Proper 12
Preaching
PREACHING MATTHEW'S GOSPEL
A Narrative Approach
The whole of Jesus' discourse in parables in Matthew 13 demonstrates for us that Jesus did much of his thinking in stories. We might more reasonably expect Jesus to teach the nature of the kingdom of heaven through a discourse of ideas. For example, Jesus might have taught that the kingdom of heaven is a secret which is only revealed to disciples.
Or that the kingdom of heaven is always in jeopardy because the Devil opposes those who would believe. Such rational discourse would then be taken by us as definitive statements about the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. We would have the whole matter tied up in fine theological fashion.
But, no! Jesus speaks in parables. Jesus thinks in stories. Stories are our entree into the reality of the kingdom of heaven. Stories are always somewhat open-ended. You can't simply extrapolate the points from the stories and think that you have the same thing. "Listen to my points and you will understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." Not so. Stories invite our participation. Stories invite us into their reality. With a story there is always room for the Holy Spirit to "apply" the story-reality to our own individual life needs.
Most of the parables in Matthew 13 are parables of the kingdom. See 13:11, 19, 24, 31, 33, 43, 44, 45, 47, 52 for references to the kingdom or the kingdom of heaven in this chapter alone. Other parables of the kingdom are found in 18:23-35 (a king who settled accounts with his servants, Proper 19); 20:1-16 (the householder who pays the same wage to all, Proper 20); 22:1-14 (the king who gave a marriage feast for his son, Proper 23) and 25:1-13 (five wise and five foolish maidens, Proper 27). This reality of the kingdom is front and center in the parables appointed for this week.
We are reminded that John the Baptist's primary message was a message of repentance, "for the kingdom of heaven" is at hand: 3:2. When Jesus announces his own ministry in 4:17 he, too, calls for repentance, for the "kingdom of heaven" is at hand. Likewise, when Jesus sent the disciples on their mission he told them to preach saying, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," 10:7. The kingdom of heaven is clearly at the heart of Matthew's understanding of Jesus' mission. The parables of the kingdom invite our participation in kingdom reality.
We discussed in our last chapter that the coming of the kingdom of heaven is met with great resistance by the forces of evil. Cosmic forces engage when the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Commenting on the parable of the weeds (13:36-43, omitted from the lectionary) Robert Smith says:
What happens in the history of the world and in every historical community including the church, all the way up to the end of the age is presented as the result of the working both of the Son of Man and of the devil. Good and evil struggle to gain mastery over people and communities. Good and evil people live cheek by jowl in human communities.1
In Chapter 3 we discussed the fact that Matthew sets before us in his very first characterizations a person who is "righteous"--Joseph--and a person who is "wicked"--Herod. There are ways in which Matthew sees the world always in a basic polarity. Either/or is the order of Matthew's day.
The flourishing of evil people in any community is one problem, but another is the arrogance of the pious. Matthew records a number of sayings, noting on the one hand the uneasy coexistence of righteous and evil people, and warning on the other about the inevitable divine discrimination: two kinds of tree (7:17-19), two houses (7:24-27), wheat and weeds (13:24-30), good and bad fish (13:47-50), two sons (21:28-32), wedding guests with and without a proper garment (22:11-14), wise and foolish maidens (25:1-13), sheep and goats (25:31-46). The accent in these words falls at different places, but all urge hearers to examine not others but themselves....2
This call to self-examination could certainly be a theme in sermons on the parables of Matthew 13.
When we come to the end of the parables we hear Jesus ask the disciples if they understand. Understanding is a crucial theme for Matthew. In his telling of the story it is only the disciples who understand. This is due primarily to the reality that God has revealed kingdom secrets to the disciples: 11:25-30; 13:10-17, 34-35. The disciples, however, do not always get it right. We will see this factor at work in the succeeding chapters.
In 13:52 Jesus refers to the disciples as "scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew's Gospel seems to some readers to be the product of Christian scribal activity, and some see a kind of self-portrait of the evangelist in 13:52. The word translated trained is mathteutheis ("discipled" or "apprenticed"). It is related to mathete and to mathetes = "disciple," everywhere in the Gospel. Even Matthew's name (Matthaios) is similar to the Greek word meaning "apprenticed" or "trained."3
Homiletical Directions
All of the parables of the kingdom in Matthew's Gospel stand in narrative analogy with each other. Each one can only be understood in the context of the whole. There would be license here to preach a sermon in which the brief parables appointed for this week are told in narrative analogy with other parables from Matthew 13. One could also make use of the "parables of the kingdom of heaven" found throughout Matthew's Gospel in such a sermon. Such a sermon would major in storytelling with some brief comments to set the context for the stories. Our goal would be to tell Matthew's parables of the kingdom of heaven in such a way that they would invite our hearers into the reality of the kingdom.
