Stories of Us: The Tell-Tale Talent

Today we’re going to finish up our series looking at a few of Jesus’ parables to see what kind of lessons they hold for us today.

This morning we’re going to look at a story known as the parable of the talents. The translation I’m using this morning doesn’t use the word “talent”, but that is the traditional name for the parable because the traditional translations refer to talents. A talent, by the way is a weight of measure. When used to discuss money, as it is in Jesus’ parable, it referred to a talent, or a specific weight, of silver coins. A talent equals about 56 kilograms. So today, a talent of silver would be worth around $56,000.

The parable of the talents may be familiar to you. Maybe you’ve heard sermons preached on this passage. Actually, I used this passage for the first sermon I ever preached. And I think I’ve preached on it 2 or 3 times since then. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find those sermons, so I had to write a new one.

Let’s look at the scripture:

Matthew 25:14-30

New Living Translation (NLT)

¹⁴ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. ¹⁵ He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

¹⁶ “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more.¹⁷ The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. ¹⁸ But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

¹⁹ “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. ²⁰ The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

²¹ “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²² “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

²³ “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

²⁴ “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. ²⁵ I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

²⁶ “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, ²⁷ why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

²⁸ “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. ²⁹ To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away. ³⁰ Now throw this useless servant into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

The problem with Bible passages that are very familiar to us and we’ve heard preached several times is that we tend to think we know the verses and know what they say to us. So we are apt to tune out (after all, I’ve heard this before) but when we do that, we miss things. We assume that we’ve learned what we can from that story, so we just hear the same things we’ve always heard.

I had that problem the first time I preached about this parable. I was taking part in a Lay Speaking class and we had to write and preach a 5 minute sermon based on this scripture. I read it and as I did I read about a man giving money to 3 servants. 2 servants invested it, used it, and it grew. The other buried his, ignored it. I read about 2 servants who used their talents, their gifts, and one who didn’t. Because that’s the way I’d always read that story, or heard it taught and preached. So I sat and tried to figure out some new way to preach about these servants and their talents and the one who wasted his and was punished for it.

Then I decided to read a different interpretation of the passage. I had a copy of The Message, so I read it from that interpretation of the Bible. As I read this familiar story in fresh words, I heard it in a way I’d not heard it before. It took on a new meaning. Let me read the end of the story from The Message.

“The [last] servant… said, ‘Master, I know you have high standards and hate careless ways, that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.’

“The master was furious. ‘That’s a terrible way to live! It’s criminal to live cautiously like that! If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest.

“‘Take the thousand and give it to the one who risked the most. And get rid of this “play-it-safe” who won’t go out on a limb. Throw him out into utter darkness.’

Last week, we looked at the parable of the sower, and I talked about God sowing in the risky places. God scatters the Gospel on all the world. Not just in good soil where it is guaranteed to grow and produce fruit, but even in the rocky places and along the well worn path and among the thorns. God sows in the risky places and calls us to do the same. To step out in faith and risk failure in order to reach a lost and hurting world.

Thinking in terms of taking risks in faith makes me think of another story about Jesus. The disciples are in a boat on the Sea of Galilee. They were crossing the sea at night, and they see what they think is a ghost and they start to freak out a little. Then they hear Jesus’ voice. “It’s me, don’t worry.” Peter’s still not sure. He tells Jesus, “If it’s you, call me to you.” And Jesus calls him out of the boat. And Peter steps out onto the water. After a while he began to sink, and because of that this story becomes a story of lack of faith. But Peter doesn’t look like the one lacking faith to me, because where are the other 11 disciples? They never moved. They stayed in the boat. Talk about a lack of faith.

Dr. Ernest Campbell was the pastor of Riverside Church in New York City. He once said, “The reason that we lack faith is that we are not doing anything that requires it.” It didn’t require any faith on the part of the disciples to sit in that boat. It doesn’t require any faith to sit in these chairs, to sing songs, to listen to a sermon. Coming to church on a Sunday morning in Alabama, I don’t think we can call that taking a risk.

So, what does that risk look like?

I don’t know if any of you listen to This American Life. A couple of years ago they told a story of someone sowing in risky places. Twenty years ago, Agnes Wilcox began taking acting troupes and performing Shakespeare for prisoners around St. Louis, MO. Eventually that led to having the prisoners themselves perform the plays. It’s not a ministry, per se, in that it is not affiliated with any religious organization. But it has reaped fruit. The inmates interviewed on This American Life talked about how this program has brought them face to face with their own crimes; it has helped them to realize the pain and suffering they have caused others. The program has helped to rehabilitate hardened criminals. That is some risk: teaching Shakespeare to murderers and rapists. But for 20 years, the Prison Performing Arts program has “help[ed] inmates learn the life skills that prepare them to become productive, creative, and law-abiding citizens.”

