Fear

Be Not Afraid--Only Believe

The Miracle of the Bleeding Woman, and the Miracle of Jairus' Daughter are examples of an intercalation: a story within a story. Together they create a unity with a single point. I'll be honest with you, when I started this sermon I was not interested in the Bleeding Woman, OR Jairus' Daughter; I was interested in one thing only: Jesus's saying, "Be not afraid, only believe." And He only says it in two out of the three gospels! In Mark He says, "Be not afraid," In Luke He says, "Fear not," then, "Weep not," and in Matthew he doesn't say it at all. And yet the overwhelming message I get from this passage is the idea that faith can conquer all worldly troubles and tribulations, particularly, and especially, fear.

Here are the scriptures:

Matthew 9:18-26

18 While he spake these things unto them, behold, there came a certain ruler, and worshipped him, saying, My daughter is even now dead: but come and lay thy hand upon her, and she shall live.
19 And Jesus arose, and followed him, and so did his disciples.
20 And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:
21 For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.
22 But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.
23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise,
24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn.
25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.
26 And the fame hereof went abroad into all that land.

Mark 5:21-43

21 And when Jesus was passed over again by ship unto the other side, much people gathered unto him; and he was nigh unto the sea.
22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jai'rus by name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,
23 and besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be healed; and she shall live.
24 And Jesus went with him. And much people followed him, and thronged him.
25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,
26 and had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,
27 when she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.
28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.
29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.
30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?
31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.
33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.
34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.
35While he yet spake, there came from the ruler of the synagogue's house certain which said, Thy daughter is dead: why troublest thou the Master any further?
36As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, he saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.
37And he suffered no man to follow him, save Peter, and James, and John the brother of James.
38And he cometh to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and seeth the tumult, and them that wept and wailed greatly.
39And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye this ado, and weep? the damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.
40And they laughed him to scorn. But when he had put them all out, he taketh the father and the mother of the damsel, and them that were with him, and entereth in where the damsel was lying.
41And he took the damsel by the hand, and said unto her, Talitha cumi; which is, being interpreted, Damsel, I say unto thee, arise.
42And straightway the damsel arose, and walked; for she was of the age of twelve years. And they were astonished with a great astonishment.
43And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and commanded that something should be given her to eat.

Luke 8:40-56

40And it came to pass, that, when Jesus was returned, the people gladly received him: for they were all waiting for him.
41And, behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue: and he fell down at Jesus' feet, and besought him that he would come into his house:
42For he had one only daughter, about twelve years of age, and she lay a dying. But as he went the people thronged him.
43And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years, which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any,
44Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched.
45And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?
46And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
47And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately.
48And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
49While he yet spake, there cometh one from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, Thy daughter is dead; trouble not the Master.
50But when Jesus heard it, he answered him, saying, Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.
51And when he came into the house, he suffered no man to go in, save Peter, and James, and John, and the father and the mother of the maiden.
52And all wept, and bewailed her: but he said, Weep not; she is not dead, but sleepeth.
53And they laughed him to scorn, knowing that she was dead.
54And he put them all out, and took her by the hand, and called, saying, Maid, arise.
55And her spirit came again, and she arose straightway: and he commanded to give her meat.
56And her parents were astonished: but he charged them that they should tell no man what was done.

One of this story's most compelling attributes is its humanity: it is really a beautifully, humanly told story; there are so many lovely narrative details that put the story in a real time and place: in the street, Jesus says, "Who touched me?", and later at Jairus' house He says, "Give that girl somethin' ta eat!" All the characters have their own unique attitudes, and their own biased take on the action: we have the poor sick woman whose disease has made her an outcast of society for 12 years (she has spent her whole fortune on doctors who can't do anything, she doesn't want faith, she just wants a cure); there's the poor father whose little girl is dying (he's pretty speechless and helpless bewildered and overwhelmed by the situation); and, of course, there are the onlookers, the crowd, the mob, (the extras in this Otto Preminger movie), who first chastise Jairus for bothering the Master when it is already too late, and then the mourners who mock Jesus' confidence that the girl is merely asleep; finally Jesus Himself plays a complicated role, trying to promote acts of faith in His followers, but always, at first, trying to keep His miracles a secret.

Everybody, even Jesus, wants something. Everybody is frustrated at not getting what they want: the bleeding woman is afraid of not getting healed, Jairus is afraid of losing his daughter, the crowd is afraid of not being right about what they are nosing around in. (Notice that, when Jesus proceeds to Jairus' house he gives the crowd the slip and just takes a reduced delegation with him (Peter, and James, and John the brother of James). The good news is that the main protagonists, the bleeding woman and Jairus, both get what they want, and they both get it through two slightly different kinds of faith.

The bleeding woman gets healed by slipping in the back door. Let's call her kind of faith "closet faith." In matters of the heart, there is no sin in hiding your love away. This woman has suffered enormously and all she wants is relief, she doesn't want to make a spectacle of herself in front of people, especially in case it doesn't work. So, sneaking in the back door, she robs Jesus of His virtue and all is well--EXCEPT that that is not good enough for Jesus. He demands to make a public event of this affair by exposing the woman to the crowd. Being put on the spot and possibly fearing that the healing will be taken away from her, she declares herself to the crowd allowing Jesus to make His magnanimous pronouncement, "Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace." Thus, what might have been a private matter between the woman and Jesus is made a public matter. Jesus tries to deny taking responsibility for the miracle, by attributing it to faith, but I'm sure no one in that street is buying it.

On the other hand, Jairus comes publicly to Jesus, before the same crowd that has witnessed the bleeding woman miracle, and makes a fool of himself by asking for help when it is clearly too late. Instead of making a big deal of His coming, Jesus sneaks in Jairus' back door, so to speak, raises the girl from the dead and begs everybody to keep quiet about it.

Why the reversal? Why a flamboyant display on one hand, and a cloak and dagger on the other? Perhaps it was just that raising the dead was a bigger deal than curing someone's blood disease--

Interesting sidebar: In the Oscar Wilde play, Salome, the raising of Jairus' daughter is actually mentioned to Herod Antipas, and the king makes a proclamation FORBIDDING such shenanigans: ". . . thus saith Herod the King, 'I will not suffer Thee to raise the dead.' To change water into wine, to heal the lepers and the blind . . . He may do these things if He will. I say nothing against these things. In truth I hold it a kindly deed to heal a leper. But no man shall raise the dead . . . It would be terrible if the dead came back."

As I say, perhaps it was just that raising the dead was a bigger deal than curing someone's blood disease, but it might simply have to do with one of Jesus' main preoccupations--that the great shall be brought low and the humble shall be raised on high. Perhaps he approves of the quality of the bleeding woman's faith more than the noble and distinguished Jairus. Either way, they were both humbled by Jesus' power, but one was clearly more humbled than the other.

I also get a little Thomas vibe off this story. Remember when Jesus returns from the dead Himself, and Thomas has to stick his hand in the Master's side before he believes?

John 20:29
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed [are] they that have not seen, and [yet] have believed."

Faith from afar is indeed one of the skills Jesus wishes to teach his disciples. Perhaps one of the messages of the story is that faith from any distance, near or far, works its magic on the world, but faith in the unseen is a more potent and mysterious brand of faith.

