Archive for July, 2005
Tuesday, July 19th, 2005
Here’s an article I’ve just written for Jubilee Primary School newsletter. It’s a school connected with four Christian churches - Catholic, Anglican, Uniting and Apostolic.
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What’s been the most important investment you’ve ever made? Perhaps it’s investment in a house? Or in an engagement or wedding ring? Maybe it’s an investment in education? I’m not looking for the right answer. What I’m looking for is the point at which we realize that we’ve found something worth investing in. We’re prepared to go without some things because we need all our resources for this purchase.
When my wife and I bought our first home we lived like paupers for a while as we saved for a deposit. Paying rent each week, we couldn’t easily find the money to put a deposit down. Both of us came from large families and there was no inheritance expected. We would have had to wait a much longer time if it hadn’t been for the generosity of friends who helped us out with an interest free loan. But when it came time to pay the legal fees, valuation fees and broker’s fees, we had to find the cash. We found buyers for our television, book and music collections.
That’s the kind of scenario Jesus is talking about in many of his stories. In Matthew 13:44-46, he says, “The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when someone finds a treasure hidden in a field and buries it again. A person like that is happy and goes and sells everything in order to buy that field. The kingdom of heaven is like what happens when a shop owner is looking for fine pearls. After finding a very valuable one, the owner goes and sells everything in order to buy that pearl.” (Contemporary English Version)
So how does that apply to being part of a school community? The ‘kingdom of heaven’ Jesus refers to is not the end result of a warring crusade against infidels – as portrayed in the recent movie. It’s about living in community with others around us, reflecting the character of God. It involves adults and children with attitudes and actions that show God’s love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, generosity, gentleness, and self control.
There is a cost involved in following in the footsteps of Jesus. I’m glad he acknowledges that. Putting into practice God’s intentions for community living may mean giving up some of the lifestyle we find precious. Looking out for others may mean having less time to ourselves. Being part of a diverse group of Jesus followers may mean we have to give up the luxury of being with people just like us. We may even be called to give up ‘being right’ all the time.
I’ve written about the cost. But Jesus reminds us that we’re prepared to pay that cost when we discover a passion for a new way of living. That excitement comes when we learn to see the big picture of our lives together. We invest in the future when we get a taste of the potential that comes from this time together now.
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Sunday, July 17th, 2005
Weeds among the Wheat
Jesus then told them this story: The kingdom of heaven is like what happened when a farmer scattered good seed in a field. But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and scattered weed seeds in the field and then left. When the plants came up and began to ripen, the farmer’s servants could see the weeds. The servants came and asked, “Sir, didn’t you scatter good seed in your field? Where did these weeds come from?” “An enemy did this,” he replied. His servants then asked, “Do you want us to go out and pull up the weeds?” “No!” he answered. “You might also pull up the wheat. Leave the weeds alone until harvest time. Then I’ll tell my workers to gather the weeds and tie them up and burn them. But I’ll have them store the wheat in my barn.”
Matthew 13:24-30 (Contemporary English Version)
I’ve just finished reading J K Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. One thing that amazes me is the capacity for Professor Dumbledore to work with staff and students who have the capacity to work for good or bad. Hogwarts as an institution has boundaries. People are expelled for destructive behaviour. But there is a willingness to allow each person to prove themselves in the long term.
As I look at the church around the world, over time, I see the same dynamic at work. Jesus has a huge number of people gathered around him who have proved in the long term to be perpetrators of evil. At the same time there are repentant rascals who have become the most loving proponents of the gospel.
We constantly face the temptation to jump the gun, to anticipate how people will turn out. We have our own criteria by which we decide who’s in and who’s out. And yet Jesus takes the risk with all of us. He knows we have the capacity to blow everything. And he knows we have the capacity to follow through with our redemption. Even when people have blown it Jesus has the capacity to redeem a flawed follower.
At some point each of us will be accountable for the way we’ve lived our lives. But it’s our lives, not the lives of others, that we speak for.
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Wednesday, July 6th, 2005
A Story about a Farmer
That same day Jesus left the house and went out beside Lake Galilee, where he sat down to teach. Such large crowds gathered around him that he had to sit in a boat, while the people stood on the shore. Then he taught them many things by using stories. He said:
A farmer went out to scatter seed in a field. While the farmer was scattering the seed, some of it fell along the road and was eaten by birds. Other seeds fell on thin, rocky ground and quickly started growing because the soil wasn’t very deep. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched and dried up, because they did not have enough roots. Some other seeds fell where thornbushes grew up and choked the plants. But a few seeds did fall on good ground where the plants produced a hundred or sixty or thirty times as much as was scattered. If you have ears, pay attention!
Jesus Explains the Story about the Farmer
Now listen to the meaning of the story about the farmer: The seeds that fell along the road are the people who hear the message about the kingdom, but don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their hearts. The seeds that fell on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the message and accept it right away. But they don’t have deep roots, and they don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up. The seeds that fell among the thornbushes are also people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out, and they never produce anything. The seeds that fell on good ground are the people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as a hundred or sixty or thirty times what was planted.
Matthew 13:1-23 Contemporary English Version
Ploughing, Cultivating, Seeding, Rolling
As a teenager I spent a summer working for my brother on the family farm. Priority number one was the preparation of ground for crops and grass. The first step in this process was ploughing, breaking up the turf. Next was ‘cultivating’ - cutting up the ploughed surface. Then came the seeding stage - sowing grass and swedes in the respective paddocks. Finally the soil was rolled to ensure the seed was kept in the soil and not eaten by the birds. Nothing was left to chance.
Jesus’ approach in contrast was to sow the seed in rocky, thorny and weed-infested soils as well as in cultivated soils. There’s both realism and idealism at work here.
The followers of Jesus are called to take the good news of the kingdom of God to people who on the face of it might not be interested. They are not to second guess the action of the Holy Spirit. Who knows where the Holy Spirit has been acting in the lives of those around us? Here’s a challenge to our discrimination on the basis of compatibility with the church’s culture.
At the same time though we’re given a dose of reality. Many will have no capacity to engage with Jesus. They may not have the mental or spiritual frameworks needed to listen. Others may show initial interest but in fact are more interested in comfort or prosperity than in following Jesus wherever he goes. The good news is that some will be ready and will grow to maturity.
As a man of the land, I respond with a commitment to continued cultivation of interest in the lives of my family and friends. It takes time in conversation and demonstrated integrity. It takes humility. It takes patience. It takes trust in the work of God’s Spirit.
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