So what does that have to do with a parable about a master, his servants, and some money? Let’s think about our parable today, not in terms of money, but in terms of the Gospel. Three disciples are given the Gospel message – stories of Jesus, compassion, the bread of life and the cup of salvation. One tells the stories and soon 5 new disciples are telling stories and making new disciples. A second shows compassion to someone and that person became a disciple and went on to show compassion to others and make more disciples. The third with the bread and the cup took them home, and put them in a cabinet.

So how are we to live while we wait for Jesus’ return? We are not called to bury the gospel, to hide it from the world, but to share it. Or maybe we could use another image. Maybe we can think about the image of the church with closed doors. Because if we keep the gospel in this room or in this building, then we are burying it. We’re hiding it from the world instead of taking it out and sharing it. And if we hide it, we’ll never make new disciples.

Instead, we need to open our doors to the world. But just because we open the doors, doesn’t mean that people are going to come and hear the gospel. After all, there’s no risk in opening the doors and just preaching a little louder. Hoping that people will hear and want to come in.

But if we get out of here and take the stories and the compassion and the bread and the cup to the world, that takes risk. In order to do that and do it well, we have to take risks.

The mission statement of the North Alabama Conference of the UMC is “Every church challenged and equipped to grow more disciples of Jesus Christ by taking risks and changing lives.” And that is our calling. We are called to make more disciples, and the truth is, we’re not going to do that by playing it safe. We’re not going to fulfill that mission by sitting back and wait for people to come to us. We’re not going to make more disciples without trying. Without stepping out of the boat and trusting Jesus.

It comes down to the difference between going to church and being the church. If all we do is come here, sing some songs, listen to the bald guy, and go home feeling better about ourselves. Well, then this isn’t a church. It’s simply a social club with a motivational speaker.

So let’s be the church. Let’s take the gospel out of here and into the world. Let’s take the gift we’ve been given and share it and watch it grow!

Stories of Us: Much Ado About Sowing

3 of 4 in a series of sermons on Jesus' parables.
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Much Ado About Sowing

We are continuing our series on the parables of Jesus. In these parables, Jesus told stories of everyday life in 1^st century Judea, but used them to teach his followers, and, as we saw last week, sometimes his enemies. We are examining some of these stories to see what lessons they hold for us in the 21^st century. Let’s look at this week’s parable.

Matthew 13:3-9; 18-23

New Living Translation (NLT)

13 ³ He told many stories in the form of parables, such as this one:

“Listen! A farmer went out to plant some seeds. ⁴ As he scattered them across his field, some seeds fell on a footpath, and the birds came and ate them. ⁵ Other seeds fell on shallow soil with underlying rock. The seeds sprouted quickly because the soil was shallow. ⁶ But the plants soon wilted under the hot sun, and since they didn’t have deep roots, they died. ⁷ Other seeds fell among thorns that grew up and choked out the tender plants.⁸ Still other seeds fell on fertile soil, and they produced a crop that was thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times as much as had been planted! ⁹ Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

¹⁸ “Now listen to the explanation of the parable about the farmer planting seeds: ¹⁹ The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts. ²⁰ The seed on the rocky soil represents those who hear the message and immediately receive it with joy.²¹ But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word. ²² The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. ²³ The seed that fell on good soil represents those who truly hear and understand God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

How familiar are you with Starbucks? You know the coffee place? I’ll give you some background. Starbucks was founded in 1971 in Seattle, WA. They began with a single store that sold only coffee beans. They opened their first locations outside of Seattle in 1987. In 1994, Starbucks had 300 stores in the US. Today there are over 13,000 locations in the US and more than 20,000 worldwide (in 61 countries). They employ over 149,000 people worldwide. In 2012, their total sales were over $13 billion. They are currently the largest coffeehouse chain in the world.

To say Starbucks is popular would be an understatement. There has been a rumor in Florence for a few years now that Starbucks wants to open a store here. When you talk to certain people about it you can almost see them drool as they ponder the possibility. In many cities, realtors have begun putting ‘close to Starbucks’ in their ads alongside ‘hard-wood floors’ and ‘good schools’. I found one website with 2 ads mentioning proximity to Starbucks. People will actually pay extra for a home within walking distance of a Starbucks store.

There are several factors behind the company’s success. One is the ‘cool’ factor, because everybody knows that Starbucks is the ‘cool’ place to buy coffee. That, of course goes straight to their marketing successes. Another secret to their success is, to put it in real estate terms, ‘Location, location, location.’ Starbucks spends lots of money and lots of resources on picking the best locations for their stores. They do exhaustive research before making a selection.

