The Parable Of the First Lost Tooth

Sermon-6 Pentecost-Proper 12-July 24, 2011
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“My God of peace, of joy and delight,
I offer you all my tears, all my ignorance.
My God of peace, of joy and delight,
I offer you all my fears and fractured promises.
You, my God, know all this, all this;
How poor I am, how small I am;
You, my God, know all this, all this.
Yet what I have, my God, I give to you.”
[Paul Verlaine 1844-1896]
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
He put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 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."
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.
"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.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
"Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." 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."
Our youngest granddaughter, Danielle lost her first tooth (it would be a nice thing if you asked her to show you). I was telling this to my mother and she told me the story of my losing my first tooth. When my tooth was ready to come out it wasn’t quite there, and it was hanging on by a thread. But I wouldn’t let anyone near it, or pull it (afraid it would hurt, I suppose). My mother said it was pretty disgusting kind of hanging out of my mouth. Everyone was telling her just to reach up and grab it, but she wouldn’t. She
decided to talk to me about it instead. So she asked if she could just touch the tooth, just to show me that it wouldn’t hurt. Then, she asked me to touch it. She kept talking to me, walking me through each step, until eventually I let her pull it out. My aunt was in the next room listening to all this, and later told my mom that she couldn’t get over and careful and patient my mother was with me-and how deeply I trusted her.
Jesus told stories, in today’s case, parables, because they stuck with people longer. We remember a story so much more than we ever recall any other kind of teaching. In today’s gospel, Jesus tells 5 short stories, 5 parables about what life is like with God, in God’s kingdom. Don’t be misled. Just because they’re short and simple, doesn’t mean that they’re easy, nor understandable at first blush.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. Many of you know this, a mustard plant is a weed. It’s not the smallest seed, and it doesn’t grow into a tree. Jesus is exaggerating to make a point. No farmer plants mustard seeds, they just grow and take over your garden, your fields-like kudzu. The people listening to this story would have expected Jesus to say that God’s kingdom would have been like the royal and stately cedar of Lebanon. Instead he uses the image of a pernicious weed to talk about what God’s world is like. This story would have surprised, maybe even shocked those hearing it. Listen carefully to each parable. In each of these stories there is a sense of mystery, of "hiddenness"-small seeds becoming huge bushes, buried treasure, yeast concealed in flour. In each of these parables there is a message of surprise and unexpectedness. We’ve heard these stories so often it’s difficult for us to hear how strange these stories were. The kingdom of God that Jesus was talking about was the extraordinary in the commonplace. But it was always unforeseen, always astonishing. The kingdom of God like a weed? These stories weren’t just surprising, they were a little offensive -insulting. Wait for it, you’ll hear it as we keep going.
“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”. Do you have any idea how much 3 measures of flour is? Its over 50 pounds! Jesus describes a woman making enough bread for over 100 people. And she mixes in to this huge mixture of dough a small piece of yeast. And this is another part of these parables-there’s not just a hiddenness in each story, there’s also an explosion, an over abundance, too. The woman doesn’t just make bread, she makes way too much bread. In each of these parables there is exaggeration, abundance, enormous quantities-the biggest bush, the most bread, the greatest treasure. God’s kingdom is overflowing, spilling over, enormous. Every parable, every one of these short stories takes something small, commonplace, everyday and then Jesus describes God’s kingdom as a cornucopia of abundance. .
A man hides a treasure in someone else’s field. And then he sells all that he has to buy that field. God’s kingdom is mysterious, and hidden; it’s abundant and explosive; and then it demands sacrifice and single-mindedness. These aren’t nice teachings about how little things can become big, or how we should look for specialness in our lives. These are radical teachings about what God’s empire is like-the extraordinary in the ordinary, the unexpected breaking through the commonplace, the incredible abundance and profusion when little was expected. And how the kingdom is revealed to those who seek it. Like Jesus. These stories are deep and layered and they’re supposed to make us think and see and wonder and realize that in God’s world things are different. Small, hidden, abundant, demanding, requiring sacrifice. This is the kingdom Jesus describes as belonging to his father-thee aren’t nice little stories-these are subversive, insubordinate, nettling little stories that would have shocked and perhaps offended those hearing them.
