July 30, 2023+ Lectionary 17a + Pr. Craig Mueller
Do you have anything hidden in your house? Hidden from a burglar? From a pet? From a child? From a spouse? And what’s the hidden treasure? A candy bar? Or something worth thousands of dollars?
In spiritual communities we often speak of deeper meanings and mysteries. Secrets of life hidden from plain view.
Jesus’ parables include pithy sayings. Meant to pack a punch. With a sudden surprise. Sometimes with enigmatic, hidden meanings. Usually parables use examples or metaphors from everyday life. The dominion of heaven is like a bush, a pearl of great price, a treasure, yeast, a net. Many of us have heard these parables dozens of times. And our socio-economic realities are so different than the original hearers. So we have to dig deep to get some hidden meaning for our lives today.
Speaking of hidden meanings, what would you make of this example?
On April 15, 2013, James Costello was a spectator at the Boston Marathon. Near the finish line bombs exploded and severely burned his arms and legs, sending shrapnel into his flesh. During surgery and rehabilitation that followed, James developed a relationship with one of the nurses. And they became engaged. Later, James posted a picture of the ring on Facebook. with this quote. “I now realize why I was involved in this tragedy. It was to meet my best friend, and the love of my life.”
It sounds like James believes that everything happens for a reason. Christians sometimes link this kind of thinking with Romans 8:28. One of the most popular verses in the Bible. And part of our second reading.
“All things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to God’s purpose.” In other words, everything happens for a reason.
Even some atheists believe in fate. We want to make sense of our lives.
But let’s be honest. There is an ugly downside to this thinking that everything happens for a reason. We can naively believe that life is fair. That goodness is rewarded and badness is punished. Let’s be honest. The Bible can sometimes sound this way. But then we are steps away from blaming those who get cancer, or those who are raped. Take it further. It’s possible to see poverty, inequality, oppression, and even climate change as part of a divine plan. Is that what it means that God works everything for good?
Of course, we could go to the other extreme. Atheist Richard Dawkins has written that the universe exhibits “no design, no purpose, no evil, and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.”2
I wonder. Can we interpret this Romans passage, in-between two extremes? In between everything happens for a reason and there is no purpose to anything in the universe? Paul writes that our sighs are prayers. We hope for what we cannot see. We long for wholeness and redemption. Ultimately, though, we trust that nothing in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Neither death nor life, nor anything else. That is the hidden meaning to which we cling. God is for us. God is for our health and well-being. God is for the wholeness of the earth. God is for all creation and all creatures. God is for all people.
This is good news. But we have many distractions and a virtual life on screens competing for our attention.
I was intrigued and troubled by a recent article in The Atlantic. The title says it all: “We’ve lost the plot. Our constant need for entertainment has blurred the line between fiction and reality—on television, in American politics, and in our everyday lives.” In the metaverse entertainment isn’t just something we choose, channel by channel, stream by stream, feed by feed. It’s something we inhabit. We are close to what science fiction foretold: we are living within our illusions.
Already in the mid-20th century an historian noted a great shift taking place. Americans had valued qualities of character such as honesty, diligence, and a sense of duty. Now in our media and consumer driven society, it’s all about charm, likability, entertainment. Social media has made everyone a performing self. Nothing is hidden. “All the world’s a stage,” was once a metaphor. Now it describes life in the metaverse.3
So how do we translate the parables in today’s gospel into our fast-paced, screen-saturated lives? In parables Jesus always begins with the familiar, the stuff of everyday life. Would he today be talking about iPhones, Facebook, and examples from Netflix? Or would he draw us to the cycles of nature, and the wonders of everyday life we often miss? Things seemingly hidden. But actually right before our eyes.
It's pretty clear that in the scriptures God’s concern is always for the poor. In the parables God is not neutral but takes the part of those most oppressed and economically disadvantaged. So folks living with poverty will hear hope and comfort in the parables. But in our day, when most of us have too much and too many choices, our challenge is to hear the good news from the perspective of the disadvantaged.
What is the dominion of God? The pearl of great price? The hidden treasure worth everything? The yeast that leavens the dough? The shrub that isn’t like a huge tree representing empire, but still provides everything we need?
Like Solomon, we pray for a wise and discerning heart. That we strive to not live only on the surface. That we search for something more than wealth and prosperity. That our lives are more than entertainment and amusing ourselves to death. As a well-known hymn puts it: “grant us wisdom, grant us courage, for the living of these days.”
For Lutherans, the great treasure is the gospel. The good news that in Christ, we are set free from our addictions, our obsessions, our fears. We are free to be more than we thought we could be. And free to signs of hope for others struggling to find their place in our complicated world.
Rather than living within our illusions and the never-ending stream of our digital lives, we gather to hear again that we are God’s treasure. We gather to learn what is of worth in our lives.
Nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Take it in. Dig deeper. Pray for a wise and discerning heart. Be open to the mystery, as we say at Holy Trinity. Everything may not happen for a reason. God does not will evil or suffering or hardship. But God promises to accompany us through whatever comes our way. Truly, a priceless treasure.
1 “Does Everything Happen for a Reason?” Konika Banerjee and Paul Bloom, New York Times. October 17, 2014.
2 Ibid.
3 Megan Garber, “We’ve lost the plot.” The Atlantic. March 2023.