Today’s Gospel is a menagerie of parables. Jesus floods the disciples with parables, and then asks if they understand. They say, YES.
Do we understand? Sometimes we say we do. Maybe we don’t want to reveal to others that we don’t really know what the Bible is saying. What Jesus is saying. So, like the disciples, we just say “Got it! Thanks.”
We could hear a sermon series on each of these parables, and still not know exactly what God is revealing. A mustard seed, barely visible, grows and overtakes the ground where the sower intended good seed. Yeast, sometimes seen as evil, can actually be deadly. The way to create the leavening agent requires the yeast to spoil. Not spoiled long enough, and the yeast is useless. Spoiled too long, and it can kill you.
Treasure in a field. A pearl of great value. The fish net. Yes, all of these parables are pointing to something. Can our modern ears hear and imagine what that might be? Perhaps we could start by looking at what we treasure. We live in the era of recycling. We determine what is trash, and what could be reused or remade into something new. Junk or garbage to me might just be treasure to you. Treasure is all about the value we place on something.
Value that we place on something requires judgment. Is it really worth something? Is it an antique, hiding behind layers of grime, ready to reveal beauty? Is it worth my time and effort to refinish, or should I trash it and replace it with something new? Our answers for these questions are subjective, depending on who we are, what means we have, and how we attribute value.
In our Gospel, Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven and what God values. God finds value in communities that grow from small seeds to overwhelming stalks. We call the mustard plant a weed, but imagine God’s delight that something dared to grow that others valued as useless. The Kingdom of Heaven is like this.
The Kingdom of Heaven can be found in precisely the places we don’t think to look. Things we deem as junk. Or antiques. Or stuff we can recycle. Trash. Useless. Weeds. Things or people we wish to ignore.
When we compare ourselves to others, or put other people down, or refuse to experience God in their words or deeds, we are missing out on the Kingdom of Heaven. The disciples say “Yes, we get it.” But do they?
Can any of us imagine the Kingdom of Heaven? Can we get beyond the value we place on things? The competition we gauge on those around us, to be better, smarter, richer, wiser?
2 The Gospel urges us to search for the fine pearls. God’s Kingdom. For we need nothing else but that fine pearl. In seeking God, we find God. The search is leading us to all that matters. The search IS what matters.
The Kingdom of Heaven is not some faraway place. The parables point to the very nearness of God. Right here on earth. Jesus’ invitation stands today, just as it did for the disciples long ago. “Have you understood all of this?”
In God’s kingdom, we all have value. Value beyond our own logic and understanding. We are invited into a holy place that we can’t see. Searching for God amidst the things we label as weeds. Junk. Seeking God in the eyes of our neighbor, instead of judging them with our thoughts or words.
Our perception of failure doesn’t match God’s value. We are invited into God’s Kingdom today, to see that God places value in one way: treasure. Even when all we see in the mirror is junk, God can see enormous potential. But often, we find ourselves comparing ourselves to others. We think we need to be recycled. Put out on the garbage pile. Or perhaps we think we are treasure, better than most of the people around us. Maybe we market ourselves to others to prove our value. We delude ourselves into thinking that we are not enough, and that we are able to do something to make us more valuable.
You are valuable in God’s eyes. I am valuable in God’s eyes. The homeless man is valuable in God’s eyes. The woman who was raped is valuable in God’s eyes. The refugee, the convict, the bitter old lady. All valuable in God’s eyes.
Why does Jesus keep telling parable after parable to his disciples, over and over?
Because we have not understood all of this. We can’t say “yes” to Jesus when he asks this question. We have not placed the most value on the true treasure: the Kingdom of Heaven. The mustard seed. The yeast in the flour. The treasure hidden in the field. The pearl of great value. The fish net. The householder’s treasure. We are invited to seek the understanding. To find the treasure in what is old AND what is new. Honoring the words of Moses, Jesus and all of our modern day prophets.
We often say you are welcome at God’s table “wherever you are in your journey of faith.” Christ’s presence is promised to us in the bread and the wine. It is an example of Christ as old and new treasure. Promises made to disciples thousands of years ago. Promises made to disciples of today. The Kingdom of Heaven is like this.
The Kingdom of Heaven messes with the way we imagine the world to be. The parables invite us to sit and imagine in a new way. The Kingdom of Heaven spreads like a pervasive weed that grows unbelievably strong, even in an environment where it is not wanted. Or valued. It is hidden, yet revealed to us. It puts on a road to what God values.
Jesus asks, have you understood all of this? Perhaps this is not a yes or no question, but an invitation to ask for help: help for understanding as we journey.