Teaching in Parables...

Jesus spoke all these things to the crowd in parables;

he did not say anything to them without using a parable.

The kingdom of God is like:

... a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in the field; it is the smallest of seed but when it is grown it is the greatest of shrubs.

... leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it all was leavened.

... a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, upon finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

Again and again, Jesus uses parables to invite his listeners (to invite us) into a new way of being.   He, who came to proclaim the reign of God, did so not only through his healing and casting out of demons, but also through teaching and preaching.  His metaphors for God's reign are often both simple, yet unexpected: a grain of mustard, leaven, a fine pearl.  Even as he uses simple, everyday images, there is a sense of mystery.

Every time we think we have understood what the reign of God is like, we find ourselves confronted with another (sometimes conflicting) image.  For the kingdom is both present and future.  It touches us as individuals, while also calling us to community.  It addresses not only the spiritual, but the physical life.  Ultimately, participation in the kingdom requires participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

While signs of the kingdom can (sometimes) be found in the church, often it is encountered far from organized religion.  The vision shared through story and parable was and is an assault on the social and economic structures shaped by humanity.  Jesus knew the power of parable-of metaphor-to disorient and thereby reorient. As so, through parable, Jesus sets before us two ways of being: one the ordinary and the other, the extraordinary. 

Few of us like to be told anything, save the good that we have done.  Perhaps that is why Jesus chose to speak in parables.  Rather than telling, he invited us to ponder.  Taking common images, he uses paradox to challenge and invite us into a different way of being.

Ultimately, Jesus' very life serves as a parable.  New Testament scholar Leander Keck describes the earthly life of Jesus was "a parabolic event of the kingdom of God."[1]  He who spoke in parables was himself a parable-who shocked and disturbed, upset conventions and expectations-and thereby invited humanity into a different way of being that had (and has) revolutionary potential.  His earthly journey provides coordinates for our earthly journey as both pilgrim and steward.  It is not uncommon to find that people who disdain the church are deeply attracted to the person of Jesus.  Nevertheless, there is an audacious quality to admitting that we seek to become like Jesus; herein lies both challenge and call.

The kingdom of God is like...  Knowing Jesus, shaped by the Word, how are we to answer that question?  How are we to live God's reign?

Food for the Journey

Isaiah 11:1-9, The Peaceable Kingdom

I Corinthians 15:50-58, The Resurrection

Matthew 13:34-35, Speaking in Parables

Journey Questions

1. What is your experience of the reign of God?   Do you perceive it as a future hope or a reality already present, at least in part?
2. How does the prophetic image of the peaceable kingdom inform our understanding of the reign of God?
3. What does it mean to live as people of the resurrection?
4. How have Jesus' parables informed you in your faith and witness?  What parables most challenge your understanding of "kingdom living"?

Journey Practice: Become a Parabolic Event

The limits of our language are the limits of our world.

In a time of dogmatic literalism, Wittgenstein's wisdom calls us to remember the power and importance of language to either limit or expand our world.  As you reflect on your present journey, pick several metaphors from scripture to ponder God's call to you.  Is there a particular song, or animal, or plant, or book of the Bible that provides metaphorical insight?  Take time to not only ponder, but journal your responses to three to four images.  Then choose one of Jesus' parables to pray through.  Reflect on the images from scripture as they inform your response to the parable.  How is God calling you to be "a parabolic event" of the reign of God?

Prayer for the Journey

Almighty God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

grant, we pray, that we might be grounded and settled

in your truth by the coming of the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

What we do not know, reveal to us;

What is lacking within us, make complete;

That which we do know, confirm in us;

And keep us blameless in your service;

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Incomplete applications or those postmarked or received at the Mission Center after August 15, 2013, will not be considered.   

These grants are made possible by table offerings at presbytery meetings and gatherings and direct contributions from our congregations and individuals throughout our presbytery, who have discerned a call to respond to the growing number of children and adults in our communities who are hungry because they do not have reliable access to affordable, nutritious food.

For more information, contact Paula at 330-339-5515 or by email, Paula@MVPJourney.org 

Letter from the Board of Pensions...

Once again, thank you for participating in a Regional Benefits Consultation (RBC) in April. Your input, along with the many responses to the Board of Pensions' call for feedback as it considered changes in the medical dues model for the Traditional Program, helped shape the strategy approved last month by the Board's Board of Directors.

Patricia M. Haines, the Board's Senior Vice President, Benefits, informed the Directors, "We listened, we learned, we prayed, and came out at a better place." The Board Bulletin, distributed shortly after the board meeting was adjourned on June 29, details the medical dues changes for 2014 as well as the 2015 dues model and other changes planned for 2015.

The input we received was considered by the Healthcare Committee when it met in May to determine a recommendation and then by the full board at its summer meeting, where final decisions were made.

Many RBC participants requested time to adapt to any changes in the medical dues model. As a result, the Committee voted to recommend to the full Board of Directors that the medical dues model not be changed until 2015. The full board agreed to maintain the current model through 2014.

The full board further approved the Committee's recommendation that a change to the medical dues model be implemented in 2015 by selecting the model that has been referred to as Option C. Medical Dues and Other Decisions, posted on healthcare.pensions.org, provides a snapshot of the change and other healthcare benefits decisions made by the Directors.

Ms. Haines said, "We recognize that many congregations are facing difficult economic circumstances. At the same time, the theme that ran through the feedback we received was how important it was to ensure Medical Plan protection for church servants. We wanted to preserve the essence of community while also giving employing organizations some level of flexibility."