PENTECOST VI

The Mustard Seed by Nelly Bube (Kazakhstan Artist)

Genesis 29:15-28
Psalm 105:1-11, 45b or Psalm 128
or
1 Kings 3:5-12Psalm 119:129-136
Romans 8:26-39
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, the most theological book of the Bible, is an intriguing mixture. It alternates between dense, often convoluted reasoning, and poetry of quite extraordinary power.  The Epistle for this Sunday falls into the second category, and it constitutes one of the finest, most insightful and most inspiring passages in all of Scripture – “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.” In this single sentence, Paul perfectly captures and expresses the meaning of the Gospel in the lives of ordinary Christians, both past and present, and the assurance that it gives.

But he also thereby illuminates the Gospel for today. The lectionary has omitted some verses from the 13^th Chapter of Matthew and in this way intensifies its rapid listing of short parables about the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses these analogies to impress upon his hearers – and upon us – this thought: when we sign up to Christian faith we are making a choice of the greatest significance. Initially it may seem a little thing, but it can transform everything. To be offered faith that the world, despite so many contrary appearances and experiences, is under the control of a personal and loving God, and that even the humblest of us can be joyful participants in his kingdom, is like encountering a priceless treasure that is to be preferred to anything else we could hope to find.

Of course, to many people this Gospel is not new. Since they have grown up in the faith, been “trained for the kingdom of heaven” , through sheer familiarity they often lose this sense of its significance. So their task is to bring out of the treasure they have been given both “what is new and what is old”.

To gain or regain the gift of faith, however, is not to be given guaranteed protection against sickness and injury. Faith is not a kind of insurance. Rather, Paul tells us, it is to know that, whatever injustices, illnesses, and temptations befall us, “in all these things we are more than conquerors" provided we view them all "through him who loved us”.