Proper 12A + Abundance! + 7.30.23

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Santos, Oxnard

(Genesis 29:15–28; Ps. 105:1–11, 45b; Romans 8:26–39; Matthew 13:31–33, 44–52)

 

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a camping pot-luck. You don’t know what you will have in the wilderness, but one person will bring lettuce, and another chicken, and another bread, and another pan dulce and before you know it, you have a feast! Perhaps donuts or hamburgers will show up too! Perhaps Adrianna will make her famous coffee with cinnamon even though she doesn’t drink coffee. Perhaps you will sing karaoke style and make the rangers come (it isn’t even that late!) But it will all come together and be a fabulous time.

Or perhaps the kingdom of heaven is like moving to an entirely new place. Leaving all you know behind because you feel called to something new. Trusting that God will go with you, even if it is hard at first. Knowing God will guide your path even into avenues unknown.

Or perhaps the kingdom of heaven is like a group of followers who gave up their professions, at least for a while, and simply followed Jesus, not knowing where it would lead them. What seemed like foolishness to the world, like having a mighty oak and trying to find shade under a mustard seed bush-tree, was the wisdom of seeking the knowledge hidden at the center of the world.

Of seeking the pearl of great price. This material world is of value, but there are so many dwelling places in God’s house. We know that the pearl which seems self-contained, contains multitudes – that is the pearl of God’s wisdom and the universe of the holy.

Sufi poet Rumi says: “Whatever pearl you seek, look for the pearl within the pearl!”

Oh those pesky mystics! Jesus was one, too. He was trying to explain to us something about God, something that could be approached by the explanation of abundance – whether it be in a seed that becomes a huge plant (admitting here an exaggeration), a little leaven that will help produce an abundance of bread with flour, a pearl that, though small is incredibly valuable, a treasure in a field. All of these speak to abundance. But they are all approximations.

A song I know says:

As the bridegroom to his chosen,
as the king unto his realm,
as the keep unto the castle,
as the pilot to the helm,
so, Lord, art thou to me. (by Johannes Tauler, trans. Frances Bevan)

All of these are just approximations – but God’s love is the real thing. We followers of Jesus need this sometimes. To remember that, when things get difficult, when we question the path we have chosen to follow him and not just to go the easy path of the world, that we are the ones who are rich already.

Because we are seeking the pearl of great price. We are seeking God’s love.

And I brought up the example of the camping trip because to me one of the great gifts of God’s love is that it helps us love each other better. When we are in community, we feed each other, we care for each other, we support each other. And that is not the only reason we are here. But it doesn’t hurt.

I think of the many who helped on Sunday last to pack bags for fumigation for our church, even though we learned we didn’t tie them right (facepalm). I think of how we are supporting a young woman who is becoming a counselor and therapist. This doesn’t just serve her, because she will serve the world. In fact, she already does. When we are generous with our homeless and resource- insecure neighbors, we live out the same abundance sketched in today’s readings. We remind each other of the words in Romans: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

When we hand someone a bag of groceries or a hot meal on Friday or Sunday or even a random snack during the week, or a cool place to sit and charge their phone, I imagine myself whispering those words to them – God’s love is here for you! Don’t believe the lie of the world, that you are worthless, or that you are forgotten. God’s love is here for you.

The song continues:

As the music at the banquet,
as the stamp unto the seal,
as the medicine to the fainting,
as the wine-cup at the meal,
so, Lord, art thou to me.[1]

Because when we follow the safely trodden path, we get expected results. But when we leave that path, funny, rowdy, off-beat disciples that we are, we may stumble onto joy. We may stumble onto love. We may stumble onto community that helps us be strong. A community that will be strong for us when we feel weak. That helps us come home to ourselves and to God. Amen.

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