We also gave away £20 to everyone that wanted … well we actually had a limit of one hundred £20 notes! This was to enable us to practically live out the parable over the next few months. If you were there, I would love to hear what you thought … If you weren’t, you can add "gutted" to the comment section!

But first the parable. For me one of the keys to understanding the parable is to know how much a talent is worth. Nobody knew on Sunday, and to be fair, I didn’t either until I looked it up! A talent was originally a measure of weight, but in NT times it was also a currency, and was worth 3000 shekels or 6000 denarii. Enlightened? Well, a denarii was a days wages, say for someone working in a vineyard (unskilled worker). In the UK an unskilled worker might earn £60 for a day’s work, which would make a talent worth £350,000!

So the story goes: A wealthy man went away for a long time, and he entrusted his wealth to his servants. To one servant he gave nearly £2million, and he put the money to work, and doubled it! To another, he gave about £700,000 and he also doubled the money. To a third, he gave £350,000 and he hid it under his mattress! What? He had that much money and hid it under his mattress (well actually he buried it … but hiding it under his mattress adds a bit of poetic licence to the story!).

No wonder the master was angry. But his response is astounding when you think about it?

you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest (vs 27)

The sense of what Jesus is saying here is: "You could have done anything with the money … apart from doing nothing!"

He could have paid for his ill mother to visit a doctor, he could have given the money to the poor, he could have thrown a party … just not hide it away and do nothing.

Jesus is talking about how we should live in light of the Kingdom that has come, but is yet to come fully. It isn’t really about money, but the wonderful gift of the live we have: our gifts, abilities, education, opportunities, time, money, our physical bodies … everything. When we are constrained by fear (vs 24), we aren’t present, don’t show up, and aren’t the contribution that we are meant to be to the world we live in.

So we gave £20 to every person who wanted it. It was a ridiculously small amount, compared to outrageously large amount each servant was given. But it represents everything that we have. We are to put it to work in some way … maybe to multiply the money, or maybe to do something that we have wanted to do, but just seems a bit risky. It could be baking cakes to sell; buying material for a painting; printing up business cards; or joining a community group or learning opportunity etc. etc. We aren’t looking for tangible results (although getting some of the money back would be nice!), but the stories of what God does in us as we engage with him and our fears …

In February, we want to hear stories of what we have done, and what changes and opportunities have emerged because of this small £20. We want to see a community than learns more to take risks, to trust God, to be present, to show up …

OK, preach over.

If you were there, what did you think? What are you planning on doing with the £20? If you weren’t (and you have managed to get to the end of this massive post!) what do you think about interpretation of the parable? And what would you do if you had been given £20 (about $40) to take some risk?

Tags: Community Church Edinburgh, Parables of the Kingdom, Preaching, Parable of the Talents, Talents, money

But here is the next parable in our series. I am passionate about us taking some time to allow the passage to percolate in us, for God to speak, for insights to come, to see ourselves in relation to God more clearly.

This Sunday we will create some space, in silence, for us to listen to the words of the Jesus, and to what Jesus might be saying to us today. There will then be three people who be sharing for 5 minutes some of their personal reflections, followed by some more space to integrate all together. Leave a comment below if you have some insights you want to share.

The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant - Mt 18: 23-35

Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, cancelled the debt and let him go.

But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’

But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.

Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I cancelled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

Questions for Reflection:

Something different this week. Image you are in the story, rather like a movie; you could play each of the three main characters in turn. As you see the scene unfold before you, ask yourself some questions: What are you seeing? Hearing? Or other senses? What do you notice about the other characters? What are you feeling? What motivates each of the characters?

As you do this, what you learn about yourself and God? Where do you identify with the story? What might Jesus be saying to you today?

Tags: Community Church Edinburgh, Listening to God, Jesus, Parables, Bible, Meditation, Parables of the Kingdom, Lectio Divina

The next parable in our series is actually two very short ones found in Mt 13: 31-34. Jesus uses these brilliant little pictures to communicate something about the Kingdom. Often I think he is deliberately ambiguous, allowing for different interpretations; sometimes it is uncomfortably clear what he is getting at.

However, he always seems to expect us to identify with the story or the picture, and somehow discover our true selves in what he says. They are a mirror that we can put in front of us, to see our lives more clearly in light of the Kingdom. What do you see as you reflect on these parables? … do leave a comment below …

The Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast. Mt 13: 31-33

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.”

Questions for reflection:

These parables would have been a surprise to the disciples who were expecting a triumphant and very visible kingdom. What surprises you here? What might you miss of the Kingdom as it does look the way you were expecting?

