Darlin', Everyone Loves Pearls, Including Jesus

8 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 12, July 30, 2017
1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39   Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Lectionary Link

Youth Dialogue Sermon:


Caroline:  Catherine, I think Jesus must have liked jewelry.

Catherine:  And why would you say that?

Caroline:  Well, he told a parable about a person who searched for and found the perfect pearl.

Catherine:  (spinning her pearls)  Well, dawlin', everybody loves pearls so why wouldn't Jesus love them too?  But you could also say that Jesus loved fishing, horticulture, baking and writing.  He told stories about lots of things that were known in the lives of his listeners.

Caroline:  I guess you're right.  Jesus did not speak like a professor in a philosophy class, he learned to speak street language.  He learned to put wisdom into ordinary speech.

Catherine: Jesus wanted everyone to be wise.  King Solomon asked God to give him wisdom to be a good king for his people.  We are told that Solomon was the wisest person in his time.

Caroline:  But didn't he have over 1000 wives and ladies in his court?

Catherine: Yes he did and perhaps he was wise because his "think tank" had 1000 women giving him wise advice.

Caroline:  What wisdom was Jesus trying to teach people?

Catherine:  Jesus taught mainly about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven.  Since we are not a monarchy, we might say that Jesus taught about the nation of God, or the realm of God.

Caroline: Jesus taught that people could understand that they lived in the nation of God.

Catherine:  In the time Jesus,  people lived in the nation of Israel but the nation of Israel was controlled by the Roman Empire.  Everyone was living in the kingdom of the Caesar.

Caroline:  Jesus said that we could discover a kingdom and a nation greater and better than the kingdom of Caesar.

Catherine: The kingdom of the Caesar seemed obvious.  There were soldiers everywhere.  There were many signs of the kingdom of the Caesar.  What were the signs of the kingdom of heaven?

Caroline:  Jesus said that a person needed to have special seeing to understand the kingdom of heaven.

Catherine:  Yes, the kingdom of heaven is subtle.  It catches you by surprise.  It becomes known when lots of small faithful deeds accumulate to become something great.  It's like the tiny mustard seed; it goes in the ground and before you know it is a large tree supporting birds.

Caroline:  This is a very wise insight.  Character is only formed through many small deeds.  This means we need to be faithful in the every day deeds of life because we are forming our character.  The character of the kingdom of heaven becomes known when people practice love and justice.

Catherine: Yeast is but a dab of cultured flour, but a small dab of yeast will make dough rise in but a few hours.  The kingdom of Caesar came to the world with armies forcing people to obey;  the kingdom of heaven works in the small deeds of kindness and love that slowly take over.

Caroline: But let us now get to the perfect pearl.  What did Jesus mean by this?

Catherine: All of us are in search of the perfect pearl in life?

Caroline: What do you mean?

Catherine:  I mean that we are seeking to find the most important things to believe in this life.  And when we find what is most important we sacrifice other things in our lives to devote ourselves to what is most perfect.

Caroline:  Everyone needs to find the pearl in life?

Catherine: And what do you think the pearl in life is?

Caroline:  It is knowing that God created us and loves and has made us children of God who live in God's family, nation and kingdom.

Catherine: But how can we know that we are living in God's kingdom?  There are lots of bad things happening in our world.

Caroline:  Well, Jesus also told a fishing story.  When a fish net is pulled in, the fishers have to sort out what is in the net.  They have to decide what to keep and what to throw back.   The kingdom of heaven is like sorting the catch in the fish net.  We are people with freedom who must choose good values.  This means that we are always sorting through the things that we want to stay in our lives and the things that we have to discard because they are harmful.  To live as citizens in God's kingdom, we always need to be sorting out our values.

Catherine:  Always sorting out our values; this is very good advice.

Caroline:  Why did you say that Jesus told a story about writing?

Catherine:  Well, the scribes in the time of Jesus were people who were literate.  Not everyone read and so the scribes were the educated persons who could read and write.  They studied.  They read the great books were available.  The great books for the scribes were the books of what we call the Old Testament.  The scribes read the very old words of the Bible, but they also wrote new words.  They would try to understand the meaning of the old words of the Bible in their new time.  So they would write new words for people to understand what the Bible means in their lives.

