With what can we compare the kingdom of God? How should we describe the kingdom of God? Have you ever tried to share your understanding of God’s kingdom with another? How did that work out?
Well, this morning we have Jesus attempting to do just that as he states, “This is what the kingdom of God is like . . . what shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it?” Then he goes about telling his disciples parables . . . parables about what the kingdom of God is like.
And, the response of his disciples to this form of teaching was bewilderment, confusion, and frustration because everything Jesus said to them was a clear as mud in their minds. Basically, this is because the disciples, like most of us, think concretely . . . in black and white. They want explanations not invitations to exploration.
In the movie, Philadelphia, Denzel Washington plays lawyer Joe Miller. Throughout the movie his character is repeatedly interrupting his clients in mid-sentence with the request that they, “explain it to me like I’m an 8-year-old.” It does not matter whether it is a traffic accident, taking the finer points of a legal argument, or receiving shopping instructions from his wife, he doesn’t want to hear it unless the speaker can simplify the concept to the level that a second grader can understand.
It’s not that the character is stupid, in fact it is quite the opposite. He knows that to get clarity, you need simplification, and if the speaker can’t boil a thought down to something that a child can grasp, then there’s a good chance that the character, Joe Miller—a lawyer—won’t hear exactly what is being communicated. He, as a lawyer won’t understand . . . and, neither will a jury or judge. Thus, he wants it told to him like he was an 8-year-old.
The truth of the matter is that we all do.
Jesus does his best to accomplish this. One would think that the parables that Jesus shares to explain things . . . allegories as examples, that it would be easy to comprehend the message behind the parable. Or so it would seem. Yet, parables are not always as black-and-white as they seem . . . not as simple to understand as one would think.
Take for example the two parables we heard earlier . . . the parable of the growing seed and the mustard seed. How would you explain these two parables as they relate to the kingdom of God? Would we all agree? Or, maybe, as we hear them, we are wondering what in the world either one has to do with God’s kingdom beyond the fact that Jesus uses them to describe it. One simple explanation of these two together is that the kingdom of God comes on its own and it comes for us.
Would an 8-year-old get that from these parables? And, what exactly does that mean anyway . . . the kingdom of God comes on its own and it comes for us?
Well, whether we like it or not, Jesus used a lot of parables. Sometimes they were quite simple to figure out and at other times they were much more difficult. Jesus never said it would be easy to follow him or his teachings. Just because Jesus used simple stories—parables—doesn’t mean that the answers were always going to be clear. Remember we are people of explanation and not exploration.
Jesus’ intention with parables was for exploration, not explanation. A parable is something that is thrown alongside—para meaning alongside, and bole meaning to throw or cast. There in lies the problem . . . thing of parallel lines. They shall never meet. Likewise, the parables and that which they are put alongside of may never meet either, as hard as we might try. Instead what is created is this constant back and forth between to the two as one is attempting to make sense of it all. The result is that one ends up seeing the relationship between the two, but not a clear black and white answer. This means that one sees the kingdom of God differently, while also seeing the parable differently . . . it throws open the possibilities that could be never-ending.
I heard long ago while in seminary studying to be a minister that parables and their meanings were like onions . . . layers and layers of meaning. And, as I like to remind others, that when you peel onions you cry. So, it is with parables. That is why the disciples liked it when Jesus gave them the explanation. That is why we like it when the explanation is provided. Anything else is unsettling. That is why Jesus told parables . . . his entry into the world as the kingdom of God was meant to be unsettling.
So . . . how do you explain the kingdom of God to another person so that they understand? How do you explain it so that an 8-year-old understands?
Jesus chose parables. Jesus told parables not for explanation but for exploration. Not for answers but to engage the imagination. Not for certainties about faith but for discoveries about how faith works. Through parables listeners are asked to walk alongside the world’s reality to understand God’s kingdom because God’s presence is in the world and is meant to reveal. In such revelation glimpses of the kingdom are exposed often upending what we thought was a simple little story.
Where does that leave us this morning?
Well, if Jesus wanted a specific interpretation to the parables and stories he was telling, he gave it. But most of the time, he used stories and parables as an invitation for his listener to explore . . . to explore what the story or parable meant to them as individuals, as community, and now as “church”. It was an invitation to explore one’s relationship with God through Jesus and how that plays out daily. It was an invitation to see God and God’s kingdom through different lenses. An invitation to find personal meaning and purpose. An invitation to explore one’s faith. In such exploration faith grows.
Remember God and God’s kingdom are beyond words that we can use to describe them. Yet, we try. We use stories and parables in hope that others will understand . . . and, sometimes it works . . . but at other times it doesn’t and only adds to the confusion and questions. It is the best we can do. Jesus invites us to talk in parables. Jesus invites us to talk in parables because something happens in the telling of parables that cannot occur in just listening to them.
How do you speak of God?
How do you speak of God’s kingdom?
In stories . . . in parables . . . in words that we hope even an 8-year-old will understand. We do it the only way that we can help ourselves understand. In the stories and parables we tell we share our experiences of the Holy . . . our experiences of faith . . . our journey with Jesus. It is the best that we can do when attempting to explain the unexplainable . . . we invite others to explore and discover their own glimpses of the Holy. Of discovering how a mustard seed reveals God’s kingdom . . . how a faith grows like seed that has been sowed.
Faith is such a mystery to us all as we make the journey. We do not quite know how it all works . . . like the seed the sower scatters and Jesus tells us, “. . . though he does not know.” The “good news” is that Jesus invites us to explore . . . to explore the kingdom of God. Amen.
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