Arthur Rubenfeld is a former Executive Vice President for Real Estate at Starbucks; he gives several examples of the research they do. They send consultants to stand at a location with a clicker during peak times to count traffic. Oil stains in the parking lot tells him that an area gets lots of traffic. More suits and jackets at a local dry cleaner tells him that it is a higher income area than if there were a majority of shirts. There are other things they look for as well, but all of these things go into picking the best locations, the locations that show the best potential.

They study and research relentlessly to find the best locations, and because of this rigorous process, they choose locations that are much more likely to be successful. They put tons of time and resources into finding good soil.

Contrast that with the sower in today’s scripture. This parable is likely familiar to you. You’ve probably heard it preached before. Maybe you’ve heard it taught, as I have heard and taught that the focus of the parable is on the soils. The four types of soil represent types of people and we, of course, want to be good soil. This story is sometimes called the Parable of the four soils or the Parable of the Miraculous Yield. Jesus, though, calls it ‘The Parable of the Sower’ or ‘The Parable of the Farmer’. That tells us that this parable is first and foremost about the sower. If the sower is the subject, then we need to look at what the story tells us about the sower.

That depends on your interpretation of the parable. Let’s look at it on these terms: The sower is God. The seed is Jesus or the Word made flesh. The different soils are different life conditions.

In that context, there is an important idea I want to examine. God scatters the seed, Jesus, on the world. But this is not a strategic, row-by-row planting. Our scripture says that the farmer “scatters the seed.” It seems almost wasteful. A frugal farmer would want to ensure as successful a planting as possible. A frugal farmer would plant only in good soil. She would do everything possible to make sure the soil was good. (like research extensively). She would go to great lengths to make sure that the seed land in that good soil.

The planting described in the parable is known as broadcasting. You’ve probably seen a broadcaster, especially if you’ve ever spread grass seed. You walk along and turn the crank and seed are cast out in every direction. In 1^st century Judea, they didn’t have broadcasters. Instead, the farmer would walk along and throw handfuls of seed out into his field. Now some of those seed would probably land out of the field; on the path, on rocky soil, among weeds. It would likely be very few seeds, though. In Jesus’ story, it almost seems as if the seed are divided in fourths. As if equal amounts fall on the different soils. But despite the seed falling in areas where it may not thrive, the sower continues to spread the seed. God continues to spread the Word. God continues to sow generously, even in the unpromising places.

Has anyone taken Disciple Bible Study. Each lesson typically asks 3 questions about the scripture readings for that week. “What does this say about God?” “What does it say about us humans?” and “What does this say about the relationship between God and humans?” So, let’s examine this story in terms of those questions.

To make it a little more concrete, let’s look at Jesus’ ministry, specifically his time with the Disciples, as it relates to the parable. This will give us an idea of, not only what the parable says about God, but also what it says about us.

The first seed mentioned falls along the path. Jesus says this represents those who do not understand the Word. That’s the best description of the disciples I’ve heard. Half of our scripture this morning is Jesus explaining this parable to the disciples. They spent much of their time with Jesus asking him to clarify his teachings or just plain misunderstanding him.

The second group of seed falls on rocky ground. The hearer receives it with joy, but it only endures for a while. When persecution and trouble come along, they fall away. Again, it’s a pretty accurate description of the Disciples. Upon Jesus’ arrest, they scattered. They spent the next few days hiding in fear. Some of them went back to their jobs as fishermen.

The third group of seed fell among the weeds. In these people the Word is received, but is choked out by the cares of the world. Maybe we see Judas in this group. Or the whole group of disciples as they argue over who is the greatest. Or James and John when their mom goes to ask Jesus if they can be his right hand men when he comes to power.

You know what? If we are honest, I think we can see each of these soil types or each of these life conditions in our own lives. Probably not all at once, maybe not now, but I know I can identify times in my own life when any one of these was true.

What does this parable say about us? It says we are going to slip. We’re going to misunderstand Jesus. We’re going to find ourselves running from Jesus sometimes. We’re going to let life push us away from Jesus.

What does this parable tell us about God? It tells us that despite all of that, God does not give up on us. Despite the disciples’ failings, Jesus still sent them out to preach the gospel. Despite the bad soil they showed time and again, he saw the potential for good soil – the potential for a miraculous harvest. Despite our failings, God asks the same of us. Go, make disciples, baptize, teach, and remember. God continues, through the Holy Spirit working in our lives and through us, to spread the word on all 4 of these soil types.

This parable tells us that God is not like Starbucks – spending time and resources trying to find the best soil. God simply casts the seed of Jesus on the world. Jesus invested his ministry in the Disciples, which if you didn’t know the end of the story could be a little discouraging. He spent much of his time with sinners and tax-collectors; lepers and other outcasts. But in this parable, Jesus still looks forward to an abundant harvest. And hind-sight being 20/20, I’d say he was right. What started with about 120 followers just after the resurrection has grown to more than 2 billion Christians today. That is a miraculous yield.

