Words have roots which are buried in our language and culture.  Often, we may not know them, we forget, until we remember, but they are there just below the surface.  If we dig just a little, we find them.

In today’s Gospel Jesus and his disciples encounter a Canaanite woman. That doesn’t mean much to us. Have you ever met a Canaanite? But that’s a loaded term for them. What does Canaanite mean??

After the flood, in Genesis chapter 9, Noah plants a vineyard. The vineyard produces grapes. Grape juice quickly becomes wine. (There was no such thing as grape juice until Thomas Welch invented a pasteurization process in 1869.) Noah has too much wine and passes out drunk, his robes are all akimbo and he is – ahem – uncovered. Awkward!

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All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet:

     “I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” (Matthew 13:34-35)

Today we touch on parables Jesus shares to describe The Kingdom of God: a mustard seed, yeast, a treasure, a pearl and a net full of fish.

This past week was very busy around here. Each morning a team led by Theresa Ryland showed up before dawn to prepare breakfast for the Lake Wales Care Center’s “Stay at Home Work Camp.” They run several camps each summer, where youth help low income homeowners with painting, minor repairs and new roofs.

Over 120 campers, plus their counselors and Care Center staff, would pour in each morning around 7:45, kick off their shoes and file in. They are just crackling with energy. They eat, then come into the sanctuary to hear a lesson, pray and then go out to work. While they are here, they reveal a glimpse of the Kingdom of God.

Here we see the parables of the mustard seed and yeast alive and active in our midst. The mustard seed is not actually the smallest seed, nor does it yield the mightiest bush, or a huge tree. The point here is that the bush is massively bigger than the seed, and we should take note of that. The kingdom of God is like that, and that it’s astounding when we get up close and look at what is come from very small beginnings, but we also know that it has a long way to go to reach all of God’s children.

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Meg embarked on a quest one spring, about 12 years ago.  There was a new weed in our neighborhood.  This wasn’t surprising because every year there seemed to be a new weed that would creep into our yard, along with all the weeds from prior years.  Weed and feed only helps so much.

This new weed had a lovely yellow flower.  It was very aggressive and would overwhelm whatever patch of ground it invaded, essentially wiping out the grass. I called our county extension office and they told me it was a type of pea vine called Lespedeza. It also gets used as an intentional ground cover, but it escapes. You can see it on Johnson just a half block towards Scenic Highway.

Most weeds aren’t too hard to pull and get the whole root with the plant.  Not Lespedeza.  It is a vine that runs in all directions and inter-weaves with itself.  If you try to pull it, it just breaks off.  And its roots run 8-12 inches below the soil.

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