29 May 2011

Psalm 93, 96; Ecclus. 43:1-12,27-32; 1 Tim. 3:14-4:5; Matt. 13:24-34a

The beauty of creation is matched by only one thing, its precision. It is amazing how fine tuned the universe is for life on this particular planet. The sun is a perfect distance away, our moon set perfectly in place to provide the gravitational pull for the tides and the reflected light of the sun in the night-time. Our atmosphere is perfect for carbon-based life to thrive and we not only get the functionality of it all but also the beauty of it all. The writer is absolutely correct, “We could say more but could never say enough; let the final word be: ‘He is the all.’”

Jesus teaches about the kingdom of God using parables because there is no exact analogue to the kingdom. It is like all three of these things, the wheat and weeds, the mustard seed and the leaven introduced into the measures of flour. In this world we never see the fullness of the kingdom without those among us who are not part of the kingdom but look like they are until the harvest when there is no fruit in them. We see the kingdom of God grow from very little like the mustard seed into a great tree that provides shelter for many when we see it begin with eleven men and a hundred or so others on the day of Pentecost to several thousand that day and nearly 2 billion in our own time. We see also that growth like when dough is leavened and rises in the bowl, in both cases almost magical growth happens.

Paul speaks to Timothy of the “mystery of godliness.” Strange language for a man like Paul who had spent his entire adult life pursuing godliness and never until he met Jesus on the road to Damascus had he thought that godliness was a mystery. Paul had understood godliness to be a matter of keeping the commandments of God like all Pharisees until he received the Holy Spirit to guide him to truly, spiritually understanding the commandments required more than simply an intellectual approach to them. One of the examples he offers in regards to this mystery is prohibition on certain foods that he would have endorsed because the law forbade their consumption. His new understanding is that all things are good because God created them but all things are more than good if they are received with thanksgiving and prayer. Remember Jesus taught that what goes into a person doesn’t defile them but rather what comes out. Does that mean that the law has been done away with, that is has no meaning in the life of a Christian? Absolutely not, but if the mission to the Gentiles was to go forward, food couldn’t be the barrier as it wasn’t sinful in itself since it was God’s creation.

O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder

Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made.

I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,

Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee;

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee:

How great Thou art, how great Thou art!