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The Sermon for Sunday, July 26th, the Eighth Sunday after Trinity
The Lessons: Psalm 119:121-136; 1 Kings 3:3-14; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-50
The Text: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-50
INTRODUCTION
The following prayer was penned by Sir Francis Drake (c.1540 – c.1596), explorer and naval pioneer during the Elizabethan era:
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the waters of life; having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity; and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of the new heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery; where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes and to push us into the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.[1]
THE WITNESS OF THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES TO THE STEADY GROWTH OF GOD’S KINGDOM
When St. Peter spoke to the first disciples about the need to replace Judas Iscariot with another man who had been an eyewitness of Jesus Christ’s life, ministry, passion, death, resurrection, and ascension, the Church numbered only about a hundred and twenty people (Acts 1:15), but after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the preaching of Peter in the power of the Holy Spirit, three thousand people became Christians in one day (Acts 2:41), and after the miracle of healing the lame man at the Temple, and Peter’s subsequent preaching, the number of Christians stood at five thousand. The Church continued to grow after that, and to extend throughout the world through the preaching of the Apostles, Evangelists, and ordinary Christians who just shared the Gospel. The small ship that at first clung close to the shore before the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, now, after Pentecost, launched out into the ocean.
The Acts of the Apostles not only relate St. Peter’s preaching in the power of the Spirit that led thousands to salvation, but also St. Paul’s missionary journeys to various cities around the Mediterranean Sea. All this, as well as the subsequent ages of history, show the continual growth of God’s kingdom throughout the world, despite many setbacks, and much opposition and persecution.
THE PARABLES OF THE KINGDOM
Four extended similes, or parables of God’s kingdom, in today’s Second Lesson from Matthew 13 emphasize both the growth of God’s kingdom and its priceless value. The parables of the mustard seed and the leaven illustrate the growth of God’s kingdom, whereas the parables of the treasure hidden in a field and the pearl of great price illustrate the supreme value of God’s kingdom.
The parable of the mustard seed shows that from the smallest beginnings God’s kingdom grows to become like a tree big enough to shelter and accommodate birds. This shows the power of God’s kingdom and the love of God characterizing it, since many people can find shelter and protection in it, and it becomes a home for many. Notice that the parable does not say that all the people of the world will find a home in it. There are some that will not want to, who will prefer their own will to God’s will. Nonetheless, many different kinds of people will make their spiritual home in God’s kingdom.
The parable of the leaven, or yeast, as we would call it nowadays, illustrates the constant effect of God’s kingdom on people’s lives and on the world. We can only rise to our full potential when we live according to the principles of God’s kingdom as taught by the Lord Jesus Christ.
The parable of the hidden treasure shows the reader two things: first, the kingdom of God may not be obvious at first sight, but one finds it as a man finds buried treasure. The man who finds this buried treasure goes and sells all he has to buy the field with the hidden treasure. This is the second point, and the most important one, in this parable. The treasure of God’s kingdom is so valuable that one must be willing to give up all that one has to obtain it. That is why Jesus also urged his disciples:
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
(Luke 12:31-34, KJV)
The parable of the pearl of great price illustrates also illustrates the priceless value of God’s kingdom, and how, like the merchant who finds an expensive pearl goes and sells all he has to purchase it, the person coming into God’s kingdom needs to give up everything for it. For some, this will be a literal forsaking of wealth, and for others it will be the use of their wealth for the kingdom of God.
The fifth parable is unlike the other four, as it does not speak of the growth of God’s kingdom, but of the gathering of all people at the end of the world, when the wicked will be separated form the godly by God’s angels, as bad fish are thrown away, and all God’s people who have persevered in their faith will be gathered into God’s kingdom. This is a grim reminder that all those who have not come to Christ and lived according to the rules and principles of God’s kingdom will be cast into the furnace of fire, which is everlasting hell. Jesus adds the words, “There shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 13:50b, KJV). Some have taught that hell is only temporary, and everyone will enter heaven, and this is a kind of universalism, which some Anglicans have believed and taught in the past, but contradicts all the New Testament evidence of an everlasting hell. Other Anglicans have taught annihilationism – that those in hell die and cease to exist and feel no further pain after that. This doctrine also conflicts with all the New Testament evidence, including this reference, which implies no end to wailing and gashing of teeth.
CONCLUSION
What, then, must we do, and how should we live? We should live in faithful obedience to the lord Jesus Christ and his word, day by day, discerning his will and following him in all we think, say, and do.
[1] p. 307, Craig Brian Larson & Phyllis Ten Elshof (General Editors): 1001 Illustrations that Connect. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, Christianity Today International, 2008.