Hidden Treasure
26
July 2020, Christ Mountain Top, Online, during COVID-19
July 2020, Christ Mountain Top, Online, during COVID-19
Praying
the Scripture, Psalm 105.1-6
the Scripture, Psalm 105.1-6
Kids,
Genesis 29.15-30
Genesis 29.15-30
Message,
Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52
Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52
This
week’s theme:
week’s theme:
Several
months ago, I had one of those vivid and memorable dreams. That’s not
particularly common for me. And this particular dream was about a friend of
mine I have not seen in seven years. In my dream, Dave was fishing. Though he
loves to fish, and is a professional in fresh water fisheries and water ecology
on contract for the federal government, we’ve never fished together. In my
dream, Dave was fishing, and he caught a fish as big as he is, and he’s a big
boy. He could barely wrap his arms around this fish in a bear hug.
months ago, I had one of those vivid and memorable dreams. That’s not
particularly common for me. And this particular dream was about a friend of
mine I have not seen in seven years. In my dream, Dave was fishing. Though he
loves to fish, and is a professional in fresh water fisheries and water ecology
on contract for the federal government, we’ve never fished together. In my
dream, Dave was fishing, and he caught a fish as big as he is, and he’s a big
boy. He could barely wrap his arms around this fish in a bear hug.
It was so vivid, and it featured a friend
I’ve probably never dreamed about before, so I gave him a call. I didn’t get an
answer but heard back a couple weeks later. I told him the dream and he
chuckled at the image. He has certainly caught his share of big ones. But when
I called him, he was doing an environmental study on the smallest fish
in America, now endangered and living only in a couple lakes in very rural
Alabama. He had no cell reception, and it took a couple weeks to get back to
me.
I’ve probably never dreamed about before, so I gave him a call. I didn’t get an
answer but heard back a couple weeks later. I told him the dream and he
chuckled at the image. He has certainly caught his share of big ones. But when
I called him, he was doing an environmental study on the smallest fish
in America, now endangered and living only in a couple lakes in very rural
Alabama. He had no cell reception, and it took a couple weeks to get back to
me.
We had a chance to catch up a little
personally, and he told me about changes in his parents’ health. We’ve been in
touch a little bit since then. Both of his parents were on staff with me in the
last church I served, and they were part of Jesse’s support team in our last
congregation. Dave’s mom died around the same time Robin did.
personally, and he told me about changes in his parents’ health. We’ve been in
touch a little bit since then. Both of his parents were on staff with me in the
last church I served, and they were part of Jesse’s support team in our last
congregation. Dave’s mom died around the same time Robin did.
When I think of today’s Scripture texts
from the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) and from the New Testament Gospel of
Matthew, they have an almost dream-like quality. They are full of colorful
characters, unexpected elements, and extravagant imagery. They require
imagination and, if we sit with them a while, invite us into a riddle without
offering the answer. If you’re like me, when someone poses a riddle, I
assume I won’t get it and ask for the answer. Robin always refuses the answer.
She insists on having several minutes – an eternity for me – to throw out
possible answers to even the simplest children’s riddle.
from the Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures) and from the New Testament Gospel of
Matthew, they have an almost dream-like quality. They are full of colorful
characters, unexpected elements, and extravagant imagery. They require
imagination and, if we sit with them a while, invite us into a riddle without
offering the answer. If you’re like me, when someone poses a riddle, I
assume I won’t get it and ask for the answer. Robin always refuses the answer.
She insists on having several minutes – an eternity for me – to throw out
possible answers to even the simplest children’s riddle.
In Matthew 13.35 (LEB), Jesus says,
“I
will open my mouth in parables;
will open my mouth in parables;
I
will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation.”
will proclaim what has been hidden since the creation.”