There is something else this passage tells us about us. Maybe there’s another way to look at this parable. What if we look at it in terms of our own evangelism? Evangelism comes from the Greek work euaggelion, which means good news. Evangelism is, at its simplest, telling people about Jesus. Whether that is inviting people to church or simply telling people about your church. Telling people who Jesus is to you and what Jesus has done for you. That’s evangelism. Telling the good news.

Most of the time our approach to evangelism looks like Starbucks’ approach to new stores. We want to make sure it will be successful before we start. Sometimes that means we don’t talk about Jesus because of where we are and who we’re with. We, like Starbucks, want to find the good soil and throw seed on it. But that’s not what this parable teaches. This parable doesn’t teach us to be selective with the gospel. Our sower, God, sows the Word on everyone. The 4 types of soil represent all walks of life. God spreads the word to them all. That’s risky. Sowing where you know growth is unlikely is a risk. But we are called to do likewise. We are called to carry the gospel with us where ever we go, even, or maybe especially, in those areas where we think growth is unlikely.

What does the parable say about our relationship with God? Firstly, it tells us that God will pursue us even in the rocky places or among the thorns or along the well-worn path. And second, because of our relationship with God, we are called to take the word to just those places, wherever they may be.

So, what is the “take home” from this parable? We are called to share the gospel just as the farmer scatters seed – extravagantly and indiscriminately, not judging which places and people are worthy of the good news and which are not. In other words, take the gospel with you everywhere you go. In word and in deed, always  

Stories of Us: Of Guests & Tenants

We are continuing our series looking at some of Jesus’ parables. We’re examining these 1^st century stories to find what truths they hold for 21^st century believers. Last week we talked about a parable as a comparison. The Greek word from which we get the word parable means, literally, “to cast down beside.” As if we are placing two things side-by-side to compare them. But it is not a compare and contrast sort of comparison. It is a way to learn about something you may not understand by comparing it to something you understand. And that is what Jesus did with these parables. He took stories from everyday life, “ripped from the headlines” sorts of stories, and used them to illustrate his point.

Today we’re going to look at 2 parables that teach us about God’s grace.

Matthew 21:33-43

New Living Translation (NLT)

³³ “Now listen to another story. A certain landowner planted a vineyard, built a wall around it, dug a pit for pressing out the grape juice, and built a lookout tower. Then he leased the vineyard to tenant farmers and moved to another country. ³⁴ At the time of the grape harvest, he sent his servants to collect his share of the crop. ³⁵ But the farmers grabbed his servants, beat one, killed one, and stoned another. ³⁶ So the landowner sent a larger group of his servants to collect for him, but the results were the same.

³⁷ “Finally, the owner sent his son, thinking, ‘Surely they will respect my son.’

³⁸ “But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’ ³⁹ So they grabbed him, dragged him out of the vineyard, and murdered him.

⁴⁰ “When the owner of the vineyard returns,” Jesus asked, “what do you think he will do to those farmers?”

⁴¹ The religious leaders replied, “He will put the wicked men to a horrible death and lease the vineyard to others who will give him his share of the crop after each harvest.”

⁴² Then Jesus asked them, “Didn’t you ever read this in the Scriptures?

‘The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see.’

⁴³ I tell you, the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a nation that will produce the proper fruit.

This parable is part of an exchange between Jesus and the Temple leadership. It comes just a day after Jesus stormed through the Temple clearing out the moneychangers and people selling animals for sacrifice. So it’s a tense situation.

Traditionally this parable is seen as an allegory. An allegory is a story where each character represents something or someone.

In this, the ‘parable of the wicked tenants’ the landowner represents God. The tenants are the Priests, Pharisees, and scribes; the very people to whom Jesus tells the story. The servants represent the various prophets throughout the centuries. They came to collect the fruits of God’s covenant with Israel and were persecuted or killed. The son, of course, represents Jesus. God’s final effort to collect from the evil tenants. The new people who will produce that Jesus talks about are Christians.

This is the way we tend to hear this story. “Those evil Pharisees and Sadducees. It’s a good thing we Christians came along to set things right.”

I want to offer an alternate interpretation. Because something gets lost in that interpretation. That something is us. Christians.

Yes, I mentioned Christians as the “new people,” I think if we accept that we’re giving ourselves a little too much credit. If we take that interpretation, we assume that we are producing proper fruit, and we’re really no better than the temple leaders who probably assumed they were the good and virtuous land owner. And, honestly, I think if we look at this story strictly as an allegory, we miss the point.