Now, this week's Wikipedia quotation:

"Donahue and Harrington state that this episode shows that "faith, especially as embodied by the bleeding woman, can exist in seemingly hopeless situations".

The combined stories have been used as an example of intercalation, with one incident inserted within another, and of contrast comparing the older woman with a 12-year ailment and the 12-year-old girl. Michael Keene states that there is a link between Jairus and the woman: "The link between them is faith since both Jairus and the bleeding woman showed great faith in Jesus."
Walvoord and Zuck state that: "What appeared to be a disasterous [sic] delay in the healing of the woman actually assured the restoration of Jairus' daughter. It was providentially ordered to test and strengthen Jairus' faith." Lang also states that: "This delay would serve both to try and to strengthen the faith of Jairus."

Now let's talk about fear. The Bible mentions two kinds of fear--the good kind (fear of God) and the bad kind (fear of anything else):

Psalm 111:10

10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom;
all those who practice it have a good understanding.
His praise endures forever!

Jeremiah 5:22

"Should you not fear me?" declares the Lord. "Should you not tremble in my presence?"

Proverbs 19:23

23 The fear of the Lord leads to life,
and whoever has it rests satisfied;
he will not be visited by harm.

Proverbs 14:27

27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.

Matthew 10:28

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Thus, fear of God is a good thing. The Hebrew words, yirah , yare , and pachad mean reverent fear, terror, or dread, normally translated simply fear. In the commentaries I read, there is some disagreement about the quality of fear of God one should have, but the term "reverence" definitely is part of the scenario.

There is one aspect of this definition, though, that points out a certain quality of the word "fear" that ought to be emphasized: fear always means putting something before something else; in other words, fear is a prioritizer; fear of God puts God before all other things while fear of anything else puts that thing before God. Emotional resonance aside, this is the main thing wrong with fear--it puts worldly considerations before God, particularly, and especially, because it denies God's ability and willingness to come to our aid. Fear gives power over us to things that ought not to have power over us. Moreover, fear is self-centered because it declares that our small-minded vision of the truth is more correct than the big picture that spiritual vision always has in view.


One of the main tip-offs as to the carnal nature of fear is its dedication to TIME. Fear is always embedded in some faulty time sense. Hear, once again, C.S. Lewis' Screwtape expound on the subject:

"The humans live in time, but our Enemy destines them to eternity. He therefore, I believe, wants them to attend chiefly to two things, to eternity itself and to that point of time which they call the Present. For the present is the point at which time touches eternity. Of the present moment, and of it only, humans have an experience analogous to the experience which our Enemy has of reality as a whole; in it alone freedom and actuality are offered them. He would therefore have them continually concerned either with eternity (which means being concerned with Him) or with the Present--either meditating on their eternal union with, or separation from, Himself, or else obeying the present voice of conscience, bearing the present cross, receiving the present grace, giving thanks for the present pleasure.

Our business is to get them away from the eternal and from the Present. With this in view, we sometimes tempt a human (say a widow or a scholar) to live in the Past. But this is of limited value, for they have some real knowledge of the Past and it has a determinate nature and, to that extent, resembles eternity. It is far better to make them live in the Future. Biological necessity makes all their passions point in that direction already, so that thought about the Future inflames hope and fear. Also, it is unknown to them, so that in making them think about it we make them think of unrealities. In a word, the Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most completely temporal part of time--for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays. Hence the encouragement we have given to all those schemes of thought such as Creative Evolution, Scientific Humanism, or Communism, which fix men's affections on the Future, on the very core of temporality. Hence nearly all vices are rooted in the Future. Gratitude looks to the Past and love to the Present; fear, avarice, lust and ambition look ahead."

Here, Screwtape is telling us two things:

1.) that fear lives in the future, not the present, and
2.) that it is possible to choose which time dimension you want to live in.
I say this because free will changes things,
causes things, and
chooses things.

The quality of choice can create different futures because spirit exists outside of time. Therefore, Anyman can change his destiny by attending to the spiritual dimension of his nature. THEREFORE, the man whose attention is fixed on eternity never has any fear of the future because his will and God's will are the harmonized in divine charity, which can never do ill. The present is always more beneficent than our fears of it. You say, "What about the pains we feel in the present? Those suck pretty bad!" Yes, life brings all kinds of pain and suffering, but just think for a minute--the physical pains we endure as human animals are never really as bad as the psychic pains we feel as spiritual beings. True, the pains of the past can plant the seeds of fear for a terrible or worse future, but, think about it, the FEAR of pain is almost always worse than the actual physical pain. Physical pains come and go, the pain of the past is gone, but people who live in fear are in CONSTANT excruciating pain that is ten times more uncomfortable than the physical pain it is dreading.

And remember that some of our pains of the present are God's will and have a benevolent purpose; sometimes the current pain is God's substitute for some potentially greater pain down the road.

Psalm 23:4 says:

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou are with me; thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.

The rod and staff of Jesus are NOT always comfortable, but, as human animals we must accept a certain amount of pain as the price of admission into the world; and, if we submit to the divine plan for our lives, the pain is never more than we can bear, and, moreover, it is never escaped nor reduced by being fearful of it. Over the years I developed the habit of looking for the positive purpose behind every apparently bad thing that happens to me--and I always find it. Admittedly, this is a lot like living in the future, but a future supported by faith brings even our hopes into the present moment, a present that links us with eternity.

Matthew 10:26 says:

Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

What is hidden from us now must eventually be revealed; and what is revealed is God's irresistible Will expressing Itself in the mundane dimension. If you put your faith in God's vision of the future instead of your own, you are protected from all doubt, because you know that God loves you. Faith in the future is faith in the eternal now. Fear of the future is fear without hope.

And this fear is so unnecessary. Many people live in fear because they are convince that the world is a crumby place and fear is their only defense against a threatening future. Yes, the mundane world offers us trials in legions that sometimes seem overwhelming. And yet, fixing out attention on the eternal not only reduces the magnitude of our momentary pains to insignificance, it reduces the actual pain itself to something we can manage. With spiritual aid, we can endure anything. Without it, we can endure practically nothing.

Listen to all these words of encouragement from the Old Testament:

Psalm 56:3-4

3 When I am afraid, I will put my trust in Thee.
4 In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation--whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life--of whom shall I be afraid?

Isaiah 41:10

fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:13

For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.

1 Chronicles 28:20

David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished.

Thus, fear not only does us harm, it comes between us and the work we ought to be doing in our lives. Every single created life has a purpose and meaning. Fear just diverts our life's energies from their proper course into a carnal cesspool of vain and pointless agitation. Furthermore it makes us even more vulnerable to Satan's power than we already are.

From The Joyful Heart (Watchman Nee 主僕倪柝聲弟兄) we read:

"Fear is Satan's Calling Card
'Neither give place to the devil." - Ephesians 4:27'
"Without some foothold in us, Satan cannot operate. Hence, his first tempting of us will be aimed at securing some ground; the next will be an assault from the ground he has secured.
One very large territory, perhaps the largest, that he operates from is fear. 'Fear is Satan's calling card,' a beloved counselor used to say to me. Whenever you accept his calling card, you will receive a visit from him. Fear him and he comes; fear not and he is held at a distance. No child of God need be fearful of Satan, even though he roar as a lion and his teeth are drawn. Within us is One who by demonstration is greater than he."



