Pastor’s Notes for Lectionary 17 in Pentecost, A Date: 7/27/14
Theme: The Parable of the Mustard Seed, Three Parables
Bible Ref’s: 1Kgs 3:5-12; Ps. 119:129-136; Rom. 8:26-39; & Mt. 13:31-33, 44-52. [But see modified readings below: Ex.16:1-4, 9-15, 31-36; Ps. 78:1-8, 19-25; & Mt. 13:1-3, 9-17, 24-25, 31-35, 44-53.]
Prayer of the Day
Beloved and sovereign God, through the death and resurrection of your Son you bring us into your kingdom of justice and mercy. By your Spirit, give us your wisdom, that we may treasure the life that comes from Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
Brief Family Sermon Outline: “Parables Arising”
Focus Stmnt: Get involved in ministry & you soon find out that getting messy is just part of the deal!
1. For the past couple Sundays, we’ve been listening to parables that Jesus told to teach about the kingdom of heaven. Two weeks ago, it was the parable of the sower; last week, it was the parable of the weeds & the wheat. And today’s gospel reading dishes up 5 more parables of the kingdom.
2. I think the lectionary does a wonderful job of introducing us to all the various aspects of Jesus’ life & ministry. But on this beginning of Jesus’ teaching in parables in Matthew 13, the lectionary cuts out those critical sections explaining why Jesus taught this way. So, I made some changes to our readings this a.m. so that we could think about Jesus & the kingdom in a more engaging way.
3. And based on these readings I was inspired to bake some bread…or rather, I was inspired to have all of us bake some bread together, so that perhaps in the processwe’ll learn a thing or two re: the ancient world, & why Jesus used bread to talk not only re: the kingdom of heaven, but re: himself.
4. So w/ the help of the Holy Spirit &anyone else who’d like to help, let’s get started on our project, & those of you who are kind of far away might want to get closer so you can see what’s happening.
5. When you start getting involved in ministry, you soon find out that getting messy is just part of the deal—but it’s also how you learn what works and what doesn’t, ministry takes practice, & ministry takes work. In the process of doing ministry, God teaches us about ourselves and about others.
Station 1: [During the exodus out of Egypt] [The Lord] split rocks open in the wilderness, and gave them drink abundantly as from the deep. He made streams come out of the rock, and caused waters to flow down like rivers. (Psalm 78:15-16)
[Refering to himself, but also to would-be followers, Jesus said,] “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24) [So it is that we are buried with Christ in our baptism.]
Station 2: [Re: worship, the Lord told the Israelites] “You shall not omit from your grain offerings the salt of the covenant with your God; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” (Lev. 2:13)
[Jesus would later teach his disciples] “For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.” (Mark 9:49-50)
Station 3: [For Jesus, yeast was most often a metaphor of warning about the effects of hypocrisy & false teaching. Speaking to the disciples] Jesus said to them, “Watch out, and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” (Matthew 16:6)
[Paul had a similar warning for his congregation in Corinth.] “Your boasting is not a good thing. Do you not know that a little yeast leavens the whole batch of dough? Clean out the old yeast so that you may be a new batch, as you really are unleavened. For our paschal lamb, Christ, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us celebrate the festival, not with the old yeast, the yeast of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” (1Corinthians 5:6-8)
Station 4: [God rained down grain from heaven for the people to eat.] The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. (Exodus 16:31)
Station 5: [At the burning bush, the LORD had told Moses] “I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey…” (Exodus 3:7b-8a)
[So just before they would enter the promised land, Moses taught the Israelites to pray:] The LORD brought us out of Egypt w/ a mighty hand & an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. (Deuteronomy 26:8-9)
Station 6: [Jesus] told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.” (Matthew 13:33)
Station 7: [Explaining the parable of the sower, Jesus said,] But as for what was sown on good soil, this is the one[the wheat] who hears the word & understands it, who indeed bears fruit & yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:23)
Station 8: He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away.” (Matthew 13:24-25)
Station 9: He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field…” (Matthew 13:31)
Station 10: Jesus said to [the crowds], “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty…[Again, he said,] I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” (John 6:35, 48-50)
[Encouraging baptized Christians on their journey of faith, Paul said] But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also thru his Spirit that dwells in you.(Rom.8:10-11)
6. While we’ve been talking re: how Jesus used parables to teach re: the kingdom of heaven, theo-logians have sometimes referred to Jesus as a living parable, someone who embodied the king-dom of heaven such that, when he cast out demons, healed the sick, welcomed the children, and stood up against injustice, Jesus would inform onlookers, “the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
7. In Holy Communion, we take Jesus into our bodies as “the bread that comes down from heaven” for the forgiveness of sins, to give us new life in Christ and to sustain us on our journey of faith. Maythis parable breadunite us in peace and send us in peace to love and serve the Lord. Amen.