Having said that, here’s what I hear when I read this parable. I read about a landowner who is more than patient, more than merciful. I think I might have sent a troop of soldiers after the first group of servants. Not this land owner. In fact, Jesus never says that the land owner sent troops or killed the tenants at all. The temple leaders assume that. I also see a group of tenants who are unfaithful. They made a deal, a covenant, with the owner. They would farm the land and produce fruit. They would return some of that harvest to the owner. Instead they renege. They decide they don’t want to give anything back. In fact, they decide the land is theirs. They are the ones doing the dirty work, after all. They’ve claimed the vineyard as their own. It’s a hostile takeover. A rebellion. Their purposes have taken precedence over the purposes of the owner.

As I read this story, it leads me to wonder where I fit in the story. I’m not the owner. I’m not one of the servants. Definitely not the son. I have, more than once, put my own needs and plans ahead of God’s. I have broken my covenant. I have neglected my call and as a result not produced the fruit of the kingdom. And so, I think of all the characters in the story, that’s where I see myself – as an evil tenant. There’s another way I’m like these evil tenants. More than once the landowner had the chance to get rid of these tenants. But he didn’t do it. He kept trying to reach them. He kept pursuing them. Just like they experienced the grace of the landowner, I have experienced God’s grace. Despite my failures, God continues to reach out to me. Continues to pursue me. It is by that grace that I can see my true role in this story. It’s through God’s grace that I can change my role and produce fruit.

Above all else, this is a story of failure and grace. A story of God’s determined pursuit of us, the wicked tenants. It’s a story of how God’s grace moves us from being like those evil tenants to being the people who produce proper fruit.

The second parable is another story of grace. A different look at God’s grace.

Matthew 22:1-14

New Living Translation (NLT)

22 Jesus also told them other parables. He said, ² “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. ³ When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come!

⁴ “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ ⁵ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. ⁶ Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them.

⁷ “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. ⁸ And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. ⁹ Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ ¹⁰ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was filled with guests.

¹¹ “But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for a wedding. ¹² ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without wedding clothes?’ But the man had no reply. ¹³ Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind his hands and feet and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

¹⁴ “For many are called, but few are chosen.”

A wedding with no guests. Servants are killed. Cities are destroyed. Then the king tells his servants to invite everyone they find to the banquet. So they invite everyone. The good and the bad. We have a wonderful story about grace. The guests who come to the banquet did nothing to deserve their invitation. They were simply in the streets when the invitation came. And now they enjoy a banquet fit for a king! Grace!

And it’s easy to parallel that story to our own salvation. We are all offered the gift of salvation. Everyone. The good and the bad. When we accept that gift, we accept Jesus as our savior and we are redeemed. We are made righteous in the sight of God. End of story. Amen. Or not. The parable Jesus tells doesn’t end there.

The king finds one guy who is not wearing his wedding robe. So he goes to ask him why not. “Friend, where is your wedding robe?” The man had no answer. No excuse. So the king has his servants throw him out into the cold, dark night. But before that he tells them to bind him hand and foot. Then throw him out.

Seems like a harsh punishment, doesn’t it? Why is this man not dressed for the occasion? And why is his punishment so severe? Probably an even better question is what does this tell us about God?

Several weeks ago, I talked about cheap grace. Do you remember cheap grace?

German theologian Dietrich Bonheoffer defined it this way: “cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ." He said the attitude of cheap grace is one that says, “Of course you have sinned, but now everything is forgiven, so you can stay as you are and enjoy the consolations of forgiveness.” Bonheoffer taught about costly grace. Grace that requires change.

What if we look at the wearing of a wedding robe as an act of obedience? If being invited to the party is grace, what if wearing the robe is obedience? It is the cost of acceptance. The cost of grace. What does that say about God? What does it say about grace? What does it say about how we are to live as disciples of Jesus? In this story, we have a man unwilling to change. Ready to accept the king’s invitation, but unwilling to change himself. Grace requires repentance. It requires change.

Oscar Wilde wrote a poem called “The Doer of Good” that offers great examples of cheap grace. He tells of Jesus going into a town and seeing a beautiful mansion. A house that is opulent beyond belief. Jesus sees a man gorging on food and wine. He asks him why he lives so extravagantly. The man recognizes Jesus. And tells him, “I was a leper and you healed me. How else should I live?” Then Jesus goes outside and sees a beautiful woman dressed in flashy, crude clothes – a lady of the night. Wilde writes:

And behind her came, slowly as a hunter, a young man who wore a cloak of two colors. Now the face of the woman was as the fair face of an idol, and the eyes of the young man were bright with lust.

And [Jesus] followed swiftly and touched the hand of the young man and said to him, `Why do you look at this woman and in such wise?'