Caroline:  Well, I think this is good place to finish.

Catherine:  Why is it a good place to finish?

Caroline:  Well, we today are scribes.  We read the words of the Bible.  They are very old words that have been with us for a long time.  But we take these words and we write, preach, teach and use them to inspire us to understand that even though God's kingdom is very old, it is still new and fresh.  God's kingdom can still be understood as new in our lives.

Catherine:  So all of us today are called to be wise scribes for the kingdom of heaven, even if we have bad handwriting.

Catherine:  Yes, may God help us discover how old and new the kingdom of heaven is.  And let us commit ourselves to helping everyone know that they live in God's kingdom, as citizens and children of God.  Amen.

Sunday School, July 30, 2017 8 Pentecost, A proper 12

Sunday School, July 30, 2017   8 Pentecost, A proper 12

Theme:

Citizen in the Kingdom of heaven

How does one know that one is an American citizen?  When a baby is born, does a baby know if he or she is an American citizen?  No, but as a baby grows up, a baby is taught what it means to be an American citizen.

What are signs of living in the American Nation?  Government, Flag, National Anthem, A President, a Congress, a voting democracy, a land with borders, a history of origin and many other things.

Jesus said that there is a citizenship which is bigger than being an American citizen, or a citizen of Israel or a citizen of the Caesar’s Roman Empire.

Jesus preached about the kingdom or nation of heaven.  Where is the land for the nation of God?  The entire earth.  Who are the people of the nation of God?  All people, because every person is made in God’s image even if they don’t recognize it.  What are the signs of the kingdom of heaven?  Hidden and silent success.  Just as a tiny mustard seed grows to become a tree, so the small deeds of love and faith grow to support and sustain this world.  The kingdom heaven grows in a hidden way, just like when yeast is added to dough and makes the dough rise.  The kingdom of God is like a jeweler who finds the very best pearl and sells everything to purchase the very best pearls.  When people understand that they are children of God, they give up the importance of everything else to fully explore what is means to be in God’s kingdom.  We know the kingdom of heaven when we know how to sort out what is good and bad in our lives, just like the fishers sort out the catch in their net.  They sort out what to keep and what to throw away.  The kingdom of heaven is known when we can take the old but good things written in the past and make them good once again in our lives now.  In the Bible we read about love, faith and justice in ancient times; it inspires us to speak, write and live what love, faith and justice means in our time and in our world.

Thank God today for knowing that we live in the kingdom heaven. 

Sermon

  We all like super heroes don’t we?   And we like important and famous people…. Right.  We like to be the people who get lots of attention for doing better than anyone else.  We like to get the best grades, we like to run the fastest, we like to hit the baseball the longest distance, and we like to win games.

  And sometimes it makes us think that only winners are important in life.  Only heroes are important in life.   Only the people who get the most attention in life are important.

  And when we think like this, we sometimes get sad because sometimes we don’t feel very important, because we’re always comparing ourselves with someone whom we think is better or more popular than we are.

  Jesus came and told stories about the kingdom of heaven.  Now everyone thought that the kingdom of the Caesar was the most important kingdom.  The people in Israel thought that the kingdom of David was most important, and they wanted another strong king like David to come and be their heroes.

  But Jesus came and told us about the kingdom of heaven.

  Since God created us, this world belongs to God and this world is God’s kingdom.  But many people did not recognize it.  They thought that this world was the kingdom of the Caesar, the Emperor of Rome.  We think that this world is the government of the United States, because that’s where we live.

  Jesus taught us to see this world as the kingdom of heaven, and he taught us that the small things are very important.

  The mustard seed was such a tiny seed you could barely see it with your eyes.  But the wind blew the seed everywhere and it would grow and take over the entire countryside.

  Why does bread dough puff up before it is put in the oven?  Because of Yeast.  Yeast is something that looks like a tiny amount of powder but when you put it bread dough, it makes it grow very big.