Hear these verses from the New Testament:

Matthew 10:31

Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Hebrews 13:6

So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can Man do to me?"

2 Corinthians 4:7-11

But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body.

1 Peter 3:13-14

Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened."

I love this verse from 2nd Timothy. Here are three different versions, each contributes something to the meaning:

2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness; but of power and love and discipline.


2 Timothy 1:7
For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

2 Timothy 1:7
God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

First "discipline" then "self-control" then "sound mind". I love that declension. And there is no contradiction, because all three terms refer to some kind of mental health and control--will. Indeed, in this verse, will and sound mind are equated, and for a reason: it MUST be admitted that fear makes us crazy. We have to remember that we are spiritual beings; our primary reality, even distracted as we are by the evolutions of the physical plane, is SPIRITUAL; getting stuck in a quagmire of worldly fears is contrary to our innate spiritual nature. Thus, the paradoxical nature of fear can cause our whole mental apparatus to burn out, and start feeding us lies, and more lies, until our very perception of physical reality is distorted out of all recognition. Crazy people are always sure they are right about everything. And crazy people are afraid. I don't care how right these people are, I NEVER WANT TO LIVE IN THAT DANGEROUS WORLD THAT HAUNTS THE EXISTENCE OF FEARFUL PEOPLE!!!

Now hear John:

1 John 4:18

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

Love is the key. Love of God, love for others, love of self.

1st Corinthians 13:13:

"And now abideth faith, hope, and love, even these three: but the chiefest of these is love".

The faith of the bleeding woman healed her own affliction. The faith of Jairus, strengthened by the test Jesus put him through, brought his daughter back from the dead. But it was the divine love behind these acts of faith that brought the miraculous idea into physical reality, and it will be love that heals all our earthly hurts. Love soothes the ravages of difficult times, love heals the broken heart, love raises us out of our mundane circle into bliss.

Let us pray: Jesus, thank you for bringing such a staggering example of divine love to us. Remind us that, in this world of transient illusion, there can be nothing to fear if only we can fix our puny powers of attention on the eternal now of your heavenly presence. Amen.

Glennallen, AK
June 19, 2011

The Parable of the Parable of the Sower

The Parable of the Parable of the Sower

It is commonly understood that the Parable of the Sower is in two parts: the story part and the interpretation part. However, last week you heard me say this:

In the second part of the parable, the part where Jesus reveals to his apostles the interpretation of the parable, assigning specific symbolic values to each kind of seed, we get a unique insight into what Jesus thinks His stories mean, of who is capable of apprehending that meaning, and who isn't. From these two parts a third dialectic (oppositional) synthesis emerges, i.e., the meaning of telling stories with hidden meanings; from this third meaning we are given a deep and complex insight into the power of verbal communication to express eternal truth.

Thus, this week we are concerned at least as much with the whole idea and significance of "Parable" as we are with this particular parable. It's not hard to see that Jesus was, too.

First the scripture readings:

Mark 4:9-20

9And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of him the parable.
11And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
12That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them.
13And he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?
14The sower soweth the word.
15And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
16And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are offended.
18And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
19And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
20And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.


Mathew 13:9-22

9Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
10And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
12For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
13Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
15For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
16But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
17For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
18Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
19When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
20But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
21Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
22He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
23But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.




Luke 8:8-15

And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be? And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand. Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away. And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection. But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience..


You may remember that we heard from the Gospel of Thomas last week. It is interesting that the interpretation portion of the event is missing. I can just hear Thomas saying, “What is all this interpretation baloney? Does He think we’re dense or something?” Always hasty, are we Thomas?

As usual, I begin with comments from Wikipedia:


“Though Thomas doesn't explain the parable at all, the synoptics state that the disciples failed to understand, and questioned Jesus why he was teaching by parables, but the synoptics state that Jesus waited until much later, until the crowds had left, before explaining the parables, stating to his disciples:

“The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside, everything is said in parables so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding.

“The synoptics go on to state that Jesus quoted the Book of Isaiah, stating that by hearing you shall hear but not understand, by seeing you shall see and not perceive, and that the people were hard of hearing, with closed eyes (Isaiah 6:9-10). After this, the synoptics provide an explanation of the parable:

   * The sower sows the word
   * The seeds falling on the road represent those who hear the word but dismiss it straight away - the synoptics state that the wicked one (Matthew's wording)/Satan (Mark's wording) is what takes the word away
.
  
* The seeds falling on the rocks represent those who hear the word, but only accept it shallowly - the synoptics state that these sorts of people reject the word as soon as it causes them affliction or persecution
  
* The seeds falling on thorns represent those who hear the word, and take it to heart, but allow worldly concerns, such as money, to choke it.
  
* The seeds falling on good soil represents those who hear the word, and truly understand it, causing it to bear fruit.

“Jesus says he is teaching in parables because he does not want everyone to understand him, only those who are his followers. Those outside the group are not meant to understand them. Thus one must already be committed to following Jesus to fully understand his message and that without that commitment one will never fully understand him or be helped by his message. If one does not correctly understand the parables, this is a sign that one is not a true disciple of Jesus. He teaches in this way so that their sins will then not be forgiven. He quotes Isaiah 6:9-10, who also preached to Israel knowing that his message would go unheeded and not understood so that the Israelites' sins would not be forgiven and they would be punished by God for them. Some debate whether this was Jesus' original meaning or whether Mark added this interpretation himself. The full explanation of the meaning of the parable stresses that there will be difficulty in Jesus' message taking hold, perhaps an attempt by Mark to bolster his readers faith, perhaps in the face of a persecution. This parable seems to be essential for understanding all the rest of Jesus' parables, as it makes clear what is necessary to understand Jesus is a prior faith in him, and that Jesus will not enlighten those who refuse to believe, he will only confuse them."





Here we come to the first issue I want to discuss: the whole problem of the necessity of speaking in parables to the multitudes, and Jesus' reticence to speak plainly to the uninitiated. The notion that Jesus speaks in parables to "confuse" the multitude seems a bit shallow and cold. I look for a kinder, even more pragmatic, interpretation.

The version of the story in Mathew is, for me, the most complete in its power to clarify Jesus motivation in this regard, although I find the logical sequential progression to be slightly reversed:



Mathew 13:19


When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.



Here, Jesus is recapitulating one of the main themes of the parable: that seeds ungerminated in the heart, easily fall prey to the tempter. I think Jesus is saying that: the plain truth spoken in the ear of those not ready to receive it, makes them more vulnerable to Satan's power to twist and corrupt, than when there is just a vague understanding glimmering on the edge of their consciousness. When there is a grain of truth in what we hear, the lies of Satan, snaking around the sense of it, can misdirect it more easily than if we give him nothing to work with. Jesus is telling us to take care what we think, because Satan's towering intellect can insinuate his way into our heads in the most subtle and damning ways. Furthermore, He is telling us that He Himself is being careful not to open His congregation's mind to the whispering seductions of Satan's minions, by feeding it with dimly perceived half truths, which demons can falsify and grotesquely vulgarize. Indeed, it is clear that Jesus does not have a very high opinion of the common man's ability to get what He is saying, and is therefore, not superior but, rather, quite protective, shielding the folk from too much truth, too soon.