In whatever direction our sermon on 13:31-33, 44-52 (and related passages?) takes, the goal must focus on telling the stories. Jesus told stories. We should not reduce the stories to explanation. That doesn't mean that we cannot help to explain these stories. Include such explanation in the telling of the parables themselves. Let the stories provide the structure of the sermon. Explanations can be woven into the storytelling. This is much to be preferred to reducing the stories to our words of explanation. When we take this path we limit the meaning of these stories to our explanatory expertise. When we focus on the telling of these stories we allow the Holy Spirit to apply them to each individual heart.
Our first homiletical suggestion, therefore, is to use this Sunday as an opportunity to tell the parables of the kingdom of heaven from the Gospel of Matthew. We don't mean to tell them all. Tell the ones you wish to focus on including, of course, the brief parables appointed for this week. Give your telling a structure that helps your hearers follow you from story to story. Then, let the stories and the Holy Spirit work their own way on human hearts.
A second homiletical possibility would be to confine ourselves to the stories appointed for this week in 13:31-33, 44-52. Tell just these stories but tell them in as much amplification as you can. Put some more flesh on the mere bones of these story lines. Do it in your own words. You might wish to set them in a contemporary setting. And that's it. Tell the stories and say Amen. If you choose such an approach you may wish to notify your hearers in advance that your storytelling on this day will be open-ended. Invite them into the stories. What do they hear? Encourage them to share their insights with you and others after the service is over.
A final homiletical possibility would be to create a modern-day story or situation to which the parable is told in response. For example, tell a story you know of the kingdom of God growing to great heights from very insignificant beginnings. When you finish with this story, simply tell the story of the grain of mustard seed: vv. 31-33. Next, tell a story you know about someone who has given up much for the sake of following Jesus. When that story is finished, simply tell the parable in v. 44. Following this you could tell a modern-day story of another person who gave up much followed by a recitation of vv. 45-46. Do likewise with the parable of the kingdom in vv. 47-50. Tell a contemporary story with these verses as response.
However you choose to approach these three little parables of the kingdom of heaven, keep one thing in mind. Let the parables speak for themselves! You may wish to close such a sermon with a prayer that the Spirit might enable us to see ourselves in new ways in the light of Jesus' stories.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 177.
2. Ibid., p. 180.
3. Ibid., p. 182.
Or that the kingdom of heaven is always in jeopardy because the Devil opposes those who would believe. Such rational discourse would then be taken by us as definitive statements about the meaning of the kingdom of heaven. We would have the whole matter tied up in fine theological fashion.
But, no! Jesus speaks in parables. Jesus thinks in stories. Stories are our entree into the reality of the kingdom of heaven. Stories are always somewhat open-ended. You can't simply extrapolate the points from the stories and think that you have the same thing. "Listen to my points and you will understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven." Not so. Stories invite our participation. Stories invite us into their reality. With a story there is always room for the Holy Spirit to "apply" the story-reality to our own individual life needs.
Most of the parables in Matthew 13 are parables of the kingdom. See 13:11, 19, 24, 31, 33, 43, 44, 45, 47, 52 for references to the kingdom or the kingdom of heaven in this chapter alone. Other parables of the kingdom are found in 18:23-35 (a king who settled accounts with his servants, Proper 19); 20:1-16 (the householder who pays the same wage to all, Proper 20); 22:1-14 (the king who gave a marriage feast for his son, Proper 23) and 25:1-13 (five wise and five foolish maidens, Proper 27). This reality of the kingdom is front and center in the parables appointed for this week.
We are reminded that John the Baptist's primary message was a message of repentance, "for the kingdom of heaven" is at hand: 3:2. When Jesus announces his own ministry in 4:17 he, too, calls for repentance, for the "kingdom of heaven" is at hand. Likewise, when Jesus sent the disciples on their mission he told them to preach saying, "the kingdom of heaven is at hand," 10:7. The kingdom of heaven is clearly at the heart of Matthew's understanding of Jesus' mission. The parables of the kingdom invite our participation in kingdom reality.
We discussed in our last chapter that the coming of the kingdom of heaven is met with great resistance by the forces of evil. Cosmic forces engage when the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Commenting on the parable of the weeds (13:36-43, omitted from the lectionary) Robert Smith says:
What happens in the history of the world and in every historical community including the church, all the way up to the end of the age is presented as the result of the working both of the Son of Man and of the devil. Good and evil struggle to gain mastery over people and communities. Good and evil people live cheek by jowl in human communities.1
In Chapter 3 we discussed the fact that Matthew sets before us in his very first characterizations a person who is "righteous"--Joseph--and a person who is "wicked"--Herod. There are ways in which Matthew sees the world always in a basic polarity. Either/or is the order of Matthew's day.