The
quote is from Psalm 77.2, in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation). “I
will open my mouth and speak in parables; I will utter riddles (problemata)
from the beginning” (Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus, 132). So,
get ready for some riddles today!
quote is from Psalm 77.2, in the Septuagint (the ancient Greek translation). “I
will open my mouth and speak in parables; I will utter riddles (problemata)
from the beginning” (Amy-Jill Levine, Short Stories by Jesus, 132). So,
get ready for some riddles today!
Message
Wow!
How about that Jacob story, huh? You can’t completely overlook that Laban, Jacob’s
uncle, pulls a fast one on him, switching out sisters under the veil. You can’t
gloss over the fact that women were bought and sold in marriage. Obviously,
that kind of marriage couldn’t be about love, because you can’t buy love
(Song of Songs 8.7). You can’t ignore the fact that we’re talking about kissin’
cousins. You can’t miss that Jacob is married to sisters, but only loves one of
them. You know that kind of rivalry is great for family dinner. Again, wow! And
he is willing to work 14 years to get the woman of his dreams. Truly, what do
you value most and what are you willing to do to get it?
How about that Jacob story, huh? You can’t completely overlook that Laban, Jacob’s
uncle, pulls a fast one on him, switching out sisters under the veil. You can’t
gloss over the fact that women were bought and sold in marriage. Obviously,
that kind of marriage couldn’t be about love, because you can’t buy love
(Song of Songs 8.7). You can’t ignore the fact that we’re talking about kissin’
cousins. You can’t miss that Jacob is married to sisters, but only loves one of
them. You know that kind of rivalry is great for family dinner. Again, wow! And
he is willing to work 14 years to get the woman of his dreams. Truly, what do
you value most and what are you willing to do to get it?
If you are looking for examples of
healthy family relationships and personal integrity among these ancient fathers
and mothers of Israel, you’ll have to look really hard. But, if you want to
find faith, it’s there in abundance. Fortunately, faith does not require moral
perfection. Even more fortunately, God seems to delight in choosing rascals and
trouble-makers like Jacob.
healthy family relationships and personal integrity among these ancient fathers
and mothers of Israel, you’ll have to look really hard. But, if you want to
find faith, it’s there in abundance. Fortunately, faith does not require moral
perfection. Even more fortunately, God seems to delight in choosing rascals and
trouble-makers like Jacob.
And
then we’ve got this grab-bag of parables of Jesus, most of them (except the
drag net which resembles the weeds among the wheat from last week) without
explanations, problems without answers, riddles without solutions. I love that.
Both modern scholars and ancient fathers interpret these stories in many
different ways. Some of these stories I have preached several times and no two
times alike. They are full of colorful characters, unexpected elements, and
extravagant imagery. They require imagination and, if we sit with them a while,
invite us into a riddle without offering the answer.
then we’ve got this grab-bag of parables of Jesus, most of them (except the
drag net which resembles the weeds among the wheat from last week) without
explanations, problems without answers, riddles without solutions. I love that.
Both modern scholars and ancient fathers interpret these stories in many
different ways. Some of these stories I have preached several times and no two
times alike. They are full of colorful characters, unexpected elements, and
extravagant imagery. They require imagination and, if we sit with them a while,
invite us into a riddle without offering the answer.
The merchant and the pearl … Some say God
is the merchant and God’s people – the church and Israel – are worth God giving
up everything. Or, any person can be the merchant, looking for the wrong thing,
for fine pearls. When we encounter what is even better, a pearl beyond price,
we have the opportunity to give up everything to gain the kingdom, an
opportunity to become a disciple. So, the pearl is God or the pearl is the
kingdom? And there are other interpretations as well, just of this one curious
story.
is the merchant and God’s people – the church and Israel – are worth God giving
up everything. Or, any person can be the merchant, looking for the wrong thing,
for fine pearls. When we encounter what is even better, a pearl beyond price,
we have the opportunity to give up everything to gain the kingdom, an
opportunity to become a disciple. So, the pearl is God or the pearl is the
kingdom? And there are other interpretations as well, just of this one curious
story.
