Category: News

44 ‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.  45 ‘Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.  Matthew 13:44-46

We have a store in the local mall, where a person can buy, sell, or trade movies, video games, comic books and many other things.  You can purchase a new DVD, yes, they still make and sell those.  You can trade in a well-played and finished game for another.  You can sell your old comic books for cash, yes, they still deal with cash.  But in this store, one can find just about anything and for the right price take it home.

Perhaps then, we can understand what is transpiring in our two parables about the Kingdom of heaven.  Both parables contain a person finding something of great value, a treasure, or a pearl, and in their desire to “have” the item, they sell everything they have in order to buy the item.  These parables describe a trading, the treasure for the money, just like buying a new movie, or trading in an old game, or selling your old Gameboy.  One person gives up something, the money or the property and gains the treasure or pearl.  The other person gives up the treasure or pearl to gain the prize.  But both parables describe a transaction or trading and paying a high price, they sold everything to gain the treasure because it was worth it.

Perhaps one of the main ideas for disciples to learn from these parables is the breaking from the old to obtain the new.  Everything is sold to gain the Kingdom of Heaven.  Now, this does not mean that it can be bought or sold, we know faith is how we enter and obtain the Kingdom of Heaven.  But the point is instead that to gain the Kingdom of Heaven, by faith, one must make a complete break with the old: everything old for the Kingdom of Heaven.  We break from the previous life and the previous lifestyles and the previous attitudes, and the previous goals to receive the new life, the new lifestyle, the new attitude, and the new goals.  Everything goes because the Kingdom of Heaven now comes.  God breaks the old life, to give us, by faith, the Kingdom of Heaven.

But when the Kingdom of Heaven breaks into our world and God breaks us from the old, many great conflicts begin over and within us.  The first is the desire for possessions.  We just simply want more stuff and someone in our community is selling it to us.  Advertisements are in every aspect of our line of sight.  Buy this coffee.  Buy this car.  Buy this phone.  And we become ensnared by the race with our neighbors over who can have more and have it before someone else gets it.  To make a break with this desire, God replaces the desire for more stuff with the desire to let go of our earthly possessions and share them in love.  God makes this great break in our lives, which is quite simply giving sacrificially, instead of taking greedily; and we struggle daily to do it.

The second great struggle within us, when God breaks-in our lives is our desire for fame and admiration.  We want to be known and to be admired.  Whether on stage as a performer, or on TV as an actor or actress, or having the highest gamer score or the most followers on social media, Human beings have an endless thirst to be known and to be admired by as many others as possible.  But what we see in the Kingdom of Heaven is Jesus leaving the throne to ascend a cross, and this Crucified Jesus breaks-into our worlds.  Instead of seeking honor and glory, we can take the least dignified places and be content with the less reputable situations.  Instead of wanting a throne, we can carry our cross. God makes this break in our lives, which is quite simply seeking the Glory of God instead of the glory of “me;” and we struggle daily to do it.

But I find to be the greatest struggle of all is when God breaks-into our families.  We must remember first that we are to love and to love even our enemies, this includes our families.  But when God takes hold of us, our families lose their hold over us.  God becomes the priority not the advancement of the family name, reputation, and success.  This also means that we are free from the difficult and unchosen relationships that families bring: failing parents, special needs children, broken marriages.  We can still love them, but not because we “have to”, but because we “can” and the freely given love will always be greater and more complete than a forced love.  But God makes this break in our lives, which is quite simply the Family of God instead of the family of “____;” and we struggle daily to do it.

Friends, not one of us is without these and more great conflicts as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We all struggle with loving God and each other instead of possessions, fame, and family.  But the point of the parables of the treasure and pearls is that God is the one who makes the break between the old and the new.  The Kingdom of Heaven comes, the kingdoms of sinful people go.  The Gospel is that through the Spirit of Jesus Christ, we can trade one for the other because God has assaulted those kingdoms and overcome them.  The daily challenge then becomes living into this break.  As if the hold on us of our possessions, our fame and our families is broken, and the Kingdom of Heaven has invaded.  The challenge of discipleship is trading in the old life for Jesus’ new one.  Buy, sell, or Trade?  Faith and obedience say Trade!  Amen. 

24He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. 26So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. 27And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ 28He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ 29But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. 30Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Matthew 13:24-30

I know some flowers by sight, but others I need help with.  This becomes very problematic when I am weeding my flower beds for the first time every Spring.  All the plants are beginning to grow, including the weeds.  I want to keep the flowers and I want to pull the weeds.  The problem is I cannot always tell which is which.  I have to ask someone who knows better than I what is a flower and what is a weed.  But at times I mistakenly pull a flower while grabbing a weed and when the weed is growing amid the flower, I pull out both.  Keeping the weeds away from the flowers is not always easy.

