Good morning guys.
Its Coffee at the mall day tomorrow. And I am on holidays this week so i finally get to go to one of these. Coffee starts at 10am at the Outlet mall food court. Hope to see as many of you as are able. I’m sending this out just a day early so that people get a small reminder with enough notice for the coffee meeting.
Last meeting we started talking about the Parables of Jesus. Dale was asking us to touch base on those and we kinda put him on the spot to lead that conversation. He was more than prepared for it. I think we all have heard the parables before, but for me it was a first time going through them as a collection, one by one. If you have not done that, i highly recommend it. The parables are so rich and deep that its hard to do them proper justice, but when you start going through them we start to get a larger picture being painted, one moral lesson at a time. It does seem that one teaching may contradict another at times, but I have to believe that says more about us and how we interpret them than it does about the actual moral teachings themselves. I don’t have a lot of strength or evidence behind that opinion yet, but its just something i believe has to be true here.
We asked “What is a parable” and “Is it only a parable if Jesus said it?” There are secular parables out there as well. Its not a parable just because Jesus said it. His are the most well known though. Parables are metaphorical allegories (stories that represent truths in alternative descriptions to reveal hidden meanings), that have a moral, ethical or spiritual message. So a parable is a way to teach a lesson, using an example of something in action to explore the outcome and the moral. Jesus used it to highlight and explain what might have already been naturally known but never understood correctly, therefore may have been applied incorrectly. Matthew 13:10-23 Jesus actually explains why he speaks in parables, and explains the meaning behind the parable of The Sewer. Again His method and reasoning is explained in Matthew 13: 34-43
Many times it was used to show that the Pharisees understood the word of the law, but not the intent or spirit of it, and became entrenched at a practicing level, unproductive for the salvation of the people, or themselves. In many ways experts in any field can all fall victim to that kind of thinking. They can be so focused on the detail that they miss the message. Its something I struggle with too. There is a place to have faith in the detail, but only insofar as that it leads to greater understanding, practice, faith, and worship or relationship to God. Its best served as a “when in doubt” scenario. You can fall back only so far when you are challenged, until you are able to learn more. This prevents you from bailing out completely on your faith in God when someone rattles your tree. It gives you a foundation to stand on while you climb. It is essentially the rock. The parables give us a place to better understand the complexity of what it means to have faith in God and to properly live in faith.
There are 38 parables of Jesus in the Bible. We started going through them in Matthew and got through the first 14. Our next meeting will pick up where we left off and continue. For each parable we talked briefly about interpretation and what it means to each of us. There was certainly confusion and doubts, but even the Apostles had to sit Jesus down at the end of a day and ask Him just what the heck did this or that mean. So its OK to struggle through the meanings. At times it seems like the lesson you learn from one parable, seems to be contradicted by a lesson in another. If we believe Jesus is God, and God doesn’t make mistakes, then we need to believe that any perceived contradiction comes from our lack of understanding and not some sort of misstep of Jesus or the people who wrote the Gospels. That means the challenge is on, for you to try to make sense of that. Maybe it will come today, maybe it will come next year during a homily at mass. Who knows. Just keep your ears and your heart open for it.
Here are the parables we went through last meeting. They are all in the book of Matthew:
- 13: 1-9 – The Sewer
- 13: 24-30 – The Weeds Among the Wheat
- 13: 31-32 – The Mustard Seed
- 13: 34 – The Yeast
- 13: 44 – Hidden Treasure in the Field
- 13: 45-46 The Merchant and the Pearls
- 13: 47-50 The Net
- 18: 21-35 The Unforgiving Servant
- 20: 1-16 Laborers in the Vineyard
- 21: 28-32 The Two Sons
- 21: 33-46 The Wicked Tenants
- 22: 1-14 The Wedding Banquet
- 25:1-13 The Ten Virgins
- 25: 14-30 Parable of the Talents
We will pick up from there and keep going each week until we have read them all, maybe more than once. It is really a great exercise so far. Even if you cant make it to a meeting, i would recommend you try this at home.
