Parable, Passage and Prayer
People remember a sermon if you
simplify it. Most often, I simplify sermons by hanging three points on one
letter. Today, three Ps – Parable, Passage and Prayer.
Three points are easier to remember
if they all begin with the same letter. Case in point: An investor analyzes
businesses through people, product and process. An entrepreneur states the key
to success is passion, patience and perseverance. An anthropologist deems it
imperative that males aspiring to be men must protect, procreate and provide. A
professor teaches that we handle setbacks through personalization,
pervasiveness and permanence. While I do not expect you to remember all those
Ps, they illustrate that points are easier to remember if all the words begin
with the same letter. That said, for Christians engaged in the world: parable,
passage and prayer.
First, parable. What is a parable?
Simply defined, a parable is a short story that teaches a moral or spiritual
lesson. It comes to us from the Latin, parabola,
and the Greek, parabole, which
literally meant ‘a throwing beside.’ Its origin is from the term para, meaning alongside, and bole, a throwing, casting, beam or ray.
The geometrically gifted understand
that a parabolic curve refers to a comparison between fixed points and a
straight line. The St. Louis Arch and your satellite dish are parabolic curves.
Jesus, however, did not teach math or build arches. Rather, he compared real
life situations to teach a lesson about God.
Parables were part of Jewish
tradition. The Hebrew term for a parable was mashal. We find mashal in
the allegories, proverbs, riddles and taunts of Judges, Samuel, Proverbs and Prophets.
We are familiar with Nathan’s powerful story to David of the rich man who stole
and slaughtered the poor man’s prized lamb. It transformed David to a humble,
contrite sinner. So, we see that Jesus did not invent parables, but like his
ancestors, used them to win people over to his views.
Jesus spoke parables to proclaim the
gracious advent, disturbing presence and challenging implications of the
Kingdom of God. At times, he opened with, “The kingdom of heaven is like…”[1]
or, “To
what shall I compare?”[2]
Often, he concluded with a challenging question. “Which of these three … proved to
be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?”[3]
Or, “When
the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”[4] Today,
Jesus completed his parable with an alarming, “Let both grow together until the
harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first
and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”[5]
While Jesus did not pressure
listeners to choose any one direction, he confronted them with the necessity to
make a choice that determined their future. No doubt, his listeners who viewed
matters one way now discovered a better way. Discovering a better way resulted
in conversion, reconciliation and changed behavior. Once they experienced
conversion and reconciliation, his followers transformed society and changed
the world. As I conclude my first point on parables, I repeat that last
sentence. Once they experienced conversion and reconciliation, his followers
transformed society and changed the world.
From parable to passage, my second
point. I repeated the last sentence because repetition is effective pedagogy.
We learned our catechism by repeating answers to questions. As Luther employed
repetition, so did Matthew. He emphasized the importance of this parable by
following up with the disciples asking Jesus to explain its meaning. That
portion of our Gospel is for another day. Today, we stick with the first seven
verses.
Our passage is about God acting,
about God doing kingly deeds. God graciously reigns in Jesus as He speaks this
parable, and will reign one day in glorious power. We know that God reigned in
Jesus and is reigning among us today; however, the reign of God takes place in
unexpected, unsatisfying ways as far as we are concerned. I will explain that
last part in a moment.
We break this passage into two
parts: a description of the situation (vv. 24-28a), followed by a response
(28b-30). In describing the situation, Jesus used past-time indicatives. We
remember indicatives from our English Grammar classes. The indicative mood
states facts or asks questions. (I drink coffee.) The imperative mood expresses
commands or requests. (Pour me a cup of coffee, please.) The subjunctive mood
shows a desire. (I wish I had a cup of coffee.)
Jesus stated that the reign of God
has already become like a man who sowed good seed in the field: a past-time
indicative statement. Remarkably, during the night an enemy sowed seeds over
top of the man’s wheat crop. In time, the plants came up, bore fruit, and then
the situation became known. The initial dialogue between the servants and the
master of the house confirms what we already know – the facts.
In the second interchange between
the servants and their master, the question becomes, “What does the master want to do about changing things?” Their
attempt to collect the weeds from the midst of the wheat is met with a lengthy,
explanatory reply. “No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the
reapers, ‘Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather
the wheat into my barn.’”
The servants are most emphatically
not to change the situation for that would be dangerously premature. In short,
it is not their call. The danger in separating the weeds from the wheat would
uproot wheat. The servants are to let the plants grow together until the
harvest.
The crowds who first heard Jesus’
parable took away two things. First, this is a little story about what it is
like now that God has begun to restore his royal rule during Jesus’ time. Second,
the story communicates that the crowds should not expect anything different
from Jesus’s ministry other than what it has been. Although the crowds have
been curious about and positive towards Jesus, they are not his disciples. They
are not satisfied with Jesus and must find something lacking in him. Yet, they
should expect no other Jesus.
The crowds expect something
different from what they have seen and heard so far. Again, the reign of God
takes place in unexpected, unsatisfying ways as far as the crowd is concerned.