Perhaps then this is why Jesus cautions his disciples about weeding out people instead of weeds.  They ask Jesus, do you want us to go and gather them?  And he responds with No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them.  You try and pull weeds and you get flowers instead; you try and pull the weed growing in the middle of the flowers and you get both, the same happens with people.  The moment you try and exclude an unbeliever and you will exclude the believer also.  The moment you try to remove the enemy among the brothers and sisters is the time you remove everybody; and we cannot run the risk of harming a brother or sister.

The difficult lesson is that the church has both wheat and weeds or children of God and children of the evil one in it.  We have in our worship services and in our membership both people of faith and people of rebellion.  At times we think we can tell which is which, but what we can never do is to remove the problem makers and keep the siblings in faith.  We will always damage the good to remove the bad.  We will always cause trauma in our fellow believers by removing the unbelievers; and we must never do anything to harm our siblings in Christ.

Does this mean that the Church will always be this way?  No, Christ promises a time when the grain and weeds will be separated, it just isn’t now, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.  At Christ’s return, the Angels are commanded to separate the believers from non-believers, one to blessing and the other to destruction.  But the point is that today is not harvest day.  It will come, and soon, but as long as we are waiting for the Judgement Day, that day is not to-day.

So, what day is to-day?  Let both of them grow together until the harvest.  Up until harvest time the farmer does everything to nurture the growth of the grain, even if the weeds grow instead.  One can till the soil, one can administer fertilizer, and one can irrigate the fields.  But the task is to plant and grow, not to harvest.  Until Judgment Day, the church’s task is to plant and grow, not to separate.  That time will come, but to-day is about planting and growing: to till the soil of the human heart with love, to administer to the barren mind the fertilizer of hope, and to irrigate the deserted soul with the water of faith.  But it’s growing time, not harvest time, and both grain and weeds can grow, both believers and unbelievers together.

But to only grow instead of judge takes patience on the part of Christ’s people.  Patience to “put up” with people.  Patience to suffer the slings and arrows of difficult and even adversarial people.  Patience to plant God’s Word of love in a hateful heart.  Patience to spread hope over a mind filled with conspiracies and suspicions.  Patience to water faith over a soul unable to trust and depend.  But it will take patience to plant and grow.  But the gospel is not that we must achieve patience, who could do that?  The gospel is that through the grace of Jesus Christ, we can receive his patience as a free gift.  This means that we can put up with each other: to till, to fertilize and to irrigate people, both challenging and easy because it is the patience of Jesus Christ living in us.  This means that until Christ returns, let us nurture instead of judge.  Let us plant and grow instead of judge and pull.  Amen. 

¹⁸ ‘Hear then the parable of the sower. ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path. ²⁰ As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; ²¹ yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. ²² As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. ²³ But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’ Matthew 13: 18-23

Everybody will take medication in their life.  From the over-the-counter pain medication to the prescription only heart medication, we all will in the span of our lives take medication for problems big and small.  But, while the medication may be the same for each person, the results vary greatly depending on the metabolism of the consumer.  Some patients cannot tolerate high level pain medication.  Some patients cannot tolerate oral antibiotics.  Some patients cannot tolerate chemotherapy.  Even in some patients a medication will not be effective or work at all.  The medication might be the same, but the results vary depending on the person taking them.

Perhaps then, we can understand the parable of the soils.  The one seed is the same, but the results of sowing that seed vary depending on the soil.  But Jesus is really trying to explain how he can preach and teach the same Word of God to many people, but the consequences of that Word vary depending on the receptivity of the hearer.  The same medication with varied results.  The same seed with varied growth.  The same Word of the Kingdom of God with varied acceptance and understanding, which continues today, the same Word of God, with different reception and comprehension.  In the parable, we have three negative results and three positive results.

The first negative result is when the Word of God is preached but not understood, when anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what is sown in the heart; this is what was sown on the path.  Rather ironically, the difficulty in this situation is understanding the word “understanding.”  I have many things I don’t understand, but I invest in the process of learning.  I think the difficulty when it comes to Word of God is the motivation to stay ignorant.  The problem is not wanting to understand, not the difficulty in understanding.  I don’t want to know; versus I have a difficult time knowing; and the Word of God produces nothing.

Next we have when the Word of God is preached and accepted, but without true commitment, as for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;yet such a person has no root, but endures only for a while, and when trouble or persecution arises on account of the word, that person immediately falls away. Troubles and persecutions test one’s commitment to understanding and following the Word of God.  They require a root or commitment to continue despite the difficulties.  Many struggle with trials and difficult experiences and they shrivel up and quit following Christ under them because faith requires a life-long commitment in good times and bad times; and the Word of God produces nothing.

