Category: Homilies

Philippians 2:1-13

At the beginning of his book…Just Like Jesus…Max Lucado makes this statement:

• “God loves you just the way you are…
• But he refuses to leave you that way.
• He wants you to be just like Jesus.”
• Now there is a statement we can take home with us.

 

We usually hear only the first of those words:

• “God loves you just the way you are.”
• And that suits us just fine.
• We want God to accept us just as we are.
• And then leave us alone.
• As long as God loves us just as we are…we’ve got it made.

 

But I suspect Max Lucado is closer to the truth.

• Here is the whole Gospel:
• “God loves us just the way we are…but he refuses to leave us that way.
• He wants us to be just like Jesus.”
• This is St. Paul’s message to the church at Philippi.

 

Paul is encouraging the church at Philippi to live in harmony and humility following the example of Christ.

• Be like Jesus…he is saying to them.
• Humble yourselves as he humbled himself…
• Be a servant as he became a servant.
• Have the same love.
• Paul’s words here characterize a healthy church…we humble ourselves and serve one another.

 

A number of years ago…I was visiting a church on a weekday evening to give a talk on Faith Development.

• When I pulled into the parking lot of the church…a funeral was concluding.
• People were moving to their automobiles.
• The hearse was still there.

 

The minister saw me…recognized me…and motioned for me to come over.

• I did not want to intrude.
• I was just waiting for the funeral to be over.
• The pastor introduced me to the widow of her diseased husband.
• And I felt awkward.
• I said to her:
• “This is no time for you to be meeting strangers.
• I am really sorry for your loss.”

 

Her husband had been killed in a car crash and left her with four children.

• I said: “I know this is a very difficult time for you.”
• She said: “It is.
• But I’ll be here Sunday morning to hear you preach.”
• I was to be their guest preacher on Sunday.

 

I said: “Oh…you don’t need to.”

• “Yes…I do” she said.
• I said: “Well…what I meant was…I know it’s a very hard time for you.”
• And she said: “I know it’s hard.
• It’s already hard…but you see…this is my church…
• And my church is going to see to it that my children and I are okay.”

 

That is the way a church is to function.

• That’s the kind of church we are always trying to become.

 

What is the quickest way to identify a great city?

• Everyone knows that Paris is the home of the Eiffel Tower.
• Rome has its Coliseum and St Peter’s.
• London has Big Ben and Buckingham Palace.
• Orlando has the Parks.
• Anyone have any idea what Tampa Bay is known for? Gasparilla? The St. Petersburg Pier? Clearwater Beach?
• Around the world most cities have landmarks by which they are recognized.

 

Other cities are famous for what happens there.

• Los Angeles makes movies.
• Cannes has its annual film festival.
• New Orleans has Mardi Gras.
• Even if it is only the maple syrup festival or the Autum Leaf Festival.
• Communities identify themselves in distinctive ways.

 

So…what is it that identifies the Christian community…the church…as such?

• What is the landmark that makes us recognizable to the world?
• It is our loyalty to Christ…of course.
• Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples…if you love one another.”
• Therefore…the identifying landmark in the church is love.

 

“Have the same love” says Paul…

• “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
• Rather…in humility value others above yourselves…not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

 

There is an interesting phrase that has entered our common vernacular in recent years.

• It is the phrase: “I’ve got your back.”
• “I’ve got your six.”
• It means I’ll be there for you…look out for you…help you out if you’re in trouble.

 

The testimony of the Bible is that God has our back.

• And we are to have one another’s back.
• Our church may not be the largest.
• We may never give an extraordinary amount to missions.
• But this is an extraordinary church because we are there for one another.

 

Consider a flock of geese:

• As each goose flaps its wings…it creates an uplift for the birds that follow.
• By flying in a V formation…the flock adds 71% more flying range.
• In the same way we who share a sense of community can help each other get where we are going more easily.
• Because we hold one another up.

 

When a goose falls out of formation…it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of flying alone.

• So…it quickly moves back to take advantage of the lifting power of the birds in front.
• If we are as wise as geese…we will also stay in formation with those headed where we want to go.
• We are willing to accept their help and give our help to others.

 

But when the lead goose tires…it drops back in the formation and another flies to the point position.

• This is how the leadership of a church works.
• We take turns doing the heavy lifting.
• We respect and protect each other’s unique gifts and skills.

 

The geese flying in formation honk to encourage those up front to keep up their speed.

• We do a lot of honking in the church.
• We need to make sure our honking is positive and encouraging.
• Where there is encouragement…production is greater.

 

When a goose gets sick…two geese drop out of formation and follow it to help and protect it.

