Pentecost 8, Year A (2020)

Proper 12 ::  I Kings 3:  5–12 / Psalm 128 / Romans 8: 26–39 / Matthew 13: 31–33, 44–52

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 16, 2020.

 “SMALL BEGINNINGS, SACRIFICE, THE BIG PICTURE”

(Homily text: Matthew 13: 31–33, 44-52)

This Sunday’s lectionary readings cause us to jump around in chapter thirteen of Matthew’s Gospel account. Last week, we heard the Parable of the Weeds (13: 24–30) and its explanation (13: 36–42). Now, this week, we step back a few verses to hear the Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven (13: 31–33), and then we continue forward in the chapter to hear the Parables of the Hidden Treasure, the Pearl of Great Value and the Net (13: 44–52).

The question naturally arises as to why the explanation of the meaning of the Parable of the Weeds (verses 36–42) should be interrupted by the Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven (verses 31–33). Two explanations are possible: 1. The Lord continued His agricultural theme (heard in the Parable of the Sower two Sundays ago, and in the Parable of the Weeds last Sunday) with the Parable of the Mustard Seed; or 2. The material has been redacted, that is to say, Matthew (or others in his church) interposed the material. Explanation #1 would follow the sequence of teachings just as the Lord delivered them, while explanation #2 stems from the common practice of redaction, whereby the original teachings are faithfully transmitted in the account, but not in the sequence they actually happened.[1]

The parables we hear this morning follow a logical sequence, which is: 1. Small beginnings, 2. The work that is necessary to secure the valuable possession of the small beginnings of the kingdom of heaven, and 3. These two things are done within the wider picture of God’s watchful eye (and eventual judgment). Each of these parables begins with the statement, “The kingdom of heaven is like….”

The point of the first two parables, which present us with the image of a very small thing (mustard seed and leaven), seems to portray the kingdom as being a very small thing, but which becomes a very large (or powerful) thing.

The second two parables have something in common with the first two: They center around the idea of something that is small. They present us with the challenge of doing all that we can to secure the kingdom for ourselves. That will require effort and work on our part.

Lastly, the Parable of the Net places before us God’s watchfulness and the eventual, coming judgment (a theme, we have noted previously, is never far from Matthew’s mind).

It’s always a good idea to ask ourselves, whenever we approach a Gospel text, these three questions:

1.   What might Jesus’ original teaching have meant to the first hearers of it?;

2.   What might those teachings have meant to the early Christians (such as those who were in Matthew’s church)?; and

3.   What might those teachings mean for us today?

Turning to the first point, it’s possible that Jesus, whose ministry is just unfolding, is presenting to those who first heard His words, the idea that, though His work is in its infancy, it is (and will be) a large, mighty and powerful agent for change in the world. Consequently, the Lord then presents those first hearers with the challenge of doing all they can to be a part of this new and mighty enterprise. Last of all, the Lord reminds those first hearers that God’s involvement reaches to the smallest beginnings and to the struggle that is necessary to secure the kingdom for ourselves.

In Matthew’s church, those early Christians probably were small in number, and they were surrounded by a Judaism, which in that day and time, was hostile to the Christian faith, and by a pagan society that was either indifferent to the truths of the Gospel, or which was outrightly hostile to it. Perhaps those early believers felt as though their struggle was against mighty odds. But, those early Christians were to remember, their struggle to claim the kingdom for themselves, and to aid in its growth, was worth the work involved. If so, then the first four parables we hear this morning may have spoken powerfully to them. If we may characterize the Parable of the Net, we might say that those in Matthew’s church were to be reminded that God was/is watching, God is taking account of all that is done, and that there will be a time of reckoning.

Our situation today is a bit different, for we have inherited the legacy of Christendom, a term that denotes the idea that Christianity was a dominating and dominant force in much of the world in times past. Christendom’s legacy can be seen, for example, in the great cathedrals which were built centuries ago. To some degree, there are still vestiges of Christendom in our society, although those vestiges continue to fade into obscurity. That many of our churches are now much smaller than they were decades ago might make us feel as though we’re greatly outnumbered in our struggle to claim the kingdom for our own. But, Jesus’ parables heard today, remind us that the kingdom is a mighty thing, a thing well worth our efforts to bring into being for ourselves and for others, and that, as we do so, God’s involvement is a constant, for in due time, God will appoint a time of accounting and reckoning for our role in claiming the kingdom for ourselves, and in assisting in its growth in the world.

AMEN.

