Matthew 13:31- (CEV)
Sunday July 30th . Brent
31 Jesus told them another story:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a farmer plants a mustard seed in a field. 32 Although it is the smallest of all seeds, it grows larger than any garden plant and becomes a tree. Birds even come and nest on its branches.
33 Jesus also said:
The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a woman mixes a little yeast into three big batches of flour. Finally, all the dough rises.
A Hidden Treasure
44 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field.
A Valuable Pearl
45 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. 46 After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.
A Fish Net
47 The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a net is thrown into a lake and catches all kinds of fish. 48 When the net is full, it is dragged to the shore, and the fishermen sit down to separate the fish. They keep the good ones, but throw the bad ones away. 49 That’s how it will be at the end of time. Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. 50 Then those evil people will be thrown into a flaming furnace, where they will cry and grit their teeth in pain.
New and Old Treasures
51 Jesus asked his disciples if they understood all these things. They said, “Yes, we do.”
52 So he told them, “Every student of the Scriptures who becomes a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like someone who brings out new and old treasures from the storeroom.”
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been learning about the kingdom of heaven from the parables in Matthew’s gospel. Essentially the kingdom of heaven is God’s rule and reign on earth but it is unlike any other kingdom ever seen and so Jesus used parables or short stories to help us make sense of this new kingdom.
We started with the parable of the sower who throws his seed out all over the place and it lands on different kinds of soil; hard, shallow, weedy and good. When the seed hits the good soil it produces a plentiful harvest and the point Jesus makes about the kingdom is it is offered to all but not all who hear his message will be fruitful.
Last week we had a similar parable involving seeds and plants- a farmer sows good seed but an enemy comes along and sows weeds in his field but they can’t be pulled up or they will also destroy the good plants. But at harvest time the plants are sorted so that the wheat is gathered and the weeds destroyed. The point being that God will sort out the mess this world is in. A time is coming when he will judge and deal with evil.
Today we have 5 quick-fire stories that shed more light on this new kingdom.
The Mustard seed
The smallest seed can grow into a bush or tree big enough to shelter birds. What’s the biggest tree you know? (ask the kids). (P) The biggest trees in the world are the Sequoiadendron giganteum- the giant redwoods of California. They can grow to 95 metres high, and 47 m around!. The oldest is about 3500 years old! And they all come from small seeds.
The point Jesus is making is that size doesn’t matter. The kingdom of heaven starts very small- just one man . He gathers around himself 12 men and a few women. That doesn’t sound like much of a kingdom! But just as a seed is planted in the ground and grows into something far bigger than itself, Jesus died and was buried, like a seed. When he came back to life he is transformed into a new creation and this small, insignificant little kingdom begins to grow and grow and it has not stopped growing. All around the world people are coming- like birds finding nests in trees- into his kingdom.
(P) Yeast
The kingdom of Heaven is like what happens when yeast is mixed into dough. I have 2 kinds of bread here; one made with yeast and one without. Can you guess which is which? (ask the kids). That’s right, the big loaf has yeast while the flat bread has none. The yeast works by releasing gas into the dough making it expand and rise.
Jesus point here is that the kingdom transforms things. Life is changed when we come into God’s kingdom. He raises us above our sinfulness, foolishness, pettiness, our selfishness. Those who accept God’s rule and reign are transformed into better, healthier people.
The Boy’s Brigade company that we are recommissioning today is an example of this kingdom of Heaven at work. “The purpose of BB is to help the boys of NZ reach their potential. BBNZ has a passion for impacting the lives of boys and young men around New Zealand, providing them with life skills and character building that equips them to become leaders in their families, churches and communities. We offer this through both Boys’ Brigade and ICONZ”. (from their website)
(P) A hidden treasure
On 8 June 1861 the Otago Witness reported that Gabriel Read had found payable quantities of gold ‘shining like the stars in Orion on a dark frosty night’. It took a while for the penny to drop, but by December perhaps 14,000 people – several times Dunedin’s population – had pitched their tents on the Tuapeka and Waipori fields and staked out their 8 x 8 m claims. They had found treasure- gold- and were prepared to leave the comforts of the city and the life they had known in order to get this treasure.
Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like this. It’s of such value its worth selling everything you have for it. It’s worth giving up everything you have for. And that’s because the KOH has eternal value. That means its rewards and benefits have no end. Your most prized possession will one day break, rust, rot or get lost. But the treasure Jesus offers is stored in heaven where none of these things can happen.
(P) A valuable pearl
As if to underline the point about the value of this kingdom Jesus tells another short parable. This time its a shop owner who trades in pearls and finds one that is so good, so pure and valuable he sells all his stock in order to get this one prized pearl.
The point Jesus is making is this: his message cannot be set aside as something curious or interesting that we might explore further when we have time. No, he is saying it demands our attention and consideration now. More than that, his message, if it is to have any affect at all, has to be at the centre of our lives and the thing of greatest value to us.
Many philosophies and religions and even science assume that history just continues in an never ending cycle, going around and around. But the message of the kingdom is that history is heading in a straight line towards a conclusion. And that’s what the next parable is about.
(P) A fishing net
The fishing net catches all kinds of fish but not all fish are desired by the fishermen. Some you can’t eat and some you can’t sell so they are discarded. Just like the parable of the wheat and weeds from last week Jesus is pointing to the conclusion of history when there will be a great sorting out of humanity into those who accept God’s kingdom and are a part of it and those who don’t.
Jesus puts it bluntly: Angels will come and separate the evil people from the ones who have done right. We all get caught up in God’s fishing net in the end. Where we end up-as part of his valuable catch or discarded as evil depends on how we live our lives. If we choose to ignore God and live for ourselves, looking out for #1 we can’t expect to be rewarded or congratulated by Jesus when he brings his judgement.
But if we allow the mustard seed of faith to be planted in our hearts; if we let the yeast of his message transform us into the people he wants us to be; if we value a relationship with God above all else, then when the end comes we will be rewarded beyond measure.
This Boy’s Brigade company, with its small beginnings is an expression of the kingdom of heaven and as such has the potential to influence these boys to becoming good and Godly men who will bless our community. As a church we are very pleased to support this ministry and we stand behind the leaders in prayer and any practical help we can offer.
May God bless the Timaru 3rd Co in every way possible.
Amen
