July 19th
17th Sunday in Ordinary Time
“Be A Parable”
We established clearly that Jesus, who is God’s Parable, loves parables. The Kingdom of Heaven is like…
- A person who sows good seed in the field.
- A mustard seed that grows into the largest of bushes.
- Yeast hid in a loaf that causes the whole loaf to rise.
- A pearl of great price that you actively seek.
- A Net cast into the sea that catches all types.
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam… Jesus fires off parables right and left to describe the Kingdom of Heaven.
But why not just tell us straight? Why use parables? I’m not the only one asking, the apostles wanted to know the same thing. If you want us to know what the Kingdom of Heaven is, then why not simply tell us?
It reminds me of some of the commercials I see on television. There will be one image after another, after another, after another… horses running, a beautiful girl swooning, eagles soaring, a couple holding hands as they walk along a beach… when all I want them to do is describe the car they are trying to sell me!
If Jesus wants me to know about God, then why not just tell me directly? The answer: BECAUSE GOD IS BEYOND US. “Holy, Holy, Holy!” God is totally unfamiliar to us, beyond us, and our uncreated Creator is unknowable to us creatures… at least not in the way I can know the car I want to buy.
We cannot KNOW God because God is God, but we can ENCOUNTER God. These are two different actions. [Think of it as a huge circle and a small circle: the huge circle cannot be contained within the small one, but the small circle can be placed within the huge one… the huge circle is the knowledge of God, the small one is our ability to know God… a parable is like a small circle of understanding that is placed within the large circle of God allowing us to have an encounter with God that we can understand.]
This is why Jesus speaks in parables, so we can encounter God.
In a parable Jesus links the familiar with the unfamiliar to create a “space” (an opportunity) for us to encounter God on a new horizon. By the linkage of the parable, that which is invisible becomes visible; that which is hidden becomes known. That which is beyond our comprehension (God’s Reign) becomes something we can encounter and choose to participate within.
We hear today that the Reign of God is like a person who finds a buried treasure and joyfully sells everything to buy the field within the treasure lies:
- The hidden reality of God’s Reign is revealed in those who possess a joy at finding Jesus and truly living completely for him.
- The hidden reality of God’s Reign is revealed in those who in this joy of discovery are led to supreme acts of self-sacrifice becoming galvanized into living a life of selfless love.
- Does the parable of the buried treasure speak to you? Does it describe you?
We hear that the Reign of God is revealed in a merchant who finds a pearl of great price and sells all to possess it:
- The hidden reality of God’s Reign is revealed in those who risk everything, their present and their future, to live in relationship with the Christ they so diligently sought.
- Does the parable of the discovered pearl speak to you? Does it describe you?
We hear that the Reign of God is revealed in a net cast into the sea to catch every manner of fish:
- The hidden reality of God’s Reign is revealed in those who understand that God caught them (not visa versa) and then brought them into the light.
- Does the parable of the casted net speak to you? Does it describe you?
Parables are stories that Jesus tells which allow us to encounter God. But what if a parable can become more than just words?
If a parable is the bringing together of the unfamiliar with the familiar, the invisible with the visible, then as we discovered a couple Sundays ago Jesus himself is God’s parable in that in him humanity (the familiar, the visible) and God (the unfamiliar, the invisible) are brought together as one! In this parable who is Jesus Christ we encounter God in a way that invites us into a relationship with God that saves us.
But here is this Sunday’s amazing learning: we who are disciples of Jesus Christ, who make up the Mystical Body of Christ, the Church, are summoned by God to become parables ourselves. By our life choices and through our relationships with others we are called by Jesus to become a “space” within which others can encounter God (through our listening, forgiveness, challenging, kindness, service, and worship).
In the end, because God chooses to partner with us to bring about the fullness of His Reign, all of God’s creation is pregnant with God’s Kingdom, but God entrusts to us (like he entrusted Mother Mary) the birthing of it into the world. Jesus loves to use parables to create saving encounters with God. Will you now be one?