Mathew 13:15




For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.



Jesus wants to keep the door open to spiritual insight for all men, but He doesn't have very much faith in their minds to comprehend the higher truths. He puts His money on the understanding of the HEART as the most reliable organ of spiritual perception, and He openly pledges His healing power to the people if they are willing and able to meet Him face to face on that level. O, how much sin and suffering are perpetrated in the name of some dogmatic detail, when the language of the heart so totally eradicates such misunderstanding!
 

Back to Wikipedia:



“The parable has sometimes been taken to mean that there are (at least) three 'levels' of divine progress and salvation.
Interpretations among Latter Day Saints
  According to the various interpretations by members and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (or "LDS Church"), the word generally refers to the whole of the Canonical Gospels, and that not everyone accepts the gospel with the same degree of commitment:
   The parable taught clearly where the responsibility lay with regard to the kingdom of God and the reception of the gospel. It was not with the sower and it was not in the seed - it was in the 'soil,' the heart of man. - E. Keith Howick, The Parables of Jesus The Messiah (pg. 30). . .
   

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin in the October 2004 General Conference interpreted the parable of the sower as teaching the doctrine of patience—enduring to the end—and reinterpreted the meaning of each of the fates of the seeds. Wirthlin considered that each of the three negative fates referred to one of three obstacles to endurance:
  

* the cares of the world, being pride. Wirthlin purported that one should never allow intellect to take priority or precedence over one's spirit. He states that "our intellect can feed our spirit and our spirit can feed our intellect...[but] we must be careful not to set aside our faith in the process, because faith actually enhances our ability to learn."
  
* the deceitfulness of riches, being the fixation on wealth. Wirthlin argued that wealth was a means to an end, but materialism should not be allowed to take precedence over spiritual things.
  
* the lusts of other [things], being pornography. Wirthlin argued that, like quicksand, pornography can easily trap people, and it is better to never step into it than to need to seek help once one has fallen.”


I’ll be honest, I’ve known quite a few Mormons, and I have generally found them to be majorly, on many levels, full of crap; but I stood up and cheered when I read these two things. This:

“The parable has sometimes been taken to mean that there are (at least) three 'levels' of divine progress and salvation. . . the word generally refers to the whole of the Canonical Gospels, and that not everyone accepts the gospel with the same degree of commitment.”

and this:

"our intellect can feed our spirit and our spirit can feed our intellect...[but] we must be careful not to set aside our faith in the process, because faith actually enhances our ability to learn."


These two comments taken together provide penetrating keys to the power and mystery of parables.

First, the idea of graduated levels of meaning is crucial to the PURPOSE of parable. Any story resonates with the life that brought it into being, and, as a creation of this universe, reflects the hierarchical structure of this universe. When Shakespeare says that art should hold a mirror up to nature, this is what he means: that the created art object ought, ultimately, to direct the attention of the artifact’s observer BACK from its mundane referent, on to a contemplation of the source of all creation. And remember that the pathway back to this source may be divided into steps, episodes, levels on a continuum, each significant, each only partial, but each containing the seed of the whole within its limited, articulated constraints.

There is a concept in music aesthetics called “The Mozartean Ideal.” I don’t know how indebted this idea is to Mozart, but it is well understood that Mozart, despite his aspirations to be accepted at the Imperial Court, was not a snob: he wrote music intended for the common man to enjoy; and yet, embedded in the internal workings of the music, he always installed something weightier and more profound that was only discernible by the connoisseur. Thus, there was something for everybody.

Now this idea of “something for everybody”, though easily bordering on the vulgar can be a magical ticket to heavenly terrains. The fact is that the connoisseur may consciously appreciate the nuggets hidden for him, in the music, but that does not mean its effect is TOTALLY lost on the layman.

Remember C.S. Lewis description of man’s inner architecture from last week:

Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy.

A work of art is structured kind of like this—with its heart at the center and its trivial excrescences on the outside. Thus, the resonance of the heart of a piece of music may radiate outward from its center and affect the people in the audience in their hearts as well, even if they are not consciously aware of it. THIS IS HOW FAITH CAN BE TRAIN US, AND HELP US LEARN. Every time a subtle impression is made on the heart, the heart radiates its wisdom outward, and even the dumbest of us, intellectually, cannot escape these illuminating rays. Indeed, for even the most verbally brilliant of us, the true meaning of parable is transmitted in the language of spirit; the fact that spirit transcends the mind does not mean that it BYPASSES the mind—it brings the mind along with it, articulating its wonder in whatever pidgin English it may. The symbols of the parable dissolve in the fixed light of Heaven, but wisps of thought persist in floating like thin clouds around the lofty peaks of Olympus.

Let us return now to the classic SERMONS OF MARTIN LUTHER, VOL. II.

“But what does it mean when he says: "Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God", etc.? What are the mysteries? Shall one not know them, why then are they preached? A "mystery" is a hidden secret, that is not known: and the "mysteries of the kingdom of God" are the things in the kingdom of God, as for example Christ with all his grace, which he manifests to us, as Paul describes him; for he who knows Christ aright understands what God's kingdom is, and what is in it. And it is called a mystery because it is spiritual and secret, and indeed it remains so, where the spirit does not reveal it. For although there are many who see and hear it, yet they do not understand it. just as there are many who preach and hear Christ, how he offered himself for us; but all that is only upon their tongue and not in their heart; for they themselves do not believe it, they do not experience it, as Paul in 1 Cor. 2:14 says: "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God!" Therefore Christ says here: "Unto you it is given", the Spirit gives it to you that you not only hear and see it, but acknowledge and believe it with your heart. Therefore it is now no longer a mystery to you.

..
. But Mark says (4:33), Christ spake therefore to the people with parables, that they might understand, each according to his ability. How does that agree with what Matthew says, 13:13-14: He spake therefore unto them in parables, because they did not understand? It must surely be that Mark wishes to say that parables serve to the end that they may get a hold of coarse, rough people, although they do not indeed understand them, yet later, they may be taught and then they know: for parables are naturally pleasing to the common people, and they easily remember them since they are taken from common every day affairs, in the midst of which the people live. But Matthew means to say that these parables are of the nature that no one can understand them, they may grasp and hear them as often as they will, unless the Spirit makes them known and reveals them. Not that they should preach that we shall not understand them; but it naturally follows that wherever the Spirit does not reveal them, no one understands them. However, Christ took these words from Is. 6:9-10, where the high meaning of the divine foreknowledge is referred to, that God conceals and reveals to whom he will and whom he had in mind from eternity.”


In my sermon of May 15, I said this:




 ". . .  just because we believe something, indeed, just because we KNOW something, doesn't mean that everybody we meet is prepared to hear what we have to say."





Clearly Martin Luther agrees with me although one wonders if it is for the same reasons. Never mind, that. Maybe we ought to go around speaking in parables. As an aspie I have sort of already been doing that—and believe me it doesn’t work that well. Ah me.

