July 26, 2026 – The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
The Rev. Cal Calhoun
In the Name of God: a God who calls us to patience in our Journey: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.
Br. Jamie Nelson of SSJE, the Episcopal monastery in Boston writes this about parables: Jesus’ frequent use of parables points to a complicated truth: that the beauty, goodness, and power of God will stay beyond our knowing in this lifetime. So why use parables? He asks. Parables create space for wondering about God and for wrestling with God. Parables invite further seeking – they don’t set up tidy answers we can regurgitate on command. Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.
Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.
The last two weeks we have heard some parables about seeds. Two weeks ago we heard about the seeds the sower threw on the path, on the rocky soil, among the thorns, and in the good soil. Last week we heard about the enemy who came in and sowed weeds among the wheat. Jesus often used agricultural parables because he lived in an agricultural world. These were images that were familiar and made way more sense to Jesus’ listeners than they do to us.
As I think about the parables of the last two weeks, I am reminded of the wisdom that we, all of us, in our ministries or in our practice of prayer, plant seeds. And the watering, the growth, and the harvest, like with the farmer, we most often have to leave to others, or to God. Which is to say, the farmer knows, when he plants, that the harvest of the season will depend upon variables outside his control. So too, when we begin a ministry, teach a class, reach out to those in need, help in the Sacristy with the Altar Guild, we are planting seeds. The outcome of our work is beyond our ability to control. We must trust our fellow ministers and we must trust God with the outcome. Which is to say, that our contribution to the kingdom of God, most often, is to plant seeds. That is all. To plant seeds.
Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.
Today is the kingdom of heaven is like… Sunday! Today our parables are many. We hear Jesus say six times in our gospel, the kingdom of heaven is like…
And guess what! We start with more seeds! Mustard seeds this time. And the point of this parable seems to be right in line with what I am talking about. The mustard seed is the smallest of all seeds. But the mustard shrub is the greatest of shrubs, more like a tree! But what else besides seed is required? Water, sunshine, and time. All things we can’t easily control. So don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Don’t judge a seed by its size. Don’t judge your ministry by the outcomes. Plant the seed. And the possibilities may well exceed your wildest expectations. Needless to say, this parable weaves in the surprising outcome of planting seeds.
I’m no baker. But yeast works similarly, in a I don’t know how, kind of way. But yeast does need a little time. You don’t add yeast and throw the dough in the oven. You walk away and allow the yeast to rise.
The next two parables are pretty similar. The treasure in the field and the pearl of great value. They both tell us that the kingdom of heaven is priceless. They sold all they had to acquire the kingdom.
Then we get the parable about the fish in the net. Fish of every kind. The fish we want and the fish we don’t want. The angels will come… and we are thrown into a moment of judgment. But I think one of the things it is worth pointing out here, is that in your ministry or in your prayer practice, when you throw out a net, you are bound to catch some fish you didn’t expect and frankly, don’t desire. But you don’t NOT throw out the net. Plant the seeds.
Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.
Br. Lain Wilson, also from SSJE, writes: Some of us may be called to uncommon courageous acts. Most of us will not. But ALL of us are called to exhibit the common courage of simple faith, hope, and trust – the common, vulnerable courage to stand in our grief, to wait to wait in the face of uncertainty. To simply be, abiding, waiting to find God – and assured that God is already meeting us there, calling us by name.
Have you ever heard the waiting is the hardest part? I’m pretty sure I have preached that. I don’t like waiting and patience is not one of my gifts. Jacob knew something about waiting, huh? Seven years he worked and waited for Rachel and then the Jacob, the trickster and the liar, got a fast one pulled on him by Laban, his father-in-law. And there was another seven years he worked and waited for Rachel.
Likewise, all these parables, reaching back several weeks, call on us to accept that the kingdom of heaven is beyond our knowing, and certainly beyond our control.
Parables create space for wondering about God and for wrestling with God. Parables invite further seeking – they don’t set up tidy answers we can regurgitate on command. Parables plant the seeds of the kingdom.
And then it takes courage, common, vulnerable courage to stand in our grief, and to wait in the face of uncertainty. To simply be, abiding, waiting to find God. And in that waiting, we plant seeds. And in planting seeds, we remember and rest assured that God is already meeting us there, calling us by name. Whether we feel it or not. Whether the harvest seems full or not. God is already meeting us there, calling us by name.
For I am convinced – even in the midst of a life marked by waiting for God and wondering where God is present – I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
Year A – The Ninth Sunday after Pentecost – July 26, 2026 – The Rev. Cal Calhoun
