What If Jesus Told You God was a Black Lesbian Living in Florida?; Matthew 13:24-33

 

Rev. George Miller

Feb 12, 2023

Matthew 13:24-33

 

Today we get to go somewhere over the rainbow and fall deep down the rabbit hole.  We are entering into the magical, mystical world of the parables.

 

Parables are stories Jesus told to get people to think on their own.

 

Parables are big, big onions that have so many layers that no matter how many times you peel it back, there is still more to find.

 

Parables are like those infamous Florida weeds we find in your yard that if you pull it up, you get this long, long root that is intertwined with every other living thing.

 

Which is to say that parables are not easy, parables are not neat.

 

And guess what- Jesus choose parables as his main way of teaching people about God, the ways of heaven, and being a servant of the kingdom.

 

Because Jesus knew his community and knew how they lived, he used images folks could relate to- fields and crops, weeds and birds, baking and barns.

 

But just because he used everyday images doesn’t mean he was teaching simple things.  In fact, the very opposite. 

 

Jesus was so smart, so subversive, so sly, that often we miss the universal complexity he is planting.  Case in point verse 33.

 

“The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

 

First, a correction.  In the original Greek, the word is not “took” but “hid.”  The woman hid yeast within the flour.

 

So now there is an air of mystery.  Why would she hide the yeast?

 

Is Jesus saying the kingdom of Heaven can involve stealth and secrecy?

 

And why would she hide yeast?  Isn’t yeast needed to make bread?

 

Depends what country you’re from and the cuisine you eat.  These are Jewish people who often ate unleavened bread.

 

Not to mention, in ancient times, yeast was often used to represent corruption, it was seen as something like a virus or rust.

 

Back then, yeast represented something that can insidiously take over; akin to the saying “One bad apple can spoil the bunch.”

 

So the woman secretly hides some kind of quick growing element into the flour.

 

And the flour!  Who can guess how much three measures of flour is?  50 pounds.

 

How much bread can 50 pounds of flour make?  Enough to feed about 100 people.

 

So the kingdom of heaven is like a woman who slides in some expansive element into enough flour to feed a lot of people.

 

But why would you need to feed 100 people?   Perhaps it’s a celebration?  A wedding? 

 

Perhaps hard-working servants or people in the community who are starving?

 

We don’t know, we can imagine.

 

So, can you now sense the rabbit hole Jesus has us falling down, can you smell the onion being peeled back, the garden weed’s root stretching across the yard?

 

The kingdom of heaven is like a woman who hides an expansive element into enough flour to feed an abundance of people.

 

But one last thing- Who is this woman?  Is she a house slave? A local baker?  A business owner? 

 

Is she a minister?  Deacon?  Church moderator? 

 

Is the woman God? Think about it. 

 

If the parables of Jesus are meant to be subversive than think of what Jesus is doing right in front of us-

 

During a time when women were seen as lower class citizens with no political voice, Jesus offers

 

an image of God that is not a He or a Him or King or a patriarch, but

 

a She, a Her, a Housewife, a Baker, a Party Planner, a Chef Curating a Celebration.

 

The image of God as a She who secretly does things so the outcome is more life and abundance.  Makes sense!

 

Remember Judith- she who slyly seduced the enemy so she could save her people?

 

Tamar- who pretended to be something she’s not so she could have the child that was due her.

 

Rahab- she who hid the Hebrew slaves and lied to military to keep her entire family safe.

 

Queen Esther who allowed her beauty to be a way in which she could speak sense to the King and save a nation?

 

Mary, who kept all the things that were said to her about her son to herself and treasured them?

 

Scripturally thinking, God as a woman makes sense; after who, who creates life?

 

Culturally speaking, God as subversive makes sense because how often do woman have to be sly, wise and go undetected to do what is right for their family?

 

Finally, to show what a funky onion this parable is, another thought-

 

Back then women were lower class citizens.  What if Jesus told this same parable in 1803 France and the person was a Haitian?

 

What if Jesus told this story in 1845 and the person was Irish?

 

What if Jesus told this story in 1864 Atlanta and she was a Yankee?

 

What if Jesus told this story in 1950 west side New York and the person was a Puerto Rican?

 

What if Jesus told this story in 2016 and the person was an illegal immigrant from Mexico?

 

What if Jesus told this story today in Florida and Jesus was a black person of the LGBTQ community?

 

Could you imagine the uproar?  Could you imagine the push back?

 

Imagine the names he would be called and what the schoolboard would say.

 

In conclusion, the parables are complex, seemingly simply, but deeply layered and controversial.

 

Meant to make us think, to make us wonder, meant to make us ask “Who is God?”  “What is God’s nature?”

 

“What does the Kingdom of Heaven look like here on Earth?”

 

“How do we play a role?” And finally, “How is God giving us the chance to be blessed and to bless others around us?”

 

For that we can say “Amen.”