Sermon–July 10, 2011–Pentecost 4A

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost A

• Isaiah 55:10-13
• Psalm 65:9-13
• Romans 8:1-11
• Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Preached at Nativity Lutheran Church, Brandon, MS, while I was doing my Clinical Pastoral Education in Jackson.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done something and immediately thought, “You know… that was dumb.”

You see, I’m what you’d call an “experiential learner.” You can tell me as many times as you want how or how NOT to do something, but I won’t really get it until I try it myself. How many “experiential learners” are here this morning? You know what I’m talking about, right?

Sometimes, this works really well. I wouldn’t have really known how to set up a tent or ride a bike if I didn’t DO it. I wouldn’t have been able to learn how to get the chapel at the seminary set up in 15 minutes flat if I hadn’t DONE it.

Of course,  I have learned plenty of things NOT to do, because I have tried. I learned not to touch a hot pan after I tried it as a kid. I learned not to climb on the porch wall after I fell off of it on to my head. I learned lots of messy ways NOT to tap a keg when I worked at a neighborhood bar and restaurant. I learned not to wear flimsy shoes after I stepped on a nail at a construction site.

No matter how many times I’m told, sometimes, I just have to learn things for myself the hard way. And most of the time, I think to myself, “Well… that was dumb.” So it’s not too hard for me to identify and empathize with the crowds in today’s Gospel reading. They just don’t get it.

If you are confused right now, it’s because our story this morning is missing a piece, its middle. The part where Jesus explains why he speaks to the crowds in parables. In short, it’s because the crowds won’t get it anyway. The tragedy of Israel and Judah’s history is that God’s people had to learn the hard way what God wanted for them.

Quoting the prophet Isaiah, Jesus says,“For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are hard of hearing, and they have shut their eyes; so that they might not look with their eyes, and listen with their ears, and understand with their heart,” Turning to the disciples, he continues,“But blessed are YOUR eyes, for they see, and YOUR ears, for they hear.”

Now, I can’t help wondering if Jesus might be a liiiiiitle bit sarcastic here. Think about it–the disciples aren’t usually considered to be the brightest crayons in the box, after all, and THEY get it? Most of the time THEY are the ones who are asking him to explain his parables. This is actually the of the few times they DON’T ask Jesus for an explanation… sorta. I think their question, “Why do you speak to them in parables,” really means, “We don’t get it, but we don’t want YOU to know we don’t get it,… so we’ll pretend it’s just the crowds.” * wink wink *

And we know that later, when the time comes for the words of Jesus to come to their full meaning, in the crucifixion and resurrection, the disciples really blow it. They didn’t even get it when Jesus appeared to them in the upper room. They too had to learn the hard way.

Sound familiar? Last week we heard Paul lament: “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate… I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do.”

And let’s be honest, how many of us have left a church on Sunday thinking, “Hoo boy… what the heck was Pastor talking about?” This of course applies to ALL pastors, so don’t feel guilty about raising your hand.

Yes, sometimes, we too just don’t get it. We have to learn the hard way when it whallops us on the side of the head—when the weight of what he hear really comes pressing down on us.

We hear “Love your neighbor”, and curse the thief who breaks into our car.
We hear, “Do not lie,” and rationalize being not quite honest on our taxes.
We hear “Sell all that you have,” and instead go out and buy more.
We hear “Forgive each other”, and hate our spouse who has cheated on us.

The words that seem so simple and easy in church suddenly become… so impossible to live out. We hear them, and we want to understand and live them, but we can’t. Our ears are stopped, our eyes are shut. We are like seed snatched away by an adversary, or choked in the thorns or daily life, or without root, unable to maintain. We just don’t get it, and we’ll have to learn the hard way.

But, instead of being bad news, this is quite good news. If it were up to us, we’d never learn, no matter how many times we fell on our heads. Jesus’ followers were the same way. Maybe the disciples don’t get it. Okay. But what does Jesus do? He explains the parable anyway, without them really asking. He knows what they need, and he gives it freely.

Jesus didn’t leave his followers in the dark. Even when they had to learn the hard way, when they all fled in the Garden of Gethsemane and left him to die; when they hid themselves out of fear, and didn’t believe the good news told to them by the women from the tomb. For all of their failings, Jesus still carried them, lifted them up. And on that day of Pentecost, the Spirit of God came and dwelt in the disciples, and their followers, and their followers, all the way down to us. The Spirit of God who works forgiveness and redemption into all of creation.

As Paul says in our second reading today:
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.”

You see, God is NEVER hopeless.

If we hear and see nothing else, we have that promise. Where there was once despair, now there  is hope. Where there was once scorn, now there is compassion. We’ll get it eventually. We haven’t got a choice.

What did our first reading say? “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there until they have watered the earth… so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it SHALL ACCOMPLISH that which I purpose, and SUCCEED in the thing for which I sent it.”

We can’t stop God, even when we try, and boy, sometimes, do I try. God is stubborn. A LOT more stubborn than we are. Sometimes, we just have to learn the hard way that God will always bring us back.

And you know? I think that’s a lesson I could live with.