What qualities of yeast is Jesus alluding to? What implications does that have for your life?

The Parable of the Wedding Banquet – Mt 22: 2-14

The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.

Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’

But they paid no attention and went off—one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.

Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’ So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.

But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.

Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

For many are invited, but few are chosen.

Questions for reflection:

As you reflect on the parable and attempt to honestly evaluate yourself, you may like to consider the following questions:

The King initially invites the worthy, the good and the great … but they turn down the invitation. In what ways do you see yourself deserving God’s blessing, but miss His grace?

The invitation is to everyone, the good and the bad, the worthy and the unworthy. Everyone is indiscriminately “in” until they choose to be “out”. What reactions does that kind of generosity provoke in you?

The Parable of the Weeds

Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’

Questions for reflection:

What is the reaction of the servants to the discovery of the weeds: surprise, even accusation? Or is there even a touch of comedy here?

‘Let both grow together’. Given the mix in life and the world how do you see this lack of separation: as a puzzle, a threat, a sign of even-handedness and generosity, an irritant….What do you view your own inner mix? How close is the cry ‘It’s not supposed to be like this!’ to your own feelings?

The burning metaphor has been strongly used in some quarters over the years (to put it mildly). What might Jesus’s point be I wonder?

Andrew (guest blogger)

Suggestion: In the spirit of thumbing our noses at our tendency towards self-preservation, try to put to one side the fact that we know what Jesus is going to say and so force yourself to get closer to, and not ahead of, the text/scene.

The Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard – Mt 20: 1-16

For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire men to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay them a denarius for the day and sent them into his vineyard.

About the third hour he went out and saw others standing in the marketplace doing nothing. He told them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went.

He went out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour and did the same thing. About the eleventh hour he went out and found still others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why have you been standing here all day long doing nothing?’

‘Because no one has hired us,’ they answered.

He said to them, ‘You also go and work in my vineyard.’

When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.’

The workers who were hired about the eleventh hour came and each received a denarius. So when those came who were hired first, they expected to receive more. But each one of them also received a denarius. When they received it, they began to grumble against the landowner. ‘These men who were hired last worked only one hour,’ they said, ‘and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day.’

But he answered one of them, ‘Friend, I am not being unfair to you. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’

So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

Questions for reflection:

What are the emotions that attempt to erupt in you when you read/hear the parable? What waters do the summary phrases such as ‘it’s not fair’, ‘you have made us equal’, ‘I want to be treated differently and I don’t want to be treated differently’ stir?

There seems to be a very personal response to each person/group. What is your response to that – mortified, oddly flattered,….? Is this like sibling rivalry, albeit possibly less public and vocal than our photo might suggest?

Do I really believe first is last? Isn’t most of my effort taken up with being first or at least not last?

Andrew (the aforementioned guest blogger). I can hear my wife thinking ‘that term sounds very unappealing’.

The Parable of the Net – Mt 13:47-50

Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Questions for reflection:

As you reflect on the parable and attempt to honestly evaluate yourself, you may like to consider the following question:

Good and bad fish are swimming together, until the separation at the end. What does that mean for you? Can we tell which are which?

The Parable of the 10 virgins – Mt 25: 1-13

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’

But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’

Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

Questions for reflection:

As you reflect on the parable and attempt to honestly evaluate yourself, you may like to consider the following questions:

What is the difference between the wise and foolish young girls? What does the oil represent for you?

“The Bridegroom was a long time in coming” When it seems God is taking longer than He ‘should’ to appear, to answer prayer, or to work in some way we would like Him to, how do we respond?

Tags: Parables, Parables of the Kingdom

Photo supplied by FreeFoto.com

We are only looking at the parables that Jesus starts off by saying: “The Kingdom of God is like…”. There are other parables that teach or speak about the Kingdom of Heaven / God, but we had to restrict the number we looked at somehow. This blog series is following what we are doing on Sundays in our church. I or guest blogger Andrew Hook, will be posting the parable the week before we look at it on Sunday.

I hope that this will enable each of us to take some time to reflect on the parable during the week. So for those who will be there on the Sunday, we will have grappled personally with the text before we hear someone else’s thoughts and reflections. It would be good to leave some comments here too, so that our insights are shared with others … so go on, if you lurk here be brave! Anyone, whether part of our church or not, is welcome to participate. The MP3′s are posted here the week after the talk on the Sunday.