   Jesus said the kingdom of heaven is about doing all of the little things, because when you add up all of the little acts of kindness in this world, they preserve and keep our world going.

  So let’s remember, it is all of the little things in life that we do that are important.  Working at home, being kind to each person you meet, helping your friends, do your home work for school…although they don’t seem important,  Jesus reminds us that it the little things that add up and when they all are added up, we can see how they save our world.

  So let us not forget the importance of the little things that we do in our lives. If you understand the importance of small deeds of kindness, then you understand the kingdom of heaven.  Amen.

St. John the Divine Episcopal Church

17740 Peak Avenue, Morgan Hill, CA 95037

Family Service with Holy Eucharist

July 30, 2017: The Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Gathering Songs: Seek Ye First, If You’re Happy, Let the Hungry Come to Me, Oh When the Saints

Liturgist: Blessed be God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

People: And Blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever.  Amen.

Liturgist:  Oh God, Our hearts are open to you.

And you know us and we can hide nothing from you.

Prepare our hearts and our minds to love you and worship you.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Song:  Seek Ye First (Blue Hymnal, # 711)

Seek ye first the kingdom of God and its righteousness.  And all these things will be added unto you.  Allelu, alleluia.  Refrain: Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, allelu, alleluia.

Ask and it shall be given unto you, seek and ye shall find.  Knock and the door will be opened unto you, Allelu, alleluia.  Refrain

Liturgist:         The Lord be with you.

People:            And also with you.

Liturgist:  Let us pray

O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Litany of Praise: Alleluia (chanted)

O God, you are Great!  Alleluia

O God, you have made us! Alleluia

O God, you have made yourself known to us!  Alleluia

O God, you have provided us with us a Savior!  Alleluia

O God, you have given us a Christian family!  Alleluia

O God, you have forgiven our sins!  Alleluia

O God, you brought your Son Jesus back from the dead!  Alleluia

A reading from the Letter of Paul to the Romans

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Liturgist: The Word of the Lord

People: Thanks be to God

Liturgist: Let us read together from Psalm 105

Give thanks to the LORD and call upon his Name; * make known his deeds among the peoples.

Sing to him, sing praises to him, * and speak of all his marvelous works.

Birthdays:    Drew Giba, Laura Gibson, Heather Oliver, Luis Cardenas

Anniversaries:  Chris and Mary Lyngstad

Litany Phrase: Thanks be to God! (chanted)

Litanist:

For the good earth, for our food and clothing. Thanks be to God!

For our families and friends. Thanks be to God!

For the talents and gifts that you have given to us. Thanks be to God!

For this day of worship. Thanks be to God!

For health and for a good night’s sleep. Thanks be to God!

For work and for play. Thanks be to God!

For teaching and for learning. Thanks be to God!

For the happy events of our lives. Thanks be to God!

For the celebration of the birthdays and anniversaries of our friends and parish family.

   Thanks be to God!

Liturgist:         The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew

People:            Glory to you, Lord Christ.

Jesus put before the crowds 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."

Liturgist:         The Gospel of the Lord.

People:            Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Sermon – Father Phil

Children’s Creed

We did not make ourselves, so we believe that God the Father is the maker of the world.

Since God is so great and we are so small,

We believe God came into our world and was born as Jesus, son of the Virgin Mary.

We need God’s help and we believe that God saved us by the life, death and

     resurrection of Jesus Christ.

We believe that God is present with us now as the Holy Spirit.

We believe that we are baptized into God’s family the Church where everyone is

     welcome.

We believe that Christ is kind and fair.

We believe that we have a future in knowing Jesus Christ.

And since we all must die, we believe that God will preserve us forever.  Amen.