Colorful characters … the merchant. The
merchant? The Greek word for merchant is emporos from which we get
“empire” (see Levine, 142-144). Jesus didn’t seem to be much of a fan of
empire, oppression, the selling of people and land, the exploitation of nations
and economies. Jesus kicked merchants out of the temple. The man who finds a
treasure in a field. What? So, instead of taking the treasure, he hides it and
buys the field, never telling the original owner of the field what he has
found. Seems like someone with whom I’d not like to do business.
merchant? The Greek word for merchant is emporos from which we get
“empire” (see Levine, 142-144). Jesus didn’t seem to be much of a fan of
empire, oppression, the selling of people and land, the exploitation of nations
and economies. Jesus kicked merchants out of the temple. The man who finds a
treasure in a field. What? So, instead of taking the treasure, he hides it and
buys the field, never telling the original owner of the field what he has
found. Seems like someone with whom I’d not like to do business.
Unexpected elements … So, you sell
everything, everything? In the ancient world, everything would include
your family members, your house, your land … anything that would actually
provide your basic needs. And, the woman with the leaven (not yeast in little
packets but more like sourdough starter), the woman with the leaven literally
“hides” the leaven in the flour. The Greek word for “hide” here is enkrypto,
from which we get encrypt and cryptology. So, what’s with all the secret agent
stuff? And why is it that secret and hidden things seem meant to be revealed?
everything, everything? In the ancient world, everything would include
your family members, your house, your land … anything that would actually
provide your basic needs. And, the woman with the leaven (not yeast in little
packets but more like sourdough starter), the woman with the leaven literally
“hides” the leaven in the flour. The Greek word for “hide” here is enkrypto,
from which we get encrypt and cryptology. So, what’s with all the secret agent
stuff? And why is it that secret and hidden things seem meant to be revealed?
Extravagant imagery … A mustard seed
becomes a tree? Scholars argue over what Jesus is referring to when he talks
about mustard – from the noxious weed in a wheat field, to a garden herb, to a
large shrub. But there is no mustard tree in existence anywhere
in the world, now or ever. And the three measures of flour? That is forty to
sixty pounds, yes, pounds, of flour (Levine)! How many people are you
baking for?
becomes a tree? Scholars argue over what Jesus is referring to when he talks
about mustard – from the noxious weed in a wheat field, to a garden herb, to a
large shrub. But there is no mustard tree in existence anywhere
in the world, now or ever. And the three measures of flour? That is forty to
sixty pounds, yes, pounds, of flour (Levine)! How many people are you
baking for?
This is what I meant when I said these
stories have an almost dream-like quality, that these stories require
imagination, and that they invite us into a riddle without offering the answer.
stories have an almost dream-like quality, that these stories require
imagination, and that they invite us into a riddle without offering the answer.
Have
you found one thing that is so precious to you that you could never put a price
on it, so important that you would do anything for it? That dream girl for whom
you would work for fourteen years? That pearl that is worth selling off
everything else in your life? That buried treasure that is worth defrauding
someone else to get? Do you have a relationship that makes it worth it to go to
anger management or counseling? Do you have a calling that is so great that it
cannot be denied, no matter the pain it brings? Paul writes that the goal of
history is for “God to be all in all.” Have you found your “all in all”? What
is your pearl?
you found one thing that is so precious to you that you could never put a price
on it, so important that you would do anything for it? That dream girl for whom
you would work for fourteen years? That pearl that is worth selling off
everything else in your life? That buried treasure that is worth defrauding
someone else to get? Do you have a relationship that makes it worth it to go to
anger management or counseling? Do you have a calling that is so great that it
cannot be denied, no matter the pain it brings? Paul writes that the goal of
history is for “God to be all in all.” Have you found your “all in all”? What
is your pearl?