         

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[1]   Another example of redaction can be found in the witness of the early Christian, Papias, who tells us that Mark’s Gospel account came from the recollections of Peter. Mark, Papias said, wrote down Peter’s recollections, but “not in order”.

Pentecost 7, Year A (2020)

Proper 11 :: Genesis 28: 10-19a / Psalm 139: 1-11, 22-23 / Romans 8: 12-25 / Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43

This is the homily given at St. John’s Church, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 19, 2020.

“UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTHS”

(Homily text: Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43)

Our Lord’s Parable of the Weeds, heard in this morning’s appointed Gospel reading, presents us with two uncomfortable, unsettling truths:

• That evil will exist alongside the good (yes, even in the Church) until the close of the age,
• That it can be difficult to distinguish the evil from the good.

I don’t know about you, but my reaction to these two statements isn’t a positive one. If I had anything to say about the situation, I’d want evil to be banished completely from the world (and the Church), and I’d want it to be easy to tell which is which. Perhaps you feel the same way.

In this Sunday’s appointed Gospel reading, the Lord uses an agricultural image to convey the truth of the world in which we live. He did so in last week’s text, as well, when we considered the Parable of the Sower. To His original hearers (and to the church in which Matthew may have worked), such an image would have been a very familiar one, since the culture in which both groups lived was an agricultural one.

The truth that we will be surrounded by the presence of evil puts us in a difficult situation, for it means that we will have to live with the reality that there are forces present in the world which are in rebellion against God. (The theological term for such a situation, in which evil persists despite God’s power and presence, is theodicy.)

But this condition isn’t a new one, not by any means. Go back with me to the Garden of Eden, and particularly to Genesis, chapter three. There, we read about the temptation of Eve and then Adam. The theological truth presented in Genesis is that, despite the goodness and presence of God in the Garden, evil had access to these two. So the serpent (in Holy Scripture, the serpent is the depiction of evil) approaches Eve, and presents her with an attractive possibility: That if she eats of the tree which God had said was “off limits”, she would be as wise as God, knowing good and evil. Moreover, if she ate of the fruit of the tree, she wouldn’t die, as God had warned. The rest of the story is familiar: Eve accepts the serpent’s suggestion, noticing that the fruit of the tree was “good for food”. She eats of it, and then gives it to Adam, who is, apparently, standing next to her.

With this truth, we come to a connection to the Parable of the Weeds:  That evil is often very hard to distinguish from good. To uncover this aspect of our Lord’s teaching, we must understand an important detail in the story: The Lord doesn’t use a generic word for “weeds”, which is the way the Greek word is most often translated. No, the Lord refers to a specific type of week, darnel, which is a rye grass plant with poisonous seeds which, in its early stages of growth, is difficult to tell apart from wheat. The point seems to be that evil can be difficult to distinguish from good.

But notice that some of the servants do notice the difference as time goes along and the plants in the field begin to grow. Here’s an important point for Jesus’ original hearers, for those in Matthew’s church, and for us, to grasp: We must be on the lookout for the presence of evil, and must be keen to see it for its unmistakable signature whenever we encounter it.

One final point is in order: Notice that Jesus says that the poisonous weeds are not to be plucked up out of the field, for to do so would require pulling up the wheat, as well. Better to leave the wheat (the good) in the field to make the field worthwhile, rather than to remove it.

Christians down through the ages who have longed for the dawning of the kingdom in all of its fullness have often wished that God would remove them from the world. Some Christians harbor such a sentiment to the point that they withdraw themselves (and their influence) from the world completely. Some Christians become, in the process, so heavenly minded that they are little earthly good. That doesn’t seem to be what God intends for His people. We are to be about the redeeming work of growing into a mature faith in order to give the world (the field) worth and value.

In Matthew’s understanding, God’s final and complete work will take place at the close of the age. In Matthew’s Gospel account, that final accounting and judgment is never far below the surface of his writing. But such a final and complete work is to be done in God’s good time, not ours. Our task is to be faithful in the face of evil, redeeming the world by our presence and our witness.

May God strengthen us for this work.

AMEN.

       

Pentecost 6, Year A (2020)

Proper 10 :: Isaiah 55: 10–12 / Psalm 119: 105–112 / Romans 8: 1–11 / Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 12, 2020.

“WHY IS IT?”

(Homily text: Matthew 13: 1–9, 18–23)

Giving a gift and receiving one can be a tricky business, especially in the age in which we live. For example, advertisers sometimes offer “free gifts” that have strings attached (often hidden ones). In a similar way, there’s often an expectation that the receiver of a gift will have to devote a significant amount of time and effort to the receiving of the gift: People may reject the gift because they’re too busy to do whatever steps are involved in being qualified to receive it (that’s one of the examples Jesus uses in His Parable of the Sower).

