Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

July 27, 2008

Romans 8:26-34

Matthew 13:31-40

Fish, treasure, mustard, pearls and yeast. Jesus was a skilled practitioner in the art of telling stories that drew on the richness of everyday objects. Matthew has collected five of these little parables together in one place in order to evoke the nature of the Kingdom of God. He has done such a good job of collecting those parables that we end up with the impression that we have just heard five Sunday readings instead of only one – but don’t worry. I’ve no intention of preaching five different sermons! What I want to do is to draw out two themes from this little collection of parables. Firstly, that big things come from small beginnings, and secondly that the discovery of the Kingdom of God brings about feelings akin to those we experience on discovering a great treasure.

The Mustard Plant belongs to the same family of everyday vegetables as cabbage, broccoli and Swede. In years gone by, it was thought that mustard possessed extraordinary medical properties. It was used to treat chest congestion, arthritis and digestive problems. In India and the Middle East, it was used to as a culinary spice. The Romans spread the use of mustard throughout all the lands they conquered. They sowed seeds of the ordinary brown mustard plant in the fields around Dijon in France. The foundation of the Dijonaise mustard industry in the eighteenth century owed much to the pioneering efforts that the Romans had made in that area almost two thousand years before. A grain of mustard contains a high amount of protein, vitamins A and C, and traces of sulphur. But Jesus didn’t tell the story to extol the culinary or the medical benefits of mustard. Jesus reminded his audience of the smallness of the seed, in comparison to the rampant plant that germinates from it. It grows quickly – sometimes to a height of several meters, and Jesus was hardly exaggerating when he described it as a ‘tree’. Yeast is a micro-organism that is classed both as an animal and as a vegetable. Scientists believe that it is one of the most primitive forms of life on earth. Once you have placed it in a paste of water and flour, it starts to reproduce itself extremely rapidly. Over five hundred species of yeast are known, but not all of them are used in cooking. One tiny little spoonful of baking yeast can triple or quadruple the size of a ball of dough in the space of two to three hours. To be honest, how many of us have actually looked closely at a mustard plant, or examined the action of yeast under a microscope? Unlike the time of Jesus, we prefer to buy our bread from the stores rather than to watch over it while it rises in our own kitchen. Perhaps if Jesus were telling this parable in modern terms, he would use an example such as the extraordinary power released from the fission of an atom, or the fusion of hydrogen atoms in the stars.

What Jesus is saying is very simple. Big things often start from the smallest of origins. Here are a few examples. It is sometimes very hard for us to forgive others and forget the harm they have done to us. We tend to ruminate over the harsh comment that someone made, or the wrong they did to us; and then comes the day when the slightest little thing causes a final break. But all it takes is a tiny little step in the direction of the person who has hurt us, and suddenly, without our realizing exactly how, we have planted a seed which will eventually grow into a huge tree. Sometimes it is difficult to hold on to hope; and yet a short prayer or the earnest desire to cultivate that hope somehow might well lead to changes that we have not even dared to dream of. If it is true that the slightest little thing can bring on a depressive mood, why shouldn’t the opposite be true too? Why can’t the slightest little thing eventually bring about a huge sense of hope or of joy? The little lies we tell about unimportant things often pave the way for bigger lies that we tell about much more important things. Nobody sets out to create the most corrupt government a country has ever experienced – that transformation takes time. It starts with the slow infiltration of half-truths and excuses, until the day dawns when we are part of a culture where corruption is the norm. The truth is not always easy to take – especially when it involves someone we love. Perhaps the best we can do is to try to be as honest as possible with ourselves and with others until the moment comes when our honesty will be able to help us solve the most difficult questions of all.

Jesus goes on to speak of treasure and of pearls. Pearls have been highly valued throughout all ages. The oldest pearl necklace discovered dates from 550 BC – it was found in the tomb of a Persian noble. When Julius Cesar was attending a banquet with Cleopatra, the Egyptian queen dissolved a pearl in a glass of wine to prove that she could consume the price of an entire country in the course of one meal. In Jesus’ time, the most perfectly formed pearls fetched higher prices than precious stones. They were not only valued for their beauty and their price, they were valued for the fact that they made excellent contraband – they were easily hidden, and therefore easy to transport. Jesus is very clear about the price that the merchant had to pay for that pearl - everything that he owned. Jesus paints a picture of a person who was so overjoyed at the sight of the pearl that he sold everything that he had simply for the pleasure of possessing it. What sort of price would we pay for its equivalent in our own life? We have a tendency to think of treasure in terms only of physical possessions. But Jesus would set little store by such things as fancy computers, color televisions, elegant cars and expensive holidays. In order to obtain the Pearl of Great Price, we have to be ready to give up our anger, our lack of kindness, our refusal to forgive, our prejudices, our lack of understanding of our neighbor, our jealousy, and above all, our fears.

Of these five parables, I think the last two are my favorites. They speak about joy: the joy of the man who found an unexpected treasure, and the joy of the man who eventually found the perfect pearl for which he had been searching all his life. I know people who have discovered God in an unexpected way, in one moment that changed their life. But I have also known people who seemed incapable of finding God anywhere, despite having searched desperately for Him. When they found what they were looking for, they were ready to abandon everything to listen more closely to the voice that had been so persistently calling them. Whether you have already heard that call – or whether you are on the point of responding to it – never lose sight of the fact that God gives his joy to all those whom He calls to Himself.

The Revd. Nigel Massey