For the past two weeks in worship, we’ve heard two parables from Jesus describing God’s Kingdom. First, the parable of the sower, and second, the parable of the wheat and the weeds.
As I was wrestling with these parables and preparing to preach, I have to admit: it was challenging to narrow down my thought process to one main point. I know it’s easier to grasp ahold of one point, rather than a multitude, especially when an idea is communicated verbally. But, when it comes to parables, the point is exactly the opposite. Parables are not meant to be distilled down to one message, nor to a simplistic allegory. Parables, according to C.H. Dodd (New Testament scholar and professor), are “a metaphor or simile drawn from nature or common life, arresting the hearer by its vividness or strangeness, and leaving the mind in sufficient doubt about its precise application as to tease it into active thought.” (Parables of the Kingdom, 1935:16).
So if in the past two weeks you’ve found yourself walking away with more questions than answers – especially from our Gospel readings – well, the parables are doing what they should be doing then. Parables are not meant to give us concrete explanations, but are to call attention to the unsatisfactoriness of previous explanations and understandings that we may have held onto.
So as we approach yet one more week of parables this coming Sunday, allow yourself to be teased into active thought. And, if there’s something that’s still sticking with you from the parables we’ve heard already, continue to mull it over. Because it just might be in that mulling that God has a specific word for you.