In conclusion I have this wonderful quote from the Russian priest Fra V. Patapov:


"In the Mystery of the Eucharist, the priest, elevating the bread and wine, says to God: "Thine own of Thine we offer unto Thee!", that is, "That which is Thine, we offer unto Thee!" So also the Parable of the Sower touches "the mysteries of the Kingdom of God." In order to understand this mystery, there must be on the part of those listening a direction of the will corresponding to it and a disposition of the heart fitting for its acceptance. . .
It is not some kind of information about some kind of strange events alien to us which were recorded by the Apostles that the human soul will learn in the Gospel; but in the word of God the human soul will get to know itself, its kinship and its involvement with God. In the Gospel the human soul will recognize the voice of its Creator, of its Heavenly Father, which resounds in the heart.



"

Let us pray: Jesus thank you for the divine understanding which accepts us all and makes a place for all in the vast halls of Heaven where each place high or low basks in the radiance of your love ever and always the same. Amen.

Glennallen, AK
June 12, 2011

The Parable of the Parable of the Sower I

The Parable of the Sower

 I

The so-called “Parable of the Sower” is actually a parable accompanied by a commentary by Jesus on the parable, both under one contextual umbrella. Thus, the scripture divides itself into two parts:

The first part of the parable, the story part, shows a farmer, at planting season, showering his field with seeds which fall to earth in a variety of places; some of those places yield fruit and some don’t. The different kinds of ground in the parable all symbolize different kinds of people, and the story as a whole amounts to a very clear metaphor for how spiritual truth is spoken and received out in the world.

In the second part of the parable, the part where Jesus reveals to his apostles the interpretation of the parable, assigning specific symbolic values to each kind of seed, we get a unique insight into what Jesus thinks His stories mean, of who is capable of apprehending that meaning, and who isn't. From these two parts a third dialectic (oppositional) synthesis emerges, i.e., the meaning of telling stories with hidden meanings; from this third meaning we are given a deep and complex insight into the power of verbal communication to express eternal truth.

This scripture as a whole touches on two issues we have discussed repeatedly in the course of the past month's sermons: that of evangelism, and that of the power of words to transmit divine truth into the mundane dimension. The more I examined this scripture, the larger the issues loomed. These are big topics, and there is enough material here for two sermons—therefore, I have decided to break this message up into two parts, first dealing with the parable, itself , and then Jesus’ comments on His comments next week.



As you will have noticed, I like to give as many versions of Jesus' sayings as possible, and today I will share not only the three synoptic gospel versions, but the version according Thomas, as well. But before I give the biblical readings of the parable, I would like to ask you to hear the story with a little different slant in mind. I’m sure we all know the details of the narrative fairly well, and are used to interpreting the “seeds” as “spiritual truths,” which, as per Jesus’ instructions, we certainly should. This time, however, as I read about the rocky, weedy, birdy ground, I want you to think of ACTIONS as well as thought forms. One of the problems I want to ponder today is the relationship of thought to deed, and the larger issue of grace vs. good works.

Now the parable:


Mark 4:3-8


“3Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
4And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
5And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
6But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
7And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
8And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.”



Matthew 13:3-8 


“3And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
4And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
5Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
6And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.
7And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
8But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.”


LUKE 8:4-8:



“And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable: A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it. And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it. And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold.”

DORESSE Gospel of Thomas:
[9].

"Jesus says: ‘See, the sower went out. He filled his hand and scattered the seed. Some fell on the path: birds came and gathered them. Others fell on rocky ground: they found no means of taking root in the soil and did not send up ears of corn. Others fell among thorns; these stifled the grain, and the worm ate the seed. Others fell on good soil, and this portion produced an excellent crop: it gave as much as sixty-fold, and even a hundred and twenty-fold!’"





The first comment I offer is taken, as usual, from Wikipedia:



“Comparisons Between Gospel of Thomas and Synoptic Gospels:
Thomas, as usual, provides no narrative context whatsoever, nor any explanation, but the synoptics frame this parable as one of a group that were told by Jesus while he was standing on a boat in a lake. The parable tells of seeds that were erratically scattered, some falling on the road and consequently eaten by birds, some falling on rock and consequently unable to take root, and some falling on thorns which choked the seed and the worms ate them. It was, according to the parable, only the seeds that fell on good soil and were able to germinate, producing a crop thirty, sixty, or even a hundredfold, of what had been sown.”





Continuing with the Thomas vs. the synoptic gospels comparison, Robert M. Grant and David Noel Freedman, (in The Secret Sayings of Jesus), write:

"Thomas adds a few details. The sower 'filled his hand' before he cast the seed; this looks like no more than an attempt to indicate the fullness or completeness of the sowing (of souls or spirits). But when we read that the seed which fell on 'the rock' (so only Luke) not only had no root but also 'put forth no ear up to heaven' we are confronting a combination of this parable with the Naassene doctrine of the heavenward ascent of the good seed. The seed which fell upon thorns was not only choked but also eaten by the worm - presumably the worm of Gehenna though Thomas does not say so, since, like other Gnostics, he doubtless holds that hell is on earth.”





An interesting sidebar:

(cf., Mark 9:48--the Valley of Hinnom (translated as Gehenna) was a RAVINE south of Jerusalem, just outside the city wall -- it was used as a REFUSE PIT -- all types of trash, animal carcasses, and even the corpses of wicked criminals that didn't deserve burial were disposed of there. This place was CONSTANTLY BURNING, and smoke could be seen rising up into the sky above Jerusalem... This fire burned day and night, day and night.... And any part of piece of any BODY that fell out of the flames, the worms would devour it.)




Again from Grant and Freedman:

“The good fruit, unlike the bad, is brought forth 'up to heaven,' sometimes sixty-fold, sometimes one-hundred-twenty-fold. Thomas feels free to give these figures since Matthew has one hundred, sixty, and thirty; Mark has thirty-sixty-one hundred; and Luke has simply one hundred. His figure is more logical; one hundred twenty is twice as much as sixty." 


Again from Wikipedia:

“Interpretations:
Most scholars think the parable was originally optimistic in outlook, in that despite failures eventually the "seed" will be successful, take root and produce a large "crop". It is the first parable to occur in Mark, which according to the Q hypothesis was the first book it occurred in.”



Interesting Sidebar:

“The Gospels of Matthew and Luke were written independently, each using Mark and a second document called "Q" as a source. Q is defined as the "common" material found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark.

The Q source (also Q document or Q) is a hypothetical written source for the Gospel of Matthew and Gospel of Luke. Q (short for the German Quelle, or "source") is defined as the "common" material found in Matthew and Luke but not in Mark. This ancient text supposedly contained the logia or quotations from Jesus.”


I was lucky enough to discover this selection from THE SERMONS OF MARTIN LUTHER, VOL. II. In this sermon, liberally quoted here, Luther expounds with extraordinary clarity on the parable. With Luther we must move ahead a little, as he gives his interpretation of Jesus’ interpretation, but for our purpose of the moment that is fine:


“SECTION I. THE NATURE OF THE WORD SPOKEN HERE.
This Gospel treats of the disciples and the fruits, which the Word of God develops in the world. It does not speak of the law nor of human institutions; but, as Christ himself says, of the Word of God, which he himself the sower preaches, for the law bears no fruit, just as little as do the institutions of men. Christ however sets forth here four kinds of disciples of the divine Word.



