Dear Faith Family,
We operate under the assumption that conclusions, whether taking the form of answers or achievements, are what matter most in life. Find out the why, what, and how of life's operations, get to the aspired place in work, health, relationships, and even faith, and you've arrived. Success! Goal met, and a life full and forever at the end! Right?
It's funny; even as I write those words, I know we know better. We know that achieving success doesn't always equate to an abundant life. There are too many cautionary tales to think otherwise. We're also not so naïve to dismiss the process to the goal as unimportant, even if we are at times wiser than we are patient!
We are indeed driven to seek certain answers and achievements, and as long as there is the slightest hope of arriving, these ends draw us toward them through all the dead ends, missteps, mishaps, and missed opportunities. And yet, we know that the end we seek, the life we are after now and for all tomorrows, is, paradoxically, an arrival on the one hand and a maturation on the other. The life we are after, and for us specifically, that means life whole and holy and forever with our heavenly Father and all that is His, is both a conclusion and a journey. And the journey, the maturation, as our scriptures attest and Jesus taught, is just as important as the conclusion. In fact, we might miss the end if we try to skip to it.
Our Gospels tell us that most people came to Jesus seeking answers to the essential questions of life and to attain what was needed or desired for a better life. Nothing much has changed in the millennia since. Then, as now, people came to Jesus for a conclusion, and then, as now, more often than not, He gave them what they were after: direct answers, working limbs, cleared minds, restoration, new life, love.
And while these are the things we rightfully and joyously worship Jesus for, it is not all that he gave them, or us. As Mark told us last week, "Jesus did not speak to them without a parable..." (Mark 4:34a). When Jesus' apprentices, those not only seeking something from him but who had given up life-as-they-knew-it to follow him, asked Jesus, "Why do you speak to them in parables?" (Matt. 13:10), Jesus' reply reminds us that he offers more (not less) than what we are after.
And Jesus answered them...
This is why I speak to them in parables,
because seeing they do not see,
and hearing they do not hear,
nor do they understand.
Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says...
'For the people's heart has grown dull,
and with their ears they can barely hear,
and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart and turn,
and I would heal them.'
But blessed are your eyes, for they see,
and your ears, for they hear...
For to the one who has more will be given,
and he will have an abundance,
but from the one who has not,
even what he has will be taken away.
(Matthew 13:11-16)
As we discussed on Sunday, Jesus tells parables as a means of maturation, giving us more on the journey even as he ensures our arrival. Jesus' stories sharpen our hearts, unclog our ears, open our eyes, and mend what is ill or off because they require dialogue, i.e., an open relationship. His stories often leave us with more questions than answers, and most lack conclusions, requiring us to converse with him in a community following him if we want the abundance offered. Like Mark said, "Jesus did not speak to them without a parable, but privately, to his own disciples, Jesus explained everything." (Mark 4:34).
Jesus tells stories that lead his disciples to dialogue with him, to ask questions and discuss. While we often come to the parables looking for clear conclusions for our life of faith, the truth, as Jesus told it and his disciples experienced it, is the real treasure is uncovered in working ourselves into and through the stories with Jesus and one another.
Click Here and you'll find a guide to help you do just that with our 2024 Kingdom Epiphanies. You can also find more helps for following Jesus with one another here.
I hope we won't skip the journey for the end. Rather, may we let the stories of Jesus train us in the kingdom of heaven so that we might "bring out of his treasure what is new and what is old" with and for one another and neighbor. And in doing so, may our passions be sharpened, our ears attentive, and our eyes wide awake to God with us and God for us in Jesus.
Love you, faith family! God bless.