Here are the parables we will be looking at:

• Sun 7th July – Parable of the Hidden Treasure and Pearl (Mt 13:44-46)
• Sun 14th July – Parable of the Virgins (Mt 25:1-13)
• Sun 21st July – Parable of the Net (Mt 13: 47-52)
• Sun 28th July – Parable of the Workers in the Vineyard (Mt 20: 1-16)
• Sun 5th Aug – Parable of the wheat and the weeds (Mt 13: 24-30, 36-43)
• Sun 12th Aug – Parable of the wedding banquet (Mt 22: 1-14)
• Sun 19th Aug – Parable of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast (Mt 13: 31-34)
• Sun 26th Aug – Parable of the unmerciful servant (Mt 18: 21-35)
• Sun 9th Sept – Parable of the Talents (Mt 25: 14-30)

If you are wondering why we aren’t following the order in Matthew, it is solely that lots of different people are speaking this summer who are not available on the relevant Sundays if we were to do it in order.

With various coming and goings this Summer, if I or someone else isn’t that quick in responding to comments, it is probably because we are away and don’t have internet access! But I will eventually read all comments, as will many others, so please do leave your thoughts!

At the beginning of each week, the parable for the following Sunday will be posted, along with an image for reflection. As we engage with the Scriptures ourselves we take our growth seriously, rather than solely expecting someone to come each week with their reflections and be spoon fed! This shouldn’t detract from what the speaker will say, but may bring clarity and stimulation. Even if you are not there on a Sunday (or aren’t part of our church) please do contribute and participate.

This Sunday we are looking at 2 very short parables, in Mt 13: 44-46 – the parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl. The text appears below together with a picture for reflection (which you can click to enlarge). It would be great if you can add your thoughts or observations in the comments, to create an opportunity for learning together …

The Parables of the Hidden Treasure and the Pearl

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

Questions for reflection:

As you reflect on the parable and attempt to honestly evaluate yourself, you may like to consider the following questions:

The merchant sold everything. How important is the Kingdom to you? What things do you keep hold of?

How would describe your attitude in letting go of other attractions to take hold of the Kingdom? Joyful? Grudgingly? Hopefully? Fearfully? What does this tell you about your view of the Kingdom?

Tags: Kingdom, Kingdom of God, Parables, Parables of the Kingdom, Preaching, Church

This last Sunday, I was speaking, introducing the topic of the parables of the Kingdom by putting them in their bigger context of the Kingdom that has come and is coming …

The image I have of the “now” and the “not yet” of the Kingdom is of dawn coming, but the son has yet to rise above the horizon. Isaiah prophecies that a light will come in the midst of incredible darkness ( Isa 60); Jesus came as a light to the world (Jn 1), but there is still darkness. This is the dawn, light has start reflect around the sky, the same light that will blaze above the horizon, but has yet to be fully revealed.

In reading Rev 21, we see the end of the story, the Holy City comes to earth … the Kingdom has come in all its fullness. The sun is shinning in all its glory, and there is no night, no darkness. To use a phrase that Rob Bell has used: Heaven has crashed into earth … but will it be heaven for you?

When this light comes, it brings into the light:

1. Our actions – Jn 3: 19-21 where Jesus talks about people loving the darkness as their deeds remain in the darkness. But when the sun rises above the horizon, there will be no darkness … all will be laid bare and exposed.

All the things that we have done in darkness will be brought into the light. The God who is generous, forgiving & pure will come, and the things we have kept in the darkness will be brought into the light …

2. Our words – Lk 12: 2-3 where Jesus says that everything that has been said in secret will be bought into daylight or shouted from the rooftops.

All the things that we say about others but won’t say to them, all the things that we say to make ourselves look good, or to down others will be brought into the light.

3. Our motives- 1 Cor 4:5 where Jesus says that our motives will be exposed and bring to light all that has been hidden.

Where we are judgemental, or competitive, or compare ourselves to others, or do things for our glory, the Light will reveal all.

We have the opportunity to live, preparing ourselves for heaven, so that when heaven does come, when the sun rises above the horizon, all has already been brought into the light. The Kingdom has come, but not in all its fullness … we can chose to live in light of the coming Kingdom, in the Light of the coming Kingdom … or in the darkness which still covers the earth, ignoring Kingdom drawing near…

I have spent such a long time talking about God’s grace, kindness and love. These are all foundational in my understanding of God. But God also calls us to respond to His love and live a life worthy of Him. I feel challenged by these Scriptures and thoughts … what about you? If you were there, what did you think?

Tags: Kingdom, Kingdom of God, Rob Bell, Heaven