SERMON Time after Pentecost Lectionary 17 July 24, 2011

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1 1 Kings 3:5-12 Psalm 119: Romans 8:26-39 Matthew 13:31-33, SERMON Time after Pentecost Lectionary 17 July 24, 2011 Brothers and sisters in Christ, grace to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus, who is the Christ. Amen. Over the last decade, the way we communicate as a society has changed dramatically. We ve gone from phone calling to ing to texting to twittering! I think that texting is still the most common way our young people communicate today. I am told that ing has become very old school. Now when texting first came out, I thought that it was pretty dumb. Why not just the person or call them? Well, lately, I have found that texting can be a pretty useful way to communicate. I find myself doing it more and more. The hardest thing about texting is learning the lingo. I went on line and discovered that to date, there are 1,339 abbreviations that are used in texting. That doesn t even include the symbols, like the hundreds of ways you can make different facial expressions by using such things as colons, semi-colons and parenthesis. Some of the abbreviations I am familiar with, like LOL, which means Laughing out Loud. Then there is THT; Think Happy Thoughts. And what about the one that teenagers use all the time, PIR; Parents in Room. Or I came across this one, YABA; Yet Another Bloody Acronym. But the one that I want to talk about specifically is one that is very common; OMG, or Oh, My God.

2 Now, I taught my kids not to say Oh my God. It s even uncomfortable for me to say it. Perhaps, I was taught the same thing when I was growing up. You know the argument; Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Well, I don t know if Oh my God qualifies for that, but nevertheless, it still makes me feel uncomfortable. Evidently, there are others who feel the same way. Therefore, common sayings have been adapted. For God s sake, has been turned into, For heavens sake. Instead of God help us, many say instead, Heaven help us. You see, in Matthew s Gospel story, the author records Jesus as talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. Whereas, in both Mark and Luke s Gospels, Jesus is recorded as saying, The Kingdom of God. So are they both the same? Are they different? What s the deal? Well, you see, the author of Matthew s Gospel was writing especially for a Jewish audience. Therefore, the author was careful not to utter the name of God, lest they might think that he was breaking the third commandment that talks about taking the name of the Lord your God in vain. It was a way to play it safe to not even take the chance that one might be dishonoring God. In other words, the author was being sensitive to his audience so as not to offend them. However, in fact, when we see, Kingdom of Heaven, in Matthew, it means exactly the same thing as Kingdom of God in the other Gospels. It refers to the Reign of God that HAS come in the person of Jesus Christ himself, and WILL continue to come culminating in the coming of Christ and his reign on earth. You see, God s Kingdom is here now, living within us through the Holy Spirit. But it is not fully here. For Jesus promises that he will come again at the end of the age. So what is this Kingdom like that we hear so much about?

3 Well, as residents of the United States, we live in a democracy. We don t use terms such as King, Queen, Prince, Empire, or Kingdom. Although the terms Queen and Prince were used a lot back in the 1980 s if you were into popular music. According to Webster s Dictionary, a kingdom is; A government or country headed by a king or queen; a monarchy. A king refers to a male ruler who exercises authority over a defined territory. A king symbolizes prosperity, fertility, and security. The king would inevitably be the wealthiest person in the country and have ultimate authority over all matters. The closest I ve ever got to experience what it would be like living under the authority of a king is when I attend the Renaissance Festival every fall. I don t know if any of you have ever been to a Renaissance Festival before, but I really enjoy them. Everyone is dressed in mid-evil attire, and they all speak the language of the day. It s like stepping back in time 500 years. Several times during the day, the king passes by. He is dressed in all of his splendor, riding on a beautiful horse surrounded by the kings court who cater to his every need. Whenever he passes, the trumpets sound and the people shout; Long live the king! But realistically, it is hard for us to understand the whole idea of kings and kingdoms. In our Gospel story today, Jesus gives us several brief parables that try to describe what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. Jesus begins with the Parable of the Mustard Seed. 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. Plainly, this is a parable about hope: there shall be mighty growth from small beginnings. How could such a small seed become a mighty tree? Then again, how could a small child born in a stable change the world forever?

4 You see, this story speaks out against our culture of bigness. Our society is obsessed with size. The bigger the better. A few years ago Atascocita got a Super Wal-mart. Evidently, the regular Wal-mart wasn t big enough. Of course Target can t let this happen, so they built a Super Target. At MacDonalds you can get a Big Mac, large fries and a large soda. But if that s not enough you can supersize it. At lease you used to be able to do that. Up until the most recent spike in gas prices, automobiles were getting bigger and bigger. We would have moms or dads taking their kids to school in military styled Hummers that were made for remote war zones. We need bigger houses so that we can accommodate our big screen televisions. People in the United States seem to have a fascination with numbers and size. This has even been the case with our churches. Most of the time, we believe that bigger is better, especially in Texas. We have all heard that everything is bigger in Texas. The only place in our society where smaller is considered better is computer chips and waistlines. However, Jesus is not impressed with big. Jesus speaks of the value of smallness. The two copper coins of the poor widow, the faith of a small child, and the gratefulness of a small cup of cold water. You see, the desire for bigness in our lives detracts from the central message of Jesus. For Jesus can be found in the small and in the simple in the least of these. After all, our Lord comes to us riding on the back of a donkey, not on a great stallion. So where can you find Jesus in the small things in your life? Next we hear the Parable of the Yeast. The Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast that a woman took and hid in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. What is shocking about this parable is the amount of flour. Three measures is about ten gallons, making enough bread to fee 150 people!