Your prayers are asked for the health and comfort of   Austin, Linda, Ann, Brooke, Carla, Kat,  Ronald, Jeffrey, Madyson, Jim, Robert,  Ruth, Katy, Kathy, Veronica, Ana Laura,  Sean, Mary N., Gabby, Nancy,  Jonathan, Pat P., Stephen R., Hayden,  Jon, Donya, Cruz,  Beth, Mary Ann P., Trish, Sage,   Jairo, Ely, John S., Ashley, Henry, Claire, Heather, Kaytlyn, Don, Sarah, Rosemary,  Kim,   Bev,  Sean, Sarat,  Howard,  Gene, Marty, Tracy, George, Helen,  Julie, Jim,  Helen, Carla, Beverly, Cindy, Judah, Ray,  Freddie, Sabrina, Doris, Charlie

Faithful Departed:  

Your prayers are asked for those in the Armed Forces:  Ethan, Josh, Nicholas, Collin, Jeremy, Luke, Harry, Joseph, Steven, David, Daniel and Eric.

Litany Phrase: Christ, have mercy. (chanted)

For fighting and war to cease in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For peace on earth and good will towards all. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety of all who travel. Christ, have mercy.

For jobs for all who need them. Christ, have mercy.

For care of those who are growing old. Christ, have mercy.

For the safety, health and nutrition of all the children in our world. Christ, have mercy.

For the well-being of our families and friends. Christ, have mercy.

For the good health of those we know to be ill. Christ, have mercy.

For the remembrance of those who have died. Christ, have mercy.

For the forgiveness of all of our sins. Christ, have mercy.

Liturgist:         The Peace of the Lord be always with you.

People:            And also with you.

Song during the preparation of the Altar and the receiving of an offering.

Offertory Song: If You’re Happy (Christian Children’s Songbook, # 124)

If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know it clap your hands.  If you’re happy and you know, then your face should surely show it.  If you’re happy and you know, clap your hands.

If you’re happy and you know it, make a high five….

If you’re happy and you know it, make a low five….

If you’re happy and you know it, shout Amen!…..

Doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures here below.

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

Prologue to the Eucharist

Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, for to them belong the kingdom of heaven.”

All become members of a family by birth or adoption.

Baptism is a celebration of our birth into the family of God.

A family meal gathers and sustains each human family.

The Holy Eucharist is the special meal that Jesus gave to his friends to keep us together as the family of Christ.

The Lord be with you

And also with you.

Lift up your hearts

We lift them to the Lord.

Let us give thanks to God.

It is right to give God thanks and praise.

It is very good and right to give thanks, because God made us, Jesus redeemed us and the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts.  Therefore with Angels and Archangels and all of the world that we see and don’t see, we forever sing this hymn of praise:

Holy, Holy, Holy (Intoned)

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of Power and Might.  Heav’n and earth are full of your glory.

Hosanna in the highest.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. 

Hosanna in the highest. Hosanna in the Highest.

(All may gather around the altar)

Our grateful praise we offer to you God, our Creator;

You have made us in your image

And you gave us many men and women of faith to help us to live by faith:

Adam and Eve, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and Rachael.

And then you gave us your Son, Jesus, born of Mary, nurtured by Joseph

And he called us to be sons and daughters of God.

Your Son called us to live better lives and he gave us this Holy Meal so that when we eat

  the bread and drink the wine, we can  know that the Presence of Christ is as near to us as  

  this food and drink  that becomes a part of us.

And so, Father, we bring you these gifts of bread and wine. Bless and sanctify them by your Holy Spirit to be for your people the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ our Lord.  Bless and sanctify us so that we may love God and our neighbor.

On the night when Jesus was betrayed he took bread, said the blessing, broke the bread, and gave it to his friends, and said, "Take, eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me."

After supper, Jesus took the cup of wine, gave thanks, and said, "Drink this, all of you. This is my Blood of the new Covenant, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this for the remembrance of me."

Father, we now celebrate the memorial of your Son. When we eat this holy Meal of Bread and Wine, we are telling the entire world about the life, death and resurrection of Christ and that his presence will be with us in our future.

Let this holy meal keep us together as friends who share a special relationship because of your Son Jesus Christ.  May we forever live with praise to God to whom we belong as sons and daughters.

By Christ, and with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory

 is yours, Almighty Father, now and for ever. AMEN.

And now as our Savior Christ has taught us, we now sing,

Our Father: (Renew # 180, West Indian Lord’s Prayer)

Our Father who art in heaven:  Hallowed be thy name.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done: Hallowed be thy name.

