Beloved Friends-
This Sunday, both at Trinity@Home and Trinity@316 services we will begin a kind of biblical mini-series with 3 weeks in which we will hear Jesus offering parables. Parables must have been one of his favorite ways to teach—he used them a lot. By etymology, a parable is literally translated as “a throwing beside,” -a composite of the Greek para– (“alongside”) and bole (“a throwing, casting, a beam, a ray”).
Interesting perhaps- but not really all that helpful…
A parable is often a short narrative that, on the surface, appears to be simple because the objects and subjects used are so common place- as we will hear in Sunday’s gospel – seeds and soil and a sower of the seeds.
But we would do well to remember there is rarely anything simple about parables and how Jesus used them to convey deep and universal truths sometimes easily discerned, but often with layers upon layers of meaning. Over the years I have found Jesus’ parables are often more enigmatic than illustrative; more like complicated mazes with different paths to choose rather than a single road.
And, for all these reasons and more, I love the parables attributed to Jesus more and more. And it’s not because they necessarily make anything more plain or clear, but rather because I feel less need to explain their “correct meaning”- as if that ever could truly be done. Instead, I feel more compelled to hear the parables like good music, or poetry or art- appreciating there is something to feed our souls in any particular moment based on who we are and what we bring to the text.
The truth is, I believe we are all given good soil by God’s grace from the beginning and are put on a path leading us forward with beautiful moments of messy and magical opportunities to learn about ourselves–often through each other and in the context of an expanding and deepening community of faith.
So come home this Sunday to hear Jesus offer us parables pointing us towards the kin-dom of God, the place where Beloved Community is real and palpable; where all are seen and heard and loved into the fullness of who and how we were created to be.
May you never forget that you are loved.
Lisa