Hymn of the Day: “Be Thou My Vision” (ELW #793, WOV #776)
Children’s Sermon
<There was no children’s sermon this Sunday since it was combined with the grown-up’s sermon.>
The Word
(Exodus 16:1-4, 9-15, 31-36)
The whole congregation of the Israelites set out from Elim; and Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. 2 The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “I am going to rain bread from heaven for you, and each day the people shall go out and gather enough for that day. In that way I will test them, whether they will follow my instruction or not.
9 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Say to the whole congregation of the Israelites, ‘Draw near to the LORD, for he has heard your complaining.’” 10 And as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the Israelites, they looked toward the wilderness, and the glory of the LORD appeared in the cloud. 11 The LORD spoke to Moses and said, 12 “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”
13 In the evening quails came up and covered the camp; and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.
31 The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Let an omer of it be kept throughout your generations, in order that they may see the food with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a jar, and put an omer of manna in it, and place it before the LORD, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron placed it before the covenant, for safekeeping. 35 The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a habitable land; they ate manna, until they came to the border of the land of Canaan. 36 An omer is a tenth of an ephah.
(Psalm 78:1-8, 19-25)
1Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
2 I will open my mouth in a parable;I will utter dark sayings from of old,
3 things that we have heard and known,that our ancestors have told us.
4 We will not hide them from their children;we will tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,and the wonders that he has done.
5 He established a decree in Jacob,and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestorsto teach to their children;
6 that the next generation might know them,the children yet unborn,
and rise up and tell them to their children,
7 so that they should set their hope in God,and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
8 and that they should not be like their ancestors,a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,whose spirit was not faithful to God.
19 They spoke against God, saying,“Can God spread a table in the wilderness?
20 Even though he struck the rock so that water gushed outand torrents overflowed,
can he also give bread,or provide meat for his people?”
21 Therefore, when the LORD heard, he was full of rage;
a fire was kindled against Jacob,his anger mounted against Israel,
22 because they had no faith in God,and did not trust his saving power.
23 Yet he commanded the skies above,and opened the doors of heaven;
24 he rained down on them manna to eat,and gave them the grain of heaven.
25 Mortals ate of the bread of angels;he sent them food in abundance.
(Matthew 13:1-3, 9-17, 24-25, 31-35, 44-53)
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. 2 Such great crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat there, while the whole crowd stood on the beach. 3 And he told them many things in parables, saying: “Listen! A sower went out to sow…
9 Let anyone with ears listen!”
10 Then the disciples came and asked him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 11 He answered, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12 For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 13 The reason I speak to them in parables is that ‘seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.’ 14 With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah that says:‘You will indeed listen, but never understand,and you will indeed look, but never perceive. 15 For this people’s heart has grown dull,and their ears are hard of hearing,and they have shut their eyes;so that they might not look with their eyes,and listen with their ears,and understand with their heart and turn—and I would heal them.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. 17 Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.
24 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; 25 but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away…
31 He put before them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
34 Jesus told the crowds all these things in parables; without a parable he told them nothing. 35 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet:“I will open my mouth to speak in parables;I will proclaim what has been hidden from the foundation of the world.”
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; 48 when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. 49 So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
51 “Have you understood all this?” They answered, “Yes.” 52 And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” 53 When Jesus had finished these parables, he left that place.
Sermon Notes
Jesus’ Parable Bread (with ingredients inspired from Exodus 16 and
Matthew 13), best served with a red table wine.
(Makes three 1 ½ -pound loaves.)
Exodus 16 Matthew 13
3 cups lukewarm water2 ¾ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp kosher salt2 ¾ cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ Tbsp granulated yeast½ cup wheat germ
1 tsp ground coriander seed¼ cup rye meal (weed)
¼ cup honeyand ½ tsp ground mustard seed
¼ cup unsalted butter, melted
1. Combine in 6qt bucket Combine into large bowl
2. Stir with the Holy Spirit (Spoon) until all is incorporated.
3. Cover (not airtight); allow to rest at room temp. for 2 hrs. Can use immediately or refrigerate
and use within 5 days.