Oh, I guess I did that just now, going back in time to bring forth something old, the King James translation of Matthew 13:52, and bringing forth to go with it something new--the word "person" rather than "man," and the word "their" rather than "his," as a way of respecting, and even treasuring, people of every gender, or even no fixed gender (such as in people who identify as non-binary) among the beautiful diversity of human beings that God has created and is still creating.
I could also revise "kingdom" into "kindom" as explored in an earlier serious joy reflection of December 2, 2022, with the intention of treasuring even more fully God's beautiful, ever-unfolding work of creation. And all this is part of my seeking to keep faith with how I have come to understand Jesus and "being Christian" in my own life and ministry as a member of our body politic here on earth in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Every day, I am an apprentice in the kindom of heaven, always learning, often revising, steadily seeking to send my roots deeper into the love and liberation I am meeting up with in my friendship with Jesus.
More and more, I realize how strange, and perhaps scary, and maybe sinful, what I have written so far this morning would be likely to sound to the ears of many in our body politic who are currently learning very different understandings of what loving Jesus or being Christian might mean.
Could we sit around a table together week by week, I wonder, and read parables, and really listen to one another, and begin to more lovingly understand?
That is what Jesus was hoping for when he told parables, as Matthew describes it earlier in chapter 13. In writing this portion, Matthew too brought out an old treasure, some verses from Isaiah that spoke to his heart as he was writing something new, his gospel:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.’
(Matthew 13:14b-15, New International Version, compare Isaiah 6:9-10)
Oh, this is what God deeply desires! Oh, this is what Jesus is seeking to reveal in his parables--that when we are not able to hear and understand how much God loves us all, we are breaking God's heart!
Could we who so easily misunderstand each other--to the point of fear and violence--learn to sit down with each other around tables, and read parables, and eat something delicious, and talk about this?
More tomorrow!!
Previous entries in this week's series, "Hot Summer Reading: Precisely the Parables We Need Right Now!!!" can be found by clicking on the Earlier Reflections link at the top of this page.