Done on earth as it is in heaven: Hallowed be thy name.

Give us this day our daily bread: Hallowed be thy name.

And forgive us all our debts: Hallowed be thy name.

As we forgive our debtors: Hallowed be thy name.

Lead us not into temptation: Hallowed be thy name.

But deliver us from evil: Hallowed be thy name.

Thine is the kingdom, power, and glory: Hallowed be thy name.

Forever and ever: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Amen, amen, amen, amen: Hallowed be thy name.

Breaking of the Bread

Celebrant:       Alleluia.  Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.

People:            Therefore let us keep the feast.  Alleluia!

Words of Administration

Communion Song: Let the Hungry Come to Me (Renew!  # 220)

Let the hungry come to me, let the poor be fed.  Let the thirsty come and drin, share my wine and bread.  Though you have no money, come to me and eat. Drink the cup I offer, feed on finest wheat.

I myself and living bread; feed on me and live.  In this cup my blood for you; drink the wine I give.  All who eat my body, all who drink my blood, shall have joy forever, share the life of God.

Here among you shall I dwell; making all things new.   You shall be my very own, I, your God with you.  Bless’d are you invited to my wedding feast.  You shall live forever, all your joys increased.

Post-Communion Prayer

Everlasting God, we have gathered for the meal that Jesus asked us to keep;

We have remembered his words of blessing on the bread and the wine.

And His Presence has been known to us.

We have remembered that we are sons and daughters of God and brothers

    and sisters in Christ.

Send us forth now into our everyday lives remembering that the blessing in the

     bread and wine spreads into each time, place and person in our lives,

As we are ever blessed by you, O Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Closing Song: When the Saints (Christian Children’s Songbook,  # 248)

Oh when the saints, go marching in.  Oh when the saints go marching in.  Lord, I want to be in that number, when the saints go marching in.

When the boys go marching in…..

When the girls go marching in…

Dismissal:   

Liturgist:    Let us go forth in the Name of Christ.

People:      Thanks be to God! 

Coming Events:

Thurs., August 3, 7:30 a.m.  Holy Eucharist

How Was Jesus a Philosopher?

7 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 12, July 27, 2014

1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39   Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Lectionary Link

