“Seeding Faith”

3^rd Lent                                                                                               03/24/19—Highland—Meute

“Seeding Faith”

Isaiah 55: 10-13; Psalm 119: 105-112; Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

Pearl: Parables are an example of how our Lord lures our faith and commitment along.

Function: Encourage and enchant worshippers by the many-layered and many-faceted dimensions of the kingdom among us to woo us along in our discipleship.

How do you like riddles? Let’s begin with a few.

1. What comes once in a minute, twice in a moment, and never in a thousand years?
   1. The letter “m”.
2. Can you name three consecutive days without using the words Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday?
   1. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow.
3. What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs?
   1. A penny.

Riddles are fun because they play with you. They coax you to think and to imagine in different ways. They ask you to see deeper and differently. This explains the parables which Jesus used to open the kingdom of heaven to people. This helps you to understand what Jesus meant when he said that it was possible to see but not see, and to hear but not hear. Such is the nature of riddles. Such is the nature of God’s realm.

1. The human mind and heart is curious and capable of so much! The reign of God is rich and deep and many faceted.
   1. Consider the beautiful gem, the diamond. It is a stone which is cut on many angles which are called facets. The more facets that are cut on a diamond the more beauty and glistening. The more color.
      1. That would be a parable of the kingdom to me. The reign of God has many facets. It has many angles. The kingdom can be seen from many sides and it can be seen in different ways.
      2. All are beautiful and add to the depth and richness. All add to the texture. The more angles seen, the more beautiful is the kingdom!
   2. As light hits a diamond it sparkles in wonderful ways. As the light of Christ shines on you and me, we come to life. It is beautiful. Jesus used parables in order to coax minds and hearts into deeper places.
      1. The word parable derives from a Greek word meaning “set side by side,” that is, compare.
      2. So Jesus used everyday things to convey aspects of the kingdom of heaven at hand.
         1. He used everyday things to open up for display the nature of the reign of God on earth.

God creatively coaxes you along toward growth in all kinds of ways and in the midst of all kinds of life situations.

Allow another clue to the nature of Jesus’ use of parables in opening up the kingdom of heaven.

1. Do you remember “display windows?” They were more common in a bygone era of retail shopping where people streamed to stores prior to cyber shopping.
   1. Shops lined streets and avenues in cities, and towns. It was fun to see what was displayed in the windows of your favorite stores.
   2. Preparing display windows is an art form. Did any of you do them?
   3. They were especially fun to see at holiday times or at the change of seasons.
   4. Their purpose was of course to get you to enter the store and to get you to make purchases.
      1. But as an art form display windows were also to engage your imagination and to motivate you.
   5. The parables of Jesus are display windows for the kingdom of heaven.
      1. They are meant to capture your imagination.
      2. They bid you to stop and think and see something or hear something or even taste something deeper, below the surface.
      3. Such is the purpose of Jesus’ parables.
      4. They are meant to draw you in and take you somewhere.
      5. They are meant to make something happen within you. Jesus used them to capture your heart and mind so that you would be motivated to follow his way, God’s way, and to experience the reign of God and to live in the way of God.
   6. The neat thing about a display window or a diamond is that all who look upon it see some things that others may not see. And all are benefitted by hearing all of those observations. All are blessed to hear the different reactions to the same window.
      1. Such is the nature of the kingdom of heaven. It is many-faceted and many-layered. There are no limits to the facets of the reign of God among us.
      2. Such is the nature of Jesus’ parables and of the parables of the kingdom that you come up with. That’s right! I encourage you to make up your own parables. As you talk to people you can make the kingdom of heaven come alive in your own ways and in your own words.
         1. I think my diamond example was just such an improvisation!

The parable of the sower who sowed seed is perfect for this time of year as spring is happening (trust me it is happening!), and the season of tilling, and planting, and farming is coming back once again.

1. This is a story that Jesus told and then actually explained to the twelve disciples. He doesn’t always explain them.
   1. And I prefer that they are not explained. Because of all the reasons I’ve just suggested.
2. In a way I think all of the parables are seeds of faith. They are seeds meant to lead to acceptance and meant to lead to lives in synch with God.
3. This is a perfect time of the year, springtime, Lent, to think about the implanted word of God growing within us and our nurturing it such that we are not distracted or dismayed or discouraged by all of the possible temptations and forces which easily thwart us.
   1. There are all kinds of life conditions and situations which can mess with our “seeds” of faith.
   2. Care for your seeds of faith relentlessly. Christ depends upon you! Who else will carry out his will? Who else will maintain his reign of life-transforming power for justice, compassion, mercy, goodness, and love?
   3. As surprising as it sounds, God actually depends upon followers of Christ to reflect the kingdom of heaven at hand.
4. The various challenges like birds, shallow ground, crowding weeds, and scorching sun will make you stronger. Believe that! As you maintain your faith in such conditions, you bear witness to the kingdom! You will increase as a strong witnesses for Jesus Christ as you endure and grow under all kinds of conditions.
   1. There are no shortage of things to endure today.
      1. Simmering hate and violence in the general culture.
      2. Divisiveness due to a lack of listening and reasoning and intellectual laziness.

• Too much attention to the wrong things and the loudest personalities.

1. At the same time, my friends, there are no shortage of good things being done by people of many and varied faith traditions.
   1. This is because Jesus scatters seeds all over the place. Those seeds of faith are growing and thriving because those seeds are kingdom seeds!

Economically speaking it takes some capital and some resources to start a business. It takes some money to make some money. In the same way it takes some faith to nurture and grow faith.

1. For you to be drawn in to a storefront window you have to like them in the first place. For you to appreciate art you must have an inkling to look at it.
   1. For you to be a useful vessel, disciple for the Christ, you have to have an inkling to follow him and his way. Faith begets faith. Belief begets belief. Obedience begets obedience.
2. God is spreading seeds of faith and seeds of his kingdom all of the time.
   1. Your tiny seed of faith is all God needs. God works wonders with tiny seeds—parable of the mustard seed (13:31). A little is plenty for the Lord.
   2. Have you noticed the massive nests birds and squirrels build by collecting thin threads of this and that?
   3. God is building heaven on earth with your faith, hope, and love.
   4. Fruit is being born by your faith, hope, and love.

What does the display window of your faith life show? Is your life proving to be a portal into God’s reign of justice on earth?

1. You might be able to decipher all of the riddles you hear. You might be able to interpret all of the parables and to explain the meaning of complex theological fine points but if your understanding does not match up with your living then you are missing the point and you are not where you should be.
2. This was the problem Jesus had with the scribes and the teachers of the law.
   1. They certainly knew the law and the prophets but their lives did not match up with what they supposedly knew and understood.
   2. You likely know the law and the prophets. But do you really know the law and the prophets?

For those who have ears to hear, let them hear; and for those who have eyes to see, let them see!

And if you are not hearing, keep listening; if you are not seeing, keep looking, because God gave everything to help you and to help everyone else to hear and to see!