Christchurch Parish News, October 2014
This a reflection I wrote back in July for the Bible study group. It is based on the Gospel reading for the 4th Sunday after Trinity. Before reading it, even if you are familiar with the parable, I recommend taking a moment to read the passage in question, Matthew 13 1-9; 18-23.
Many of us will had the experience of being in a meeting where we’re discussing some new venture when someone will say, “Yes, but we’ve got to be realistic”. The hopeful mood of the meeting evaporates, everyone’s shoulders slump and we look down at our copies of the agenda wondering what’s the point. It seems as if nothing’s ever going to change. It may come then as bit of a surprise that in this reading from Matthew, the one being the realist is Jesus.
Throughout Galilee, from village to village, from town to town, in the synagogues and in the hills, even from in a boat, Jesus is proclaiming and teaching about the kingdom of heaven, which, he says, is at hand. Remember that in Matthew’s account when Jesus says ‘kingdom of heaven’, that’s just his respectful way of saying ‘kingdom of God’, which is the phrase we find in Mark and Luke. Matthew did this because he was writing with a Jewish readership in mind. In other words, the two phrases refer to the same thing. It is this kingdom of heaven/God which is the good news because it has drawn near and is somehow, in a way that at this stage of the story isn’t quite clear, ultimately bound up with Jesus himself. Not just with what he’s teaching and proclaiming, but with his very identity.
What is this kingdom of God, alternatively translated as the reign of God (the Greek word basileia can mean both)? For one thing, it’s a highly charged statement with strong political overtones. John Dominic Crossan offers us a shorthand explanation: the kingdom of God is what the world would be like if God were king and the rulers of this world were not. Jesus is proclaiming that this kingdom is at hand; God is instigating his reign anew.
All of which sounds rather exciting but what does it actually mean? And what’s it going to look like? Matthew’s account of the gospel is full of Jesus’ teachings about the kingdom, most notably in what we call the Sermon on the Mount. He also uses parables, which are short stories that tease some listeners into a new understanding of the world, helping them to go beyond the worldview that they have and are currently shaped by. We know by this stage in Matthew that according to Jesus, the kingdom of God is a very topsy-turvy kind of place, where the poor and the weak are blessed, where those who are rich now have every reason to be getting distinctly nervous, and where the first will be last and the last will be first.
But at the same time Jesus is realistic. He knows that hearing this news of the kingdom of heaven drawing near is going to be hard for many to accept. So he uses another parable, commonly referred to as the parable of the sower, to teach about the reception that this message, this word of the kingdom of God, is going to get. Whilst he doesn’t explain it to the general public, along with the disciples we have the inside track and as he draws out the meaning of the parable, the odds for the kingdom of God getting a generous welcome are not looking good. Of the four scenarios, three end badly. Hearing the good news can be hard.
In the first instance, when the seed, which is the message of the kingdom, falls on the path and gets gobbled up by the birds, Jesus explains that that’s when someone hears the good news of God’s kingdom but doesn’t understand it. Note the place where Jesus says this message is sown. The seed is sown in the heart (Gk. kardia). It’s interesting that it is not sown in the brain. That might be what we would expect, especially these days. But this business of God being King and the kings, rulers, presidents, prime ministers, CEOs, super-rich and celebrities of this world not being the ones calling the shots, is first and foremost a matter of understanding of the heart, not of the head. When the heart doesn’t understand the message, that’s when the evil one can swoop in and snatch it away.
Hang on a minute. The evil one? What’s that about? Well, depending on your point of view, either it’s a real being, but of limited scope (the evil one doesn’t have the same attributes as God – i.e., isn’t all-knowing and present everywhere etc.); or it’s a personification of all that is opposed to God’s kingdom. Opposed to it for the simple reason that if God is King, then the evil one, in whatever shape it takes, is not. Its power and might and rule and exploitation is relativised, challenged and, such is the promise of the kingdom of God coming near, ultimately overthrown. Hence the evil one kicks back hard and is ever keen to prevent the message from taking root, even when it’s not initially understood. For if it’s removed now, it won’t have a chance of blossoming later on in the person’s life.
Jesus continues in this realistic vein. In the second scenario, the seed falls on rocky ground, and whilst there is initial joy, because it hasn’t grown roots in this person’s heart, because the ground is too rocky and the roots can’t go deep, Jesus says that this person endures only for a while. When trouble or persecution arises on account of the word of the kingdom, they’re out of there! It’s not if trouble and persecution arise but when. It’s going to happen. The implication is that if one lives in a way that is in keeping not with the rulers of this world being king but with God being King, then there’s inevitably going to be conflict, trouble and persecution. Indeed this is the case for many around the world today, which should give us in Europe pause as we have all but moved on from 1700 years of what was commonly referred to as Christendom, the period when the church called the shots or at the least was highly influential in shaping the culture of the day. Now that this is no longer the case, it is reasonable to assume that where there are groups of Christians living in ways that would make no sense if it weren’t but for the kingdom of God drawing near (to echo Stanley Hauerwas), then trouble will soon be round the corner. And if that’s not happening, then it’s worth asking if in actual fact we’re living our lives in ways that those who think they’re in charge want us to, ways that are congruent not with the kingdom of God but with kingdoms that are very different.
