Readings for today (Track 1)
Do you recall a movie called ‘Amazing Grace’ that came out in the early 2000s? It tells the story of William Wilberforce, who is remembered by The Episcopal Church today, July 30, as a social reformer. Born into wealth in Yorkshire, England in 1759. Educated at Cambridge. Elected to the House of Commons at the age of 21. By all accounts, charming, eloquent and persuasive. Encouraged by his colleagues in politics not to abandon his faith-fueled activism. Wilberforce crusaded uncompromisingly and single-mindedly for the abolition of slavery and the slave trade for the entirety of his 45 years in Parliament. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 had its final reading in the House of Commons just 3 days before his death, and became law the following year.
I love William Wilberforce’s passion and persistence in holding out a faith-filled vision that the society he lived in could and should change, to be more just and life-giving for a class of people who were essentially invisible. It wasn’t a painless or easy crusade in a Parliament full of white, landowning men who loved their sweet tea and the comfort of wealth from trading sugar and people. With persistence and passion, Wilberforce planted a mustard seed, mixed in some leaven, claimed his pearl of great price; choose your Matthean metaphor for how his faith and conviction eventually changed the entire ‘civilized’ world.
The parables in today’s gospel reading come in quick succession. Jesus is trying to engage his listeners’ hearts and minds to imagine the kingdom of heaven.
Did you notice that today’s parables are about being ‘all in’? The single, tiny, mustard seed takes over an entire field. The yeast leavens all the flour. The hidden treasure and the pearl bring such joy that the seeker sells everything to obtain them. Fish of every kind. The kingdom of heaven is about being all in - God doesn’t make half a claim on our hearts and lives.
The work of the kingdom happens in the midst of a world full of weeds, impurities, and temptations. Jesus calls us to sow the seeds, be the leaven, the finders and stewards of overlooked treasures, fishers of every kind of people. The sorting happens later - and that’s God’s work.
Mustard seed. Yeast. Hidden treasures. Fish of every kind. Things that are simultaneously obvious and invisible.
Faith gives us eyes to see things the world does not see. Glimpsing the kingdom of heaven in our midst changes our hearts and minds. Having seen the possibilities, we cannot go back to living as we did before. And we cannot keep the image of the beloved community to ourselves. God’s amazing grace compels us to speak about things that didn’t used to be important to us.
The essence of the mustard seed or the leaven, the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price are all one thing: LOVE. Not sweet romantic, movie love. Unconditional love. Love that meets the eyes of another with joy, and without regard for anything but the image of Jesus reflected back at us in those eyes. Love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” (1 Cor 13:7). Love that does not decide ‘friend or stranger’ and adjust our interaction accordingly. Love that sees and delights in God’s unique creation of the other.
All in. God doesn’t make half a claim on our hearts and lives. In faith, we offer our whole selves, all our energy and passion, to God. Knowing that God’s work and ours is never finished.
Laws abolishing the slave trade in the U.S. in 1808 and in England in 1833 ended the commerce. The legacy of colonialism and enslaving people of African descent remains woven into our legal and cultural systems. By God’s grace, we continue to bring passion and persistence to acknowledge our history and the complicity of white privilege. We sow kingdom seeds by questioning assumptions of institutions that discredit and discount the lived experiences of our BIPOC neighbors.
The kingdom has been coming for 2000 years, and it continues to emerge with the blossoming of every small seed and grain of yeast.
At Trinity, we are leavening the kingdom here at 8th and James by being good stewards of our neighborhood. By using our senses to notice the pearls of great price and hidden treasures of our neighbors of all kinds: you who are already part of the congregation and the ones outside our doors, literally and figuratively. We are learning about our neighbors and our neighborhood by getting outside to clean up trash, and, this week by co-hosting a block party for National Night Out this Tuesday evening. We have invited everyone in a 2 block radius to join us for food and live music, games and general fun. Hopefully a fire engine visit - because who doesn’t love a firetruck? While it seems like good clean fun on a summer evening, we are sowing kingdom seeds by meeting all God’s people with joy.
God goes ‘all in’ showing us how to love one another. Jesus calls us to the same ‘all in’ love. Yes, it’s hard to be vulnerable and uncertain. Yes, ‘all in’ challenges our assumptions and comforts. Yes, ‘all in’ asks us to make faithful, ethical choices that inconvenience us - because they build a world where all people are seen and heard and thrive.
Rooted in his faith, William Wilberforce imagined a world where all people are treated like full human beings rather than nameless, faceless commodities.
The seed vision of Trinity as a good neighbor, a hub for our community to learn and grow together is being sown. We don’t know what will happen when the seeds of holy love start to grow, or our imperfect yeast begins to leaven, or when we make sacrifices to obtain a pearl of great value. In faith, we pray for the Spirit’s guidance and inspiration, and we act with love.
Let us take a moment now, to invite the Holy Spirit to enliven our hearts and minds:
Scandalous God, sowing weeds among the crop, raising bread with impure yeast, offering treasure beyond price, casting a net that catches good and bad: throw down our mean idols of purity and possession and let the Son of man show us your inclusive, provocative, wide-branching love; through Jesus Christ, the stumbling block. Amen. [1]
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[1] Shakespeare, Steven, Prayers for an Inclusive Church (Church Publishing, New York: 2009), “Collect for Proper 12, Year A,” page 31.
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