News - July 2014 RSS Feed

When I was little, our neighbors had a big walnut tree in their back yard that hung over our fence. It was a beautiful tree, and gave nice shade in the summer; a welcome gift on a hot day in the heart of Sacramento.

God says to Solomon in the first reading today, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon asked for an understanding heart instead of long life or riches. The Lord was pleased that Solomon made this request. The Bible says that Solomon uttered 3,000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs. He was not only married to the daughter of Pharaoh, but he had 699 more wives to make life interesting. He owned 4,000 chariot horses.

Good things come in small packages. If you don’t believe me, ask any married woman in the congregation, “Which would you rather get for your birthday: a great big box with a new vacuum cleaner in it from City Target, or a little bright blue box tied with a white ribbon, from Tiffany’s?” Gentlemen husbands, it would behoove you to remember the ancient Latin adage “caveat emptor,” let the buyer beware.

Today we hear a parable recounted in chapter 13 of Matthew’s Gospel. And for the next two weeks we will hear a series of parables.

We hear Jesus today tell his followers to take a break: “Come to me, all you who are weary and find life burdensome, and I will refresh you.” Jesus never minced words about the sins of the church people of his day. But of all their sins, the one that seemed to rankle him most of all was the fact that the religious leaders had taken away precious rest and peace from people’s lives. The heaviest burden that ordinary people had to carry was their religion.