On another note:
I’ve been working on understanding the concept of the Trinity. How can Jesus be God, and still call out to God, or pray to Him. Its a hard concept to try to understand let alone explain to people. The last year I have been working with the concept of God is Love, Jesus is the Word and the Holy Spirit is the Breath. God is the supreme above all. God is the whole of the concept. If God wants to interact with His creation he can do so with His Word and His Action. I would say that Jesus being the Word, has come to us many times before. Burning bushes, prophetic visions, the Commandments, etc. It isn’t foreign to me that whenever God speaks, its the Word. His incarnation in the physical body of Jesus is just the most tangible, visible, direct way he provided His Word to us for the revelation of covenant, but more importantly, how He provides salvation for us in the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.
So God is Love, the complete essence and being of love. Jesus is the Word. God speaks and Jesus is there. We interact with God through His Word. Then what about the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit to me has been demonstrated as the action of God. The thing that motivates life, motivates our conscience, that connects us directly to the creator. The spark of life. When God speaks there will be message and words, but also breath. Also action and life. Many times in the Bible we hear a verse where God breaths across the land or into someone. Even Jesus uses this action with the Apostles. He breathed upon them. Why would that be in the Bible if it didn’t have purpose. It has to matter. I think that every time we hear “breath” its a sign of the Holy Spirit being distributed. When a couple gets pregnant, we hear about the breath of life. That spark that flows between us all and connects us all to Him. That thing that directs us to His Word and reveals His Love. So here is my own attempt at a parable to put this in context. Try not to laugh. Its a work in progress.
I am a being. Distinct and defined.
When I speak, words leave my mouth. But are they a part of me? Do they represent me? Do you understand me by my words? Of course all of that is true. But can you fully know me, completely through my words. No there is more to me than just my words. So they are part of me, show you who I am, interact with you to build a relationship, but they are still only a part of me. They are completely me but not a fullness of me. In the same way, if I put my hand down into a fish tank, my hand will interact with the life there, and my hand will respond to my wishes and do my will. My hand is fully a part of me, but not the entirety of my being. Its a way for me to communicate and interact directly with all life in the tank. This is how Jesus is God but still prays to and calls out to the Father. He is one with the Father and yet separate. Begotten, not made. Consubstantial with the Father. Not a creation.
Do my actions also play a part in knowing me? Can I reveal to you who I am through my actions? That of course can matter in understanding who I am. My words and my actions have to match. If I say something but don’t support it with actions that match, then you are left unsure of my intentions. If i do things but don’t tell you about them, then you are confused again. Fr. Catfish used to say if I tell you that I love you then do nothing about it, then you don’t believe me. But if I walk up to you and give you a big hug and don’t talk about it, then you think something is wrong with me. In the same way, we need to understand that God proves his Love with his Word and Action. This is the great example He sets for us to live with love and integrity. But if you close your eyes and accept my words and my actions, can you know me completely? No, there is more to me than just my words and actions. This is the part of God that is hidden from us until salvation. This is the mystery that remains outside of our physical understanding.
I can create things too. If i create a trumpet, can you know me through my creation? Can the trumpet know its purpose through its design? If the trumpet plays music, can you know the creator a little through that music? Can a trumpet be used incorrectly, apart from its design and purpose? Such as using it as a hammer. Can a trumpet be a piano? Can a trumpet and piano work together to show the beauty of their purpose as they were created to serve? Would the beautiful music they make, reveal the creator to the listeners? Maybe in a small way. But can that music replace my word or actions? No they cannot. But they can confirm their design and nature by fulfilling their purpose, therefore sharing the love of the creator who made them to do this.
If God is Love, Jesus is the Word, and the Holy Spirit is the Breath or Action, then we are the trumpets and pianos and hammers and saws and boats and all other created things. With purpose and design, in the theater of creation. Playing the music we were meant to play, for the glory of God and to share His great Love and His Word and His Spirit with those who He calls to his kingdom, those in the rest of His creation. We serve our purpose to the best of our abilities. When we go against our purpose, we distort his Love, and distract from the beauty of the music. When we decide we know better or reject His will in place of our own, we leave creation out of tune. But when we prioritize His will for us ahead of our own, the beauty of our purpose and His creation comes alive and into focus.
I don’t quite think that paints the picture properly so its been an ongoing study for me. But I wanted to share as it came to me this morning. I was afraid to forget it actually.
Our next meeting will be at 7pm June 17. Hope to see you all there.
Chris
