The Kingdom of God is like…. – Matthew 13:31-33, 44-

Speaking in parables was a common form for many of the prophets of Israel and Jesus uses this same form when teaching the people. Of course, the meaning of the parables often had to be explained even to the disciples. The parables are stories that convey an important truth that is not readily evident to those who are listening.

In Matthew 13:10-17, Jesus explains to the disciples why he teaches in parables and why not everyone understands.  How many times have we watched a movie, read a book, or listened to a speech or sermon and failed to remember anything of significance.  When asked what the message was or what was the book about or what happened in the movie, we can find ourselves saying, I can’t remember.

Jesus knew that many people would have eyes to see but not see and ears to hear but not hear. The parable of the Sower talks of allowing the seed of the word of God to penetrate into the soil. We understand this to mean letting the seed of the word of God penetrate our hearts and minds so that we might learn God’s word and live by that word. Knowing that it is important to let the word of God penetrate our hearts and minds is one thing. Actually letting it penetrate and bring about a real change in our lives is another.

Jesus also knew that even when we allow the word of God to penetrate our hearts and minds and make a real difference in the way we live, we will still be in a world where people have chosen to not see or hear the meaning of God’s word and direction in life. And over the course of a lifetime, people who were unseeing or unhearing in their early life may come to understand as they mature and age.   While we may have found the blessing of God’s word early in our lives, others may struggle and not begin to truly see or hear until later in life.  It is so important to ever allow our eyes to not only see but perceive the meaning of God’s word and be open to the reforming of our understanding through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who is our guide and teacher of wisdom. It is equally important to not only hear but understand what we are hearing in order that the word of God might teach us and lead us in the path that leads to the kingdom.

When our hearts grow dull, when our ears become hard of hearing, when our eyes close so that we cannot feel or hear or see, then we close ourselves off to understanding that God is seeking only to heal and to forgive, to love and to bring us to a fulfilment of life.

Today we heard Jesus speak about four ways to describe what the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God is like. Two of them speak of the kingdom as something that permeates and changes everything that it touches. Two of them speak of the kingdom as something that is so precious that nothing else in the world matters.

A mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds yet is capable of becoming a shrub big enough for birds to nest in. Hard to imagine that a tiny seed buried in the soil can grow to have such a great effect but you – like I – have no doubt experienced what great things can come of very small beginnings.   From what was once a bare piece of land, the mustard seed grows to become a shrub capable of yielding a necessary spice that adds flavour but also provides a place for the birds to build their nests. I can imagine Jesus wanting us to see ourselves as the birds who will come to build our nests finding sanctuary and nourishment.

Anyone who has ever baked anything requiring yeast knows how important it is to allowing flour and the other ingredients to work together. The kneading process is vital to allowing all the yeast to penetrate and surround all the elements.  But just like the mustard seed, the amount of yeast needed to make something much larger is small. A teaspoon or may be a little more is all it takes so long as it is properly prepared and mixed. The kingdom of God is like that yeast. Its presence penetrates into the whole of our lives and helps us to rise, encouraging us to live for God. In John’s gospel, Jesus says ”I am the bread of life.” As the herald of the coming kingdom of God, Jesus gives us himself as the bread that has been prepared with the yeast of the kingdom to give us life day by day and prepare us to ever receive this bread unto eternity.

The next two ways that Jesus speaks of the kingdom of heaven is about finding something so precious that everything else no longer matters. First he speaks of buried treasure and then he speaks of a pearl of great value. These parables make it harder to imagine what the kingdom of heaven is really like but the point is not to make the kingdom totally transparent but to impart to us how precious and how valuable the kingdom is in comparison to anything else we may have ever known in this world. But it is not the physical value of the item that is the key here. What is the key is that to find the kingdom of God is to find the one thing in life that gives the greatest meaning to life. It is about discovering that no possession in this life can ever be as important or as valuable as receiving the kingdom of heaven into our lives.

In the end, Jesus never gives us the full picture of the kingdom that we may so much crave; but he does give us tremendous hints not only of its importance but also of its influence.  It is so important that people would sell everything they had to keep this one treasure. It is so influential that it will change whatever it touches; but it can only do so when our eyes are willing to see, our ears are willing to hear, and our hearts and minds are willing to be open.

AMEN