Pentecost 7: The Kingdom is Like...

1 Kings 3:5-12

Psalm 119:129-136

Romans 8: 26-39

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

First Lesson: 1 Kings 3:5-12

Challenges:

Verse 12 in this text seems to contradict the words of Ecclesiastes.  Here the Lord says “no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.” Apparently there is something new under the sun!

Opportunities:

How many jokes or stories begin with a person meeting a genie who gives them three wishes? How often have we thought to ourselves, “If I could just have _________.”  Here Solomon gets the chance to live this out.  What would you ask for? What would you be tempted to ask for?  What would people in your congregation ask for?  This could be a good opportunity to have a small conversation during the sermon.  It could start out funny (“A lifetime supply of Skittles Candy!”) and it could get very serious, (“A cure for cancer.”) Once it gets serious you could really delve into what would make the biggest difference.

I once asked my catechism kids to list one super power they would want to help them spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. One girl chose the ability to “speak really fast” so she could talk to the most people in the least amount of time. You could debate whether or not this would be effective, but I really loved the way she thought about the assignment.

An excellent commentator on the Working Preacher website points out that Solomon’s place on the throne was less than secure.  It would have been extremely tempting to ask for great riches or powerful armies or the death of all of his enemies.  He doesn’t ask for these things: he chooses something that will actually help people, not just himself.  Read this commentary by clicking HERE.

Good News:

I like the fact that God approves of Solomon’s choice of wisdom and understanding. Another deity could (and does in other religions) think other things are much more important. Often other deities don’t really care about the people who worship them, they just like to be worshiped.  Our God, the God who created everything, the Lord of the Universe, CARES about how we treat each other.  This is good news.

The Psalm: Psalm 119:129-136

Challenges:

Sometimes Lutherans (of whose number I am a part) get so excited about “the gospel” that we become very negative toward the “law.”  We start to even hate it.  Sure, we might never admit that, but the way we talk about it is certainly less than…shall we say,...warm and cuddly.  I get this, really I do, but sometimes it could be a good chance to look at how God’s commands, teachings, and, as this psalmist calls them, “decrees” are actually a good thing.  They make life in a community better, they save lives, they improve things.  Don’t worry, I’m still a Lutheran, but I try to look at God’s decrees in a variety of ways.

Opportunities:

A pastor friend of mine put a comic strip on his facebook page a few months ago where two guys are standing next to a fence with a sign that says “God’s commands” on it.  One of the guys says, “I’m sick and tired of God telling me what I can and can’t do. I’m sick and tired of these fences God puts in our way!” And with that he hops over the barrier, just as the guy next to him starts to say, “Wait!” In the next frame, as the first guy plummets off a cliff, the second guys says, “…that’s not a fence! It’s a guardrail!”

How often do we think that God is trying to ruin our fun times, when really God is protecting us and those around us from evil?

Good News:

God isn’t some divine watchmaker who got things off and running to only say “Good luck, your on your own!” Nope. God is with us, caring for us, teaching us, guiding us, helping us.  Part of the way God does this is in divine decrees that make a difference in the world.  The psalmists here recognizes that.

Second Lesson: Romans 8:26-39

Challenges:

Sometimes there is so little that jumps out at you in a text…for me this isn’t one of those times. There’s almost an embarrassment of riches here.  What to talk about? Prayer? The Spirit interceding for us?  The ever-present love of God in Christ Jesus? Gosh, where do you even begin? (and it’s not like the Gospel lesson is too shabby either…or the first lesson for that matter, and I really liked the psalm too). What do you do when there is just TOO MUCH to talk about? 

Opportunities:

I’ve used this example before, but it bears repeating. When it comes to the fact that “we do not know how to pray as we ought” I think of a good friend and colleague who is a very spiritual man. When I pray with him or hear him pray it is truly a privilege. He told me how he once hurt his back so badly he had to lay on the floor absolutely still. Even then there was a great deal of pain. It got  to the point where he couldn’t concentrate on words to pray.  The best he could do was to look up to heaven and groan in a prayerful manner.  I find this to be an excellent example of prayer that really describes what Romans 8 is talking about.

Good News:

If you are looking for good news, simply read this lesson to yourself. Still looking for good news? Read it to yourself again, and again, and again.  The good news is simply right there to be seen.

Christian R & B artist Lecrae has a truly amazing song called “Far Away.” I’m not in to R & B or rap, but I could listen to this song all day long.  It was inspired by Haitian earthquake from a few years ago (it was used to raise money for relief efforts). You can listen to the song (with lyrics) by clicking HERE.

It talks about how God can feel so very far away.  Lines like “I don’t know what to do, I’m not looking for answers, I just need you to hold my hand through this cancer…” really speak to our need to not be alone, to feel like God hasn’t abandoned us.  Lecrae spends most of the song talking about how he feels that God is “Far Away,” but at the end he speaks the words of Psalm 62, “For God alone I wait in silence; from God comes my salvation…” And when the chorus begins again he say’s “[God is NOT] Far Away…[is NOT] Far Away…” It is very powerful.

Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Challenges:

So what do you do? Center all of your energy on just one of these parables or go through them all, linking them together with a central theme? Either is a good option, but if you choose a strategy, stick with it!

Also, as always, parables are tricky. You could find a whole host of different ways to look at them. Plus, you can find all sorts of “experts” on ancient history and life in Judea and Galilee who will contradict each other when it comes to farming practices, plants, economics, etc.  It can be confusing and overwhelming. 

Opportunities:

On the “Sermon Brainwave” Podcast David Lose al., talks about how the things mentioned in this parable are subversive and “tricky.” The Kingdom of Heaven is going to creep on you before you even know it. The leaven, the mustard seed, etc. all subvert something bigger. 

This reminded me of an image that is often used to talk about how change can take effect over time: the frog boiled in water.  The idea is that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out.  If you put a frog into a pot of lukewarm water and gradually turn up the heat, it will sit there and be boiled to death.

Normally we see this as a bad thing: it’s a story that is used to show how environmental disaster is about to hit us but we won’t notice, or how bad things will creep up on a society,  company, or group.  This is all valuable, but I think this story can also be an example for a good thing that is about to happen gradually, without our even recognizing it at first.  Take the frog in the story, for instance: maybe that frog needs to die.  Maybe the frog is our old, sinful, self.  When Paul talks about baptism in Romans 6 he talks about how we are baptized into Christ’s death. Our old self dies and a new self rises.  Baptism is a one-time thing (“we believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins”) but is also a life-long, every day, not-complete-this-side-of-Christ’s-return sort of thing too. Maybe the Kingdom of Heaven comes in small, incremental, subversive and ‘deadly’ ways that are gradually killing that frog of sin and selfishness. 

Good News:

The Kingdom is coming and we have the opportunity to find it, experience it, discover it, have it run over us, consume us and overwhelm us.  The Kingdom is coming and it really is a treasure to be found.  It comes in mysterious, strange and even inexplicable ways, but it is coming! Let’s pray that it comes to us.