“SECTION II. THE DISCIPLES OF THIS WORD.
The first class of disciples are those who hear the Word but neither understand nor esteem it. And these are not the mean people in the world, but the greatest, wisest and the most saintly, in short they are the greatest part of mankind; for Christ does not speak here of those who persecute the Word nor of those who fail to give their ear to it, but of those who hear it and are students of it, who also wish to be called true Christians and to live in Christian fellowship with Christians and are partakers of baptism and the Lord's Supper. But they are of a carnal heart, and remain so, failing to appropriate the Word of God to themselves, it goes in one ear and out the other. Just like the seed along the wayside did not fall into the earth, but remained lying on the ground in the wayside, because the road was tramped hard by the feet of man and beast and it could not take root.

Therefore Christ says the devil cometh and taketh away the Word from their heart, that they may not believe and be saved.”

Luke:

Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts,

“What power of Satan this alone reveals, that hearts, hardened through a worldly mind and life, lose the Word and let it go, so that they never understand or confess it; but instead of the Word of God Satan sends false teachers to tread it under foot by the doctrines of men. For it stands here written both that it was trodden under foot, and the birds of the heaven devoured it. The birds Christ himself interprets as the messengers of the devil, who snatch away the Word and devour it, which is done when he turns and blinds their hearts so that they neither understand nor esteem it, as St. Paul says in 2 Tim 4:4: "They will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables." By the treading under foot of men Christ means the teachings of men, that rule in our hearts, as he says in Mt 5:13 also of the salt that has lost its savor, it is cast out and trodden under foot, of men; that is, as St. Paul says in 2 Ths. 2:11, they must believe a lie because they have not been obedient to the truth. . .

“The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith. They also know that they are free from the bondage of the law, of their conscience and of human teachings; but when it comes to the test that they must suffer harm, disgrace and loss of life or property, then they fall and deny it; for they have not root enough, and are not planted deep enough in the soil. Hence they are like the growth on a rock, which springs forth fresh and green, that it is a pleasure to behold it and it awakens bright hopes. But when the sun shines hot it withers, because it has no soil and moisture, and only rock is there. So these do; in times of persecution they deny or keep silence about the Word, and work, speak and suffer all that their persecutors mention or wish, who formerly went forth and spoke, and confessed with a fresh and joyful spirit the same, while there was still peace and no heat, so that there was hope they would bear much fruit and serve the people. For these fruits are not only the works, but more the confession, preaching and spreading of the Word, so that many others may thereby be converted and the kingdom of God be developed.


“The third class are those who hear and understand the Word, but still it falls on the other side of the road, among the pleasures and cares of this life, so that they also do nothing with the Word. And there is quite a large multitude of these; for although they do not start heresies, like the first, but always possess the absolutely pure Word, they are also, not attacked on the left as the others with opposition and persecution; yet they fall on the right side, and it is their ruin that they enjoy peace and good days. Therefore they do not earnestly give themselves to the Word, but become indifferent and sink in the cares, riches and pleasures of this life, so that they are of no benefit to anyone. Therefore they are like the seed that fell among the thorns. Although it is not rocky but good soil; not wayside but deeply plowed soil; yet, the thorns will not let it spring up, they choke it. Thus these have all in the Word that is needed for their salvation, but they do not make any use of it, and they rot in this life in carnal pleasures. To these belong those who hear the Word but do not bring under subjection their flesh. They know their duty but do it not, they teach but do not practice what they teach, and are this year as they were last.


“The fourth class are those who lay hold of and keep the Word in a good and honest heart, and bring forth fruit with patience, those who hear the Word and steadfastly retain it, meditate upon it and act in harmony with it. The devil does not snatch it away, nor are they thereby led astray, moreover the heat of persecution does not rob them of it, and the thorns of pleasure and the avarice of the times do not hinder its growth; but they bear fruit by teaching others and by developing the kingdom of God, hence they also do good to their neighbor in love; and therefore Christ adds, "they bring forth fruit with patience." For these must suffer much on account of the Word, shame and disgrace from fanatics and heretics, hatred and jealousy with injury to body and property from their persecutors, not to mention what the thorns and the temptations of their own flesh do, so that it may well be called the Word of the cross; for he who would keep it must bear the cross and misfortune, and triumph. . .”

Clearly, Martin Luther was a guy who had all his philosophical ducks in a row; what the proper dogmatic interpretation of the scriptures must be is very clear in his mind; and although we are grateful to him for his ability to illuminate the text in terms of his own lofty perspective, we perceive in the background an axe he has to grind, the result of which is an unfortunate limitation of the possibilities of the passage.

Remember that one of the theological disagreements between Catholicism and the new Lutheran Protestantism was the issue of good-works-versus-grace-dichotomy. Catholics have always placed a heavy emphasis on good works as the key to the kingdom, while Protestants have relied on grace as the only sure guarantee of salvation. In the past weeks we have been in emphatic agreement with this latter perspective, since we have repeatedly rejected the language of the mind in favor of the language of the heart, as the true purveyor of divine truth. This quotation from Section II of Luther’s sermon is in wholehearted agreement with this opinion:

“The second class of hearers are those who receive the Word with joy, but they do not persevere. These are also a large multitude who understand the Word correctly and lay hold of it in its purity without any spirit of sect, division or fanaticism, they rejoice also in that they know the real truth, and are able to know how they may be saved without works through faith.”


And yet, in the last section I read, he lets slip this remark:

“. . .but they bear fruit by teaching others and by developing the kingdom of God, hence they also do good to their neighbor in love; and therefore Christ adds, "they bring forth fruit with patience."

Remember me telling you to try and imagine the seeds as ACTIONS in addition to THOUGHTS? You see where I’m going with this? Absolutely, we must agree that our sins are forgiven through grace, and yet is really quite easy, nay, necessary, to see an ETHICAL imperative associated with right thinking. I have always admired Jesus for the PRACTICALITY of His advice; He really has a lot of good clues about the right way to live. True, we are never truly OF the world when we have entered into the spiritual path, but we are still, by God, IN the world, and we have to figure out a way to make it work.

Why does the sower go forth to plant his seed? To bring forth fruit, that’s why. Is this heavenly fruit, or earthly fruit? I think Jesus is telling us how to live here and now. Even if the seeds represent “words” spoken in the world of men, the SPEAKING of those words is an ACT.

We are here speaking of the relationship of inner to outer reality. Once again, my old compadre C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape has much to say here:

“As regards his more general attitude towards the war, you must not rely too much on those feelings of hatred which the humans are so fond of discussing in Christian, or ant-Christian, periodicals. In his anguish, the patient can, of course, be encouraged to revenge himself by some vindictive feelings directed toward the German leaders, and that is good as far as it goes. But it is usually a sort of melodramatic or mythical hatred directed against some imaginary scapegoats. He has never met these people in real life—they are lay figures modeled on what he gets from newspapers. The results of such fanciful hatred are often most disappointing, and of all humans the English are in this respect the most deplorable milksops. They are creatures of that miserable sort who loudly proclaim that torture is too good for their enemies and then give tea and cigarettes to the first wounded German pilot who turns up at the back door.

