THE AMERICAN PLAYWRIGHT ARTHUR MILLER, ALMOST AS FAMOUS FOR HIS PLAY " DEATH OF A SALESMAN," AS FOR HIS BRIEF MARRIAGE TO MARILYN MONROE., ONCE OBSERVED, " IN EVERY SUCCESSFUL DRAMA, THERE IS SOMETHING WHICH MAKES A PERSON SAY" HEY THAT'S ME!" THE STORY BECOMES A MIRROR WHICH SELF-RECOGNITION PRODUCES SELF-UNDERSTANDING.
MANY OF THE STORIES THE LORD JESUS TOLD HAVE PRECISELY THAT EFFECT. TO READ THEM PROPERLY IS TO SEE OURSELVES. BUT THEY ARE MORE THEN MIRRORS. THEY ALMOST ALWAYS BECOME WINDOWS INTO THE HEART AND MIND OF GOD HIMSELF. AS A RESULT, THEY DO FAR MORE THAN REVEAL WHO WE ARE. THEY HELP US TO KNOW WHO GOD IS. THEY NOT ONLY EXPOSE OUR CONDITION, BUT ALSO POINT TO A DIVINE REMEDY. SELF-RECOGNITION WITHOUT A DIVINE PROVISION WOULD ONLY BRING DISCOURAGEMENT. THE LORD'S PARABLES BRING ENCOURAGEMENT, BECAUSE IN THEM WE MEET OURSELVES AND OUR GOD.
NOT ALL OF JESUS PARABLES WERE INTENDED TO BE MIRRORS FOR THOSE WHO HEARD THEM. SOMETIMES THE LORD USED PARABLES AS VEILS. THEY SERVED TO HIDE THE TRUTH FROM PEOPLE WHOSE RESPONSE TO HIM INDICATED THAT THEY WERE UNDER DIVINE JUDGMENT. THIS IS ESPECIALLY TRUE OF PARABLES IN MATTHEW 13, AS JESUS MAKES CLEAR IN VERSES 10-13; THE PARABLE OF THE MUSTARD SEED: HE SAID THEREFORE, WHAT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD? AND TO WHAT SHOULD I COMPARE IT TO? IT IS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED THAT SOMEONE TOOK AND SOWED IN THE GARDEN; IT GREW AND BECAME A TREE; AND THE BIRDS OF THE AIR MADE NESTS IN ITS BRANCHES." AND AGAIN HE SAID, " TO WHAT SHOULD I COMPARE THE KINGDOM OF GOD? IT IS LIKE YEAST THAT A WOMEN TOOK AND MIXED WITH THREE MEASURES OF FLOUR. ALL OF IT WAS LEAVEN ( 13: 18-210.
THE BEGINNINGS OF GOD'S KINGDOM ARE SMALL, BUT IT HAS AN INHERIT NATURE THAT WILL GROW TO ITS INTENDED END, STARTLINGLY DIFFERENT IN SIZE FROM ITS BEGINNING. (MATT 13:31-33), HE TOLD THEM ANOTHER PARABLE. JESUS TOLD THE CROWD ALL THESE THINGS IN PARABLES; WITHOUT A PARABLE HE TOLD THEM NOTHING. 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 ( SEE OTHER ANCIENT AUTHORITIES, READ THE PROPHET ISAIAH).
REMEMEBER THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS LIKE A MUSTARD SEED THAT A PERSON PLANTED IN A FIELD. IT IS THE SMALLEST OF ALL SEEDS, YET WHEN FULL GROWN IT IS THE LARGEST OF ALL PLANTS. IT BECOMES A LARGE BUSH, AND THE BIRDS OF THE SKY COME AND DWELL IN ITS BRANCHES. BUT THE PARABLES WE CONSIDER IN TODAY'S TEXT ARE NOT OF HIS CHARACTER. THESE STORIES DEALT HERE WERE NOT TO HIDE BUT TO ILLUMINE. PARABLES ARE NOT ISOLATED STORIES. JESUS NEARLY ALWAYS USED THEM TO ADDRESS A QUESTION FOR A PARTICULAR SITUATION. IT IS THEREFORE VERY IMPORTANT TO STUDY THE CONTEXT IN WHICH BIBLICAL AUTHORS PLACE THEM. MUCH SCHOLARSHIP HAS SOUGHT TO ISOLATE THE PARABLES FROM THEIR BIBLICAL CONTEXT, TO SEEK AN ORIGINAL SETTING " BEHIND THE TEXT OR IN THE LIFE OF THE EARLY CHURCH. BUT SUCH CONJECTURE DISTORTS THE PURPOSE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
THE PARABLES CAN ONLY BE UNDERSTOOD IN CONTEXT WITH WRITTEN SCRIPTURE SECOND, THE LORD'S STORIES ARE PARABLES, NOT ALLEGORIES. THEREFORE WE NEED TO SEEK TO GRASP THAT TRUTH FIRMLY AND NOT WANDER IN THE LUSH FOREST OF SPECULATION, TRYING TO ASSIGN"MEANING" TO SECONDARY DETAILS.
