A sermon on Mark 4: 26-34
My favorite books are fantasy novels – take me on an adventure. Teach me about this world by showing me something so far beyond this world that it all seems like magic.
Jesus doesn’t really go in that direction. He tells his stories about things the members of his audience might relate to, farming, sheep, baking bread, seeking jewels, losing coins. That’s why most people say Jesus taught in parables. How do we talk about things like infinity, and a world where justice and peace kiss, and love that is truly unconditional, and peace that surpasses all human understanding in a straightforward way. Use all the $20 words you want – grace and justification, and predestination and sanctification – use them all, but they mean next to nothing. They’re just words. But relate them to my life, to things I can taste, touch, feel, experience – a field of grain, a mustard field, a vineyard, a lousy boss, a greedy tenant, a runaway child, a jealous brother – suddenly I don’t need $20 words to have a relationship with God. God’s own child is telling me stories, inviting me in, opening my mind, sharing the treasures, bringing me to a place that is more than who I am alone, but where I m completely welcome and alive. This is the magic and wonder and this is the reality of Jesus’ parables. And wherever you are on your journey – curious, tired, expert, beginner, filled up, empty, doubtful, awakened, alive, or mostly dead Jesus is offering them directly to you.
To hear the rest of this sermon, click here.