"Do what you will, there is going to be some benevolence, as well as malice, in your patient’s soul. The great thing is to direct the malice to his immediate neighbors whom he meets every day and to thrust his benevolence out to the remote circumference, to people he does not know. The malice thus becomes wholly real and the benevolence largely imaginary. There is no good at all inflaming his hatred of the Germans, if, at the same time, a pernicious habit of charity is growing up between him and his mother, his employer, and the man he meets in the train. Think of your man as a series of concentric circles, his will being the innermost, his intellect coming next, and finally his fantasy. You can hardly hope, at once, to exclude from all the circles everything that smells of the Enemy: but you must keep on shoving all the virtues outward till they are finally located in the circle of fantasy, and all the desirable qualities inward into the Will. It is only in so far as they reach the will and are there embodied in habits that the virtues are really fatal to us. (I don’t, of course, mean that the patient mistakes for his will, the conscious fume and fret of resolutions and clenched teeth, but the real centre, what the Enemy calls the Heart.) All sorts of virtues painted in the fantasy or approved by the intellect or even, in some measure, loved and admired, will not keep a man from Our Father’s house: indeed, they may make him more amusing when he gets there.”

And so, we must see that even if we speak with bravest fire and have not charity, charity expressed in acts of kindness and helpfulness to our neighbors, nothing we know or believe is worth squat. The formation of virtues, virtues which multiply exponentially through the nurture of spiritual power, should be our primary goal in this life. To me, good works are the only way to justify a career on this puny planet. Thus, just as Karma operates in full force on the mundane level, while Heavenly Love ever breaks the chains of causality, so do good works validate our position in society while grace insures our place in the higher life. Moreover, good works are almost never for OUR benefit, but for OTHERS’ benefit. Thus, in giving selflessly of ourselves in Christian love, we imitate the Master, and do, as He did, our Father’s work.

Let us pray:
Jesus, direct our paths in this life and let our seed fall on good ground. Let your Heavenly Love take root in our deepest selves and bring forth fruit in this world and the next. Amen.

Glennallen, AK
June 5, 2011

Life Isn't Fair

Life Isn't Fair
May 1, 2011

Somebody once asked Humphrey Bogart how he had the nerve to ask such phenomenally high fees for his movie acting; how did he figure he deserved that money? He replied, "I deserve it because I can get it." This is the same answer that rich people give when their lawyers drill gaping loopholes in their income tax returns, while lawyerless poor people continue to fork over ridiculous percentages of their paltry incomes to a government that has no concept of "fair".

Indeed, what is fair in the broadest spiritual sense? How does the balance sheet of God compare to the balance sheet of the IRS? According to the Hindu catechism, the laws of Karma are absolute: for every action there is a reaction; good works beget good rewards, evil acts earn commensurate punishments. The Bible is filled with like expressions of cosmic fairness: an eye for an eye, as you sow, so shall ye reap, etc., etc.

And yet, the sayings of Jesus often contradict and discredit (ha ha) the fairness math that is so natural, almost instinctive, to us. In fact, the paradoxical parables of Jesus abound with situations in which the Karmic ledgers are skewed every which way, surreptitiously endorsing acts of blatant unfairnesses.

Two of my favorite stories are "The Laborers in the Vineyard", and "The Prodigal Son".

The Laborers in the Vineyard
 or The Generous Employer

Scripture: Matthew 20:1-16
1 "For the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the market place; 4 and to them he said, `You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' So they went. 5 Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same. 6 And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing; and he said to them, `Why do you stand here idle all day?' 7 They said to him, `Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, `You go into the vineyard too.' 8 And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his steward, `Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.' 9 And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius. 10 Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received a denarius. 11 And on receiving it they grumbled at the householder, 12 saying, `These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.' 13 But he replied to one of them, `Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what belongs to you, and go; I choose to give to this last as I give to you. 15 Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?' 16 So the last will be first, and the first last."

Luke 15:11-32 (New King James Version)
The Parable of the Lost Son

11 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. 12 And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. 13 And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. 14 But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. 15 Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. 16 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything.
17 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! 18 I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, 19 and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’
20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. 21 And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 23 And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; 24 for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.
25 “Now his older son was in the field. And as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. 27 And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and because he has received him safe and sound, your father has killed the fatted calf.’
28 “But he was angry and would not go in. Therefore his father came out and pleaded with him. 29 So he answered and said to his father, ‘Lo, these many years I have been serving you; I never transgressed your commandment at any time; and yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might make merry with my friends. 30 But as soon as this son of yours came, who has devoured your livelihood with harlots, you killed the fatted calf for him.’
31 “And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. 32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found.’”

"What a rip-off!! How dare that doddering old fool take in that scumbag brother of mine, when he has wasted a fortune, divided our house, and insulted everything we (I) stand for, by having the EXTREMELY bad taste to return in disgrace, to sully our good name with more bad report. Holy Moly, what a--"

And that generous employer who pays everybody the same wage for very different amounts of effort. Wussup wit dat?

Various comments on the Generous Employer Parable suggest various conclusions:

from The Expository Files:

"So the last to enter the kingdom have full remission of sins and hope, just as those who are veterans. It is all about grace, not about when you enter or some human standard of rank.
The parable in Matthew 20 illustrates that. . . .what we gain from following Christ doesn't depend upon the calendar or time clock. It is about diligence of heart, acting as a chosen one from the time you start (early or late). "Christ has turned the accepted order of things upside down: His kingdom includes those like little children (18:2), but excludes those like the ruler (v.25). Some who think they are great by men's standards, do not rate highly at all by heaven's standards. And those ranked last by men shall be ranked first in heaven."

I want to call attention to one phrase in the preceding paragraph: "heaven's standards". There are, in this parable two standards of reward, two standards of Karma: one is the physical world's eye for an eye reward system, and the other is a heavenly system of reward and punishment that transcends time, and material arithmetic. The heart of God deals in an exchange rate that does not compute in the ledgers on the mundane merchant.

Don Schwager on the Parables of Jesus 1988:

"God is generous in opening the doors of his kingdom to all who will enter, both those who have labored a life-time for him and those who come at the last hour. While the reward is the same, the motive for one's labor can make all the difference. Some work only for reward. They will only put as much effort in as they think they will get out. Others labor out of love and joy for the opportunity to work. The Lord calls his disciples to serve God and neighbor with generosity and joy."

This is a mind-bending idea--that the reward for the work IS the work--that the laborers who worked all day really did get more than those who worked only one hour, because they had the pleasure of working all day, and the joy of cherishing what they did with their own hands to the glory of God. The workers who perceived the disproportionate pay as unfair were missing the point. On several previous occasions, I have suggested that the material world and the world of spirit operate in different time zones, and calculate mass and velocity with different scales. The fairness of spirit comes from the Will of God, whose grace is so often irrational; and yet, the workings of the heart always, ultimately, make sense to us, because, as spiritual beings, all sprung from the same source, we understand spiritual logic as well as God--we just have to remember to forget our materialistic, mechanistic interpretation of the mundane in favor of the non-restrictive heart logic of the divine. We have to reach out with our will to embrace the higher reality; all we have to do is remember. We have to KNOW there is a sense behind the madness, and then we have to remember it.

