Real Change
Proper 12
Fr. Tim Nunez
May my spoken word be true to God’s written word and bring us all closer to the living word, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
People are fundamentally unique in that we continuously look at the way things are and imagine how they could and should be better. That drives us to seek change. People tend to pursue social change in two ways; persuasion and force. In today’s Gospel, Jesus introduces a third way. While Jesus certainly taught and persuaded, the Kingdom ultimately spreads because people encounter him personally.
Persuasion involves generating ideas and positions, then sharing them so that they can be evaluated, improved and enacted. For example, “We take our shoes off when we enter the house,” or “You can only drive 15 miles per hour in a school zone.” We hope better ideas win out over time and progress follows. We hope.
Force involves gaining positions of authority and establishing control. This could be from the head of a clan to a chief of a tribe, a feudal lord, a king, an emperor or dictator. Sometimes these are capable people who exercise good judgment and seek the welfare of their people. Sometimes they are very incompetent or evil people. Too often, the most ruthless seize power.
When it goes bad, the results are horrific. In the twentieth century, zealots who seized control exerted suffocating control over their people and killed them by the millions. We must not forget those who died in the Holocaust under Adolf Hitler. Less commonly known are the tens of millions who died in the Soviet Union under Josef Stalin and in China under Mao Zedong through repression, forced labor, famine and concentrating power in the hands of the state.
Jesus shares a series of parables that reveal the nature of the Kingdom of God and demonstrates how it is utterly different in calling people to real, radical change. Radical means from the very root. Jesus is radical and causes radical change, but in a particular way. He does not rely force or even persuasion. It is a rooted relationship with God through Jesus.
How does the Kingdom grow?
The mustard seed is quite small. It holds the complete pattern of the plant it is to become, a pattern that generates new life. Plant the seed and care for it, and it will grow into a mustard tree – not an oak or a palm. And on that tree will be thousands of mustard seeds, which in turn can bear trees that will bear thousands more.
That is precisely how Jesus launched the Kingdom of God. Everything the Kingdom shall be is already resident in him, a unique, particular person. He doesn’t force people. He just is. The Kingdom is further revealed in his words and actions, but it is primarily in his person. The pattern takes root in his disciples who embrace new life in him, they share it with others, and here we are.
The Kingdom grows within people like the leaven in the dough. Like yeast hidden in dough, God’s work is often invisible, yet its effects become unmistakable. It is quite alive in Christ’s body, the Church, and its effects on individuals and families are apparent. The Holy Spirit is not visible, but it is clearly moving among us. Congregations may appear very small within the context of the entire population around it, but over time it is changing the world.
Once we find the Kingdom, everything else is gladly surrendered and subjected to the Kingdom because it cannot compare with the value of the Kingdom. We joyfully put it first, because we are giving up things of far lesser value. This is true whether we are like the man in the field stumbling across it or like the merchant who is actively looking for this wondrous value.
Certainly, across the centuries the Church has been knotted up with all sorts of governments and organizations. Each of those has fallen short of the kingdom, often in spectacular ways. Yet, even so, despite all of the struggles, we are left with the fundamental fact of Jesus. He calls us to himself and he calls us into community. The Church exists to draw people into life with Christ and to nurture that life together. Like the parable of the weeds and the wheat we had last week, we are to trust that the good and bad fish will be sorted.
Notice what every one of these parables has in common. None of them describes people building the Kingdom through power. A seed grows because it is alive. Yeast works because it is alive. A treasure changes a person’s life because it is discovered. A pearl changes everything because it is recognized. In every case, transformation comes from encountering something of immeasurable value. The Kingdom grows because people encounter Jesus Christ.
All of that is good to know. It is far better to experience it. Sometimes the Kingdom is crystal clear. Last week it was crystal clear here at Church of the Good Shepherd. A wonderful group of volunteers led by Theresa Ryland provided breakfast for the Lake Wales Care Center Stay at Home Work Camp. We also had another group led by Lisa Jensen who fed them lunch on Tuesday.
Eleven members of our youth group participated in the camp. They were led all week by Harrison Paxton, who with his wife, Sadie, leads our youth group. I should note that several of those youth group members are not members of our church. We are very pleased to have a youth group expanding beyond our membership! And Amelia Ingley, who is now a nurse working in Gainesville, showed up to help out for several days during the week.
The camp accomplishes a lot of good in our community. People get help with their homes. Ministries get infused with energy from the kids. The kids get hands-on experience exercising ministry. And some of the older kids get leadership experience as well. All of that is great.
One of the best aspects of the week is the community that the youth and their leaders build together through this ministry. The joy, the love, the fellowship, friends made and friendships deepened are all precious. And, as often happens in ministry, those are the aspects that people actually value the most from their experience.
The joy of the team, serving meals, the joy of the campers together, the joy of the leaders interacting with the campers and each other was palpable when they are eating together, and as they prepared for each day with worship and a brief lesson.
The youth and the volunteers will agree with me that altogether this provides a beautiful glimpse of the kingdom of God. That same joy is palpable during worship at Camp Wingmann as well.
It’s a primary goal of our worship and everything else we do. Everything.
When we feel the Kingdom, we know, we just know that Jesus is with us and the Holy Spirit is present among us, transforming us from the inside out and, through us, bringing God’s Kingdom into the world.
AMEN!