• They have this goose’s back…the goose’s six.
• They stand by each other in difficult times.

 

“Have the same love…being one in spirit and of one mind.

• Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.
• Rather…in humility value others above yourselves.
• Not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Matthew 18:21-35

Today…Jesus tells the disciple Peter…that forgiveness…in the kingdom of God… must be generous beyond limits.

• We should not forgive our offenders a skimpy seven times…but seventy-seven…or seventy times seven.
• That is…forgiveness should be our way of life…our default mode.
• Why?  Because we are a forgiven people…generously and lavishly forgiven by God.
• Considering this abundant grace…what possible response can we have…
• But to pay the wealth of God’s forgiveness forward?

 

But first of all…what is forgiveness not?

• Forgiveness is not pretending that an offense does not matter.
• Or that a wound does not hurt.
• Or that Christianity requires us to forget past harms and let bygones be bygones.
• Forgiveness is not acting as if things do not have to change.
• Or assuming that because God is merciful…God is not grieved and angered by injustice.

 

OK then…the starting line of forgiveness is the acknowledgement of wrongdoing…of harm.

• Of real and profound violation.
• Whenever we talk about the need for forgiveness…
• We must begin by recognizing and naming the extent of the brokenness.
• Why?  Because we were created for good.
• We were created for love…equality and tenderness.
• Having been created in God’s image…
• We were made for a just and nurturing world that honors our dignity.

A great gift of Christianity is that it takes sin and sin’s consequences dead seriously.

• Sin wounds.  Sin breaks.  Sin lingers.
• The same Bible that calls us to forgive also calls us to mourn…
• To lament…and to hunger and thirst for righteousness.
• Forgiveness always works together with the hard work of repentance and transformation.
• As theologian and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer warned:
• We must never allow forgiveness to degenerate into “cheap grace.”
• That is…the preaching of forgiveness without repentance…grace without the Cross.

 

OK…forgiveness is not quick and easy. 

• Not for us humans…not if we are honest.
• Forgiveness is a messy and often thorny process that can leave us feeling whole and liberated one minute.
• And bleeding out of every vein the next.
• No one who says the words “I forgive you” gets a pass from this messy process.

 

Of course…yes…there are times when forgiveness happens dramatically and instantly.

• But most of the time…there is no cleansing altar call moment when the hurts of the past simply slip off our backs and roll away.
• There is only the daily business of forgiveness as a slow…sustained way of life.

 

OK then…what is Jesus asking of us when he tells us to forgive each other again and again and again and again?

• In her popular memoir…Traveling Mercies…Anne Lamott writes that withholding forgiveness is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.
• Nora Gallagher writes: “Forgiveness is a way to unburden oneself from the constant pressure of rewriting the past.”
• Henri Nouwen writes: “Forgiveness is the name of love practiced among people who love poorly.
• The hard truth is that all people love poorly…and so we need to forgive and be forgiven every day…every hour increasingly.
• Forgiveness is the great work of love among the fellowship of the weak that is the human family.”

If these writers are correct…then I think forgiveness is choosing to front love instead of resentment.

• If I am consumed with my own pain…if I have made injury my identity…
• If I insist on weaponizing my well-deserved anger in every interaction I have with people who hurt me…
• Then I’m drinking poison…
• And the poison will kill me long before it does anything to my abusers.
• To choose forgiveness is to release myself from the tyranny of my bitterness.
• To trust that my longing for justice is known to God.
• To cast my hunger for healing deep into Christ’s heart.
• Because healing belongs to him…
• And he is the only one powerful enough to secure it.

 

Retaliation or holding onto anger about the harm done to us does not combat evil…it feeds it.

• Because in the end…if we are not careful…we can absorb the worst of our enemy…and start to become them.
• So then…forgiveness is a way of wielding bolt-cutters…
• And snapping the chains that shackle us?
• Forgiveness is saying: “What you did was so not okay…I refuse to be connected to it anymore.”

 

Forgiveness is about being a freedom fighter.

• Free people are not controlled by the past.
• Free people laugh more than others.
• Free people see beauty where others do not.
• Free people are not easily offended.
• Free people are not afraid to speak the truth.
• Free people are not chained to resentments.
• Free people are released to practice love…joy…peace…patience…
• Kindness…goodness…faithfulness…gentleness and self-control.

Matthew 16:21-28

There is a sport called orienteering that requires navigational skills using a map and compass to navigate from point to point in diverse and unfamiliar terrain while moving at speed.