THIRD, WE MUST LEAVE OUR TWENTIETH-CENTURY WESTERN WORLD. JESUS STORIES DRAW ON THE DAILY COMMON LIFE OF FIRST CENTURY PALESTINE. TO HEAR HIM PROPERLY, WE NEED TO SMELL THE AROMA OF JEWISH VILLAGES AND FEEL THE DUST OF GALILEAN ROADS. AS WE SEEK TO ENTER THAT WORLD, THESE STORIES WILL COME ALIVE. WITH ENERGIZING FRESHNESS.
WE ARE TOLD THAT FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTEMPT. IT DOESN'T WHERE THE PARABLES ARE CONCERNED, BUT FAMILIARITY DOES BREAD COMPLACENCY. WE THINK WE KNOW THESE STORIES, WE DO NOT LISTEN TO THEM. SO NOW WE SIT AT THE FEET OF OUR LORD. TO LISTEN TO HIS WONDERFUL WORDS, WE TRY TO LISTEN AS THOUGH IT WAS THE FIRST TIME.
THE GRUMBLING OF THE PHARISEES AND SCRIBES IN TODAY'S GOSPEL IS ACTUALLY OUR ONLY HOPE., THIS JESUS WELCOMES SINNERS AND EATS WITH THEM. THAT OUR GOD WILLS TO SEEK AND TO SAVE THE LOST IS NOT ONLY A HOLY HOPE.
AS PAUL'S FIRST LETTER TO TIMOTHY REMINDS US: THE SAYING IS SURE AND WORTHY OF FULL ACCEPTANCE, THAT CHRIST JESUS CAME INTO THE WORLD TO SAVE SINNERS. TODAY'S READINGS GIVE WITNESS THAT GOD HAS A HEART FOR LOSERS: THE IDOL WORSHIPING PEOPLE OF ISRAEL. THE VIOLENT, BLASPHEMOUS, PERSECUTOR PAUL, THE WANDERING SHEEP, THE WOMEN WHO LOST A SILVER COIN. OUR TEXT TODAY TELLS US GOD RESCUES STRAYS, ONE BY ONE, MAKING THE FIRST MOVE TO FIND THE LOST, AND CREATE NEW HEARTS IN THEM. WHEN MOSES IN THE O.T. HOLDS GOD' TO PROMISES ALREADY MADE, THE BREATHTAKING PICTURE EMERGES OF A GOD SO COMMITTED TO RELATIONSHIP THAT GOD IS INFLUENCED-CHANGED BY WHAT PEOPLE NEED OR ASK.THE FAITHFULNESS OF GOD, SHARED WITH OVERFLOWING GRACE IN FAITH AND LOVE THAT ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, IS PATIENT, FORGIVING, ENERGETIC, AND READY TO CELEBRATE.
AS WE COME TO WORSHIP AND KNEEL AT THE TABLE OF HOSPILTALITY TO TAKE BREAD AND CUP-JESUS, IS PATIENT, FORGIVING, ENERGETIC, AND READY TO CELEBRATE AND JESUS IS HERE AGAIN TODAY TO WELCOME SINNERS AND EAT WITH HIM.
JESUS THREE PARABLES HAVE TO DO WITH JOY OF HAVING FINDING WHAT IS LOST. FIRST A SHEPHERD REJOICES OVE FINDING WHAT WAS LOST. SUPPOSE YOU HAVE A 1OO SHEEP AND LOSES ONE OF THEM. DOES NOT LEAVE NINETY-NINE IN THE OPEN COUNTRY AND GOES AFTER THE LOST SHEEP UNTIL HE FINDS IT. AND WHEN HE FINDS IT, HE JOYFULLY PUTS IT ON HIS SHOULDERS AND GOES HOME. THEN HE CALLS HIS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS TOGETHER AND SAYS "REJOICE WITH ME; I HAVE FOUND MY LOST SHEEP. " I TELL YOU THAT IN THE SAME WAY THERE IS MORE REOICING IN HEAVEN OVER ONE SINNER WHO REPENTS THAN OVER NINETY-NINE RIGHTEOUS PERSONS WHO DO NOT NEED TO REPENT. LUKE 15 HAS BEEN TITLED 'THE LOST AND FOUND CHAPTER, IT HAS BEEN CALLED THE HEART OF THE THIRD GOSPEL. THE SON OF MAN CAME TO SEEK AND SAVE WHAT WAS LOST.
SUPPOSE A WOMEN HAS TEN SILVER COINS AND LOSES ONE. DOESN'T SHE LIGHT A LAMP, SWEEP THE HOUSE AND SEARCH IT CAREFULLY UNTIL SHE FIND IT, SHE CALLS HER FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND SAYS: REJOICE WITH ME, I HAVE FOUND MY LOST COIN. THE WORD " COIN" THAT WAS LOST TRANSLATES THE WORD "DRACHMA", THE ONLY TIME THIS PARTICULAR GREEK COIN IS MENTIONED IN THE BIBLE. MUCH MORE COMMON IS THE ROMAN DENARIUS. A DAYS WAGES OF A HIRED MAN.
No comments:
Post a Comment