DESERT PALMS PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Sun City West, Arizona

“Dynamite Comes in Small Packages”

A Sermon Preached by The Rev. Donovan G. Houdeshell

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the

air come and make nests in its branches.” 33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

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. 47“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and

caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad.

49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

51“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Jesus develops the inner circle of 12 disciples, who have responded to God’s call to ministry, by using parables to teach them about the Kingdom of God.

The lesson of the kingdom parables is that God works and moves amid seemingly insignificant events. One has to have eyes to discern God’s working for God is almost hidden. However, one should not underestimate the awesome power of God at work, waiting to explode, transform, redeem, and heal.

In Matthew’s text in today’s gospel reading there are five parables. Jesus introduces each parable by saying, “The Kingdom of heaven is like. . . “

In the first parable Jesus says that “The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. The mustard seed is tiny but grows into a large bush, some even say a tree where birds find roost and nest.”

In the second parable, “The Kingdom of heaven is like yeast. A woman adds yeast to three measures of flour, the dough rises, put into the oven to bake, and bread is made.”

The third parable goes, “The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. The farmer sells all that he has in order to buy the field. Having bought the field, the farmer secures the treasure.”

The fourth: “The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. Finding one fine pearl, he sells all that he owns and buys the pearl.”

Finally, “The Kingdom of heaven is like fishing net. The net is cast into the sea and catches every kind of fish. The good fish are kept. The bad fish are discarded.” 

Looking at the parables as a group, one and two are alike. The mustard seed and the yeast parables speak to the hidden power of the Kingdom of God.

The third and fourth parables are very similar. The parable of the treasure hidden in a field and the parable of the merchant finding one exquisite pearl teach that when we discern the Kingdom of God, we will sacrifice everything else to possess it alone.

The fifth parable, the fishing net, speaks to the judgment inherent at the end of the age when God separates well from evil, rewards good, and judge’s evil.

How is it that we can wrap our heads around and understand “the Kingdom of God”? The Kingdom may seem rather small and insignificant, but it packs a big wallop. 

(Consider this as a possibility. “The Kingdom of heaven is like a dinosaur egg.”   Julie and I took our grandchildren, Anders and Annika, to the Museum of Natural History in Hill City, South Dakota in June. The museum has a large exhibit of dinosaur bones, dinosaur skeletons, rocks and minerals found in South Dakota. In fact, the museum has the best exhibit of Tyrannosaurus Rex skulls and fully assembled T-Rex skeletons I have ever seen. 

While Julie and I were immersed in the myriad displays of gorgeous minerals, gems, rocks, and dinosaurs of all kinds, Anders and Annika spent all of their time playing in a sand box. Now, this was not your ordinary sand box. The children were given brushes and various tools that archaeologists and paleontologists use. The brushes and digging instruments were to be used to discover what lies beneath the sand. Anders, Annika, and other children brushed and dug away until they reached the fully formed skeleton of a small dinosaur at the bottom of the sand box. Perhaps some of you have taken part in digs here in Arizona. It is exciting stuff.

We went through the gifts shop on the way out of the museum. Isn’t it ingenious how one is guided to go through the retail store before one exits a museum? We gave the grandkids $5 each to spend in the gift shop however they wished. Annika bought a small stuffed toy and a rubber ball. Anders got a small stuffed toy and a dinosaur egg. The instructions on the egg were to put it in water, and, in 24 to 48 hours, a baby dinosaur would hatch from the egg. Well, Anders and Annika had more fun watching and waiting and prodding the egg. They went to bed one night and the egg was whole. They got up the next morning and there was a crack in the egg. A few more hours and a tiny beak broke through the crack. At two days, a whole baby dinosaur emerged!)

“The Kingdom of heaven is like a dinosaur egg. The egg gestates. A tiny beak breaks through the shell. A baby emerges to grow into a giant dinosaur that terrorizes the earth!”

PARABLES ARE VERY JEWISH. Jesus taught the disciples, as any rabbi would, with parables. A parable may be defined as “an extended metaphor in which the comparison is based on a brief narrative rather than on a simple likeness to another object.” (Interpreters Concise Commentary, The Gospel of Matthew) 

The Greek thought forms were myths and allegories. The Greek philosophers created allegories in which each element in the narrative symbolized a reality in another sphere. (Interpreters Concise Commentary, The Gospel of Matthew) Parables are less precise and a little more slippery, and intended to give pause.