Jesus’ parable addresses a question that has been on the minds of Christian believers down through time: Why is it that some people accept the Good News (Gospel) of what God has done in sending Jesus Christ among us, while others reject this wonderful, free gift?

There may be little doubt that the early Christians to whom Matthew was writing had encountered situations in which people rejected the Good News. And yet, others had accepted it. Why?

Our Lord seems to be providing us with some of the explanations for the various responses that those early Christians had experienced.

The circumstances of the hearers and potential receivers of the Good News reflect the situation of the early Church with which Matthew was active: Most certainly, there were those who had accepted the gift of God in Christ, only to fall away when hardships arose. There were others who also accepted the gift, but who then fell away because of the pursuits (and attractions) of life, which crowded out their relationship with the Lord. Still others seemed to be in the clutches of the evil one to such an extent that that seed of the Gospel had virtually no chance to germinate.

But then, there were those who had accepted the call of Christ, those who had grown in the faith, and who were bearing good fruit for the kingdom.

It’s a healthy thing to remember what our lives as Christian believers were like before we came to harbor a lively, intense and intimate relationship with the Lord. Reflecting on our past deepens our appreciation for the difference that our Christian walk makes in life. Or, if we haven’t had a markedly different life before coming to faith, perhaps we can imagine what our lives might have been like, absent God’s free gift of faith in Christ.

Another good thing about such a reflection is the realization that any one of us is still capable of having some of the various soil conditions our Lord describes in the parable after we’ve come to faith. Are we capable of being lured away from our relationship with the Lord because of the cares and occupations of our lives? “Yes”, the answer must surely be. Or, are we susceptible to the attractions (and distractions) of the world, which can capture our time, imagination and energies? Again, “yes” must be the answer.

God’s freely given grace (defined as God’s “unmerited and unearned favor towards us) not only prepares the soil of our hearts to receive His truth, but God’s freely given grace allows for us to provide a suitable environment for growing that truth. And, God’s continuing gift enables us to cultivate the soil of our hearts, again and again, so that we may present to the Lord good and fruitful soil.  AMEN.

Pentecost 5, Year A (2020)

Proper 9 :: Zechariah 9:  9–12 / Psalm 45: 11–18 / Romans 7: 15–25a / Matthew 11: 16–19, 25–30

This is the homily given at St. John’s, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania by Fr. Gene Tucker on Sunday, July 5, 2020.

“THE YOKE: BURDEN OR BLESSING?”

(Homily text: Matthew 11: 16–19, 25–30)

In our Gospel text, appointed for this morning, we hear Jesus’ statement, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me….”

When we think of a yoke, various images come to mind. One of them would be the yoke that holds two oxen together in order that they can do some work, such as plowing a field or pulling a cart. Another image that might come to mind is one that might see in an old painting, showing person with a wooden yoke on their shoulders, carrying two pails of water.

Perhaps it’s possible that when we think of the Lord’s statement about His “yoke”, we might think of the second image, and not the first one. Maybe we think that taking on the Lord’s yoke involves a burden. And, just maybe, we might think that the Lord’s burden is something that us burdensome, something to be avoided, if at all possible.

In the context of the Lord’s statement about the “yoke”, it seems to me that what He has in mind is the cooperative image, the one in which two are needed to do the work, like a team of oxen. (After all, two oxen are needed to do anything, one alone won’t work.) The clue, I think, lies in the comment which precedes the one about the “yoke”, for there we hear this: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Perhaps the intent is to tell us not to bear the burdens of life all by ourselves. Maybe what the Lord has in mind is that He and we will share the burdens that are set before us together. For a little bit later, He says that His “yoke is easy”, and His “burden is light”. Notice that He says that the yoke is His, meaning that He won’t abdicate His part of the work, He’ll continue to be there, pulling alongside us.

We ought to be clear about one thing: There are burdens to be borne and work to be done. If we follow in the footsteps of the original twelve disciples to whom this instruction was originally given, then we, too, are charged with the burden of carrying the Good News (Gospel) out into the world, just as they did. We, along with the Lord, work together to share that good news.

Isn’t it good to know that the burden of the work, whatever that work might entail, isn’t ours alone to accomplish?

What great and good news that is!

The Lord being our coworker and helper, can accomplish great things in and through us.

AMEN.