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THE IMAGINATIVE WORLD of PARABLES Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:26-34 Rev

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THE IMAGINATIVE WORLD of PARABLES Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:26-34 Rev THE IMAGINATIVE WORLD OF PARABLES Ezekiel 17:22-24; Mark 4:26-34 Rev. Ann Owens Brunger June 17, 2018 Introduction of Ezekiel 17:22-23 Both of our scripture lessons for today invite us to consider the use of parables in Holy Scripture. A parable is an imaginative literary art form – a picture or story created with words. Parables are used in the Bible to describe what God is like and how God wants to transform the world. Our first parable is from the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, the 17 th chapter. It is called “The Parable of the Cedar Tree.” Ezekiel presented this parable to the Jewish exiles in Babylon to give them hope. The parable pictures the future possibility of the exiles' return home and the restoration of Israel and Judah's monarchy that had been completely crushed by the Babylonians. Ezekiel 17:22-23 22 Thus says the Lord GOD : I myself will take a sprig from the lofty top of a cedar; I will set it out. I will break off a tender one from the topmost of its young twigs; I myself will plant it on a high and lofty mountain. 23 On the mountain height of Israel I will plant it, in order that it may produce boughs and bear fruit, and become a noble cedar. Under it every kind of bird will live; in the shade of its branches will nest winged creatures of every kind. Our second scripture lesson is from Mark's Gospel, the 4 th chapter. Here we find two parables of Jesus, known as “The Parable of the Seed Growing By Itself” and “The Parable of the Mustard Seed.” These are called parables of the Kingdom because they are word pictures that invite us to imagine what it will be like to live in the future fulfillment of God's hopes and plans for what creation could and should become. Mark 4:26-34 26 He also said, “The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.” 30 He also said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable will we use for it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth; 32 yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make nests in its shade.” 33 With many such parables he spoke the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 he did not speak to them except in parables, but he explained everything in private to his disciples. I have a vivid memory of an after-worship conversation at the back of the sanctuary of Highland Presbyterian Church in Maryville where I served as pastor for 20 years. A visiting Maryville College student from across the street asked me a lot of questions about words we use in church that she didn't understand. She had not been raised in church and our vocabulary was a foreign language to her. “Why were you talking about a department store?” she asked. I was totally confused until I realized my sermon had been about prophets. The student associated the word “prophets” in my sermon with Proffitt's department store (which still existed at that time before it was sold to Belk's). If this young woman had been an economics major, one of my husband's students at Maryville College, she might have thought my sermon was about making money or “profits.” Apparently she was more of a shopper than an economics major. This after-worship conversation was eye-opening to me. We insiders to church life and church- speak don't always communicate successfully with outsiders, with the unchurched. Our Christian calling is to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the world – the world out there – outside the walls of our sacred space, our church building. We could be arrogant and say to outsiders and visitors, “If you enter our space, you will have to learn our language.” Or, we could be more sensitive and welcoming and choose accessible language to speak of our faith to what happens to be the fastest growing segment of the American population – the unchurched – those who have no use for the institution which we support with a lot of time and energy and money. A growing number of people don't know church vocabulary and don't want to learn it. They have no interest in the church at all. In surveys about religious affiliation, they are known as the “nones.” When asked, “What is your religious affiliation?,” they check “none.” The “nones,” the unchurched have no clue what we mean when we talk about prophets, disciples, apostles, sacraments, psalms, and parables. You might not think of yourself as bilingual, but you are, if you speak “church,” plus everyday English. Our insider church vocabulary can be a stumbling block, a separate foreign language in the secular world. This morning we have heard the reading of three parables. “Parable” is another of the many words in our church vocabulary that is mysterious to the average person outside the church. The parable, as a literary art form, is the subject of our reflection today. Biblical literature is full of parables, in both the Old and New Testaments. We are most familiar with the parables of Jesus and we are, in fact, studying them this summer in the adult Sunday School class. Our English word “parable” comes from the Greek word “parabole,” meaning “thrown alongside.” A parable is a comparison, a form of communication or figure of speech that compares one thing with another or throws one thing alongside another. What is God like? • “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.” • God is like a shepherd, who leads his flock to green pastures, beside still water. • God is like a woman who sweeps the house and searches diligently until she finds her lost coin. • God is like the forgiving father who runs out to welcome his wayward son home. • God is like the forgiving father who invites his angry son to be reconciled and come back into the family. Jesus was a brilliant teacher and storyteller, whose use of parables was so effective, they were remembered, retold, written down, incorporated in Holy Scripture and translated into hundreds of languages. Jesus' parables were sometimes well-developed stories and sometimes simple metaphors. Jesus referred to familiar things from everyday life like yeast, grapevines, bread, sheep, and goats. Or Jesus presented familiar scenarios from everyday life like planting seeds, losing and finding things, and hiring laborers. What we need to understand and appreciate is that Jesus used his parables as more than stories and illustrations to make a point and teach ideas for us to learn and ponder in our minds. Jesus used parables to fire up his listeners' imaginations, fully engage them, and invite them into an experience of God and a life-giving relationship with God. Jesus invited people then and invites us still into the imaginative world of parables to introduce us to the living God and help us see how God works in mysterious ways. Some of Jesus' parables are open-ended – inviting and allowing the listener and reader the freedom to respond. So, Jesus' parables are transformative, life-changing. It is one thing to learn about God and think about God. That is an intellectual exercise. It is another thing entirely to actually meet the living God and relate to our creator with our whole being. In such an encounter our minds, emotions, and spiritual yearnings are all enlivened and melded together. Jesus didn't just teach his followers lessons about God. He invited his followers into an awe-inspiring, wonder-filled encounter with the living God. Consider the difference between prose on the one hand and poetry and music on the other. Prose offers explanations for us to think about. Poetry offers imaginative word pictures that evoke feelings and experiences. Music offers sounds that deeply stir our souls. Prose is more black and white – which is good and meaningful. Poetry and music are in vibrant living color, which is awe- inspiring. Jesus teachings were poetic. I don't mean “poetic” in the sense of words with patterns of rhythm and rhyme that we call a “poem.” Jesus didn't recite poems, nor did he lecture. Jesus told stories. He used imaginative imagery, metaphors, dramatic scenarios that didn't dictate what he was teaching, but evoked meaning and response. Our human minds and our human language can only take us so far in understanding God with our intellect. We will inevitably run into a wall beyond which is infinite mystery. Poetry and music are the imaginative languages that give us a glimpse and flavor of that great mystery beyond ourselves. Now let us go back to the 3 parables we read today. Ezekiel's Parable of the Cedar Tree compares God with an eagle who takes a sprig from the top of a cedar and plants it on Israel's holy Mt.
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