This weekend I have been re-reading Arthur Koestler's The Roots of Coincidence; this is a book that examines various aspects of parapsychology and synchronicity in light of 20th century advances in quantum physics. The subject of the book, broadly stated, is the relationship of causal events and their acausal reciprocals. The idea is that: things happen in the physical which which have a cause, and things happen in the mental which have no cause, or at least no cause that we can see or explain. This quote from Schopenhauer gives an interesting model of the relationship of causality to coincidence:

"Coincidence is the simultaneous occurrence of causally unconnected events . . . If we visualize each causal chain progressing in time as a meridian on the globe, then we may represent simultaneous events by the parallel circles of latitude. . . "

[Thus progressions of causal events proceed in one direction, while coincidences link these events from a completely different direction, in a completely different progression. One might say the "motives" of coincidence are of a different "character" or even from a different "dimension" from causal events.]

"All the events in a man's life accordingly stand in two fundamentally different kinds of connection: firstly, in the objective, causal connection of the natural process; secondly, in a subjective connection which exists only in relation to the individual who experiences it, and which is thus as subjective as his own dreams, whose unfolding content is necessarily determined, but in the manner in which the scenes in a play are determined by the poet's plot. That both kinds of connection exist simultaneously, and the self-same event, although a link in two totally different chains, nevertheless falls into place in both, so that the fate of one individual invariably fits the fate of the other, and each is the hero of his own drama while simultaneously figuring in a drama foreign to him--this is something that surpasses our powers of comprehension, and can only be conceived as possible by virtue of the most wonderful pre-established harmony. . . It is a great dream dreamt by the single entity, the Will to Life: but in such a way that all his personae must participate in it. Thus, everything is interrelated and mutually attuned."

This quote gives an unusual slant on the word, "coincidence"; we usually think of coincidence as having a random, unplanned character, while the paragraph above inevitably interprets the "co" in coincidence as the literal implication of "at the same time", but not necessarily random at all. That the reason behind coincidence is invisible to us, objectively speaking, does not mean that the ultimate sense of coincidence is irrational--it just means that we have to look outside the physical dimension, outside material causality and into subjective reality for its reason for being. But how truly invisible is this subjective reality? How truly inaccessible are the eyes with which we can see things unseen?

In Hebrews 11:1, we read:
 

1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Faith is the evidence of things not seen. "Evidence" and "not seen" in the same sentence. "Not seen" in the physical, but "evidenced" by higher sensitivities, reaching into higher dimensions of existence. The nonsense whose sensed two cents sense makes sense. The workers who had FAITH in the positive propensity of life toward some affirmative goal, never doubted the fairness of the master; their subjective reality merged effortlessly with the master's and they understood the fairness of their wages; those lacking that underlying faith will never be satisfied by any amount of material reward--always the jealous, ravenous balance sheet of the mundane would continue to demand more and more reward--never satisfied, never at peace. We accuse God of unfairness because he doesn't deliver what we thought He ought to--and in the same breath we turn our backs on the true gift, the legitimate reward, not what we thought we wanted, but what we truly needed.

John Claypool

"There is an old rabbinic parable about a farmer that had two sons. As soon as they were old enough to walk, he took them to the fields and he taught them everything that he knew about growing crops and raising animals. When he got too old to work, the two boys took over the chores of the farm and when the father died, they had found their working together so meaningful that they decided to keep their partnership. So each brother contributed what he could and during every harvest season, they would divide equally what they had corporately produced. Across the years the elder brother never married, stayed an old bachelor. The younger brother did marry and had eight wonderful children. Some years later when they were having a rich harvest, the old bachelor brother thought to himself one night, "My brother has ten mouths to feed. I only have one. He really needs more of his harvest than I do, but I know he is much too fair to renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he is already asleep, I'll take some of what I have put in my barn and I'll slip it over into his barn to help him feed his children.
At the very time he was thinking down that line, the younger brother was thinking to himself, "God has given me these wonderful children. My brother hasn't been so fortunate. He really needs more of this harvest for his old age than I do, but I know him. He's much too fair. He'll never renegotiate. I know what I'll do. In the dead of the night when he's asleep, I'll take some of what I've put in my barn and slip it over into his barn." And so one night when the moon was full, as you may have already anticipated, those two brothers came face to face, each on a mission of generosity. The old rabbi said that there wasn't a cloud in the sky, a gentle rain began to fall. You know what it was? God weeping for joy because two of his children had gotten the point. Two of his children had come to realize that generosity is the deepest characteristic of the holy and because we are made in God's image, our being generous is the secret to our joy as well. Life is not fair, thank God! It's not fair because it's rooted in grace."

Now as to the prodigal son,
Wikipedia has this to say:

"This is the last of three parables about loss and redemption, following the parable of the Lost Sheep and the parable of the Lost Coin, that Jesus tells after the Pharisees and religious leaders accuse him of welcoming and eating with "sinners." The father's joy described in the parable reflects divine love, the "boundless mercy of God," and "God's refusal to limit the measure of his grace."
"The request of the younger son for his share of the inheritance is "brash, even insolent" and "tantamount to wishing that the father were dead." His actions do not lead to success, and he eventually becomes an indentured servant, with the degrading job (for a Jew) of looking after pigs, and even envying them for the carob pods they eat. On his return, the father treats him with a generosity far more than he has a right to expect.
"The older son, in contrast, seems to think in terms of "law, merit, and reward," rather than "love and graciousness." He may represent the Pharisees who were criticizing Jesus.
"Many have argued the story is actually about the prodigals' Father who represents God, prodigals' (plural) rather than prodigal's (singular). One son had no love for his father, alienated and fell into deep sin, the other had no love for his father but stayed at home with the proper appearances of obedience without love. As many of the stories in Luke, the less likely person receives mercy and in this parable the most extreme sinner in a parable of Jesus is restored to his father while his more proper brother is not. The story passes through unexpected and jarring turns of events for the listeners. The parable ends with a deliberate unfinished nature. We do not know the final response of the run away's brother after the father's appeal to join the feast and the joy over the son who was dead and is now alive."

What causes the jealous workers and the older brother to misunderstand the generous employer and the loving father? I am reminded of two more stories: at the end of the Mahabarata, the victorious king turns his back on Heaven where his Earthly enemies now play in Elysian (sic) Fields; he descends into Hell to be with his family--thus affirming the conventional knowledge of the world in exchange for heavenly grace. At the end of "The Last Battle", the final Narnia book of C.S. Lewis, the dwarves sit at the opening of the cave in self-created darkness, preferring the eternal black of family loyalty to the heavenly light that shines just a few paces further in. How often do we sit in self-created darkness, when a simple act of faith, a slight incline of the head toward the light will assuage all out miseries? Why do we prefer the dark to the light? It must be because we forget to remember that the higher life is just a glance away, and that God's Grace is unfair, thank God!

May 1, 2011
Glennallen, AK