Parables of the Kingdom - why?

During my first few weeks here I felt the Lord speaking to me about Kingdom values. What it looks like to live as a disciple of Jesus living out the values of his kingdom here in Haydock today.

And the parables of Jesus are all about the kingdom of heaven, about the kingdom of God. So today’s sermon is an introduction to this series. Let’s pray

Lord take my lips and speak through them

Take our minds and think through them

Take our hearts and set them on fire with love for you Lord Jesus.

Amen

[If someone asks you a difficult or tricky question how do you answer?

it usually depends on the question

If you want someone to understand a concept there are a number of different ways you can convey your point.

You could tell them in technical detail all the different angles of the concept

You could try explaining it in laymen’s terms

Perhaps you could use analogy's to help them understand

You could tell them a carefully formed story

I’ve got a question I’d love you to shout back with your answer.

When a child asks you to describe what it feels like to be in love, how would you tell them?

...

I don’t know about you but I’d tell them about how I fell in love with Claire.

It’s a story, a story close to my heart. A story which is true and from my experience.]

[Well, parables are like presents.

They have already been given to us.

We can’t buy them, or take them, or steal them.

They are already ours.

There’s another reason why this might be a parable. It has a lid.

Sometimes parables seem to have lids on them.

But when you lift the lid of a parable, there is something very precious inside.

I know. Let’s take the lid off and see if this is a parable.]

When Jesus was taught the old testament, he learned it by heart. He was also taught through the use of parables.

Jewish lads were also taught to think through the parables. The parables of Jesus make us question the motives of the characters, they often shock us, we almost end up judging the characters in the parable, and then we come to a realisation about ourselves through them.

Sometimes the challenge is overt - and Jesus makes it obvious. However, many times it is the Holy Spirit who reveals it to us in our lives.

So why so mysterious? Why couldn’t Jesus just speak it straight, and tell it as it is.

Well of course we do see him talk straight to the pharisees and he often says it as it is, he was a northerner after all

But he’s using parables for a particular reason

Matthew 13:10–11 NIV

Matthew 13:10–14 NIV

10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” 11 He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.

Matt 13:10

So there’s an us and them going on? People who can know and people who can’t know?

Why are these secrets anyway, shouldn’t everyone have access to this knowledge? Let’s continue

Matthew 13:13–16 NIV

13 This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. 14 In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 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.’ 16 But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.

Matt 13:

Through parables Jesus is giving the secrets of the kingdom of God to all who will commit themselves to him. Sadly, the pharisees didn’t commit to him or his teaching, nor the other religious leaders of the time. A very few number of the religious leaders did.

And while Jesus spoke to thousands [from the mountain to the boat on the lake] and right across Israel, only those who committed themselves to him understood what he was saying.

Was it because they were clever?

well Jesus chose fishermen

Was it because they were the strongest, or the kindest, the most religious or the best liked people?

No - it was purely because they committed their lives to his, and God revealed these secrets because of their faithfulness

There are many distractions in life and it’s these distractions which stop us from hearing God and seeing him at work

St Mark’s are you faithful to Jesus? Are you committed to following him?

[Would you like to learn a secret of the kingdom of heaven today?

Well sit back and let’s watch as the good folk at the Bible project bring an essential truth about the kingdom to life through this little video

role Bible Project video - heaven and earth]

The great truth of the Bible is that - the union of heaven and earth is what the story of the Bible is all about

Since the moment we rejected God, God’s space and our space are now separate.

God’s rescue plan from the beginning of time was to bring us back into relationship with him, that his space would be our space, and that God’s kingdom come and his will be done on earth as it is heaven

This is the gospel my friends. Not just that we say yes to him now and get a ticket to eternity, but that we say yes to him now and see some of heaven brought to earth now and when he comes again we will see heaven and earth fully brought back together.

We’re in this in between phase which we often call

the now and the not yet.

That God’s kingdom is in someway here, but also somehow not fully here.

Friends - are you believers in Jesus?

Would you say you are a follower of Jesus?

That moment you first met him and said yes to him, you were filled with the Holy Spirit. And from that moment, the spirit of God, God himself, started dwelling in you, living in you.

Just like in the tabernacle, God’s address on earth.

Just like the temple. God is dwelling in you.

So the kingdom of God is alive in you.

We could say that

The Kingdom of God is wherever the King reigns

Just like the Queen’s kingdom is wherever she is considered as sovereign - her realm is wherever she has power and authority over that place

Well we know that Jesus is King of the heavenly realm, that he is God, creator and Lord of all.

And so wherever Jesus is King is the Kingdom of God

If he is King over your life, then you are living as a citizen of the Kingdom of God

You might not be living in what we call ‘heaven’ a place we know very little about and which we often think of as being a place we won’t see until we die,

but you are a citizen of God’s kingdom, a child of God and Jesus calls you to follow him, to do as he does.

And so we should expect to see glimpses of heaven when we’re following God

That’s why I believe in miracles, it’s why I pray for healing - which I’ve seen with my own eyes

That’s why I believe that however bad the situation, God has another reality to speak into existence over someone

Friends, this Kingdom is alive. It’s not a fantasy, it’s not wishful thinking, in fact it was our intended reality, and it’s only because we rejected God that we are separated from him

How does this change our lives?

I believe it changes everything.

It changes our thoughts - we start asking him to see the world as he sees it

It changes our attitudes - we no longer fall into deep despair because God promises that he will be with us always

It changes my life choices - from now on I want what he wants, and I want to live the way he’s asking me to live

Who’d like to see pockets of heaven on earth? Who’d like to see amazing transformation of situations, transformations of lives, lives turned around because of an encounter with the living Lord Jesus?

All God’s asking us to do is be faithful and follow him.

Just look at this image again, think about your sphere of infleuence - your work place, or your family, your volunteer role or a club or group you attend. It could be your gym or the school gate, the board room or the office.

How is God partnering with you to see pockets of heaven in those places through you?

God is living inside you and he has equipped you to change that space. That the ruler of this world will be overturned for the ruler of heaven.

Perhaps it’s in the way you are with people, perhaps it’s the way you speak words of encouragement and come along side others to support them. Maybe it’s your integrity which shines through.

Let’s spend some time with God asking him how he wants to use us in our sphere of influence

Well, parables are like presents. They have already been given to us. We can’t buy them, or take them, or steal them. They are already ours. There’s another reason why this might be a parable. It has a lid.

Sometimes parables seem to have lids on them. But when you lift the lid of a parable, there is something very precious inside. I know. Let’s take the lid off and see if this is a parable.

Prayer

Pray for those places of the world which need the peace of God’s kingdom

Pray for the people in our lives who are struggling, who are ill or sad we pray for the healing and comfort of God’s kingdom on them

Pray for ourselves, for something in our life which we want to see God’s kingdom transform