Rev. Tatiana Cantarella

Jesus’ parables of the Kingdom and the essence of the Christian life (Continued).

Last Sunday we said that at the center of Jesus’ preaching was His proclamation of God's kingdom. And in order to show us what this Kingdom is, Jesus told parables leaving us with a clear and memorable image, drawing us into the world of the kingdom, and then bringing us back into this world thirsty for God's kingdom here and already in our lives!

Parables of the kingdom showed us that God is present in our daily work and that although the good news meets very different reactions in the world the Kingdom of God continues to grow invisibly and mysteriously as a tiny mustard seed. What seems small and insignificant in this world will have great consequences. Only God is the Judge, and we - his subjects - are meant to live in peace with one another, including those who do not follow Jesus. And the value of the kingdom of God is so great that it and only it deserved all of our life.

Today we let a few more parables test the pulse of our Christianity - do we really follow Jesus living in the heart of his Kingdom Dream?

IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD PEOPLE DON'T HOARD, THEY SHARE

16 And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’18 "Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. 19 And I’ll say to myself, "You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’20 "But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’21 "This is how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.” (Luke 12:16-21)

Imagine such a pitiful world in which a rich man has so much that he decides to take down his old storages and build a lot bigger ones in order to put his crops there. His harvest is so great, Jesus says, that the rich man decides to retire until his death on oiled that earned it. Another parable Jesus told was about a rich man who during his lifetime refused to help poor Lazarus. The story is so straightforward that it’s bothers us because the rich man ends up in hell and the beggar Lazarus is next to God and His people. Why was Jesus so adamant? Because he conceived the world in which those who have help those who do not have, and those who have and refuse to help those who do not have will face God's judgment.

One of the tests of truthfulness of our Christianity is a proper use of God-given resources.  When we really begin to live Kingdom.Life and are drawn into it, we begin to live according to different values than this world proclaims.  And it is directly related to our attitude towards things and money.

This week one of the main news was the death of Apple company founder Steve Jobs. It was amazing how many people all over the world were saddened by the death of this one man. Of course, the main reason was that computers, gadgets and applications that were created by his company entered and became part of almost every home in so many places of the world.    But I think there was another reason – being one of the richest people in the world, Jobs never posed himself as such.  He also wasn't into public philanthropy – the kind that is done for the media cameras and never cared about being listed among the 50 «most generous giver's». But a lot in his life point to the fact that he wasn't lacking generosity and simplicity; it's just those things weren't advertised to the mass media.  I have no idea where Jobs was professing any faith, let alone Christian faith but he understood something about the true values of the Kingdom.Life, which we as Christians also need to be reminded of.  He is quoted to say: "Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.” And I think people sensed that this was really true in his life and they respected him.

DON'T RELY ON RELIGIOUS EXPERTS

30б "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[a] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’36 "Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”37 The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him.”

Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:30-37)

Imagine a world, says Jesus, in which religious experts ignore the needy, but religious outcasts in need is mercy. In this parable Jesus uses a Samaritan – a person from an ethnic and religious group that lived north of Judea that was considered to be religious half breeds (i.e., "not real believers" – to use today’s lingo). And that is why what Jesus said was so alarmingly clear: "Go and do likewise," even if it means to follow the way of the Samaritan!

Who responds to the needs of homeless on the streets of our city? Who helps a lonely neighbor forgotten by his own kin? Who stands up for an immigrant attacked by teenagers in the street? Jesus caught his audience with such questions but instead using a Pharisee or a priest as an example of kindness he used a religious outcast.

In His teaching about God's people Jesus always shocked his listeners by overthrowing their expectations. Time and again he says: Jewish spiritual leaders, religious elite (the "true believers" by the notions of our time) prove to be unworthy, but God in Christ embraces with wide open arms those who are considered the "scum" of the earth: women with bad reputation, Samaritans and Gentiles, beggars, lepers, the ritually unclean, those who in the conventional notion of society fall under the broad category of "sinners." And the Church today must seriously ponder about how many of its members will pass a test of true discipleship in the Day of Judgment and how many people who have been rejected by the church as "unbelievers" in the end will find a more genuine relationship with God than they were capable of by the official representatives of the faith (K. Blomberg , "Interpretation of Parables").

And today, Jesus would have used a Muslim or a Sikh or even an atheist, telling this parable. His words strike home even more forcefully and he looks through us with his compassionate eyes and says: "Go and do likewise." For this is how it is in the kingdom of God.