5 And it was prepared by only one woman! That s a lot of dough to knead. If the Parable of the Mustard Seed speaks out against bigness, this parable speaks out against our culture of noise. For the Kingdom of Heaven is silently working in the lives of people. It cannot be seen or heard. But it is there and it is powerful. It always amazes me how those tiny little beads of yeast can make a piece of dough double or triple in size. At least this is what it is supposed to do. It doesn t seem to work that way when I try to make bread. My loaves of bread end up being used as doorstops. You see, the yeast can be very fragile. If the water is too cold or too hot, the yeast will die. Like the mustard seed, it needs to be nurtured and cared for. Our faith is the same way. If it is fed and prayerfully nourished by God s Word and the sacraments, it will become strong and grow. Indeed the yeast is the silent worker in the dough. Perhaps that is how we can view the Holy Spirit. God s Spirit works within us like yeast in the dough. It helps us to grow and develop to become what God has intended us to be. In both the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Parable of the Yeast, we find not the natural and the expected, but the supernatural and the surprising. For Jesus is the Lord of the unexpected. His whole ministry turned the common way of thinking upside down. The other three parables in today s reading support that. We have a merchant of fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great value, he sells everything he has to obtain that one pearl. In our world today, this sounds crazy. We all know that more is better, just like bigger is better. But not when it comes to Jesus. Jesus is the pearl of great price. People must get rid of all other gods and give their allegiance to Jesus alone.

6 When I was young, I used to collect baseball cards. My dad got me interested in baseball because he used to play semi-professional ball. He even had his picture taken with the New York Yankees back in the 1950 s. In the picture were guys like Joe Dimaggio, Yogi Berra, and Mickey Mantle, who was just a rookie at that time. When I was 8 years old, some neighbors of ours gave us two tickets to see the Minnesota Twins verses the New York Yankees. I was so excited. I had never seen a professional baseball game. My dad was excited too. Even though we lived in Minnesota, he was still a Yankees fan at heart. I ll never forget that game. The Yankees won five to three. But the biggest thrill was seeing Mickey Mantle hit a home run. Mickey was my favorite. I would trade 100 baseball cards for one Mickey Mantle card. It was my pearl of great value. Today, that card is worth over $600. Even so, I will probably never sell it. Certainly, the pearl that the man traded all of his possessions for was valuable. But for him, it was not something that he would then sell for something else. He did not buy it to then turn around and make a profit. The pearl was not the means to an end, but an end in itself. And that s how it is with our faith. Once we place our trust in Jesus, it s over. There is no more searching, no looking for the next best thing to come along. For Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. While hanging on the cross, Jesus said; It is finished. Therefore, our fates have been sealed in Jesus Christ. You see, the Kingdom of Heaven is both here now and yet to come. It will not come in its fullness until Jesus returns until Satan and all of his angels are destroyed once and for all. Until then, God still has work to do in our lives. For WE are the builders of God s Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven.

7 As long as we are alive on this earth, God has a purpose for each and every one of us. But sometimes, that s hard for us to believe. After all, what would God want with me, we might ask. What s so great about what I do? How can God ever use me? I m not a straight A student. I don t have a perfect figure. I don t have the greatest job in the world. I am not always a good spouse or partner. I certainly haven t been the best parent to my children. I don t have many close friends. I struggle just to make it through each day. I sometimes feel so small, so insignificant in such a big world. Ah, but that is exactly where God wants us. For it is only then that God can form us into something grand. Because remember, Jesus can be found in the small and the simple. Jesus comes to us where we are, and nurtures us and helps us to grow. He empowers us, no matter how insignificant we think we are. And through him every one of us has the power to change the world. That s what Jesus did with a rag tag group of bumbling disciples 2000 years ago. And that s what he can do with us. If God can take something as small as a mustard seed and turn it into a large tree, he can certainly take you and me and empower us to make Christ known in our own community and beyond. For we are also the pearls of great price in the eyes of God. As a matter of fact, we are so valuable that God gives us all that he has, including his only son, who lived and died while bringing forth God s kingdom into this world. Therefore, we have the privilege of joining with God each and every day to be a part of this glorious journey. And this is where ultimately we place our hope and our joy. Amen. May the peace that passes all understanding be with you now and for life everlasting. Amen.

8 CHILDREN S MESSAGE How many of you weren t able to do something because you were too little? I remember when I was young like you, I wanted to go on the roller coaster at the state fair. But I couldn t because I was too small. How does that make you feel when you are not allowed to do something because you are too little? Sometimes we might think that if we are small, then we are not important. Maybe we even think that God doesn t love us because we are too little. But listen to our Bible story today. Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. Do you know how small a mustard seed is? It is tiny. But yet it grows into be a huge bush or tree. And then Jesus says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like yeast in the bread. Have any of you ever baked bread before? Do you know what yeast is? It is something that is so small, but it makes the bread rise into a big loaf that we can eat. What Jesus is saying is that you will never be too small for God. As a matter of fact, you re just the right size for God to use you right now. God doesn t care if you can t reach the top shelf in the kitchen, tie your own shoes just right, or that you can t ride on the roller coaster. God loves you no matter what size you are. So, the next time you feel like you re too small to do anything big or important, remember the mustard seed and know that you re just the right size for God. Let us pray God of love, you are the one who gives us worth. Please use us, no matter how small we are, to show your love to all people. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.