Sunday Sermon - July 26, 2026

Jesus used a lot of parables to describe the kingdom or reign of heaven, bringing this mystery of God's presence and power into the hands of the people. What would you use to describe the glimpses of God's reign you see in today's world? 

Gospel reading: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

(Note: we were at the park this day and had props to help visualize the different parables in the reading.) 

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Scripture quotations from the COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. © Copyright 2011 COMMON ENGLISH BIBLE. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

As you listen to the reading of the gospel, I encourage you to actually put the bulletin down and look at all the stuff on your tables. Because on the tables is something from each moment in the gospel reading. So, the holy gospel according to Matthew. Glory to you, O Lord. Jesus put before the crowds another parable. The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in the 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 treasure in a field, which a man found and reburied. And 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 of this? They answered, Yes. And he said to them, Therefore, every scribe who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out his treasure, what is new and what is old. The gospel of the Lord. And then we get a barrage of imagery. And I'm not kidding. Like we had, I think there's five or six today, depending on how you count things. But in the chapter of Matthew, of the 13th chapter of Matthew, there's also two others that we've heard the past couple of weeks. So Jesus is like, the kingdom of heaven is like, it's like, it's like, it's like, and it keeps going on and on and on. So what is the kingdom of heaven? If Jesus is trying to describe it, what on earth is he trying to describe to us here? Because let's be honest, they're kind of strange images to pull down. Because when we think kingdom of heaven, oftentimes we think of a place, right? Like a territory of kingdomness. And we think of the imagery that's in like Revelation, where there's um Gold Street and fruits on trees, and it's this lovely, beautiful place. But the kingdom of heaven can also be translated as the reign of heaven, which means the reign of heaven is not just some place hereafter that we will eventually get to see where there's millions and millions of cookies and delicious feasts and all that kind of stuff. The reign of heaven is also here. I was looking around as people were kind of pulling out the different things that they saw that was relating to the different parts of the parables. Did anyone find the yeast?

unknown 3:51

No.

SPEAKER_00 3:52

No, exactly, because the yeast is everywhere. So I started some sourdough starter just a few days ago. And I started it by just putting flour and water in this jar, putting a coffee filter on top, and putting it on the counter. And there's yeast in the air. There is all these little microorganisms and everything, and this thing is alive and well. I did not feed it this morning, so it's starting to collapse a little bit. But when I feed it, it explodes. This is the yeast that we hear about, this yeast that is just permeating everything around us. And so we have the yeast permeating things. We have this treasure that demands that we give all of ourselves, that we want to participate in it. We want it to be uh with us. We have the the fish where there's just this sense of everything is collected and don't worry about it, God will sort it out later. And then we have, what else do we have? It's hard to keep track of them all. We've got the pearl, oh, and the mustard seed. The mustard seed. Who goes out into a big field and says, I'm gonna plant one seed? That just does not make sense. And yet, that one seed is planted with great care and intention, and in that one seed is enough room and hospitality for the birds of the air, so they don't have to make nests above lights, they can make nests in mustard trees or shrubs. It's it's it's a scraggly little bush. But the kingdom of heaven, the reign of heaven, is all around us, even here, even now, showing up in surprising ways, showing up in ways where there is abundance, where there is generosity, where there is love, where there is peace, where there is surprising grace, where there is a call that we bring all of ourselves in service to God's goodness. When you hear these parables, I shouldn't have closed my bulletin. There it is. When we hear these parables, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. It's the smallest of all seeds and it grows and becomes the greatest of shrubs. It's like yeast that is mixed in with flour until it is leavened and grows and multiplies into this big abundant amount of bread. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field or ground of Oreos, where when it is found, the person says, I need this, and I'm gonna make this happen somehow, somehow. The kingdom of heaven is like a pearl, or a merchant in search of pearls, and finding that one pearl in the midst of all the other pearls says, I need this, and this is going to be something I'm gonna give all of myself so that this can be mine. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea that caught fish of every kind, and then the angels can deal with it from there. Have you understood all of this? When you hear these parables, what other descriptors of the reign of heaven, the kingdom of heaven as it is amongst us now, come to your minds? This is an honest question. I actually want responses. What is the kingdom of heaven? Peaceful, beautiful, spiritual, plentiful. All right, joyous. What else? Forgiven. A place where there is no evil, where all is at peace, where all is aligned with God's good will for all creation. In the Hebrew scriptures, we talk about something called shalom. And shalom is this sense of peace and harmony, not an absence of difference, but where everything is coexisting in perfect harmony, where everything is interacting just as it is intended to interact. And there is life and abundance and goodness. And so the kingdom of heaven is like mustard seed, it is like the woman who puts the yeast in the flower, it is like the merchant looking for the pearls, it is like the guy looking for the treasure in the field, it is like the net casting all the fish, and it is like so much more. So, here's the task. There are crosses on the table. If you have already colored it, that is fine and wonderful. I have more. I encourage you, over the course of the rest of the service, or take it home and make this a home project, color on that cross, put words on that cross for your own parables, your own way where you see and understand the reign of heaven present here among us. Because that is what Jesus was doing with these parables. He had a list of seven of them back to back to back to back. And guessing from what we know of Jesus, he probably told more when he was walking around with the people. Because he knew that not one of them would be sufficient to capture all of what the reign of heaven is, and he also knew not everyone would connect with each and every parable. Because maybe someone makes bread at home, and so this idea of leavened bread, of the feast, of the aroma, of the presence of yeast is something that connects with them. But then they look at that treasure in a field and they say, Why bother? I can't eat gold. Maybe someone is a merchant and they understand the cost that it is to give up everything to buy one pearl when you can't really sell one pearl and make a living. You're not a very good merchant of pearls if your stock is one. And so Jesus tells these parables to help bring the kingdom of heaven from this far-off, glittery place full of cookies and crackers and delicious feasting foods, and brings it here on the ground to the people so that we can open our eyes, look around us, and say the reign of heaven is like the reign of heaven is like walking into your grandmother's house where the smell of freshly baked cookies hits you at the door, and you know, grandma's been waiting for you because that smell of your favorite cookies is there. The kingdom of heaven is like a small child who realizes that their neighbor does not have enough MMs, and so they share their MMs with their neighbor. The kingdom of heaven is like, insert parable here, because the kingdom of heaven, the reign of heaven, is among us and is present with us now, and we will know it fully someday. So it's here, just not yet quite fully. We get glimpses of it. And so when Jesus turns to the disciples and says, Have you understood all of this? I always look at that a little bit and I'm like, Did they really? Because in like the next chapter, they're doing things that make it kind of clear that they didn't really get what Jesus was trying to say. But when you think, I saw some smiles, and especially when I was talking about walking in and the smell of freshly baked cookies hitting you, or what insert favorite food here. I apparently have a sweet tooth today. That feeling, we might not know fully what the kingdom of heaven is. In fact, I'm gonna be bold and say we do not know fully what the kingdom of heaven looks like in its completion and in its fullness, because that's coming. But we know what it is to glimpse the reign of heaven among us, and that's what these parables help us to do. They pull it down into the earthy, nitty grittiness. And in fact, my little yeast here, you are welcome to smell it if you would like. I can we'll take the lid off and you can smell it to your heart's content. It smells yeasty. Um, it is around us, it is among us, and it is here for us to catch glimpses of. So on your crosses, doodle, write, or just put intentions on the cross, whatever you would like, that cross is yours to do what you want. But put down your own reminders of what it is to see and understand the reign of heaven, even in glimpses, but as it is here and now among us. Amen. Amen.