HEART MATTERS MORE THAN RELIGIOSITY

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 "But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”           (Luke 18:9-14)

Imagine a world, Jesus says, where those who think they are religious and righteous are revealed for who they really are: "self-righteous prigs" (C.S.Lewis’ term).  And imagine a world in which those who were considered "the scum of the earth" (like tax collectors) humbled themselves before God and confessed their sin before God and are also revealed for who they really are: "forgiven sinners." These are people whose heart is fixed at God and Jesus and His Kingdom, even if they sometimes may stumble and fall.

And when you hear this parable, with whom do you identify? With the tax collector or the righteous man? Jesus wants us to see for who we really are and asks that we give who we really are to his kingdom vision. You see, before God, there are only two types of people: sinners and sinners ... ... One group are "forgiven sinners” who have realized the true condition of their heart and its failure before God and offered their selves to him, to the life of the kingdom. The other group are "self-confident sinners” who consider themselves in good order before God and who are too busy looking down at others and judging them. They are so busy doing so that they do not have any time to do anything for neither for Jesus nor His kingdom. In the kingdom of God, it is not the amount of our "church experience" that counts but our hearts that God sees right through.

THE JUDGMENT IS COMING

5 "A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds ate it up. 6 Some fell on rocky ground, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” When he said this, he called out, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”

(Luke 8:5-8)

Imagine a world, says Jesus, in which there are ultimate consequences for what we do. Imagine a world in which one-day some will be hit with reality they’ve ruined their lives because they ignored the Kingdom. Maybe at first they happily embraced this kingdom, when he first heard the gospel while still in school, but then they went off to college and failed to do anything about it thinking of it as too demanding for them. Or maybe they were mistaken, chasing sex and booze, money and fame, power and stuff, and never realized that "the Desire Dream" and "the Dollar Dream" fade as fast as steam. But they did not care. Jesus reminds us that the profession of faith or disbelief in God alone does not count if it’s not manifested through a person’s life to the end. The main thing is not the initial position of a person before God, not that some time in the past he began going to church or accepted Christ but what is the result of his or her relationship with God.

Jesus wants us to imagine a world in which the winner is the one who allows the seed of the kingdom of God to be deeply rooted in one’s life and to change it. In order for us to realize that everything in life has consequences, to face the reality of heaven and hell, Jesus imagines a world in which there is judgment and it’s like the fishing nets cast into the sea, and pulling out all sorts of fish. But only the good fish is collected but the bad ones are thrown away. "So it will be at end of the world," says Jesus, where the "good fish" are those who have embraced the Kingdom of Jesus and allowed him to change their lives day in a day out to the very end of their days. A "bad fish" are those who have not heard Jesus and went away. Those who, instead of pressing forward in the new life of God's kingdom, life of love, justice and peace, chased after pleasures and hooking up, exploring their independence and individualism just to find out when they looked into the depth of their heart that without God there is nothing there.

A while ago I came across a video in English, which really touched my heart. Let's watch it together. I think that it says the same thing that Jesus wanted to tell us about our life through parables. (Watching Video "Reverse Thinking". You can see the original English version here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgFU5Ak88-k).

Here is what is spoken in the video:

"As for you,

you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world” (Eph 2:1).

I will live my life according to these beliefs.

God does not exist

It’s just foolish to think

That there is an all knowing God with a cosmic plan.

That an all powerful God brings purpose to the pain and suffering in the world.

is a comforting thought however

It

Is only wishful thinking

People can do as they please without eternal consequences

The idea that

I am deserving of hell

Because of sin,

Is a lie meant to make me a slave to those in power

"The more you have, the happier you will be”.

Our existence has no grand meaning or purpose

In a world with no God

There is freedom to be who I want to be

But with God

Life is an endless cycle of guilt and shame

Without God

Everything is fine

It is ridiculous to think

I am lost and in need of saving

(that’s how I felt before Christ opened my eyes, changed my heart ) – spoken only

AND REVERSED MY THINKING

(Then it's read in the opposite direction)

And concluded with Ephesians 2:4

"But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions”

Parables of Jesus, if you really hear them, reverse thinking and open up a new world in which God wants us to live. It is a world in which God's kingdom takes root and spreads slowly but surely, it summons us into the kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. It summons those who are not afraid to keep saying "yes" to it each day of their lives. Parables of Jesus – is a revolutionary scenario, which penetrates into the depths of our hearts, shakes us anew and calls us for complete surrender. In other words, parables of Jesus are the opportunities for God's grace to enter into our lives to transform us, to transform our thinking and the way we live because we begin thinking about very ordinary things like fields and farmers, women baking and wounded people, and suddenly find ourselves transported into a brand new world and a brand new way of thinking. This is what Christian life is all about – the Kingdom Life.