Keith E.
Jones The Taste of Chocolate
1.
How do you describe the
Kingdom of Heaven? We have three famous passages of scripture to help
us think about it. First, there is the continuing story of Jacob, who
will be known as Israel (“he who struggles with God”) and founder of a
people based on God’s promise. As God’s chosen one, he should know
about the kingdom. Yet, Jacob is the trickster, and here he getting
his own back as he is tricked by his uncle Laban. Jacob agrees to work
for Laban for 7 years to win his daughter Rachel. He works the agreed
time and receives a veiled bride to wed.
After much wine he goes into his bride,
who is his first cousin, only to wake up the next morning to find that
he has married Leah the elder daughter. What a hangover!
2.
Men easily find this story amusing. But I doubt whether many
women see humor in it. There is an awful lot of pain for Leah, Rachel,
as well as for their sister maids, who are required to bear children.
Men and women view things surprisingly different. For example, one
morning when her husband returns after several hours of fishing and
decides to take a nap, his wife although not familiar with the lake,
decides to take the boat out. She motors out a short distance, anchors,
and enjoys the sun and the lake while reading her book. Along comes a
Game Warden in his boat. He pulls up alongside the woman and says, "Good
morning, Ma'am. What are you doing?" "Reading a book," she replies,
while thinking "Isn't that obvious?" "You're in a Restricted Fishing
Area," he informs her. "I'm sorry, officer, but I'm not fishing. I'm
reading." A typical cocksure male he says ,"Yes, but you have all the
equipment. For all I know you could start at any moment. I'll have to
take you in and write you up." "If you do that, I'll have to charge you
with sexual assault," says the woman. "But I haven't even touched you,"
says the game warden. "That's true, but you have all the equipment. For
all I know you could start at any moment." Have a nice day ma'am," says
the warden as he revs up his motor and leaves.
3.
Poor Leah even has it tough
even with her sister Rachel, who becomes jealous, because Leah finds it
easier to bear children. Indeed, Leah gives Jacob 6 of his 12 sons such
as Levi, the father of the Levites, who are charged with maintaining the
sanctuary (Leviticus) and of the son called Judah, father of the tribe
that produced Boaz, King David and Jesus. When Jacob’s end came, he
called for his sons, spoke to them each of them and asked to buried in
the family tomb in faraway Canaan. "There they buried
Abraham and Sarah," he said, "there they buried Isaac and Rebecca; and
there I buried Leah." The last name on his lips was Leah. Perhaps,
God is showing us that The Kingdom is a place of unexpected compassion.
4.
Next, we hear the beautiful words of St. Paul telling us that
nothing that can separate us from the love of God. God has again picked
an unlikely candidate to bear the word of the Kingdom, Saul of Tarsus,
the Jesus hater, the apostle to we the Gentiles. Paul could speak of
love that knows no fear and no bounds despite beatings and
imprisonments. The Kingdom is revealed in the surprising love found in
Paul's letter to Rome. He wants to make sure they understand how
wonderfully God is at work in their lives.
5.
Paul tells them about the Holy Spirit, who unexpectedly prays for
us when we can't even think of the right words express our deepest
need. I don't know about you, but sometimes it's nice to know that GOD
knows what I need. And, Paul reminds us, "If God is for us, who is
against us?" So, when hardship comes as disappointment, depression,
illness, family troubles, business losses and all of life’s challenges,
we know we’re not alone. God is with us, for the Kingdom is now.
6.
Finally, we hear from our Lord. Jesus here fires off parables
like Henny Youngman used to fire off one-liners. Here’s one liners you
may not have heard. Many folks
want to serve God, but only as advisers. The good Lord didn't create
anything without a purpose, but mosquitoes come close. A lot of folks
who are singing "Standing on the Promises" are just sitting on the
premises. Be ye fishers of men. You catch them - He'll clean
them. Coincidence is when God chooses to remain anonymous. God loves
everyone, but probably prefers "fruits of the spirit" over "religious
nuts!" If God is your Co-pilot - swap seats! My husband and I divorced
over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
7.
Enough! Jesus is struggling to communicate with shocking
parallels what the kingdom of heaven is like using parables to explain
something beyond our comprehension. It's like describing the taste of
chocolate to someone. You know what it tastes like -- and are hooked.
How do you persuade them to try it? It can be sweet or sour or creamy
or bitter or grainy or smooth or whatever. Our problem is that you have
only words to describe something wonderful that is beyond words. The
only way to know for sure what chocolate tastes like is to eat it! 8. These little stories of what God’s Kingdom was like made the first hearers feel uncomfortable. For instance, they knew that a mustard plant was forbidden in a Jewish garden. It was a pesky weed that got in the way more like dandelions that come up even through concrete. And leaven, which is made from mold and decay, was long a symbol of the unclean even before the time of the unleavened bread of Passover is hidden by a woman in the dough. How can the Kingdom be like leaven, a woman, and hiding? Surely the “proper” terms for heaven for observant Jews should be about unleavened, a man, and open (or revealed)!
9.
The theme of Jesus is that the Kingdom of God comes in unexpected
and surprising ways, even non-kosher!
The kingdom is associated with
uncleanness just as Jesus himself associates with the unclean, the
outcast.
Jesus was breaking the boundaries and
allowing everyone into to the secrets of the faith precisely to
challenge the exclusivist views of contemporary Judaism. The
kingdom of God is not a treasure we possess. It is something that grasps
us. (Repeat)
10.
Jesus wants us to be surprised by a God that regards us as
the pearl, the treasure of great price. Who would believe it? And he
sacrifices all to redeem us to newness of life. What was it that St.
Paul said "Nothing can separate us from God's love.” Perhaps, we do not
trust the love of God, do not believe that it is real enough or powerful
enough to support us and all of life. We do not trust the little
mustard seed. We are suspicious of this new leaven and the way it
undermines the kind of religion we DO trust in.
11.
But if there's one thing we know from these parables, the kingdom
of heaven is always different than we expect. The kingdom of heaven is
always new and uncontained full of hope and opportunity. If we try to
contain it, we'll fail. As a colleague* put it, “If we live it, we'll
be transformed, from the inside out, by God's secret leaven. The
kingdom of heaven is like chocolate. You'll know it when you eat it.”
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