Heaven's Leaven: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 - 8th Sunday after Pentecost

³¹[Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field;³²it 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.”
  ³³He 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.”
  ⁴⁴“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.
  ⁴⁵“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; ⁴⁶on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
  ⁴⁷“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; ⁴⁸when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. ⁴⁹So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous ⁵⁰and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  ⁵¹“Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” ⁵²And 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.” (NRSV)

Use your loaf! by Mark Chinnick on flickr. CC BY 2.0

If you need additional protection from the Coronavirus that your facemask can’t give you, one option to consider would be the Personal Isolation Pod.

utwpods.com

 

Invented by someone who got the idea from watching their child wear a laundry basket as a hat, this will protect the entire upper half of your body from potential infection.

 

One thing you can say about the Coronavirus is that the line between the prudent and the absurd has become considerably blurred. Yet how do you deal with a threat you can’t see? Similarly, how do you keep thefaith when God’s promises bear no resemblance to reality?

 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus continues speaking parables to help his followers make sense of realities that cast tremendous doubts on his promises and teachings. On one hand, many believed Jesus to be the devil in the flesh. On the other hand, a lot of people were pinning on Jesus their hopes for national liberation—that Jesus would drive out the Roman occupiers and establish the kingdom of God as a political reality. Unfortunately for them, those same Roman occupiers, in cahoots with the religious establishment, will put Jesus to death.

 

Ultimately, God’s kingdom will not be coming when people want or how people want it. Instead, the kingdom will appear slowly but surely, in what is invisible, insignificant, and easy to ignore: as a mustard seed planted in a field; some leaven mixed in with flour; or a treasure buried in a field. It’s the leaven I want to focus on today.

 

Consider what leaven really is: it’s fungus—mold. Yet this mold causes bread to rise and become flavorful. When Jesus speaks of “three measures of flour,” this is equivalent to 47 pounds—enough to feed hundreds of people…  And if you bake bread, you know that a little bit of leaven can go a long way.

 

That’s what God’s kingdom is—a gracious power at work in what is small and insignificant that transforms and creates new life. And this power is at work in all things. In the same way that fungus makes bread light and delicious, God’s life-giving power is at work in all the pains and unpleasantness of life, including the Coronavirus. That’s not to say that God sent the Coronavirus, or that the Coronavirus should be called good. But God’s power is at work within it—and in spite of it. This is the essence of Paul’s words from Romans 8: “we know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

 

And even though the pandemic has crushed so much of what brings joy, purpose, and meaning to our lives, it cannot crush you. The leaven of God’s kingdom is hidden within everything you experience—the good, the bad, and the ugly—so that you arise every day into life renewed.

 

And there are signs that God’s kingdom is arising against the destruction and chaos. Our livestream has transformed us into a worshipping community that reaches not just beyond church walls, but spans across state lines! God has provided an awesome way for us to minister to our young people at Vacation Bible Show! And it’s music to my ears every time I hear that you are calling and visiting the lonely, sending cards, and taking care of each other. And hopefully you’ve noticed by now that it takes only the smallest acts of kindness and patience to revive another’s weary spirit.

 

The Kingdom of God is arising—the only question is, will you rise with it? Will you rise above the fears and uncertainties to encounter the power of Jesus at work in the small and simple things? Will you rise beyond your comfort zone and risk getting hurt to love someone radically? Will we as church arise with Christ to meet the challenges of this new reality with the power that’s at work within us?

 

Just because you can’t always see God’s kingdom does not mean that it does not exist. Faith is all about believing in what you cannot see, and waiting for what is hidden today to be revealed tomorrow.