A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Nineteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:24-58 (NRSVUE)

Jesus continues to teach in parables, and we have the lengthier weeds and wheat followed by several shorter parables which each have a kind of twist to them.

Sometimes we can be pretty
vigorous in our weed pulling!

The weeds and the wheat remind us not to judge another's spiritual relationship with God, but rather to live side by side with people.  We also remember the previous parable of sowing the seed.  You never know when you might influence someone into becoming wheat!

The mustard seed and the yeast are a little surprising to a first century Jewish audience.  Mustard was considered a weed (rather than a tree) and could be seen as an invasive plant.  Jewish farmers would likely work to remove it as the Law required from Leviticus 19:19: "you shall not sow your field with two kinds of seed".

Yeast was not exactly an unclean element, but it was forbidden leading up to Passover.

It seems as if the kingdom of heaven is something that isn't domesticated or under human control.  It provides benefit to people and others in surprising ways.

The final parables seem to be about prioritizing God in our lives above other mundane things.

And then after these teachings, we see Jesus rejected by his hometown of Nazareth.  

His designation as the carpenter's son really meant, "Isn't he just a carpenter?  Why should we listen to him?"

But Jesus might be more like the mustard seed or the leaven.  Unfortunately, the people of his town miss out on the miracles because of their lack of faith.  They are not willing to sell everything to buy the field or the pearl.  They are unwilling to see beyond what they think they know.

How often do we miss out on the miraculous because of our own limited sight?  Who might we be short-changing because of how we see them?  

It could be that we are pulling weeds and unwittingly pulling up wheat!

Prayer for the day:

God, help us to have clean hearts ready inside us for the Lord Jesus, so that he will be glad to come in, gratefully accepting the hospitality of those worlds, our hearts: he whose glory and power will endure throughout the ages.  Amen.

Prayer by Origen of Alexandria, 3rd Century

Photo by Jo Zimny Photos via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.

A Lenten Reading of Matthew - Day Eighteen

Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:1-23 (NRSVUE)

Jesus was a teller of stories - he made points with parables.  The great thing about a parable is that it may have more than one point.  I've preached the parables through many years of ministry and often find new ways of seeing them as I come to them in different spaces and at different times.  

But they speak to the truth and Jesus continues to be relevant through each age.  I continue to return to the parables because you never know what new truth they will reveal until you read them again.

As we look at the parable of the Sower, this is one of the rare instances where Jesus provides an explanation.  We see that there are a variety of reasons why the seed may not take hold.  I like the fact that the Sower scatters the seed indiscriminately in the first place.  You would think that he could tell good soil from rocky soil or thorny soil or especially the path!

As we remember the Sermon on the Mount, we remember that Jesus told us not to judge.  Maybe we are not to judge who receives the seed.  Let it fall where it may.  

Who knows?  Maybe this is good soil too.

I've done a lot of weddings in my ministerial career.  Some couples seemed destined for a long and happy marriage but then for whatever reason, the marriage ended.  Others I doubted would last the year and yet they are still married and going strong.  The only judgment I try to make is whether I suspect obvious harm would be done were they to marry.  I also may make recommendations for what they might need to work on.  But for the most part, after the marriage counseling, I will officiate at their ceremony.  Because you never know what the soil really is.

This is similar to how we share the good news.  We are to proclaim the love of God to all people.  Everyone needs to hear it.  Not all will receive it.  

But you never know.

How might you express to people that they are deserving of love?  It's not something they have to earn.  In fact, there are some we would have great reservations about whether we actually believe they should receive it.  But we just scatter regardless.

Because you never know.

Maybe this says more about who we are than who they are.

Prayer for the day:

Grant me, I beseech you, my God, in the name of Jesus Christ your Son, the charity which never fails, that my light may shine, warming my own heart and enlightening others.  Amen.

Prayer by Columbanus, Italy, 7th Century  

Photo by elPadawan via Flickr.com.  Used under the Creative Commons license.