    The word "philosophy" derives from the Greek language and is a word formed from two words.  It literally means "a friendship love of wisdom."  Making friends with wisdom.  The word philosophy expresses a way to characterize perhaps the chief goal of life, making friends with wisdom.  Making friends with wisdom is a process of life.  Wisdom is never attained because the friendship with wisdom is never finished.  The challenges of living always present to us the need for wisdom.  Wisdom is the loving and propitious application of our life information in practical actions and decisions in our lives and so we can never stop befriending wisdom and wisdom does not allow us to brag about what we thought was wise yesterday because the demands for wisdom today are varied and different.
  I think a chief facet of the ministry of Jesus was his role as a wisdom teacher.  Jesus was a multi-faceted sort of person and he understood that his verbal production had various application according to the context of the people to whom he spoke. Jesus spoke to lawyers, scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, Roman soldiers, Samaritan women, village women, fishermen, tax collectors, prostitutes, children, widows and because he had such a diverse audience, he understood that one kind of discourse did not fit every situation.  If the words of Jesus or anyone seem at times to be contradictory, it has to do with the wise understanding of how words are applied for many different kinds of circumstances for many different people.  Truly, when it comes to wise words, the cliche "one size does not fit all" is applicable and true.
  I believe that what Jesus proclaimed as the kingdom of heaven was all about learning to have a wise re-orientation in how we see life.  A wise re-orientation in life means we learn to see life differently than the common glaring opinion or public propaganda; it means we have put on a different kind of seeing lens through which we can see the world and because we see the world in a different way, we can make different decisions, decisions of faithful action.
  Jesus told the wisdom stories, call parables to encourage people to read their lives differently and come to faithful actions in face of some great challenges.
  The public propaganda of the time of Jesus was this: The kingdom was the Kingdom of the Caesar and so it was unthinkable for people to disregard the Caesar in their thinking.  But the situation of oppression gave rise to wishing that things could be otherwise and wishing that a king of one's own making could be in control of things.  And so there was the collective aspiration of the Jewish people for a new King David to return and give the people of Israel a more perfect king of their own.  Messianic expectations bring visualizations of something better for oppressed people.  Within this environment, the actual kingdom of the Caesar and the hopeful wishes for a new David, Jesus told his parables about the realm or kingdom of heaven.
  The parables of Jesus about this kingdom of heaven invited the people of his audience to see their world differently and come to faithful actions.  Faithful action did not mean resisting the Roman authorities; it did not mean latching on to some "super-hero" figure who would magically overthrow the kingdom of the Caesar.
  The wisdom parables of Jesus were an invitation to people to see their lives differently so that they would have wisdom to live within the specifics of their circumstances.
  What kind of seeing promotes a different kind of wise action to live with faith within the actual circumstances?
  Jesus said to take note of the small things in life, the things like the mustard seeds.  A few thrown here and there as insignificant seeds and suddenly one can see that they have taken over like weeds which control the entire environment.  This type of wisdom seeing reveals the counter-logic of the kingdom of heaven.  We like to write our histories from the perspectives of the heroes or the great publicly known figures.  Yes, you can know about Caesar and you can dream about a new King David magically to change everything but it is really the small and minute things which are more important.  The little things accumulate to form character and to form networks to be the very scaffold on which the great people of life are often but strutting problems for the majority of people.  I have been in enough places in this world to know that in neighborhoods of people there is such a desire for the common small things of life: safety, health, education, friendship for family and friends. The desire and the performance of small acts of safety and kindness is what preserves the life of people and not the public leaders strutting on the great stage.  Jesus had the wisdom to know that this world needs or tolerates the oft necessary evils of leadership of the few political leaders even while he also knew that these few would keep the people of the world perpetually divided and against each other even when most people are united in just wanting adequate safety, food, clothing, shelter, education for their families and neighbors.  The mustard seeds of the desires of people for safety, food, clothing, shelter, love, friendship, justice and care for each other are the small things which will preserve and save this world; it will not be the so called kings on the stage of public life.  If you can see this then you have the wise eyes of the kingdom of heaven.  If we are blessed to have wise political leadership, wise leader will tend to the importance of the small but basic needs in the lives of people.
  Jesus reiterated the mustard seed parable with the parable of the yeast.  Yeast or leaven and mustard seeds are negative metaphors.  He was comparing the kingdom of heaven to weeds and leaven and in Judaism leaven was a symbol of impurity.  Jesus was saying, "What you think is small and insignificant or even negative is what is important and sustaining in life.  So, don't be fooled by the public propaganda and public advertisement." We can be frightened into activity because of the Caesars in life. We cannot easily overthrow an evil Caesar anywhere, but we can do the next act of kindness in our very local situation.  The wisdom of the kingdom is this: Don't let global propaganda or angst hinder us from some very small local kind action.  It is through the performance and perpetuation of small kind acts that this world is preserved.
  In a pair of parable Jesus further goes on to equate the kingdom of heaven with another rather negative notion.  Insider trading.  In our time the SEC rather inconsistently prosecutes those who practice "insider trading."  Every person is tempted by the juiciness of insider trading.  I go to a garage sale of an elderly woman who has a box of vintage baseball cards for sale for but a few bucks.  I know the value of the baseball cards and she obviously doesn't.  My heart is beating with excitement that I happened upon this find even while I have the dilemma of possessing the knowledge of their worth.  This poor widow is sitting upon a goldmine that she does not know that she is unwittingly letting go of for a song.
  This is the kind of the moral dilemma of the kingdom of heaven.  It is like having a kind of knowledge about the way things are which not every person has.  The wisdom of the kingdom of heaven is open to everyone but not everyone has it.  If one can become converted to begin to see life differently to make faithful choices in one's given situation then one is drawn to commit one's entire life and life resources to the quest for this kind of wise seeing of the world.  Jesus was offering to his followers the seductive winsomeness of wisdom because with wisdom one honors the true freedom which is in this world even while one learns to execute faithful actions in each occasion.  What more could one want in this life?
   The last two parables of Jesus which we have read today provide us some insights about the practice of wise people and the process of wisdom.  With wisdom we are always sorting how what we regard to be the good and evil in the past.  We sort from our past how we let what has been good and what has been bad affect how we are going to act now.  In our wise judgments on the good and bad of the past, we make the past serve us in making a wise decision now.  A wise scribe has received a wisdom tradition but the words of wisdom written in past are not a strait-jacket hindering freedom and wise action now.  Many religious people in the time of Jesus regarded their tradition to be like a restricting strait-jacket and Jesus saw that this approach to religious faith had devastating consequences for most of the people of the countryside who were left out.  It had devastating consequences for the non-Jewish population who were regarded to be excluded from God's blessing and favor.
  The wise scribe uses the wisdom tradition of the past to inspire new syntheses, new combination which provides for creative and inventive new decisions to be made.  So St. Paul, in his wisdom, could honor his Judaic tradition even while he creatively and inventively accepted the Gentiles as those who could come to valid faith and wisdom from God.  Being a Gentile could not separate a person from the love of God in Christ.
  Jesus taught us that in our efforts to gain loving friendship with wisdom, we will be inventive and creative and open for the new to occur because the application of wisdom is always new.  Do not let the Scriptures or the good traditions of church history or our parish ever become strait-jackets to prohibit the freedom and creativity of new and faithful inventive response.
  You and I honor the past and we honor the wisdom process of Jesus Christ as we use our traditions to make wise and creative responses to the new challenges of our personal lives and our community life today.  Let the good news for us be today that we have fallen in love with wisdom, as Jesus did and with the wisdom of Jesus, we know that we have new wise choices to make each and every day of our lives.  Amen.

