Last week we talked about weeds and this week we start off with another weed. In reality, this story was within last weeks story of the wheat and weeds - if we were reading it straight through it was placed right in between the parable and the explanation.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
"which a man took, and sowed in his field" - some Gospels say "garden" instead of field. you don't typically plant trees in your field or garden - the place you grow food. But this is just the beginning of the things that Jesus turns on its head today in these parables. The Gardner, God in this case, purposely plants the tree here. This isn't a seed that he's wildly thrown. Why? I think that it is to upend the normal. To show that beauty and grace can be planted even in the places it doesn't "belong". God’s kingdom, as it becomes visible, is good news not just for those who want to keep it to themselves, but for all creation. As it becomes as evident as a large shade tree in the middle of a garden, it provides space for even those whom we’ve ignored, or crowded out.
Leaven
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
Leaven is generally in Scripture taken as a symbol of evil or corruption. For example, before the Passover Feast one of the things that was done was the purging of the houses of the Israelites of every scrap of leaven, and the bread which was eaten on that Feast was prescribed to be unleavened.
But of course, leavening of bread can also make it better. I'd much rather have a PBJ on some Wonder Bread than on a Matzah cracker. Most who explain this parable focus on the outward growth of the church and how, like bread rising, a small amount of leaven (the disciples) the church grew and expanded like crazy. And would be appropriate, I guess, if Jesus had said "the church I'm building will be like leaven that a woman took.. and yada yada yada. But thats not what he said. He's talking about the Kingdom of heaven here.
In this parable, God (who is a woman in the story!! *gasp*) takes and hides leaven into three measures of flour. Normally, you wouldn't add the leaven until you are ready to make the bread, because once you add it, you have to make it. And I know what you're thinking. How much is a measure? Well, I'm glad you asked that, because I wondered that myself and I looked it up.
“Three measures” is the usual translation for the original Greek “tria sata” which is a little over a bushel of flour (1.125 bushels, to be precise). That’s a ridiculously large amount of flour---you’d need a 100-quart mixer with a dough hook as big as your leg to knead it! Translating into kitchen measures, 1.125 bushels is 144 cups of flour. Presuming we used a common recipe for basic white bread that uses 5 ½ cups of flour, 144 cups is enough to make 26 batches of bread of two loaves each, giving us a total of 52 loaves, each weighing about a pound and a half. If we’re frugal but not stingy, we can get 16 slices out of a loaf, yielding 832 slices, enough for 416 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You would need 33 jars of jelly, and 64 of peanut butter - (unless you make it like I do, then you would need at least 100 jars of peanut butter).
(data found on http://breadmonk.com/my-bread-blog/three-measures-of-flour)
It is an extravagant, and some would say wasteful usage of the flour. But that is exactly what God is telling us about the Kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is like a woman (who remember is God here) who wants to do more than feed her family. The kingdom announced by Jesus is like a woman who wants to feed the village. The kingdom of God is like a woman who wants to feed the world. The kingdom is for everybody.
This seeming wastefulness and extravagance is seen in the next two examples as well.
“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.
“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.
These guys give up all they have to have the one thing. One of these stories is actually pretty straightforward and makes easy sense. You find a treasure, hide it, buy the field and then the treasure is yours! Whatever you sold to get it is presumably nothing compared to the treasure you found. It does seem a little sketchy to buy a field from a guy, knowing there is a treasure there. But I guess its good capitalism.
In the other story, the "one thing" isn't a thing that will seemingly sustain him, once he's given up all the rest - the rest of the world would see it as foolishness, but scripture tells us that the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men.
“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.
OK, here we are again with the weeping and gnashing. This parable seems much clearer from the "separate the good from the bad” aspect of things, but I hope that by now through all these parables that we can begin to see that things cannot always be taken at face value or the simplest of terms. I was talking with someone this week about this reading and mentioned that the things we see thoughout these parables that seem foolish to us - planting a tree in a garden, putting leaven in all your flour, selling all you have for a pearl - is what the Kingdom of God is like. At this point, I’m starting to wonder how to distinguish good fish from bad fish. I feel like it would have been helpful if Jesus could have gone Dr Suess on us “Good Fish, Bad Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”
But, my friend seemed to have no problem at all telling the difference. . We love to categorize, don’t we? We like to divide people up by skin color, or gender or political affiliation or religion or hair color or whatever. These people are THIS and these people are THAT. You go HERE and you go THERE. I like to think that God, who likes to plant trees in gardens and make ridiculous amounts of peanut butter and jelly’s knows better than me who goes into a basket and who doesn’t.
But either way, God will be with us. For as the David and Paul both wrote, if I may be allowed to combine their thoughts with my own -
For where can I go to escape you? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I go down to the depths, you are there also. If I fly to the furthest horizon, you are already there, waiting for me. In the darkness, I’m immersed in your light. For nothing can separate us. Neither life nor death, or our fears for today or our worries for tomorrow, not governments or wars or facebook drama or presidential tweets. In all these things, you are there with us.