• My version of orienteering is to paddle my kayak through the Everglades…and get myself lost.
• And try to find my way back with my compass.
• Oh boy! I always keep a GPS in my dry bag…to keep me on course…in case I really go missing.
• Being off course even one degree would…depending on the distance I was paddling…
• Take me far away from my intended homecoming.

 

Well…Jesus often presented his followers new paths…new courses…to follow.

• And new ways to look at the people and the world around them.
• It was…and is…important to listen to Jesus.
• Following and doing what he says while we travel through unfamiliar terrain and while moving at speed.

 

To better understand…it is important to remember Jesus’ follow-up question several verses back:

• “But who do you say that I am?”
• Simon Peter answered: “You are the Messiah…the Son of the Living God.”

 

I believe that when Peter made this statement he had in mind a warrior-king like David.

• A king who would defeat the Romans and make Israel a free state.
• A king who would drive the occupiers from this beloved land.

 

The problem with Peter’s expectation is not that it’s unreasonable.

• But that it does not change anything.
• Rome is there by force and by violence.
• Even if Jesus uses greater force and violence to drive them out…
• Eventually…someone with even more force…will take over yet again.
• It’s a vicious cycle.

 

At this point Jesus said to Peter:

• “Blessed are you Simon…son of Jonah! And I tell you…you are Peter…and on this rock I will build my church…and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”

 

Now…it is unlikely that Peter realized the immensity of what Jesus had just said to him.

• While Peter was probably imagining a warrior-king…Jesus was certainly not thinking that.
• Jesus was leading his followers to a new reality…a new course…that did not depend on violence and force.
• Instead…it relied on forgiveness and sacrifice and mercy and love.

 

Our passage for today says:

• “From that time on…Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes…and be killed…and on the third day be raised.”
• Well…Peter took Jesus aside and blurted out: “God forbid it…Lord!
• This must never happen to you.”

 

We can understand Peter’s rebuke.

• What would we say if someone we loved…who was in good health…told us:
• “I am planning to suffer and die”?
• Certainly…Peter’s rebuke was spurred by love for his master.
• If Peter was…indeed…expecting Jesus to be the promised warrior-king.
• Then what Jesus just said made little sense to Peter.
• How could Jesus endure suffering and death and still be victorious?

 

But Jesus responded sharply:

• “Get behind me…Satan! You are a stumbling block to me…for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”
• Jesus had just affirmed Peter for his statement that Jesus was the Messiah.
• But now…Jesus calls Peter Satan and describes him as a stumbling block!
• Imagine how painful that was for Peter.

 

Jesus’ response suggests that he was being tempted once again to turn from the plan of his Father.

• Just as Satan had tempted him in the wilderness.
• There Jesus said: “Away with you Satan!”
• Here he said the same thing: “Get behind me…Satan!”

 

Did Jesus suddenly stop loving Peter? No.

• Did he no longer want him as a disciple? No.
• But we can also understand that Jesus was demanding a course correction from Peter.

 

Jesus’ message that day…of course…was directed at all his disciples…not just Peter.

• So…he continued talking with them and showing them what it means to be his follower.
• Jesus said: “If any wish to come after me…let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
• Jesus said that those whose greatest goal was to “save their life will lose it.
• And those who lose their life for my sake will find it.”
• These are hard words.

 

I have…at one time or another…have had a better plan than God for how things ought to be in this world we live in.

• I think: “If God would just listen to…and act…on my plan…things would be so much better.”
• And I mean it.

 

But would things really be better?

• Even taking everything…I have ever learned in life and giving it my best shot.
• I see only a tiny portion of the big picture God sees.
• While I could map out a scenario that would probably suit me well.
• I cannot see how that would affect someone else.

 

When I have experienced tragedy in my life…I am still asked to remain a person of faith.

• When I tell God that he has everything all messed up.
• He may very well need to do a “course correction” in my thinking and in my faith.

 

Sometimes that may be in the form of a gentle nudge from a trusted friend.

• Sometimes that may be a hard word spoken to us through God’s word.
• Through a confessor or prayer partner.
• Through circumstances.

 

But when that happens…I have Peter to look to.

• Remembering how he questioned everything.
• But Jesus stuck with him…and he stuck with Jesus.
• It is fitting to hear these words of Peter himself…from the first epistle of Peter:
• “Come to Jesus…a living stone…rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight…and like living stones…let yourselves be built into a spiritual house…to be a holy priesthood…to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

 

It is hard to imagine that these powerful words of faith come to us from the same man to whom Jesus said:

• “Get behind me…Satan.”
• But that’s what happens when we are open to Jesus’ loving course corrections in our lives.