What Is the Wisdom of the Kingdom of Heaven?

Lectionary Link

6 Pentecost, Cycle A Proper 12, July 24, 2011

1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39   Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

  In the biblical tradition, who is regarded to be the wisest person in the Hebrew tradition?  It is King David’s son, King Solomon.  We have read the prayer request of Solomon before he ascended the throne to succeed his father David.  What did he ask for?  He asked for wisdom and God answered him by saying to him, “I will give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.”  Solomon became the inspiration for the wisdom school in the Hebrew religion and the wisdom teacher was to ancient Israel what the philosopher was to ancient Greece.  Some people have questioned Solomon’s wisdom though, because he is said to have had 700 wives and 300 concubines.  (How’s that for biblical family values?)   What is the wisdom in that?  Well, one woman once said that Solomon had a source for wisdom because he had 1000 counselors who gave him free advice.  How could he not be wise?

  Some Gospel scholars believe that the wisdom teacher was a model for the ministry of Jesus.  The words that seem to be most original to Jesus were teaching stories call parables.  A parable is a story that teaches through the attempt to get the listener to identify with a scenario.  It is an attempt to teach through appreciative participation.  But the parables of Jesus were also riddles; in them he required the listener to confront his counter logic.  How do the parables of Jesus that we’ve read today, represent counter logic?  And how does the counter logic of Jesus trick our literal minds into seeing things in a new way?

  Most people believe that civilizations are great because of the people who are heroes.  Kings and Warriors, philosophers, are normally thought to be the pillars of civilization.  Most of us understand history as the public record of why things have occurred because of the great people who attained fame in their public deeds.  These people are like the great oak trees of the forest.