We just spent several days with our friends Mark and Paula. On our last night there we were talking about the funny twists and turns our lives have taken-things we didn’t see coming, didn’t expect-among other things-our friendship. We met almost 30 years ago, kind of randomly. Paula said she just assumed we would go our separate ways and never see each other again. They certainly never expected that we would be lifelong friends-or for our friendship to last. We talked about how surprising our friendship has been-and how rich. And how hard it has been to stay together over 30 years, how much work it takes to be real friends. And I thought about the parables for today-about how subversive God is-how unexpected, how the kingdom hides and explodes and overwhelms, how God is constantly overturning what I think will happen and changes my life in powerful-but what seems like ordinary ways. And how hard I have to work, how many sacrifices I have to make, if those changes are to remain.
Jesus tells 5 simple stories about how unexpected God’s kingdom is, how surprising, how profuse and abundant-and what this kingdom demands of us. The word “parable” comes from the Greek “to throw alongside,”-it’s a story that is supposed to open our eyes to a new teaching-that is deep, and powerful, and revelatory. Alyce MacKenzie says this about parables: “A rule of thumb of parable interpretation is this: identify what is strange about the parable. It is your window into the kingdom of God” . So, what do you hear when you hear afresh the story of the mustard seed? What do you learn when you think about the pearl of great price? What layers are revealed when you see in your mind the story of the yeast in the great wad of dough? That’s what Jesus was trying to get the people to understand-that the Kingdom of God was different than what they expected-abundant, surprising, commonplace-and demanding.
And so, when my mother told me the story of losing my first tooth I began to think of an incredibly patient, caring young mother and fearful little boy. And I wondered to myself, “how is this like God’s kingdom?” And “what does this teach me about God?”
Alyce Mackenzie again: “So, four strange parables, the first two about what God is doing in offering the gift of the kingdom (mustard seed, leaven), the second two, about how we are to seek and accept that gift (treasure, pearl). They are followed by an allegorical parable (13:47-50) that serves as an exclamation point to all four of them. Its message seems to be: better recognize the gift and work at accepting it…” The kingdom of God is a story that makes us realize that God is working everywhere, all around us, surprisingly, abundantly, demandingly. Where do you see God’s kingdom in your own story?

One Wild And Precious Live

Sermon-4 Pentecost-Proper 10-July 10, 2011
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Listen, we are part of the Diocese of Michigan, 82 Episcopal Church in southeastern Michigan. And because that is rather a large number, the diocese is broken down into smaller “subgroupings” called “deaneries”. So we are one of the 11 churches of the Downriver Deanery. Many of the other churches (not all) of the deanery are small and because they are small, they sometimes feel as though they are failures –disappointments-losers. We had a deanery meeting last year and several of these small churches were angry, feeling defeated, and they said, “WE NEED A PROGRAM ON CHURCH GROWTH”. So, I said that I would do it-even though I know almost nothing about growing a church.
Pease keep in mind, at this meeting were two very active Trinity members, Virg Stoltz and Patti Gearns, who have witnessed some of my more “interesting” attempts over the years at evangelism. So I wrote out for this meeting 20 concrete things a church could do to grow. And each time that I made a suggestion on growth, I told a story where I had tried something-and how it had failed. I wanted these churches to know 2 things: every success was built on several ideas, GOOD ideas, that had borne no fruit-what we call FAILURES; and that you never stop trying to grow-no matter how many disappointments, failures, or defeats. People look at Trinity and they see a wonderful church full of enthusiasm, energy and the Holy Spirit. And so it is. They see a community of faith that seems to spin gold out of straw-but what they don’t always realize is how many times we fall, how often we struggle, how frequently we are frustrated with out defeats.
Chapter 13 in the gospel of Matthew is the first time that Jesus begins using parables as teaching tools. He has used sermons, healings, exorcisms. And now he begins using parables. It says that he is so popular he has to sit in a boat out on the water to speak to the crowds that are following him. And he uses this wonderful story that most of the people, this agricultural people, would have understood. He tells them that most of his words, most of his teachings, most of his message-will not bear fruit. People will hear Jesus-and will misunderstand. Or they will get excited-but then soon leave. Or folks will hear and believe, but then life will get in their way, and they will get distracted and promise to come back later when they have more time, more energy, more resources.
