What's it to you?
Matthew 13: 31-33, 44-52
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
July 26, 2020
It was UCC pastor Molly Baskette who introduced me to the concept of what she calls “swirly talk”. Preachers do it, teachers do it, profs and philosophers, prophets and poets, entrepreneurs and engineers, anyone with expertise does it. We embellish, we romanticize, we mystify. We add layers to our language, terminology, lengthy explanations, hoping to impress, show how much we know, when what our audience needs is something more concrete. Perhaps there times we’d like to be lulled into the kin-dom, to be ushered into God’s dream for humanity on our good intentions, but Jesus would rather reach us where we live.
Even so, his examples of what the kin-dom of heaven is like are meant for his audience, for his time. Jesus used ‘kingdom’ because what he taught, how he lived had radical political implications. Those who followed him hoped for a different realm, the end of the Roman occupation, but set in real time, with God-values of justice and compassion, creation restored to wholeness, heaven on earth but with an actual king, the Messiah, God’s anointed one.
And yet we know humanity still suffers under those who behave like kings and tyrants, centered in power and control and patriarchy; and we still suffer under the illusion that one leader makes a universal difference—it doesn’t—it’s all of us together. And so the word kin-dom came into being. Franciscan nun Georgene Wilson introduced the word to her friend Ada MarÃa Isasi-DÃaz, a Cuban-American theologian who was a professor at Drew University. Kin-dom spoke to these women as that state of mind and heart but also very tangible justice which liberates us from fear and oppression and makes us kin to one another.
And so this kin-dom of heaven is like what? Mustard is a weed we pull out of our gardens. What's the big deal about yeast, except that now it disappears off grocery store shelves since many folks have been baking their own bread? As for treasure hidden in a field—who does that anymore, but then it just might be safer than the stock market. A jeweler would never sell everything to acquire just one pearl, no matter how valuable or beautiful it is. Only an experienced fisher would know a good fish from a bad fish.
The kin-dom of heaven is like one person who feels like what difference does it make if they go to a protest, but soon it blossoms into a wall of moms, a wall of veterans, a wall of nurses, a wall of dads with leaf blowers. The kin-dom of heaven is like one letter to a congressperson, one donation to a food pantry, one contribution, one invitation for someone else to do the same. The kin-dom of heaven is one person working on what it means to be an anti-racist, one person who registers others to vote, who checks on their neighbors, one person who wears a mask and encourages others to do the same.
Like the yeast hidden in the flour so all of it will rise, what has been hidden that is now revealed? The kin-dom of heaven is like a pandemic that reveals the truth about humanity, our strengths and our weaknesses, our racism and our self-interest, our addiction to power and violence, our capacity for cruelty, our courage and our perseverance, our ability to join in peaceful solidarity, to confront without malice. The kin-dom of heaven is like people who were complacent but now realize our survival depends on all of us. The kin-dom of heaven is like the release of tears and anger and despair in the company of friends over Zoom. The kin-dom of heaven is like a home-cooked meal in the midst of grief or illness. The kin-dom of heaven is like a garden expanded and planted and tended in the spring that is shared with neighbors in summer.
What would in our joy compel us to sell what we have so that we could buy that field of God’s dreams, that pearl of great price? The kin-dom of heaven, of wholeness and justice, is worth everything, yes? What would we give? Is the kin-dom of heaven like higher taxes? Is it like basic income for everyone? It’s not a tweak or reform. The kin-dom turns our world upside down, inside out. The kin-dom of heaven is like reparations, a re-ordering of our economy toward the common good of everyone. The kin-dom of heaven is the relinquishing of white power and privilege. The kin-dom of heaven is like the worth and dignity of every human being. The kin-dom of heaven is like ridiculously high tips for takeout, buying what we need from local shops and farms, inconvenience, wanting the kin-dom more than what we have. The kin-dom of heaven is healthcare for everyone and food security and fair housing and equal education.
It’s every choice, every decision, every action taken toward wholeness, not just for ourselves but for especially for those who are still enslaved and marginalized. It’s every risk we take as a Church, every time we veer from the way we’ve always done it, every act that contributes to the well-being of others. It’s the belief that the more we do these things, the more they multiply.
The Church is the workshop for the kin-dom of heaven. In our life together we make the changes we long to see in the world. From our friends at enfleshed.com write, “Just as the struggle for liberation is itself liberation, so too is striving for the kin-dom itself the kin-dom.”
The spiritual intent of these parables is to lead us to our limits so we can then ask ourselves why they exist and if there is anything hidden beyond those limits, not yet revealed. As much as we long for this kin-dom of heaven, of God’s dreams for humanity, it only comes through us, through human lives and actions and choices. As Fannie Lou Hamer famously said, we can pray until we faint but unless we get up and try to do something, God is not going to put this kin-dom of heaven in our laps.
