and twitter trolls.
• Uncomfortable holiday dinners and changed relationships.

“But have no fear” Jesus says.

• “For nothing is covered up that will not eventually be uncovered…
• And nothing is secret that will not eventually become known.”
• And there it is…” the truth will set us free.”

Therefore…we should not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul…we hear Jesus tell us.

• We should not fear what others will think of us…or what they will tweet about us…or how they will respond to us.
• Jesus urges us to only worry about how God sees us.
• For we are beloved.
• We are cherished.
• We are more valuable than many sparrows in God’s eyes.

“So” …Jesus concludes… “Take up the cross and follow me. Those who will find their life will lose it.

• And those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
• Jesus is saying that as followers…we must deny our old selves that make the Gospel centered on us while diminishing others.
• We must deny our constant desire to have power over others.
• We must stop trying to save our self-importance by striving to always be first.
• To be the most successful…to have the biggest home…to be the smartest…to be the most faithful.
• We must give up our need to always be liked by everyone.

This is our sin:

• We put God in our own image.
• We speak for God with our own interests and needs in mind.
• We make God look like us.
• We were made in God’s image.
• Not the other way around.
• What comes after Jesus’ death on the cross is the resurrection…New Life.
• To take up our cross means that something must die for new life to come about.
• To take up our own cross means we must follow Jesus’ way that sees the image of God in our neighbors and in ourselves.

And I think this is what Jesus was trying to convey in our passage in Matthew.

• This little triad was passed down from Miss Susan’s grandmother.
• And it is so simple.
• And through the years I have heard it said often.
• To follow Jesus and take up the cross means we must live our lives putting:
• “God first. Others second. Me last.”

Matthew 9:35 – 10:8

The 1963 movie Lilies of the Field…

• Obtained a groundbreaking Oscar for actor Sidney Poitier.
• The first African American to win the award.

 

The story is set in the Arizona desert.

• Poitier portrays an itinerant laborer named Homer Smith.
• Homer pulls off the road…looking for water for his battered car’s radiator.
• There…he discovers a group of impoverished nuns.
• Refugees from war-torn Europe.
• Now eking out a living from the dry soil.
• The Mother Superior believes Homer Smith’s accidental arrival is God’s answer to her prayers…
• For someone who will come and build a chapel of adobe bricks on the ruins of an earlier failed attempt.

 

Well…Homer sees it differently.

• He asks to be paid for some repairs he made around the primitive convent.
• And he Quotes Luke 10:7:
• “The laborer is worthy of his hire.”
• And Mother Superior responds by quoting Matthew 6:28:
• “Consider the lilies of the field…how they grow…they toil not…neither do they spin.”

 

As the story progresses…Homer ends up building the chapel.

• He finds a part-time construction job to help pay for materials.
• Like Mother Superior…he also has a dream.
• He wants to be an architect.
• But he exhausts himself with crushing labor in the hot sun.

 

A crucial scene comes when his dedication inspires many of the Hispanic day laborers in the region to donate materials and labor.

• This leads to a crisis for Homer.
• If he allows others to help…will it still be his accomplishment?
• His pride causes him to quit.

 

But then…he realizes his skills in design and supervision and motivation.

• The laborers gladly share the back-breaking labor.
• And so…this becomes both his triumph and the community’s accomplishment as well.

 

When the chapel is completed…Homer quietly drives off: (Singing Amen).

• Well…Homer becomes a figure in local legend.
• The new chapel becomes not only the home for the community’s life of worship…
• But also…the launch pad for schools and hospitals to be part of a growing ministry.

 

Homer Smith struggled with the idea of working with other laborers.

• OK then…if anyone could ever accomplish everything without the help of others it was Jesus.
• He was able to feed the multitudes by blessing and breaking bread.
• Healing? He did not even need to be present.

 

Matthew…in today’s reading…is describing not just days…but weeks and months:

• Journeys between cities and villages.
• Hours spent speaking and healing.
• There is no suggestion…as there are in other places…that Jesus failed in any way.

 

But Jesus compassion leads him to lament to his apostles that the work of the kingdom requires more workers.

• More laborers to bring in the harvest.
• The one who is more self-sufficient than anyone.
• Feels the need for collaborators.
• Which leads to the calling of the twelve apostles…the twelve collaborators.

 

Why twelve?

• I am not sure…but it seems that Jesus is drawing a parallel between the twelve tribes of Israel…
• And the twelve disciples.

 

During the era of the great prophets…

• The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and led their 10 tribes into exile.
• Later…the two tribes of the southern kingdom…Judah and Benjamin…
• Were led into exile by the Babylonians.
• A couple of generations later they were permitted to return to their homeland.
• But there was still a feeling of being incomplete.
• Ten tribes were missing.
• These twelve disciples were chosen to show that God’s kingdom is one of wholeness and homecoming.

 

Today…we as the Body of Christ are meant to represent wholeness and homecoming as well.

• We are complete when we are all together.
• Jesus referred to those of daily life in his teaching:
• Shepherds…sowers…day laborers…homemakers…lawyers…
• Scholars…the rich…the poor…
• Mothers and harvesters.

 

These are still part of our world…to be sure.

• But our daily lives also include marketers…programmers…truck drivers…mechanics…
• Professional athletes…broadcast television…smartphones…the internet…oh…and so much more.

 

Well…the teachings of Jesus still apply today.

• And we are meant to share the compassion of Jesus for these “harassed and helpless” sheep.

 

Among the twelve apostles?

• Militants like Simon the Zealot.
• A tax collector.
• Peter…the betrayer.

 

Perfection is not a requirement for membership in this body of Christ.

• Nor are our tasks meant to be equal in expenditure of energy or time of commitment.
• We do not have the same skills…the same outlook or the same politics.

 

In the movie…Lilies of the Field…there was the doubtful owner of a construction company who donated materials for the building of the chapel.

• And then there was the nonbelieving owner of the café.
• There were some who donated chandeliers and stained glass.
• Others became stained with sweat as they carried heavy loads up and down the ramps as the chapel was built.
• Mother Superior was the great overseer.
• And Homer Smith was the brains behind the operation.
• All had something to do.
• All were important workers.
• Some would be remembered.
• Others only recalled as a name mentioned in passing.

 

But they…like us…all have a part in the great work of Jesus…the Kingdom of God.

• We are called to great ministries.
• We are called to be collaborators.
• We are called to Call out new apostles.
• We are called to mentor each other.
• All together.