Every minister I know has a million examples of people who walk into their office, or show up one Sunday in church, or even talk to them in Meijer’s saying, “I really want to come to your church, I am ready to follow Jesus, I will be there from now on.” And then you never see them again. I’ve been in groups of clergy where someone will start off with, “I had a guy once who…” And then each clergy will top that story with one of their own about someone who was so excited, or so committed-only to disappear or fall away. It doesn’t just happen, it happens all the time. And Jesus, a practical man, a worldly teacher, understood this.
Jesus feeds 5000 with little bread, he heals scores, raise many from the dead, he is Hosannaed into Jerusalem-and how many are there at the Cross? Jesus knows what it is to be loved, followed and obeyed by the people-for awhile-and then to watch them wander away.
So I was at one of these clergy gatherings many years ago, when this parable came up for discussion. And everyone was telling their stories of people who were excited by the word, or made promises, or committed themselves-only to fall away. And a long time priest, turned to us and said, “have you never been this person?” And we, stopped our stories in embarrassment. Of course we had. All of us at one time or another had been one of these people-initially excited, or superficially committed, or way in over our heads. Each of us knew that there had been times when we had been each of these soils. And there was this great silence in the ministers. And finally the old priest said, “and yet God keeps throwing seed on us.” Almost everyone here sees ourselves as the good soil in this parable, the fruitful soil. I mean, we’re here right? But we have all been each of these. And, to a degree, we still are. Our natural tendency is to look at our life now and believe that we are there. We are the mature ones, we are the ones with deep character and solid foundations. WE are the people of faith and good soil. Right?
Anna Carter Florence writes: “Maybe this isn’t about us at all—what we do, or what we see, or what kind of soil we are. Maybe it’s about what God does and what God sees. Because I look around, and I see parts of the seed that fell into the good earth, and they are yielding fruit, they are coming up and growing, and they are bearing thirtyfold, and sixtyfold, and a hundredfold, beyond what anyone ever expected. I see seeds that some in the church believed had no right to exist, yet they do, and they thrive! And I don’t think the point is to shame us into listening—they that have ears to hear, let them hear! I think the point is to shout about the good we see, and not care who hears it—they that have ears to hear, let them hear! This is not about what good soil we are, and how well we understand the divine mysteries. This is about what God is doing in staggering numbers.” And I would add-“in spite of us.”
You can look at this parable as an allegory about the church-which it is. And you can look at it as a story about each of us individually-how often we seem ready to follow, commit, pledge-only to look back years later and wonder why we were ever so enthusiastic. Thomas Merton writes in his book on this parable, “The Seeds of Contemplation”: “Every moment and every event of every person’s life on earth plants something in her or his soul. For just as the wind carries thousands of winged seeds, so each moment brings with it germs of spiritual vitality that come to rest imperceptibly in the minds and wills of men and women. “
But what I like about this parable is that God is constantly wasting himself on us. God is throwing out endless seeds on us, planting, scattering, sowing, placing in us day after day his good news, his hope, his power. No matter what kind of soil we are. No matter how often we fail. No matter how small, how immature, how childish. God keeps planting the gospel in us. When we are there and when we think we’re there.
Two last quotes that I found very powerful about this parable: Thomas Long writes: "Therefore, the church is called to 'waste itself,' to throw grace around like there is no tomorrow, precisely because there is a tomorrow, and it belongs to God" (Matthew, The Westminster Bible Companion). And Kate Huey adds “To whom does your "tomorrow" belong?”