Four months ago we wondered how would we support those without housing, how would we make sure they had one decent meal a day, how would they know we still care about their well-being? 16 weeks later, with 28 community partners working together, 20,000 meals were distributed in Wilmington and Newark under the auspices of Friendship House.
What’s next for the kin-dom of heaven? What else can we yet imagine? What’s it worth to us that we will go even farther? The kin-dom is profligate, prodigal, wastefully extravagant in its revelation of love and justice. That might be swirly talk but it’s up to us to make it real.
Amen.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
Beloveds, we were made to live out the dreams of God.
Each of us, together.
Through our choices, our hopes, our communities.
We have been given the capacity to embody hospitality.
To practice radical love.
To be brave together and take risks on doing things differently.
The kin-dom come, the will to be whole be done.
Amen.
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
July 26, 2020
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| A Little Leaven by James B. Janknegt |
It was UCC pastor Molly Baskette who introduced me to the concept of what she calls “swirly talk”. Preachers do it, teachers do it, profs and philosophers, prophets and poets, entrepreneurs and engineers, anyone with expertise does it. We embellish, we romanticize, we mystify. We add layers to our language, terminology, lengthy explanations, hoping to impress, show how much we know, when what our audience needs is something more concrete. Perhaps there times we’d like to be lulled into the kin-dom, to be ushered into God’s dream for humanity on our good intentions, but Jesus would rather reach us where we live.
Even so, his examples of what the kin-dom of heaven is like are meant for his audience, for his time. Jesus used ‘kingdom’ because what he taught, how he lived had radical political implications. Those who followed him hoped for a different realm, the end of the Roman occupation, but set in real time, with God-values of justice and compassion, creation restored to wholeness, heaven on earth but with an actual king, the Messiah, God’s anointed one.
And yet we know humanity still suffers under those who behave like kings and tyrants, centered in power and control and patriarchy; and we still suffer under the illusion that one leader makes a universal difference—it doesn’t—it’s all of us together. And so the word kin-dom came into being. Franciscan nun Georgene Wilson introduced the word to her friend Ada MarÃa Isasi-DÃaz, a Cuban-American theologian who was a professor at Drew University. Kin-dom spoke to these women as that state of mind and heart but also very tangible justice which liberates us from fear and oppression and makes us kin to one another.
Often when Jesus or any other voice in the Bible uses imagery from that time, it is tempting to treat it as ‘swirly talk’, as poetry and metaphor or hyperbole that doesn’t translate very well or apply to our world of science and skepticism. And yet we human beings will find whatever loopholes we can in order to not have to change or adapt. But Jesus was after much more than that. Like most other spiritual teachers, Jesus sought the transformation of the human heart and thus the world.
So what in our world is small in its beginnings, easy to dismiss, devalued, almost insignificant but when it grows and spreads, it provides for the most vulnerable among us? Truth. When we tell even the smallest truth about ourselves, we live into freedom. Generosity. When we give rather than withhold, our hearts expand and justice grows. Knowledge. When we learn and when we share what we have learned, we increase our capacity for growth.
So what in our world is small in its beginnings, easy to dismiss, devalued, almost insignificant but when it grows and spreads, it provides for the most vulnerable among us? Truth. When we tell even the smallest truth about ourselves, we live into freedom. Generosity. When we give rather than withhold, our hearts expand and justice grows. Knowledge. When we learn and when we share what we have learned, we increase our capacity for growth.
It’s every choice, every decision, every action taken toward wholeness, not just for ourselves but for especially for those who are still enslaved and marginalized. It’s every risk we take as a Church, every time we veer from the way we’ve always done it, every act that contributes to the well-being of others. It’s the belief that the more we do these things, the more they multiply.
The Church is the workshop for the kin-dom of heaven. In our life together we make the changes we long to see in the world. From our friends at enfleshed.com write, “Just as the struggle for liberation is itself liberation, so too is striving for the kin-dom itself the kin-dom.”
Four months ago we wondered how would we support those without housing, how would we make sure they had one decent meal a day, how would they know we still care about their well-being? 16 weeks later, with 28 community partners working together, 20,000 meals were distributed in Wilmington and Newark under the auspices of Friendship House.
What’s next for the kin-dom of heaven? What else can we yet imagine? What’s it worth to us that we will go even farther? The kin-dom is profligate, prodigal, wastefully extravagant in its revelation of love and justice. That might be swirly talk but it’s up to us to make it real.
Amen.
Benediction – enfleshed.com
Beloveds, we were made to live out the dreams of God.
Each of us, together.
Through our choices, our hopes, our communities.
We have been given the capacity to embody hospitality.
To practice radical love.
To be brave together and take risks on doing things differently.
The kin-dom come, the will to be whole be done.
Amen.
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