"Not so", says wisdom teacher Jesus.  The kingdom of God, or the most embracing realm of life itself is known because of the little mustard seed deeds.  Heroes and heroic acts do not make a great society; rather it is the collection of all of the small deeds of kindness and caring that result in the success of any society.  If all of the deeds of kindness and caring ceased; society would come to a halt.  If moms did not care for their babies, and people did not do the millions of menial chores required to sustain communal life, societies would break down and fail.  When great disasters hit, the immediate goal is to return life to it normal sequence of the many rituals of care and mutual accountability.  These are the scaffold and telling reality of the kingdom that Jesus spoke about.  The kings and leaders get to prance on the stage held up by scaffolding of all the tiny mustard seed acts of care and kindness and mutual accountability that makes a society work.  No matter what the president or congress or governors or legislatures or captains of industry do; the people in this network of small acts of kindness and mutual care and accountability will still have to keep on, keeping on.  Parents will still have to do all the things they do for their children; dishes and clothes will have to be washed, traffic laws obeyed, shops opened, groceries sold, produce delivered.  We in the course of all of our little mustard seed deeds don’t have the luxury of worrying about whether we are doing big and important things.  But in the logic of the kingdom of Jesus Christ, it is in these every day micro-events of kindness, care and mutual accountability where the reality of God’s kingdom is found and known, and in fact this reality rules the world because we only survive because this micro-network magnified is the very infrastructure of human community.  We will still be a part of the scaffolding of the kingdom of heaven no matter what they decide or don’t decide in Washington.  How do you like the logic of Jesus?

  The parable of the leaven or yeast is like the parable of the mustard seed.  The kingdom of heaven is like a small portion sourdough culture.  You put it in the dough and this tiny substance infiltrates the dough and gives bread its very “breadiness.”  Jesus was saying, “You hero worshippers think that important people are really making life important and that is wrong.  It is each person exercising the moment by moment small deeds of kindness and mutual care and accountability that gives us abundant life.  Don’t be fooled by all those who tempt you to believe that the spot light of fame, power, and fortune are the key to survival in life.”

  The next parables of Jesus also have the counter logic of this wisdom teacher.  It’s is dishonesty to have discovered the abundance of minerals on a piece of property, and then buy the property without disclosing to its owner that the minerals are there.  What Jesus was indicating by this is that most people do not know the value of their own lives and therefore do not tap the native wealth that is accessible in human experience.  Why is it that two people can look like they are doing the same thing, but one person will express the experience of wonder and the sublime, while the other will be bored?  The kingdom of heaven is the experience of knowing another level of value in this “seemingly” ordinary life.

  The parable about the pearl of great price, is really about another stock market “no-no.”  We call it “insider trading.”  It is about having privileged information that others don’t have.  It’s like going to a rummage sale and offering a couple of dollars for old baseball cards that you know are worth thousands of dollars.  What Jesus is saying is that people can live this life in such a way to understand another level of value.  Within life, Jesus said that we can find abundant life.  And Jesus is inviting us to find that abundant life.  This parable is also about the purpose of human life. We are ever to be re-educating ourselves towards the discovery of higher values.  When we look at our lives, things that once were regarded as important now seem to be trivial.  How is it that our values change?  How is it that we discover new values?  We do so in the event of finding what is great and then we organize our lives around what we regard to be the highest inspiration in life.  The kingdom of heaven is the process of coming to higher values; that’s a problem since values are experienced as being relative to our own moral and spiritual progress.

  How do I tolerate myself for the higher values that I do not yet have nor have discovered?

Well, Jesus said the kingdom heaven is about patience, with ourselves, with each other and with our world.  The net is cast to catch all sorts of values in the mix of our life experience, and we need patience with the mix both in our own life and in our world.  We need to have the patience to wait for a more complete sorting out of the values in our lives and of the values in all human experience.  The kingdom of heaven is about having that kind of patience, but also having that kind of hope that justice amongst all values will someday attain.  The kingdom of heaven is about having patience with hope.

  St. Paul believed that we could have that kind of patience and hope in the midst of the extreme mixture of human experience, because we have God’s Spirit within us and because nothing can separate us from the love of God.

  Let us hear the Gospel today: We live in the kingdom of God’s love, a patient and hopeful love.  And this God of love is educating our values as we grow in wisdom in the art of living.  And may the Gospel also be this:  In the middle of the seeming ordinary, God has for us events of the sublime, events of such wonder that we feel a bit guilty about “having inside” information.  These events guide us upward in the values of our lives.  May God grant to each of us events of the extraordinary within our ordinary lives.  Amen.