Listen, David Lose a teacher of preachers, says that this is a mosaic that is hanging on a house in his neighborhood that says: "Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life.” David Lose
God wastes his love on us, because there is a chance that someday we will have a small piece of good soil and that good news will grow and flourish and thrive. Until then, God will keep throwing seeds at us, until our one wild and precious life bears fruit 30, and 60, and 100fold. Amen

You Didn't Do Everything

Sermon-3 Pentecost-Proper 9-July 3, 2011
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of that Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ask people their favorite Bible verses and on most folks short list will be: 11:28 "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
John Stott, The famous preacher and chaplain to the Queen tells the story of going to “South Georgia [Island], eight hundred miles east of the Falkland Islands. [They] landed at Grytyiken, which is an old abandoned Norwegian whaling station, the place where Ernest Shackleton, the famous Antarctic explorer, is buried. Here behind the disused and rusty buildings is a lovely little Lutheran church that has recently been restored. When I approached it, it was surrounded by elephant seals and king penguins. What do you think I found on the east wall of this lovely church inscribed in Norwegian? "Come unto me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest."
Go to the ends of the earth and you will hear these verses.
On any given Sunday, you have to figure that a fair number of people sitting in a congregation, you all, are carrying heavy burdens, and tired of a heavy soul. And then we hear this gospel, it is a comfort and a strength. Life can be overwhelming. The losses, failures, and fears -they can add up, and they can hold us down. I remember talking to a woman once who had just gone through a whole boatload of pain, and she angrily asked me, “where is God? How come my life isn’t better!”
I remember sitting in the hospital once and it was about the 10th day of an 18 day stay and I told Deborah that I felt like I was just barely hanging on. There are times like that. Kids, jobs, finances, money, health, family, pain-life.
For this passage to make more sense to you, you have to know something more. It’s the 11th chapter of Matthew and according to Matthew the gospel writer, Jesus has just experienced the first real rejections in his ministry. As Kate Huey writes Jesus had been :”healing the sick, raising the dead, and bringing good news to the poor. And [several] cities, we know from the edited verses (11:20-24), closed their hearts and minds to him.” Jesus is being rebuffed by the people he came to save. He came to set people free-and they didn’t want him-or his message. And then follows this wonderful passage of encouragement and hope. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
28Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light.

David Holwerda in The Lectionary Commentary “ tells us that a yoke "both restrains and enables. It is simultaneously a burden and a possibility. The question confronting humanity is, whose yoke or what yoke does one put on? No one lives without a yoke… the demands of this yoke are to love God above all and one's neighbor as oneself. Love is a gentle yoke, not burdensome or wearying, but light, easy, pleasant…. one thing more is necessary: to learn from Jesus himself how to walk the ancient paths that lead to the peace and rest of the kingdom of God and to inheriting the earth" (The Lectionary Commentary). Does love of God, and love of neighbor, feel like a "gentle yoke" to you?" or as Kate Huey (again) says, "Everyone gives their heart to something; be sure that what you give your heart to is worthy of it."
It is not easy for us to accept this blessing. We are a people who throw off yokes and demand choices, options, freedom. What are we going to celebrate tomorrow but Independence Day! It was not easy for the people of 1st century Israel to embrace the yoke of Jesus. It is not easy for us. Accepting the yoke of faith can be overwhelming to a people raised on independence and self-reliance. This morning, Jesus talks to us, you and I, right after he has been pushed away, rejected, “dissed” in the towns of Israel. And he says, “come to me, all of you, and I will help you with life, with pain, with hope.” It was not easy for the people of Israel to hear or accept. It is not any easier for us. Some here this morning are feeling overwhelmed, burdened, tired of the battle. God knows. Listen to this.
The Rev. Dr. Amy Richter tells this story of when she was a young parish priest: she was already late for the meeting. Rushing past the sexton who was putting the recycling out, she had her own arms full as she tried to get the back door of the church open. Juggling her lunch bag, laptop bag, and pocketbook, she tried to pull the door open. She knew that in the humidity the door would often stick, but this time, it just wouldn’t budge. Not wanting to set anything down, she just pulled as hard as she could, hoping the door would open and she could still make it in time. No such luck. She gave up and noticed the sexton was watching.
“Did you pull as hard as you could?” he asked. “Yes, I gave it everything I’ve got.” The sexton smiled and said, “No, you didn’t. You didn’t ask me to help you.” He walked over, took her bags off her shoulder and said, “Now try it.” The door came open on the first try.
Give it everything you’ve got. Then, when you realize that that will never open all of life’s doors for you, ask for help.
"Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
"Everyone gives their heart to something; be sure that what you give your heart to is worthy of it."