And the young man turned round and recognized Him and said, `But I was blind once, and you gave me sight. At what else should I look?'

And [Jesus] ran forward and touched the painted raiment of the woman and said to her, `Is there no other way in which to walk save the way of sin?'

And the woman turned round and recognized Him, and laughed and said, `But you forgave me my sins, and the way is a pleasant way.'

In these stories we see that despite our failings, God offers grace. The free gift of salvation through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. But while God’s grace is freely given, we cannot truly respond to that grace without being changed. We cannot accept the invitation of salvation without changing from the clothes of our old life into our celebration clothes!

The truth is that we, just like the tenants in the first parable, are a short step away from evil. We are also one step away from the peace that passes all understanding, one step away from the love that cannot fail.  God pursues us, is determined that no should be lost. But the choice is ours. The good news is that despite our failings, God’s grace is available. 

Stories of Us: A Tale of Five Kingdoms

This week we started a 4 week series on the parables of Jesus. Here is this week's
(1/6/13) message.
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This week we are starting a four week series of sermons on the parables of Jesus. We’re going to examine several of Jesus’ parables and look at what these 1^st century illustrations tell us about life for 21^st century Christians.

Before we talk about specific parables, I want to tell you a little about parables in general.

For those of you who have been in church most of your life, you grew up in Sunday school and at Vacation Bible School, you probably have a good idea of what a parable is. If you didn’t grow up in church, you have probably heard about parables, too. One of the things we hear about Jesus, time and time again, is that he taught using parables. Many of the most well-known and beloved stories from the Bible are parables told by Jesus. Parables were not unique to Jesus. They were common before and after Jesus’ life on earth. They are still common today. In their simplest terms, a parable is a story used to make a point or illustrate an idea.

The word parable comes from the Greek word parabolē (pä-rä-bo-lā') – which is a combination of two Greek words para – beside and ballo – to throw. It means, literally, to throw beside, or to place something beside another. In other words, it’s a way to compare things. But it’s not a compare and contrast sort of thing. It’s more like trying to explain the solar system to a young child. You need to compare it to something they understand, like a basketball and marbles. So with a parable, you use things people understand to explain concepts or make a point that you are trying to help them understand.

One of the comparisons Jesus made most often with his parables was to the Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven. Many of his parables began with the phrase “The kingdom of Heaven is like…” That was usually followed by a short example or a long story. Today, we’re going to look at a few of these parables.

Matthew 13:31-33; 44-50

New Living Translation (NLT)

³¹ Here is another illustration Jesus used: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed planted in a field. ³² It is the smallest of all seeds, but it becomes the largest of garden plants; it grows into a tree, and birds come and make nests in its branches.”

³³ Jesus also used this illustration: “The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

⁴⁴ “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.

⁴⁵ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. ⁴⁶ When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

⁴⁷ “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind.⁴⁸ When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. ⁴⁹ That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, ⁵⁰ throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 

So here we have 5 rapid-fire parables, 5 parables about the ‘kingdom of heaven’ or the ‘kingdom of God.’ Here Jesus gives us a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. And that’s good, because each week, we pray, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as in heaven.” What exactly are we asking for?

Before we talk about the parables I want to say something about the phrase “The Kingdom of Heaven.” I mentioned this a few weeks ago, “the Kingdom of Heaven” or “Kingdom of God” doesn’t refer to geographical boundaries of a kingdom, but to the sphere of influence of a king. So the Kingdom of God is the sphere of influence of God rather than a specific location. In other words, it’s not simply a reference to heaven. So when you hear “The Kingdom of Heaven is like” you can think of it as meaning “As things go in this parable, so they go under the reign or authority of God.” Or “When God reigns it will look like this.”

Let’s look at Jesus’ description of the reign of God.

In the first two parables, Jesus talks about great things coming from humble beginnings. A mustard seed. Have any of you ever seen a mustard seed? It’s tiny, about the size of a flea. From that seed grows a plant 6-7 feet tall. A tree where, like Jesus says, birds can come and nest in its branches. He also talks about a little bit of yeast being put into a batch of bread. This is not, of course, an envelope of “Dry Active Yeast” from Publix. It is more accurately referred to as leavening. It was a piece of dough from a previous loaf of bread. This piece was torn off before baking and set aside. It was left there to rot. To ferment. That leavening would then be added to the next batch of bread the baker made.

This little bit of leavening, added to 3 measures of flour would make enough bread for about 100 people to eat. Again, great things from humble beginnings.

But this is more than two stories of big things coming from small things. A mustard plant, in 1^st century Judea, was a weed. It was wild and hard to control. It was a nuisance. Maybe it was the kudzu of their time. And Jesus uses this as an example of the Kingdom of Heaven. And then there is the yeast.

