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The Parables of Jesus: Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52
In these parables Jesus speaks about seeds and plants, baking bread, plowing a field and fishing. There is nothing very exotic, exciting or magnificent about these stories. Furthermore, they paint a picture of God's heaven and realm as being very ordinary. I wonder if the hearers that listened to Jesus were disappointed? I wonder if we get disappointed when we are looking really hard for God and expecting something that is over the top?
Do you remember when God said he loved us so much that he wanted to become one of us? Like Jesus, our everyday world embodies the wonder, awe and sacredness of God. Jesus says we simply have to have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
For Jesus, God's realm is not some esoteric kingdom, but as close as the mustard bush or the loaf of bread or plowing fields. As God was in every nook and cranny of people's lives in Jesus' day, so God is in our day. Jesus helps us to see the heaven that is close at hand.
Abundance from the smallest of things and transformed life is what God's kingdom is like. It's no wonder that people will gladly give up everything for that treasure. Jesus asks us in these parables, Having found the treasure what are we willing to give up to have it?
See you this weekend!
Pastor Susan | 