Have
you found the boundary between your own effort and your need to trust? Have you
learned when it is time to take your hands off the process and let it happen
naturally? Once you have hidden the leaven in the flour, you can’t keep working
it or you will prevent the bread from rising. Once you have planted the seed in
the ground, you can’t dig it up daily to check on its welfare. That’s a tough
one for our inner control freak, and for parenting in general, but there are
times when our need to control only does damage to our larger priorities. We
are part of a bigger process in the work of God and our role is limited
(Levine, 182). It is quite a riddle to discover and embrace our role and leave
the rest in the hands of God or others. Amy-Jill Levine writes, “Don’t ask
‘when’ the kingdom comes or ‘where’ it is. The when is in its own good time –
as long as it takes for seed to sprout and dough to rise. The where is that it
is already present, inchoate, in the world” (182).
you found the boundary between your own effort and your need to trust? Have you
learned when it is time to take your hands off the process and let it happen
naturally? Once you have hidden the leaven in the flour, you can’t keep working
it or you will prevent the bread from rising. Once you have planted the seed in
the ground, you can’t dig it up daily to check on its welfare. That’s a tough
one for our inner control freak, and for parenting in general, but there are
times when our need to control only does damage to our larger priorities. We
are part of a bigger process in the work of God and our role is limited
(Levine, 182). It is quite a riddle to discover and embrace our role and leave
the rest in the hands of God or others. Amy-Jill Levine writes, “Don’t ask
‘when’ the kingdom comes or ‘where’ it is. The when is in its own good time –
as long as it takes for seed to sprout and dough to rise. The where is that it
is already present, inchoate, in the world” (182).
Like
the small amount of leaven that transforms sixty pounds of flour and the small
mustard seed that becomes a “tree,” how have you seen small things have great
impact? Or, to use another side of the same coin, where have you witnessed
hidden things, secret things, encrypted into the larger world in ways that make
things new? Is it two days spent painting a bathroom building at the local
park? Is it the greeting and departure kiss, practiced every day over decades? Is
it an evening walk with the dog? Is it the phone call with dad or mom? Is it
planting a garden or baking bread? Is it responding to what we can only recognize,
in hindsight, as a prompting of the Spirit of God to do something simple for
someone, something simple that ends up a profound blessing?
the small amount of leaven that transforms sixty pounds of flour and the small
mustard seed that becomes a “tree,” how have you seen small things have great
impact? Or, to use another side of the same coin, where have you witnessed
hidden things, secret things, encrypted into the larger world in ways that make
things new? Is it two days spent painting a bathroom building at the local
park? Is it the greeting and departure kiss, practiced every day over decades? Is
it an evening walk with the dog? Is it the phone call with dad or mom? Is it
planting a garden or baking bread? Is it responding to what we can only recognize,
in hindsight, as a prompting of the Spirit of God to do something simple for
someone, something simple that ends up a profound blessing?
[By
the way, when speaking of codes, my spy dad taught me an unbreakable code and I
am going to make a short video on that so that anyone can learn it. It is a fun
exercise for kids and adults alike.]
the way, when speaking of codes, my spy dad taught me an unbreakable code and I
am going to make a short video on that so that anyone can learn it. It is a fun
exercise for kids and adults alike.]
“I
will open my mouth and speak in parables; I will utter riddles from the
beginning”
will open my mouth and speak in parables; I will utter riddles from the
beginning”
Conversation starters:
· Have
you found your “pearl”? What is it? How did you change your life because of it?
you found your “pearl”? What is it? How did you change your life because of it?
· Have
you found the boundary between your own effort and your need to trust? How is
this made real in your parenting, in your workplace, in looking for work, in
dealing with addiction, whatever big deal you face?
you found the boundary between your own effort and your need to trust? How is
this made real in your parenting, in your workplace, in looking for work, in
dealing with addiction, whatever big deal you face?
· What
small things in your life have the biggest impact? Which of those are positive
ones that you want to nurture?
small things in your life have the biggest impact? Which of those are positive
ones that you want to nurture?