So may we climb the trees in your garden, share in your peanut butter sandwiches and discover the treasure of your fields as we dwell in your house, forever and ever. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
"which a man took, and sowed in his field" - some Gospels say "garden" instead of field. you don't typically plant trees in your field or garden - the place you grow food. But this is just the beginning of the things that Jesus turns on its head today in these parables. The Gardner, God in this case, purposely plants the tree here. This isn't a seed that he's wildly thrown. Why? I think that it is to upend the normal. To show that beauty and grace can be planted even in the places it doesn't "belong". God’s kingdom, as it becomes visible, is good news not just for those who want to keep it to themselves, but for all creation. As it becomes as evident as a large shade tree in the middle of a garden, it provides space for even those whom we’ve ignored, or crowded out.Leaven
“The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened.”
Leaven is generally in Scripture taken as a symbol of evil or corruption. For example, before the Passover Feast one of the things that was done was the purging of the houses of the Israelites of every scrap of leaven, and the bread which was eaten on that Feast was prescribed to be unleavened.
But of course, leavening of bread can also make it better. I'd much rather have a PBJ on some Wonder Bread than on a Matzah cracker. Most who explain this parable focus on the outward growth of the church and how, like bread rising, a small amount of leaven (the disciples) the church grew and expanded like crazy. And would be appropriate, I guess, if Jesus had said "the church I'm building will be like leaven that a woman took.. and yada yada yada. But thats not what he said. He's talking about the Kingdom of heaven here.
In this parable, God (who is a woman in the story!! *gasp*) takes and hides leaven into three measures of flour. Normally, you wouldn't add the leaven until you are ready to make the bread, because once you add it, you have to make it. And I know what you're thinking. How much is a measure? Well, I'm glad you asked that, because I wondered that myself and I looked it up.
“Three measures” is the usual translation for the original Greek “tria sata” which is a little over a bushel of flour (1.125 bushels, to be precise). That’s a ridiculously large amount of flour---you’d need a 100-quart mixer with a dough hook as big as your leg to knead it! Translating into kitchen measures, 1.125 bushels is 144 cups of flour. Presuming we used a common recipe for basic white bread that uses 5 ½ cups of flour, 144 cups is enough to make 26 batches of bread of two loaves each, giving us a total of 52 loaves, each weighing about a pound and a half. If we’re frugal but not stingy, we can get 16 slices out of a loaf, yielding 832 slices, enough for 416 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. You would need 33 jars of jelly, and 64 of peanut butter - (unless you make it like I do, then you would need at least 100 jars of peanut butter).
(data found on http://breadmonk.com/my-bread-blog/three-measures-of-flour)
It is an extravagant, and some would say wasteful usage of the flour. But that is exactly what God is telling us about the Kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is like a woman (who remember is God here) who wants to do more than feed her family. The kingdom announced by Jesus is like a woman who wants to feed the village. The kingdom of God is like a woman who wants to feed the world. The kingdom is for everybody.
This seeming wastefulness and extravagance is seen in the next two examples as well.
“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.
“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.
These guys give up all they have to have the one thing. One of these stories is actually pretty straightforward and makes easy sense. You find a treasure, hide it, buy the field and then the treasure is yours! Whatever you sold to get it is presumably nothing compared to the treasure you found. It does seem a little sketchy to buy a field from a guy, knowing there is a treasure there. But I guess its good capitalism.
In the other story, the "one thing" isn't a thing that will seemingly sustain him, once he's given up all the rest - the rest of the world would see it as foolishness, but scripture tells us that the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of men.
“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.
OK, here we are again with the weeping and gnashing. This parable seems much clearer from the "separate the good from the bad” aspect of things, but I hope that by now through all these parables that we can begin to see that things cannot always be taken at face value or the simplest of terms. I was talking with someone this week about this reading and mentioned that the things we see thoughout these parables that seem foolish to us - planting a tree in a garden, putting leaven in all your flour, selling all you have for a pearl - is what the Kingdom of God is like. At this point, I’m starting to wonder how to distinguish good fish from bad fish. I feel like it would have been helpful if Jesus could have gone Dr Suess on us “Good Fish, Bad Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”
But, my friend seemed to have no problem at all telling the difference. . We love to categorize, don’t we? We like to divide people up by skin color, or gender or political affiliation or religion or hair color or whatever. These people are THIS and these people are THAT. You go HERE and you go THERE. I like to think that God, who likes to plant trees in gardens and make ridiculous amounts of peanut butter and jelly’s knows better than me who goes into a basket and who doesn’t.But either way, God will be with us. For as the David and Paul both wrote, if I may be allowed to combine their thoughts with my own -
For where can I go to escape you? If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I go down to the depths, you are there also. If I fly to the furthest horizon, you are already there, waiting for me. In the darkness, I’m immersed in your light. For nothing can separate us. Neither life nor death, or our fears for today or our worries for tomorrow, not governments or wars or facebook drama or presidential tweets. In all these things, you are there with us.
So may we climb the trees in your garden, share in your peanut butter sandwiches and discover the treasure of your fields as we dwell in your house, forever and ever. Amen.
In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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