Claimed, gathered and sent

This is the sermon I will be preaching at St. Timothy Lutheran Church's Drive-In Worship. If you're in the area, join us at 3748 Route 430, Bemus Point, NY.  The scripture text is Matthew 13:44-46. Jesus isn't satisfied with only one parable of the kingdom. He tells five stories in today’s gospel lesson. God gives us five ways to imagine the kingdom of heaven (God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven). We have two parables of growth: the mustard seed and the leaven, and two parables of discovery: the hidden treasure and the valuable pearl. Then we have one about sorting the good from the bad, a parable of judgment. We will look at the two parables of discovery. I see two different scenes as I read the parable of the buried treasure. The first is how we see in the movies people who kept money in their mattresses rather than trusting it to the banks. Secondly, I think of looking on a map of buried treasure where “X” marks the spot. Can’t you just hear the “Ar...

This is the reflection sent to the people of St. Timothy Lutheran Church . What are your thoughts? Gospel: Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52 31 [Jesus] put before [the crowds] another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; 32 it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”   33 He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”   44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.   45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; 46 on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.   ...