God Guiding us on Paths as yet Untrod: 26 July, 2020

Martin Luther King’s great “I have a dream” speech is one of the most powerful examples of Christian hope and expectation of our age. It calls a whole nation into God’s future. That movement into God’s future can be seen in all of the texts appointed for this week. Hope, expectation, anticipation, and action are all part and parcel of active Christian hope. –– Timothy V. Olson

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Parables always seem to have an element of turning the world upside down. . .

First, the image of a tree and nesting birds evokes images of mighty nations. The trees usually cited are the great cedars. Here Jesus references a shrub. . .

The second parable has its own humor. . . Jesus seems to be saying that the kingdom is perceived as something that corrupts the world. In addition, the verb used for the baker’s action has a sense of “hiding” missed by the NRSV. Both parables continue the explanations of why the world rejects this Jesus and cannot always see that God alone is God. . .

No longer addressing the crowds, themselves a mixture of soils, weeds and wheat, Jesus is now addressing the disciples [who] have left behind family, jobs, property (4:20, 22). Jesus explains to them that when one is grasped by the reign of God, it becomes worth everything. All is sold to buy the field that contains the treasure, and all is sold to obtain the pearl of highest value.

Jesus also seems to lift up the fact that people are grasped by the reign of God in different ways. In the first parable, the man plowing a field stumbles across the treasure quite by accident. In the second, the man is on a quest to find what he is looking for. No matter, the result is the same. . . The reign of God, the movement into God’s future, is indeed graciously offered—but it costs us everything. –– Timothy V. Olson

1 Kings 3:5-12

Solomon has come to the throne at a young age, in a rather messy succession. Apparently overwhelmed by the prospect of his now dawning reign, he seeks out the holy place at Gibeon, where he spends the night hoping for a dream. God appears and invites dialogue. Solomon immediately grounds himself in the covenant with his father, David. Then, rather than seeking his own way or gain, he asks for the wisdom to lead God’s people. . . open to the future of the kingdom God has created. . . –– Timothy V. Olson

Romans 8:26-39

Verse 28 is a dangerous verse. It is often treated in a trivial manner that diminishes the reality of suffering in the world. Paul is not supplying a holy means of saying “everything will work out” or “it’s not that bad.” . . . Paul’s assertion is rooted in the cross, the ultimate suffering, that somehow finds redemption in God’s gracious power to bring something out of nothingness. We

move into the future with our eyes wide open to the suffering and pain, but strengthened by the power of God witnessed in the cross and resurrection. –– Timothy V. Olson

Timothy V. Olson is the pastor at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, Ankeny, Iowa.

Homily Service 38, no. 8 (2005): 35-45.