Readings
1 Kings 3:5-12
Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33,44-52
One of my favorite shows each week is CBS Sunday Morning. I don’t get to watch it when it airs because I’m at church already, but I faithfully record it each week and watch it in the afternoon.
I was struck by one of the features from last week’s program. It told the story of an English estate that for many years had struggled to survive financially and whose owners were facing crippling debt and possible bankruptcy. For centuries the estate had functioned as a farm, but the land was poor and the yield poorer. Despite every attempt to revitalize the farm they just couldn’t make it work. So, somewhat out of despair they chose to let the land go back to being wild and uncultivated.
To their great surprise over the following years their land became filled with an abundance of life, and they were able to raise both cattle and pigs, allowing them to roam free and forage for food. Along with that the wildlife returned and were restored to a state not seen, in some cases, since the 15th century. And as for their economic sustainability? Their debt decreased, and through wildlife tours, camping, and glamping they began to see a profit once again. And on top of that, they are now seen as an ecological pioneer and a model for other parts of Britain and the western world.
Despite all the conventional wisdom, allowing their land to go back to nature (effectively giving up the order and certainty of modern farming) was the solution to their problems.
Today Jesus offers a series of images for the Kingdom of God that to those who first heard them, they would have been shocking, or at the very least nonsensical.
He says that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, like yeast mixed in flour, like a treasure hidden in a field which someone sells all that they have to buy, and like a fine pearl which again is purchased with all that someone has.
What is shocking or interesting about the first two images, the mustard seed and the yeast, is that to our original listeners these are not positive images. Mustard in the ancient world was a weed that spread rampantly and needed constantly to be pulled out lest it spoil one’s crops. To understand fully the image, think of Mustard as the ancient world’s Kudzu.
And yeast, traditionally seen as an image of corruption, was something that would have been understood to be a spoiler of the wheat. It was something to be avoided altogether during Passover and, at best, tolerated the rest of the time.
But what they have in common is that in their original state they are easily missed and difficult to see and yet their impact can be huge. As Jesus points out Mustard can become a significant bush. One that is so large that it can shelter birds and other creatures from the hot Palestinian sun. And a small amount of yeast when starch is present can off gas significantly and change the very nature of a loaf of bread.
As for the other images of the treasure and the pearl. The message is clear. The Kingdom of God is of such great value in comparison to all the other things we strive after, that to attain it no cost is too great. To live in a realm of peace and justice where the needs of all are met by all is nothing short of paradise and we should be willing to sacrifice everything for it.
But there is another message that Jesus is making in all of these images. Namely, that the Kingdom of God is not to be found in the majestic and lofty, but in the ordinary and the mundane. By using everyday images, he is making clear that the Kingdom is at hand. It is in our lives near us and not far away. But by using such shocking images he is also telling us that we may well have to look for it in places we least expect and may only recognize it when it has fully manifested itself.
Because, as creatures, we like a certain amount of order and certainty, we are prone to try and impose upon the world a sensibility that reinforces our own sense of safety and security. We take what feels good and brings us a modicum of wellness and try to eliminate everything else. Who among us doesn’t value prosperity, order, and comfort?
But Jesus is telling us that while the kingdom is nearby all the time, it may not always be in those things we value or our certainties. Like that English estate that succeeds by going back to nature despite all evidence to the contrary, the kingdom of God may well be found in the mustard seeds and yeasts of our life. And like that estate we may well have to let go of most or all of what we hold onto in order to experience the fullness of its blessings.
What are the mustard seeds and yeast of our lives? Where are the weeds we are tempted to prematurely pull or the dynamics we are quick to judge as signs of decline? How is God breaking into our lives in ways we least expect and yet with the potential for the most dramatic of impacts? What opportunities for blessing are we missing? What are we unwilling to sacrifice to claim the treasure before us?
The Kingdom of God is breaking in all around us. May we have the courage to embrace the mustard plants and the yeast, and may we be willing to offer all that we have when we discover the treasure that is before us.