On to the third scenario and there’s no let up in Jesus’ realism. This scenario is where the message of the kingdom is sown among thorns. Here the person hears the word but the cares of the world and the lure of wealth choke the word and it yields nothing. There’s nothing new here – Jesus is adamant that we can’t serve God and money (Matt 6:24). You’re either going to serve the One or the other. One of those is going to be your King. They can’t both be. Lurking behind the lure of wealth and the cares of the world are the idols of power and security. Much of our society is geared to achieving exactly these ends. They are closely related: we think we can appease our cares and worries through the attainment of sufficient wealth. In other words these are often our idols which we worship with our time and money. Choked by them, the message of the kingdom of God yields nothing.
Note that it’s only in this the third scenario that Jesus refers to ‘yield’ (it’s actually just ‘unfruitful’ in the Greek). Before we move on to the fourth scenario, it’s worth pausing and asking ourselves what is meant here by yield, by bearing fruit. Are we talking about something private and interior, for example a richer experience of life, a private spirituality that gives one’s life a richer sense of meaning? Or is yield here to do with the effect the message of the kingdom of God has on society more broadly, shaping it into one which is more just and equitable? This is the standard dichotomy which underpins much thinking about discipleship. But like most dichotomies, it’s not actually true. Broader social change often depends on the passion and deepened spirituality of individuals, who in turn shape and are shaped by that society itself. It’s not an either/or. It’s a both/and.
So lastly we come to the fourth scenario. Until now Jesus has been realistic about the different ways people are going to respond to his message of the kingdom. But here in the fourth scenario, where the seed lands on good soil and bears fruit, the yields in the parable are out of this world. Some yield 100, some 60, some 30. What’s going on? Even in our own day, with all the hi-tech know-how underpinning modern agri-business, you’re doing really well if you get between a 20 and 25 yield for a harvest of wheat. Even the lowest yield that Jesus depicts in his parable is more than this. Obviously he’s not concretely talking about wheat, after all it is a parable. But the point is that the fruit that is born in the lives of those who hear the good news of the kingdom and in whom this message takes firm hold, is off the scale. Not only personally but more broadly in society as well.
All of which raises one question. In the first three scenarios in the parable, Jesus has been Mr Realist: the message is going to get a rough reception and few are going to hear it, let alone understand it, let alone let it take root. In this fourth scenario has he just got carried away? Has his realism gone out the window? Or is it that his understanding, his knowledge of reality, of what is really real, is such that he knows these kinds of extraordinary consequences of hearing his message are not only possible but actually the most realistic of all the four scenarios? For us then the question is this: is the kingdom of God which Jesus says is at hand, the really real? Or is the really real the rule and domination and shaping of society by the rulers of this world which you’ve just got to accept because when it comes down to it, that’s just the way things are?
It’s undoubtedly important to be realistic about things in life, what is possible, what is achievable and what isn’t. But Jesus is saying, you better be sure which reality is conditioning and shaping what you consider to be really real. Be realistic about that reality! With the kingdom of God drawing near, don’t let the narrow-minded rulers, leaders, culture-shapers define and limit what is possible. This is especially true for God’s church. In the next church meeting when someone says, “We’ve got to be realistic”, ask yourself, which reality are we saying is the really real?
One final thought: with all this in mind do you think God is a realist? In each of the three scenarios, Jesus recounts the sower sowing his seed on all sorts of ground that any level-headed, budget conscious farmer would just never do. Throwing his seed here and there, wily-nilly, into the most unpromising of places where, however unlikely it may seem, there may just be small pockets of good soil where his message of the kingdom can take root and flourish. It’s almost as if he’s a crazy farmer, profligate (one might even say prodigal?!) with his seed. And with this Jesus’ parable takes us right back to the passage that immediately precedes it in Matthew, where Jesus asks, “Who is my mother and who are my brothers?” He answers his own question by saying, “Whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and my sister and my brother.” Jesus understands God’s character to be one that doesn’t limit his message of God’s kingdom for just one group of people, rather he casts it far and wide for everyone to hear, even into the most unpromising of places, waiting patiently for it to take root in our hearts, and yield 30-fold, 60-fold, 100-fold!