The flourishing of evil people in any community is one problem, but another is the arrogance of the pious. Matthew records a number of sayings, noting on the one hand the uneasy coexistence of righteous and evil people, and warning on the other about the inevitable divine discrimination: two kinds of tree (7:17-19), two houses (7:24-27), wheat and weeds (13:24-30), good and bad fish (13:47-50), two sons (21:28-32), wedding guests with and without a proper garment (22:11-14), wise and foolish maidens (25:1-13), sheep and goats (25:31-46). The accent in these words falls at different places, but all urge hearers to examine not others but themselves....2
This call to self-examination could certainly be a theme in sermons on the parables of Matthew 13.
When we come to the end of the parables we hear Jesus ask the disciples if they understand. Understanding is a crucial theme for Matthew. In his telling of the story it is only the disciples who understand. This is due primarily to the reality that God has revealed kingdom secrets to the disciples: 11:25-30; 13:10-17, 34-35. The disciples, however, do not always get it right. We will see this factor at work in the succeeding chapters.
In 13:52 Jesus refers to the disciples as "scribes trained for the kingdom of heaven."
Matthew's Gospel seems to some readers to be the product of Christian scribal activity, and some see a kind of self-portrait of the evangelist in 13:52. The word translated trained is mathteutheis ("discipled" or "apprenticed"). It is related to mathete and to mathetes = "disciple," everywhere in the Gospel. Even Matthew's name (Matthaios) is similar to the Greek word meaning "apprenticed" or "trained."3
Homiletical Directions
All of the parables of the kingdom in Matthew's Gospel stand in narrative analogy with each other. Each one can only be understood in the context of the whole. There would be license here to preach a sermon in which the brief parables appointed for this week are told in narrative analogy with other parables from Matthew 13. One could also make use of the "parables of the kingdom of heaven" found throughout Matthew's Gospel in such a sermon. Such a sermon would major in storytelling with some brief comments to set the context for the stories. Our goal would be to tell Matthew's parables of the kingdom of heaven in such a way that they would invite our hearers into the reality of the kingdom.
In whatever direction our sermon on 13:31-33, 44-52 (and related passages?) takes, the goal must focus on telling the stories. Jesus told stories. We should not reduce the stories to explanation. That doesn't mean that we cannot help to explain these stories. Include such explanation in the telling of the parables themselves. Let the stories provide the structure of the sermon. Explanations can be woven into the storytelling. This is much to be preferred to reducing the stories to our words of explanation. When we take this path we limit the meaning of these stories to our explanatory expertise. When we focus on the telling of these stories we allow the Holy Spirit to apply them to each individual heart.
Our first homiletical suggestion, therefore, is to use this Sunday as an opportunity to tell the parables of the kingdom of heaven from the Gospel of Matthew. We don't mean to tell them all. Tell the ones you wish to focus on including, of course, the brief parables appointed for this week. Give your telling a structure that helps your hearers follow you from story to story. Then, let the stories and the Holy Spirit work their own way on human hearts.
A second homiletical possibility would be to confine ourselves to the stories appointed for this week in 13:31-33, 44-52. Tell just these stories but tell them in as much amplification as you can. Put some more flesh on the mere bones of these story lines. Do it in your own words. You might wish to set them in a contemporary setting. And that's it. Tell the stories and say Amen. If you choose such an approach you may wish to notify your hearers in advance that your storytelling on this day will be open-ended. Invite them into the stories. What do they hear? Encourage them to share their insights with you and others after the service is over.
A final homiletical possibility would be to create a modern-day story or situation to which the parable is told in response. For example, tell a story you know of the kingdom of God growing to great heights from very insignificant beginnings. When you finish with this story, simply tell the story of the grain of mustard seed: vv. 31-33. Next, tell a story you know about someone who has given up much for the sake of following Jesus. When that story is finished, simply tell the parable in v. 44. Following this you could tell a modern-day story of another person who gave up much followed by a recitation of vv. 45-46. Do likewise with the parable of the kingdom in vv. 47-50. Tell a contemporary story with these verses as response.
However you choose to approach these three little parables of the kingdom of heaven, keep one thing in mind. Let the parables speak for themselves! You may wish to close such a sermon with a prayer that the Spirit might enable us to see ourselves in new ways in the light of Jesus' stories.
____________
1. Robert H. Smith, Matthew: Augsburg Commentary on the New Testament (Minneapolis: Augsburg Press, 1989), p. 177.
2. Ibid., p. 180.
3. Ibid., p. 182.
