Church News – August

The past few Sundays, we have focused on parables of Jesus. Parables were a teaching tool, simple stories that expressed surprising truths about how the “kingdom of heaven” manifests and operates on Earth.

Often, Christian doctrine expresses this kingdom concept as an actual event occurring at a specific time. Through history, many have projected an “arrival time” of the kingdom and many have been disappointed.

The parables shared in the Book of Matthew offer a different vision of the “arrival” of this kingdom and we understand that, basically, the kingdom of heaven is an “inside job.” What does this mean?

Well, think about a seed – any seed, really, but a mustard seed is so tiny it serves the story. It is tiny, placed in the ground to do its work. Eventually, it brings forth a shrub that can become substantial enough to provide homes for birds.

Or think of a householder who stirs a leavening agent into her flour. If you mix it well, you can’t even see it. Yet it does its thing and the bread rises. It’s like a
miracle.

Other images are shared: Hidden treasure in a field, or a pearl of great price, harvested from the depths of the sea. The principle that unites these stories is that the great work being done that manifests as a tree, loaves of bread or great fortunes, is hidden work. And it is only miraculous in the way that nature is miraculous.

St. Augustine said, “Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature.” When we separate ourselves from the natural world, we lose sight of the workings of God and then we think the “kingdom of heaven” is something yet to come from outside the self.

But the meaning here is not simply to see God in nature. The allegorical function of the parable is to help us understand that the seeds of the kingdom are within each of us, planted in our hearts like a farmer puts the mustard seed in the ground. It is a hidden, internal leavening agent, growing our lives beyond our imaginings so that we touch the world in ways we could not imagine.

It is the annoying little “grain of sand in our shells” that we deal with by somehow creating a pearl of great value. It is the deep dive into consciousness to discover that pearl of wisdom or healing and bring it to the surface that it might enrich others.

The “coming of the kingdom of heaven” in the midst of a pandemic can actually be seen in the dedication of frontline workers, the willingness of the individual to live a life of isolation in order to benefit the greater good or to wear a mask, just to be safe and considerate of one’s neighbor.

It’s the desire to do the shopping for a neighbor or call on the isolated ones to offer emotional support and friendship. These efforts may seem small, like seeds, but they are the seeds of the kingdom.