THE SEMITIC WORD THAT LIES BEHIND THE GREEK WORD “PARABLE” can mean not only the literary form we know as parable, but also enigma, puzzle, or riddle.

When Mark used the story form of parable in Chapter 4 to describe the “secret” or “mystery of the Kingdom”, that results in the suggestion THAT JESUS TAUGHT IN PARABLES SO THAT THOSE OUTSIDE OF THE CIRCLE OF HIS FOLLOWERS MIGHT NOT BE ABLE TO DISCERN HIS MEANING. 

We have tried to get a handle on what a parable is. Is there a way to describe the Kingdom of heaven succinctly, to get a handle on it?

I. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN CAN BE DESCRIBED AS GOD’S LOVING PRESENCE AT WORK IN OUR LIVES.  ANOTHER WAY TO LOOK AT THE CONCEPT IS GOD’S GOODNESS AT WORK IN THE WORLD. 

II. ENCOUNTERING THIS GOD AT WORK IN OUR LIVES AND IN OUR WORLD IS LIFE-ALTERING.  GRACE IS ABUNDANT. JOY SPILLS OVER. TRANSFORMATION HAPPENS. CONVERSION TAKES PLACE. ENCOUNTERING THIS GOD OF HIDDEN GRACE REVEALED IN CHRIST JESUS LEADS US TO SET ASIDE ALL AND TO FOLLOW HIM.

Our grandchildren, Anders and Annika, were mesmerized by the dinosaur egg made in China, watching and prodding it for hours. It is hard to hold a child’s attention for a minute or two. These kids were camping out by the dinosaur egg which was sitting on the kitchen table in a plastic cup filled with water. Was it curiosity? Was it maternal instinct?

Encountering God at work in the world and at work in our lives is like the experience of falling in love. Smitten by God, we want to abandon everything else and pursue the beloved.

III. NOT ONLY DOES THIS ENCOUNTER WITH AN AWESOME GOD AT WORK IN OUR MIDST LEAD TO CONVERSION, IT LEADS TO VOCATION AS WELL. CHRISTIANS’ OR DISCIPLES OF JESUS VOCATION IS TO DISCERN WHERE GOD IS WORKING IN OUR MIDST/OUR WORLD AND JOIN GOD THERE!  

Where does one see God at work in our midst or in the world? Do you remember when “random acts of kindness” were being promoted? For instance, if you were putting money in the parking meter for your car, you might consider doing the same for a total stranger. I also remember when there were “anonymous donors” and it was in vogue in the church to give gifts secretly. Now, it seems, everyone wants to be recognized for their gifts and have their names on a plaque.

(Dan Kimball shares a story in his book, They Like Jesus But Not the Church – Insights from Emerging Generations,

“I love another thing which Molly said which gives me hope. She was a practicing Hindu at the time she was befriended by her Christian roommates and eventually began coming to our church. She thought churches would all be homogenous and not allow cultural diversity. She thought a church would judge her because she was a Hindu. She thought females would not be respected in the church and was surprised to find that they were. As a poet and an artist, she was pleased to see that poetry and art could be used in a worship gathering. One night she put her faith in Jesus and believed in the gospel as the power to change her life and give her hope not just in the afterlife but here in this life. She ended her beliefs in the gods and goddesses of Hinduism and instead believed in the saving grace of Jesus.

Molly said that she is amazed she is a Christian because she would never have guessed that she would become one. But she did because Christians with missional hearts, who befriended her and cared for her not because they saw her as a target but because they cared about her and liked her, lived out the gospel to her. {Said Molly} ‘I wish I would have known earlier that not all Christians are such jerks. I had no idea. Maybe I would have believed in Jesus earlier.’” 

TRANSITION: The Christian’s vocation is discerning where a gracious God is at work in the world and in our midst and joining God there.

The Kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed . . . is like yeast . . .

The Kingdom of heaven is both present and future. The Kingdom of heaven comes whether we or the world are ready or not. Grace abounds whether we are ready to receive it or not. Mercy is around us like freshly baked bread. Joy is already here in full measure among you.

Do you discern God at work in our midst? Do you discern God at work in the world? Join God there. That is your vocation.