Kate always finds adventures for our family. A few weeks ago she found out about David Fortier River Park by BW University.

The kids slid down rocks. They launched cannonballs from the waterfalls. We had a summer picnic. It was a beautiful spot right in the suburbs.

We hiked upriver, and I stumbled upon a rusted out bike frame. The starkness of the beauty of nature with this unwanted pile of rust was striking. I snapped a few pictures, and it’s now our bulletin cover.

The bike was unwanted. It could have been thrown into the river. Or washed away in some flood. Who knows how long it has lain on that rock. No one has touched it. It’s unwanted.

There are some parables in today’s scripture that are the verbal equivalent of that bike. We miss it because we’re in a different context than Jesus and the first audience who heard it. We’ve heard this so many times that these phrases have lost their impact on us.

What is the kingdom of heaven like? That’s the starting question for all the parables. When I think about the kingdom of heaven, there’s a vision of clouds, angels, harps, a very “other worldly” scene. Yet here’s what Jesus gives us.

It’s a mustard seed. The smallest of seeds. But it grows to a great shrub and the birds come and make nests in its branches.

Aww. It’s earthy. It’s about a farmer, a field, and birds. How nice! Only mustard was considered a weed. And what farmer wants birds in their field?! Birds eat the seed! They make a mess of the fields. They poop on your freshly washed car… or in Jesus’ time, cart! They are bothersome!

Or it’s like a woman who took yeast and mixed it in with the flour. That’s great! Only leaven is not allowed to be given in sacrifice to God. According to Leviticus 2:11 “No grain offering that you present to the Lord shall be made with leaven.”

What I think Jesus is saying here is that the Kingdom of God doesn’t look like we’ve been conditioned to think of it. Instead of esoteric and airy, it’s grounded, and also dirty in both senses of the word. Dirty in terms of grounded. Dirty in terms of lawfully impure.

Consider Jesus’ earliest followers and whom he hung out with. The number one complaint was whom he hung around with and ate at the table with! This man greets and meets and eats with sinners! Those whom the religious establishment didn’t want is exactly whom God used to start a global movement.

The seed that was unseen that’s now the biggest thing in the field. The leaven that we couldn’t see or shift out of the flour caused the loaf to rise.

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. You sell all you have and buy the field. Or it’s like finding that thing of great value you’ve been searching for, you sell everything and buy it. The point isn’t the treasure or the pearl. The point is selling everything for the sake of one thing you really want.

It can be discovered by accident. Like the treasure. There is no mention of the person looking for it beforehand, it is just discovered. Everything is given for the one thing. It can also be found by searching for it. Like the merchant. Everything is given for the one thing. The advent of the kingdom, sought for or not, brings about a reversal of values. It leads to a major decision, and the old is given up for the new.

The kingdom is like a net full of fish. The net used on the Sea of Galilee was a large drag net, usually about six feet deep and several hundred feet wide, positioned in the lake by boats and requiring several men to operate it.[1] Then the workers sift through the catch and keep the good fish and toss the bad in the fire.

It seems to me, having been in church and around religious folks all my life, that we often like to speak in abstract pleasantries while Jesus speaks in gritty tangibles. An overlooked seed sprouts into a great tree. Unseen leaven raises the whole loaf. Treasure, pearls, selling it all and going for it. That is the kingdom of God!

What does this look like in our day and age? It happens in the small moments. It happens in the overlooked people.

When a bride walks down the aisle, no one yells, “Whatever!” We hold our breath. We have a renewed hope in love. That small moment is a reminder to everyone who sees it that love is in the world. That we hope that the seed of love takes root and grows for the couple over their many years of life together. Even the most jaded among us who has been burnt by love… I have to imagine they take a breath, too. It’s a moment. A small, overlooked thing we’ve seen a hundred times. Yet the impact is undeniable.

Rob Bell tells the story of his favorite Trader Joes by his home in Los Angeles.[2] There is a parking lot attendant. Space is hard to come by in L.A. Stores that have parking lots will charge you an arm and a leg to park, unless you get your ticket validated before you leave. All day long, in the hot southern California sun, this man is handing out and collecting parking tickets. And he does it with such joy! “Hey! You again! Great to see you! How was that asiago bread you purchased last time? Have a great day!” All day long, welcoming on one side as cars pull in, and sending them off on the other side as cars leave. All day long.

The thing is, there is a closer Trader Joes to Rob’s house. He goes out of the way to see this man. If you think your life is boring or not exciting… Just think of a man who all day long welcomes with great hospitality and sends folks with a wonderful benediction. In a parking lot. In L.A.

What is the kingdom of God like? It’s like a bride coming down the aisle and everyone gasps. It’s like a joyful parking lot attendant. Unexpected. Unnoticed and unheralded by the masses.

The kingdom of God is like those times after a meal where you lean back and say, “AAAAHHHHH! This is what it’s all about.” As if to say, those past times at table with good food, good conversation, surrounded by friends and family is somehow connected to that moment and is connected to the moments that will come after. YES! That is what it’s all about. Like a communion, a gathering of spirits that reflects the larger spirit. YES! You are smart to recognize that!

It’s like a rusted bike frame that calls your attention to a mystery of how did that get here?! Yet isn’t that true for all of us. And isn’t there great joy in it. It snapped me out of my complaining about the heat, and I was fully present to my surroundings, my family, and the mystery of the story I find myself in. The kingdom of heaven is like an unwanted, rusty bike frame.

May you go out and notice! Find the kingdom already sprouting around you. Be fully present to it. To those moments of “AHHHH….” For those heralds of the kingdom, “Welcome! You again! Thank you for visiting! Can’t wait to see you again!”

It might look unwanted at first but know that God often uses the unwanted and works with the unwanted, to bring about the beloved community. Thanks be to God.

Works Cited

^[1][1] M. Eugene Boring, Matthew, The New Interpreter’s Bible, Volume VIII, Page 314. And John Dominic Crossan, In Parables: The challenge of the historical Jesus, pages 26-36.

^[2][2] From the Holy Shift Tour, Cleveland Playhouse Square September 28, 2018