It was not unusual to use leavening as a metaphor in Jesus time. But, just like the mustard plant, it was not typically a positive symbol. It was usually used to symbolize corruption and impurity – after all, you’re talking about a rotten piece of dough. Here it is used to symbolize the spread of God’s kingdom throughout the world. Again, quite an unexpected image to equate to the kingdom of heaven.

Next we have two parables that compare the Kingdom of heaven to something precious and valuable. First Jesus tells of a man who finds treasure buried in a field. Obviously, this is not his field, because he immediately goes out and sells all of his possessions and buys the field and the treasure buried there.

The second story is similar. A merchant searches everywhere for fine pearls. When he finds a particularly beautiful specimen, he sells all he has and buys it.

Each story tells of someone who risks everything they have to obtain their prize. Each gives up many good things to get something great. There is a contrast in the stories as well.

In the story of the hidden treasure, the man happens upon the treasure by accident. Maybe he was working in the field, we don’t really know why he was digging in someone else’s field. But in doing so he found a treasure hidden there and , we assume, forgotten by someone. This can be true of the kingdom as well. Many have accidentally met Jesus. Simon of Cyrene simply came to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover, but he found himself carrying the cross of a stranger. This parable demonstrates, once again, that God pursues us. God longs for relationship with us.

There are also those who search and search for meaning in life. Eventually that search can, but doesn’t always, lead to Jesus. The merchant searched and searched for the perfect pearl. Finally he found it. Again, countless men and women have found Jesus after a thorough search for joy and peace.

The final parable compares the kingdom to a net. This is a dragnet. The net is dropped and then the boat drags it through the water and it picks up everything. Good fish, bad fish. 1 fish 2 fish, red fish blue fish. The net does not discriminate. In other words, Jesus tells us that the kingdom is for everyone! Yes, the good will be separated from the bad, but all are welcome. All are invited. All are pursued.

So, what do these parables mean for us? First, God wants all of us to experience the Reign of God. The kingdom is for everyone. Not only are all invited, God pursues us. God wants a relationship with us. Second, the kingdom is a treasure. It is something worth sacrifice. It is something to be valued, and it makes us valuable. Finally, it’s easy to feel small and insignificant? Sometimes we feel like a weed. Unwanted, a nuisance. But when we place our faith in Jesus Christ, when the kingdom is planted in our hearts, the Holy Spirit works in us to help us become something great. Something useful. Something valuable.

There’s something important to remember. The kingdom is now. It is both a future and a present reality. Each parable starts “The kingdom of heaven IS like…” Not “will be like.” John Wesley said, “As soon as God speaks to your heart: ‘Be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven,’ His kingdom comes. You have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Let that be your prayer. “Thy kingdom come. Bring the righteousness and peace and joy of your kingdom to me. To my family. To this church.”

Growing in Grace

Sermon from The Bridge - 12/30/2012 - "Growing in Grace"
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Do you feel like you are completely Christmas-ed out?

This week of the year elicits one of two responses. Either – “Whew! It’s finally over! Get these decorations down, now! I don’t want to hear another Christmas song until next December! I never want to see another ham. Now open up the schools and get these kids out of here!” Or – "I love Christmas. This was so much fun, let’s keep lighting the decorations until the neighbors complain. We can watch Miracle on 34^th St one more time. I can’t wait until next November so we can start this again!”

OK, how many fall into category 1 or what I call “WooHoo!”? How many in category 2 or “BooHoo”?

Well, I hate to break it to those “WooHoo” folks, but Christmas isn’t over quite yet, at least as far as the church calendar goes. We are smack in the middle of the Christmas season.

Traditionally, Christmastide is the 12 days from Christmas Day until Epiphany, which is celebrated on January 6^th. During this Christmas season, we focus our hearts on God made flesh in Jesus Christ. It is a time to reflect on what Jesus means for us. What does it mean that God entered into our lives – faced all of the joys and sorrows and hopes and disappointments that being human brings. God not only faced those things, God embraced them. In Jesus, we see God’s relentless pursuit of us. The lengths to which God will go to redeem us. God sent Jesus to redeem humanity. To bring us back into right relationship with God. To reconcile our relationship. And for all who believe, they have eternal life – a life full of love and hope – a life lived in faith, a life lived empowered by the Holy Spirit.

This morning we’re going to look at one of the ways God, through the life of Jesus embraced all of the ups and downs of being human.

Before I read, though, I have a question, and I want you to be honest. How many of you have ever left one of your children behind? Left them at a gas station? Lost them in the mall? Accidently left them at home?

I want us to watch a video that’s going to set up our scripture this morning.

*video*

So, can anyone relate to that? Believe it or not, it leads us into our scripture for this morning.