For the crowd believes that one day it will be different. One day, there will
be a change. Yet, they should expect no other Jesus.
The basic impact of the passage is
akin to Jesus telling the crowds, “Stop
looking for something other than what I am offering you. I must seem strange to
you, like a man who has an enemy so evil that he scatters weeds in the man’s
field at night, and then the owner does not even weed out the harmful plants from
the midst of his own crop! This must seem strange to you, but what you see in
me is the present
manifestation of God’s reign in the world.”
The crowd does not seek the meaning
of this parable. Jesus’ disciples later seek the parable’s meaning. The crowd,
however, does not understand it, and does not care to try to understand it. Pity,
for like the harvest, judgment comes to everyone – even the one who does not
care to understand deeply Jesus’ words.
Judgment comes to everyone – even
the one who does not care to understand deeply Jesus’ words.
So, what has this passage to do with
us and my third point, prayer? Throughout his ministry and life, Jesus encouraged
his disciples to pray earnestly to the end. Luke recorded that when Jesus was
in the Mount of Olives, he was in agony but prayed more earnestly.[6]
In Acts, when Peter was in prison, the church prayed earnestly to God for him.[7]
What is prayer? Prayer is the
necessary foundation of our work as church and individuals. It is communal and
personal. We pray in our sanctuaries and rooms. To paraphrase one holy person,
prayer is God looking at me, and me looking at God. It is from the heart, but
it is also vocal. We speak the Lord’s Prayer as Jesus taught it to his
disciples. Prayer also involves reading Scripture. Daily, my wife and I read
aloud the Psalms and other Biblical passages. Like you, we make time for
prayer.
However, my friends, we all take
time away from prayer. Every summer, we take time away from work and home. We
vacate our businesses and residences. We go on vacation.
Unfortunately, for some, vacation means
time away from Word, Sacrament, public worship and private prayer. We become
spiritually lazy. Oswald Chambers once wrote, “We are all capable of being spiritually lazy saints.” We are all
capable of being spiritually lazy saints. That is why I am giving you this
prescription to combat spiritual laziness.
When I pray the Scriptures, I use
the Five Ps of Prayer: Passage, Place, Posture, Presence and Passage. The Five
Ps of Prayer is an easy method for anyone. Let me outline it for you.
First, Passage. Depending on the
circumstances, choose a Scripture passage. Read it slowly several times until a
word or phrase rises to the surface.
Place. Choose a place where you will
not be disturbed. It may be in your home or a quiet church.
Posture. Find a sturdy comfortable
chair that will allow you to sit upright. Posture is important. Do not slouch
or lie down.
Presence. Set a timer for 10
minutes. Start there and gradually increase your prayer time to 25 minutes.
Close your eyes so you are not distracted. Be present to God as He is present
to you. Thoughts, feelings, physical discomforts and audible distractions will
occur. Stand firm in the stream and let these distractions flow by as flotsam
and jetsam go downstream.
Passage. When you get distracted,
return to the passage and refocus. When your minutes have passed, close your
meditation by reciting aloud The Lord’s Prayer.
Because you and I have the capacity
to become spiritually lazy saints, but truly wish to imitate Jesus, try the
Five Ps of Prayer for 25 minutes a day for the next 30-some years – the
lifespan of Jesus. I guarantee you a deeper, richer, fuller, more intimate
relationship with our Triune God.
This method has a money-back
guarantee. I guarantee you that if you are not fully satisfied; you can return
it … for your old relationship with God. …
What do I get when I pray over this
passage and apply it to my life today? I get that the reign of God is like a
man who sowed good seed in his field. God planted that seed in the world and me.
Jesus called disciples in his day. The Spirit calls disciples today.
I also know that God’s enemy sowed
weeds among the wheat. God’s enemy did it during Jesus’ time and today. I want
God to fix it, and I want Him to fix it now! Yet, I must wait.
God will gather the weeds and burn
them. He will shut the door on foolish virgins late for the wedding, cast the
worthless servant into the outer darkness, and send to eternal punishment those
who did not do tend to the needs of the least.
The world is populated with God’s
disciples (good seed) and enemies (weeds). While I wish God would act now, I
must be patient and allow God to punish as He deems. For left to my own will,
to paraphrase Martin Luther, I would wreck it all.
Prayer leads me to insight and
wisdom. I know God’s enemies are active. Some are obvious and others are
subtle: powers and people who promote any lifestyle contrary to the Gospel and
God’s Law whether they are the seven deadly sins compiled in Proverbs or vices in
Paul’s Letter to the Galatians. Some promote personal sins and others modern
social sins – destroying the environment, trafficking drugs and humans,
violating fundamental rights of human nature and other sins.
As Jesus’ disciples and our Father’s
subjects, we must not only be aware of God’s enemies and the temptations they
sow among us, but also awaken society to them. Prayerful Christians take their
faith to the town square and the political sphere, to school and work, to
family gatherings and on vacation. Friends, as you begin your Five P’s or
Prayer and take your faith from these walls into the world, I pray that the
peace of God that surpasses all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in
Christ Jesus. Amen.