The last result is when the Word of God is preached but a love of pleasure and possessions prevents any change, as for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word, and it yields nothing. Weeds steal energy and resources from the crops.  The cares of the world and the lure of wealth, choke out our understanding and steal the obedience from the Word of God.  We pursue comfort and wealth instead of faith and obedience, and the Word of God produces nothing.

But, while this parable invests more concern into the ways the Word of God can be stolen from the human heart, scorched by trials, and choked by temptations, it still possesses positive results.  The Word falls into good soil or good human hearts and produces good results, this is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.’  The Word of God is heard, understood and it grows into the fruit of the Spirit.  Not each person may be the same, we have one with a hundredfold and another with sixty, but the Word grows results regardless.  The critical moment appears to be if a person hears, understands, and obeys the Word given.

Which are you?  Do you care to understand the Word, or do you expend energy avoiding having to learn it?  Do you have a life-long commitment to understanding and obeying the Word, or do the difficult moments scorch your discipleship and you leave?  Do you have some worldly temptation, some pleasure or possession that chokes the Word of God and you seek after them?  Or does the Word of God grow in your heart?  Do you hear, understand, and obey?  Which are you?  Each of our hearts is a field, which God has planted the Word into.  You are responsible for what kind of soil it is; rocky, shallow, thorny, or fertile.  Perhaps now is the time to grow, perhaps now is the time to hear, perhaps now is the time to be open to understanding and obeying God’s Word.  Amen.

13 When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, 14 saying, ‘I will surely bless you and multiply you.’ 15 And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. 16 Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute. 17 In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, 18 so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. 19 We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, 20 where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek.  Hebrews 6:13-20

My wife’s family has a cottage on a lake in New Hampshire.  At one time many years ago, they had a long, wooden dock further out on the lake to sunbathe, read and swim off.  In the winter months, the dock rests on shore with the individual pieces tied to trees.  This I found is a good thing, because during the recent rains, the level of the lake rose and being tied to a tree ensured that the dock pieces did not float off.  The water covered the dock for a time, but being tethered to the trees ensured they did not disappear during the torrential rains.

Just as the dock was tethered to a tree, so too does the Author of the Letter to the Hebrews describe the church being anchored or tethered in the soul, we have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain.  The docks were tethered to a tree to prevent floating off, Christ’s disciples are tethered to a sure and steadfast anchor in the soul, not to a tree but to the heavenly temple behind the curtain.  Since Christ is there as our High Priest, we are tethered or anchored in a place that is unmovable and when the hurricanes of life flood us, we can remain sure and certain, even when overwhelmed.

But to keep hope amid difficulty is an impossible achievement for anxious and fearful people.  To this end God gives his people clarity even in “muddy” situations, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath.  An oath is used by people to bring certainty and reliability in situations that are fragile and doubtful.  One swears by a greater power to bring security upon an insecure situation.  God, being the greatest power, invokes Himself, to bring stability into an unstable situation for his children.  This stability which God provides and injects into our human experiences, rests on the unchangeable nature of God.  Since no greater power exists, no entity can force or alter God’s purpose.  Therefore, God provides assurance to His people, that is cannot be destroyed or removed.  This does not mean that the daily struggles which we face, and which those not in the church also do, but it also means that those struggles which are unique to the Church of Jesus Christ are not to be avoided, but to be endured. 

Being tethered to Jesus Christ does not mean the removal of struggles and tests, but it means the security and certainty to persevere through them.  This means that when challenge or persecution strikes the Church, and they will, the Church waits patiently for God to fulfill God’s Promises and Oaths.  We don’t quit the Church to alleviate our difficulties or leave the Church to avoid persecutions or resign our Baptismal Vows to seek an easier and more comfortable lifestyle; to be anchored to Christ, means that Hurricanes will blow, but even when we are overcome, we remain secure, tethered to Jesus Christ; and we carry on.

The good news of the Gospel, dear friends, is not the impossible command to wait patiently, as if we were under our own power able to do so.  The good news of the Gospel is not just that God gives us unconquerable promises and oaths, but we have been given in Jesus Christ the Human capacity to wait patiently.  Patience is not a virtue we must achieve, but a Divine gift we can receive.  In Christ, we can wait.  We can wait through the next Pandemic, the next Political Revolution, the current seasons of Persecutions, both physical and social, and whatever “Hurricanes” will fall upon us.  We can endure in patience because in Christ we are tethered to an unmovable anchor, but we also share in the very patience of Christ.  Let us then, wait through the storms in life, anchored in Christ, given refuge both safe and secure.  Amen.