Luke 2:40-52

New Living Translation (NLT)

⁴⁰ There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. ⁴² When Jesus was twelve years old, they attended the festival as usual. ⁴³ After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, ⁴⁴ because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

⁴⁵ When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. ⁴⁶ Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. ⁴⁷ All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

⁴⁸ His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

⁴⁹ “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they didn’t understand what he meant.

⁵¹ Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

⁵² Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

Growing up, I loved to go to the mall with my mom. While my mom looked at clothes, my brother and I would hide in the racks of clothes. We would try to scare her, make her think she’d lost us. The circular ones were the best, because we could climb under the clothes into the center and just sit there and giggle and listen to her call our names as she looked for us.

Well, one time, I lost my mom. I was probably 8 or 9 years old and somehow, I lost her. It was around Christmas and the mall was packed. It’s a really vague memory for me. I remember crying and I remember how crowded the mall was. It was around Christmas, and my memory is of thighs and hips everywhere. I was short, and the people were shoulder to shoulder. Eventually a woman about my mom’s age saw me crying and helped me look for my mom. It was probably 5 maybe 10 minutes, but it seemed like a lifetime. I was scared and embarrassed.

My mom was scared, too. I’ve had brief moments of losing my kids. It’s amazing how many thoughts – horrible thoughts – your mind can conjure in less than a minute. I cannot imagine what my mom thought in those 10 minutes. Imagine that times 400. That’s what Joseph and Mary experienced. 3 days. It took them half a day to realize he was gone, then they kept travelling for a day looking for him in their caravan of pilgrims. Then travelled a day and a half back to Jerusalem. When they find him in the Temple, Mary’s frustration comes through. “Why have you done this to us?”

There’s an interesting line at the end of this passage. After they returned to Nazareth, Luke’s gospel tells us that Mary “stored all of these things in her heart.” The NRSV says that Mary “treasured” these things in her heart. That sounds right for a parent. Your son gets lost, smarts off to you when you find him, and you “treasure those things in your heart.” All of these experiences, even (or maybe especially) the scary ones, help to make us who we are. The same is true of Jesus. Twice in this passage we are told that Jesus grew. In fact, the story is sandwiched between those statements.

Verses 40 and 52 both tell us that Jesus grew. “the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.” And “Jesus grew in wisdom and in years and in favor with God and all the people.” Throughout our lives, we are growing. We grow in years, and hopefully we grow in wisdom, and we grow in favor with God and with people. I think this offers us a good guideline for our own spiritual growth. We can look at our spiritual growth in terms of these four areas of growth.

First we need to establish what is meant by spiritual growth. 2 Peter ends with this instruction: “Be on guard so that you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” Paul’s letter to the Colossians says this: “Take off the old human nature with its practices and put on the new nature, which is renewed in knowledge by conforming to the image of the one who created it.”

If we are to grow spiritually, we grow more and more into the image of God.

So from our guideline for growth, how do we grow into the image of God? First, we grow in years. In other words, it takes time. We can’t make ourselves or renew ourselves into the image of God. It is only by the Holy Spirit working in us. And it is something that takes time. We can open ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit. Through prayer, Bible Study, worship and other spiritual disciplines we allow God’s grace to work in us renewing our hearts. But it is not an instantaneous renewal. You have to stick with it.

As we study we grow in wisdom. We grow in knowledge of God. But it is more than simply acquiring knowledge. Being wise means learning how to think carefully and act virtuously in complex situations where one is tempted to think simplistically or act recklessly. We become wise as we learn how to live as followers of Christ.

As we spend time with God and we learn how to live as followers of Christ, our relationship with God grows. As our relationship to God grows closer, we grow in favor with God. The more God knows us, the more God likes us. As we grow closer to God, we become more like God. In growing closer to God, we are being renewed into God’s image.

All of this requires growing in our relationship with others as well. We are created to be in relationship. Relationship with God, but relationship with other people as well. Regardless of what we think, we cannot do it on our own. Spiritual growth requires community.

There are four areas of growth that help renew us into the image of God. We grow in years as we spend time with God in prayer, reading the scriptures, worshiping. We grow in wisdom as we learn more about God and how to live as followers of Christ. We grow in our relationship with God and we grow in our relationships with others as we live and worship and serve together.

As you see here these four areas of growth are a cycle. As we spend time with God, we grow in wisdom and our relationships with God and others grow. As those relationships grow, we increase in wisdom. And so on and so on. All of which leads us to becoming more like God.

This time of year, we talk a lot about change. We talk a lot about things we want to do differently. It’s resolution time!

This year, what can you resolve to do for your spiritual growth. What can you do to allow God’s grace to work in you to help you grow into the image of God?

©2012 - Scott Coats