15th Sunday in Ordinary Time (A) – July 16, 2023

St. Paul – Lyons, KS

Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 65:10-14; Romans 8:18-23; Matthew 13:1-23

The Kingdom Parables and Our Relationship With Christ

As I mentioned last week, we began a whole new section in Matthew’s Gospel. In Matthew, there are five large “discourses,” five large sections where Jesus is speaking for an extended time about some topic. This is the third discourse: the discourse on the Kingdom, a discourse made up of parables—all about the Kingdom.

But what did we learn last week? What’s the spoiler? What’s the nerd word? Autobasileia. The kingdom isn’t some place we go when we die, or some sociopolitical something, no. The Kingdom, fundamentally—it’s Jesus himself. Jesus is autobasileia, the Church fathers would say: Jesus is the Kingdom itself, the Kingdom in person. Autobasileia—that’s the title Jesus was given. In other words, experiencing the Kingdom that Jesus promises, entering the Kingdom, experiencing the rest and peace and joy and happiness—it doesn’t happen by dying, but by entering into a deep, personal, real, and authentic relationship with Jesus Christ. What did Harvard teach us? It’s not money and fame and career and status that give us the life and joy we’re looking for, no. It’s deep, personal, real, authentic relationships. And that’s what Jesus is after—with you. That relationship.

And that’s why this first parable is first—I think, anyway. Jesus is making this clear. The parable of the sower is really famous, but we really need to “hear” the parable. So, simple (that’s my motto for these weeks); we’re going to keep it simple. The parable is about the Kingdom showing up in your life; the seed is Jesus; the seed is the beginning of your relationship with Christ, the thing that could grow into something beautiful; produce fruit in your life 30, 60, and 100-fold! But—but what are the things that are going to come along and threaten this relationship? What are the top three pitfalls to this relationship? That’s what Jesus is getting at.

You know, I think of my own parents’ marriage. their relationship. Jerry and Cas have a beautiful marriage; almost forty years—and counting! Everyone wants what they have! But not everyone has what it takes. I grew up thinking that everyone had a marriage like them—uh, no! Marriage is not easy! A good marriage is hard work! But—but the hard work necessary for a good marriage leads to a joy and a fulfillment and a gladness that doesn’t compare.

So as we step through these three pitfalls Jesus is pointing out, I think marriage is a good image to keep in mind, just so we don’t lose sight of the fact that Jesus is talking about our relationship with him. This is very real. Very concrete.

Lack of Understanding

So, pitfall number one: “The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom [who enters into this relationship] without understanding it.” Have you ever met people that were getting married for the wrong reasons? Or maybe not even getting married for the wrong reasons, but they had some pretty, let’s say, misguided ideas about what marriage is? A couple showed up to start their marriage prep with me once, and after a few pleasantries, getting to know one another, I asked them, “So, why do you want to get married?” And honest to goodness, this is the answer I got, “Well, I really like spending time with her.” Another one said, “We really hope to travel and see the world together.” It’s a lack of understanding, and that lack of understanding was leading nowhere…and fast!

But this is how it is in our relationship with Jesus: a lack of understanding. We’ve all heard the “Jesus story.” Everyone has heard a version of the Jesus story. Atheists can tell you the Jesus story. But how many of have missed it, misunderstood it? We know the words, we can say the things that happened—but do we get it? One of the things that we did a few months ago was “Rerouting…” And “Rerouting…” was nothing more than an attempt to tell the story, to share what it is that all of this is. (It’s all online, you can go watch it again.)

But how do many people understand, truly understand what this is? How many people say, “Well, Jesus wants us to be a nice person. I don’t need to go to Mass or do any of that stuff to be a good person.” For the love of… Yeah, if all this is is a time for me to tell everyone to be nice, for us to eat some crackers… It’s like St. Paul says, “We are the most pitiable of people.” We’re idiots!

But no! Think about this in terms of a relationship, in terms of marriage: your spouse doesn’t just want you to be nice—it’s more! I knew this couple that went through some rocky times. The husband was the best provider in the world! Great provider. But the reason things got rocky? He never gave them his heart. #1 provider, but would not give them his heart. Understand this: Christ wants more than for you to be nice; he wants you, your life, your heart. He wants you to surrender your life into his hands. (It’s like the Notebook, not that I ever watched it, or all those other cheesy movies—why does the girl always go for the guy no one expects? Because he gives her the one thing she can’t get anywhere else: his heart.) Jesus wants you, your heart, your life.

Lack of Discipline

Pitfall number two. “The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word [because of the relationship], he immediately falls away.” Ok, what’s going on here? Young people getting married—they think they’re capable of a great love. But what happens? The initial love fades, the “bad times” part of the “good times and the bad” come, the “sickness” part of “in sickness and in health” comes—and increasingly so, the marriage breaks down.

