Things Hidden in Plain Sight

July 30, 2017

Helen Jacobi

Ordinary 17     1 Kings 3:5-12     Psalm 119:129-136     Romans 8:26-39     Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

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Mustard seeds, trees, birds, yeast, bread, treasure in a field, pearls, fishing nets, fish and a furnace of fire …. Barbara Brown Taylor says “these flashes of the kingdom come at us so quickly there is no time to settle down at all … (they are) like snapshots, like scenes glimpsed through the windows of a fast moving train.” [1] The glimpses are all a little mysterious or strange – a tiny mustard seed grows into a large tree, a mustard plant doesn’t do that, it is a weed. Unleavened bread, without yeast, was considered holy. Yeast was cleaned out of the house for the Passover. Finding treasure in a field and then buying it without telling the owner is rather dishonest. And who in their right mind sells everything he has to buy one pearl? The only parable that would make sense to Jesus’ listeners is the last one about fishing, and sorting the good fish from the rubbish caught in the net and throwing the rubbish away.

We get a bit tripped up on the language “the kingdom of heaven”. Kingdom conjures up for us medieval ideas of kings and queens on thrones and ruling from afar. Or perhaps Game of Thrones and the houses of Westeros, Dothraki, and Dorn. And the heaven part makes us assume this is about life after death. The other gospel writers use the term “kingdom of God”, Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven”. It is hard to find a good word in English to convey the meaning of the original Greek word basilea – we could use realm, or reign; some people like commonwealth or community, or way. I will mostly use the word “kingdom” as short hand for all of those things. However we translate it, it is definitely not about life after death, but about life here and now.

John Dally says “the kingdom of God seems to describe a system of earthly government in which God rules directly, rather than King Herod, the Emperor Augustus, or any other head of state.” He goes on to quote Nelson-Pallymer “the kingdom of God is present on earth whenever life accurately reflects the will and sovereignty of God. It is the way life would be if a compassionate God were imitated instead of Roman governors, client kings and the Temple establishment.” [2] Paul picks this up in his letter to the Romans – nothing will separate us from the love of God – not death, nor rulers, nor things present, nor powers. (8:38).

There is another way. The kingdom of God is about the here and now and it is about finding God in real life. It is about politics and jobs and income and health and community. Now we might hear that and want to leap to action – what can we do we wonder to bring about God’s kingdom here on earth – we must work harder, be more active in politics, change the world as fast as we can.

John Dally points out that preachers, when speaking of the kingdom, use words like build up, establish, spread, extend. All words involving our actions. But Jesus and the gospel writers never use those words. They say “enter, receive, inherit, wait for, proclaim”. “Human beings have no role whatsoever in creating or sustaining (the kingdom), much less enlarging it or getting it noticed: it is whole and complete and comes as a gift.” [3]

The kingdom of heaven is like a tiny mustard seed; like yeast; like treasure hidden; like a single pearl – it is hidden, it is tiny, it is precious; the tree grows, the bread rises, naturally and of itself.

We are invited to see it, to join it, nothing more. The kingdom of heaven is present here and now, hidden in plain sight, in the ordinary circumstances of our everyday lives. [4]

In our discussion last week with Helen Robinson from the City Mission we talked about the lunches that we serve once a month, and are serving today. And we talked about how it was important not to be feeling that we were swooping in doing this great thing for people in need; but how we humbly offer what we have and join those at lunch, in their home (the Mission), and seek to build relationship and in doing so discover the presence of God hidden in plain sight in the lives those sitting at table with us.

Many of you I know find the kingdom of God in work you do in the community and in your workplaces – Rose at her JP Clinic at the Ranui Community Centre; Nutty on reception at the hospice; Amanda working as a lawyer in the hospital helping staff and patients resolve critical issues; Stephen mentoring a steady stream of young people who come to see him about a career in international relations; Cate chairing the Board of a decile one primary school; Gavin describing the care of the staff who look after Felicity; James designing computer systems so businesses can function well. This is all kingdom work, “signs of the kingdom of heaven, clues to all the holiness hidden in the dullest of our days.” [5] (BBT)

Yesterday our Vestry, our governing body, met for a day to reflect together on the direction of our parish. We prayed and read scripture together, and sought to discern signs of the kingdom amongst us, and places we might find God at work in the community, so we can join in on that work.

There are all the things we do in our everyday lives as individuals which we as a community can support. We support each other by gathering, by hearing and telling our stories, in prayer, in times of joy and times of sorrow. Then there are things we can do together as a community – like the City Mission lunches. Like gathering on Wednesday this week with members of the Jewish and Muslim communities to think about our upcoming election and the issues that are of concern to us all.

As a Vestry we highlighted some areas we want to work on together: connecting more with our neighbours here in central Auckland; with members of the Chinese community; exploring whether we might build on the carpark site next door; exploring how we might be seen as relevant to the lives of those around us; looking at whether our Sunday morning worship is meeting our needs. We pushed ourselves not just to think of things we can offer the community around us; but how can we join what is already going on outside our walls; how we can find God at work, hidden in plain sight; where and how we might be hosted in the community. We also talked about our structures of governance and how we can get more of you involved in the life of the parish. We will report more fully to you on that after or August meeting.

“The kingdom of heaven has come near” Jesus proclaims right at the beginning of his ministry (Mt 4:17). The kingdom of heaven is here, now. How are we going to join God’s kingdom, God’s way this week and next? How might we strengthen our own individual faith and our community so that we are equipped to spot the kingdom. Mustard seed, treasure, pearl, fish; trees, birds, fields, pearls, nets; was the language Jesus used. What is our language? at home, at work, at church, in the world? Up to you to go seek it, find it, and then come back and tell us – the kingdom of heaven has come near.

[1] The Seeds of Heaven; sermons on the gospel of Matthew, 2004, p41

[2] John Dally Choosing the Kingdom: Missional Preaching for the Household of God, 2008, p45.

[3] p49-50

[4] BBT p 44

[5] BBT p 44