July 2, 2015

 

Dear MLEPC Members and Friends:

 

This Sunday we begin a new sermon series entitled, Take It from a Wise Guy: Parables of Jesus. Matthew 13:3 records, "Then He (Jesus) told them (the people) many things in parables." There is no doubt that Jesus, the wisest of the wise, has many things he would tell us this summer as we also attend to His parables. Let's make it our plan to come on Sunday mornings to listen to the parables of Jesus even as the crowds gathered in His presence to hear Him speak long ago in Galilee.

 

As we prepare to come, let's consider the nature of parables. What is a parable? Actually it is harder to give a simple answer than we might think. To begin, Jesus uses parables as a key feature of His teaching as recorded in the Synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke. We don't find parables in John's gospel. Most parables use features taken from the common life of the people in Jesus' audience--salt, light, bread, crops in the field, people on a journey, animals, a judge and plaintiff at court, and so forth. Parables clothe the spiritual, biblical, and theological reality Jesus is teaching in images that everyone can identify with. I imagine that many in Jesus' audience heard His parables and said to themselves, "That man isn't just an 'ivory tower thinker' like some of the rabbis and Teachers of the Law. He knows the real world where I live life every day." It's easier to hear from a person who relates to our human experiences, and Jesus was great at using parables to do just that. In fact, scholars observe that Jesus used parables far more frequently than any other teacher of record in Palestine during His time. If you will, parables were His specialty in comparison to other rabbis. I think parables were part of the genius of Jesus' appeal to all sorts of people.

 

Let's further ask, what was Jesus' purpose or goal when using parables to teach? Sometimes parables illustrate a point or truth Jesus is communicating in order to make it more vivid and memorable in the minds of listeners. Jesus clarifies His teaching through parables. At other times Jesus employs parables in what seems like the opposite manner by appearing to mystify His hearers. People sometimes walk away scratching their heads wondering what Jesus meant by the parable. Why would Jesus use parables in such a mystifying way? He wants people to think more deeply instead of settling for the easy answer, perhaps even coming to Him for further help to understand. Finally, we find Jesus speaking in parables on occasions in order to oppose or even provoke His enemies. Jesus uses parables to communicate controversial things in an indirect way, so that His opponents cannot directly accuse Him though they know He is criticizing them. So when we read the parables of Jesus, let's ask ourselves whether we find Jesus clarifying, mystifying, or provoking through His words.

 

For our first parable this Sunday, July 5, we begin with the story of the Persistent Widow and the Unjust Judge (Luke 18:1-8). In simple summary, a judge who neither fears God nor respects man is approached by a widow seeking a hearing in her case. The judge doesn't wish to be bothered. But the widow gives him no peace until he relents and hears her complaint in order to give her justice against her adversary. This parable can be confusing at first glance. Is God like the unjust judge who doesn't really care about justice for people? Are we to be nagging plaintiffs who must cajole God into action? What's going on here?

 

To get to the bottom of it, read the parable a few times over as you think and pray about it. Then come to worship on Sunday where we'll further explore this parable in our sermon entitled, "Good Faith Hunting." See you then.

 

Pastor Tim

 

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