We see this all the time: people begin to follow Jesus, they have a good experience with a retreat, or a small group, or at Mass—they encounter Jesus Christ in a powerful way…but then after a time they just drift away. “Tribulation or persecution” come their way, and things fall apart. I know a lot of people face ridicule from family, friends, co-workers, people in school—heck, even your own spouse! And little by little, the relationship with Christ begins to fall apart, it fades. A priest comes along that isn’t our cup of tea, and we fade away. The music isn’t what we like, and we fade away. On and on. The issue is that we aren’t prepared for these times.

It’s the example of infidelity, when someone is unfaithful in marriage—there was a time that the couple was madly in love, but as that fades, when someone more enticing comes along, when we begin to cross boundaries we know we shouldn’t… You know, marriage has all of these “disciplines” and “rules” to protect the relationship. And it’s the same with Christ. The tough times are going to come, the persecution is going to come—but are we ready to weather those times? Do we have the disciplines in place to keep going, even when it gets tough? Or, like all my gym buddies on January 1st, are you going to be gone by January 27th? A strong relationship requires the discipline, deep enough “roots,” to weather the “tribulations and persecutions.”

Lack of Prioritization

Last one, pitfall number three. “The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word [chokes the relationship] and it bears no fruit.” This is the easy one. Gentlemen, show of hands, how many of you would say the following? “I only spend time with my wife when I feel like it. I only do things for my wife when I feel like it. I’ll get around to spending time with my wife and talking to her next year”? Anyone? “Bueller?” No! That’s gonna be a short marriage. But you still see it all the time: the relationship falls apart when the couple stops prioritizing the relationship, when they stop making time for each other—it’s the beginning of the end.

Do I need to walk you to the door on this one? Ok, I will: if this is the case in our relationship with our spouse—heck, even with one of our friends—how much more so in our relationship with Jesus? Our relationship with Jesus—we have to give it priority. We’ve got it. It does not take a PhD to know that things are going to get in the way. So think, real quick: how much time and energy did you dedicate to your relationship with Jesus Christ this week? Think. I’ll wait. Ok, and was it as much as the time you spent worrying about money, your next car, scrolling through Facebook, watching Fox News, driving kids to practices or sitting at their games, complaining about politics? “Worldly anxieties, the lure of riches,” distractions—it’s real.

A Relationship with Christ Is Still A Relationship

Do you remember Jesus’ invitation last week? “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Come to me, and you will find rest for yourselves.” In the core of our being, we’re wired for relationship with Christ. That is where we’re going to find life. That is where we’re going to find the joy, the peace, the something that we can find anywhere else: by entering into a deep, personal, real, authentic relationship with Jesus Christ.

As he begins teaching about the Kingdom, our relationship with him—these are the three common pitfalls that Jesus thought it necessary to lead with: a lack of understanding the relationship, a lack of discipline in the relationship, and a lack of prioritizing the relationship. Why do relationships break down? Because people stop listening and understanding each other. Why do relationships only last for a time? Because the “roots” aren’t deep enough, the disciplines isn’t real enough to weather the tough times. Why do relationships fall apart? Because we don’t prioritize them.

A relationship with Jesus is still a relationship. And the pitfalls of a martial relationship, of a friendship—they’re the same as a relationship with Jesus. Except, the problem is never him: it’s me…it’s always been me.

So I’d like to challenge you this week. Three things. First, I want you to take one hour of silence this week. One hour. Preferably here in the Church, in Adoration. But one hour. Take the time to listen, to hear what Jesus is speaking to you. Grab a Bible, find this passage, read it—and just listen. Ask to understand. Second, I want you to start one new discipline. Maybe that is setting an alarm on your phone to stop and pray for a brief moment each day. Maybe it’s taking one hour for Adoration and prayer each week. Maybe it’s listening to the daily Mass readings on your drive to work, Bible in a Year podcast, praying the Rosary. Maybe it’s taking five minutes before you go to bed to thank God for the blessings of the day, and to acknowledge the times you failed. One discipline. And third—and this is the hardest one!—I want you to make one, one concrete change to your life to prioritize Jesus. And that change is this: prioritize Sunday. Instead of Sunday being a “catch all” and “catch up” day, instead of it being sports day, instead of it being the day to get ready for Monday—make it the Lord’s Day.

And why? Why do we do this? Because Jesus wants to kill our fun? Because we need to follow more rules? No. Because our relationship with Christ has to take priority, it has to be surrounded by real, concrete disciplines—and we have to understand what’s going on. Friends, it’s in this, this relationship that we find our life, our joy, our everything. Jesus is here. Waiting for you. He places it all on the line for you. Why? Because all he wants, all he is after—is you.