Matthew 16:13-20

Years ago…on a bright Tuesday in March I was driving over to the seminary…and I parked my car.

• Sitting there I stared up into the clear blue Minnesota sky and thought:
• “What in the world am I doing?  I don’t believe a word of this Jesus stuff. I mean…It’s a fairy tale”.
• But then in the very next moment I thought:
• “Except…throughout my life…I have experienced it to be true.”
• I experience the gospel to be true even when I cannot believe it.
• And honestly…I believe the gospel even when I do not experience it.
• And I suggest to you today that this is why we have and even why we need Word and Sacrament.
• Because you see…we are a forgetful people.

 

So…if asked if your pastor is prepared to hold the office of Word and Sacrament the only answer is:

• Of course not.
• Do not be ridiculous.
• So…if you are worrying that your pastor might not have what it takes to lead the church you should stop worrying.
• Of course…your pastor does not have what it takes to lead the church.
• But fortunately…your pastor does have the God it takes to lead the church.
• And fortunately…we have the God it takes to lead the church.

 

I think Jesus meant for church leader types to keep this in mind.

• That it is God who makes us worthy of our calling.
• And that God’s people are forgetful and perhaps that is exactly why Jesus chose Peter.

 

Jesus chose Peter…of all people.

• I started wondering what in the world would a Synod Candidacy Committee think of the guy…Peter.
• Peter was not exactly a winner.
• He seems to always be over-reaching.
• Or totally falling short.

 

Jesus could have picked one of the nice…pious…righteous apostles.

• One a bit less embarrassing.
• Who does not blurt out the wrong answers in class all day.
• But instead…he chose Peter who was kind of a buffoon.
• And that’s when he was not being a total sycophant.
• You know…a groupie.

 

OK then…I have a theory about this text where Peter is named the rock.

• I think it must have been redacted.
• Edited out.
• I think what really happened is that Jesus said:
• “You are Peter…dumb as a rock…on which I will build my church” and that is our legacy to this day.

 

The thing to remember is that it is not that Jesus had the guy it took to lead the church.

• It is that Peter had the God it took to lead the church…and that’s different.

So…I would like to suggest that Jesus did not choose Peter because he was the first to confess Christ.

• After all…Peter’s moment of glory lasted about 10 seconds before he said something stupid enough for Jesus to say get behind me Satan.

 

I do not think that Jesus chose Peter because Peter understood everything.

• Or because Peter was clever.
• Or because Peter had the best prayer life.
• Or because Peter had the mildest personality.
• And he just “seemed” like a pastor.
• And Peter was not exactly chosen because of his loyalty.
• Lest we forget…it was Peter who denied Jesus.
• Three times.

 

And here’s the real kicker:

• I believe Jesus chose Peter because Peter would deny him.
• Jesus knew that only a forgiven sinner could really preach the Gospel.
• Only forgiven sinners can preach the Gospel.

 

It has always been that way…so I am not sure at what point the church decided its leaders were to be sinless examples of perfect piety.

• I might not give them the keys to my house.
• But only a forgiven sinner can be really trusted with the keys of the kingdom.

 

What you bind on earth will be bound in heaven and what you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.

• Which sounds like we get to judge people.
• Like we get to decide what God thinks of folks.
• But that is not it.
• We are to be…as the text says…a steward of the mysteries of Christ.
• And for all his faults…it is those mysteries that Peter actually understood.

 

Peter knew what it meant to really screw things up and be given grace.

• That is to say…he knew about binding and loosing.
• It’s called Baptism.
• Pouring water on God’s children in baptism binding unto them the promises of God.
• Being mark with the cross of Christ.
• That is a binding.
• Being reminded of God’s grace and forgiveness often.
• Because we are a forgetful people.

And to be sure…there is loosing to be done in this work.

• It is called confession and absolution.
• It’s called forgiveness of sins.
• Loose from God’s people that which weighs us down.
• Our sin…our shame…our despair.
• Loose from us our pride…our anger…our resentment…our guilt.
• For not being able to live up to even our own values.
• Reminding us that God is gracious and merciful…slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
• We are loosed.

 

Now this is job security for the preacher.

• Because this binding and loosing needs to be done again and again and again.
• Never assume that just because we leave on Sunday believing the gospel that when we return a week later that we still believe it.
• Never assume that if we experienced this thing to be true that we still do.
• That’s why we put Jesus in our ears and mouths and do not stop.
• Because we Christians are a forgetful people.

 

So…we are charged with none other than putting Jesus in our ears and mouths so that we might believe the good news and continue to share it with others.

• That we might experience this thing to be true.
• God will do this.

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