Meditation for October 31

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Matthew 13:10-17

 

"Then the disciples came and asked Him, 'Why do you speak to them in parables?'  He answered, 'To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.  For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.  The reason I speak to them in parables is that 'seeing they do not perceive, and hearing they do not listen, nor do they understand.'  With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy that Isaiah says;

 

"You will indeed listen, but never understand,

and you will indeed look, but never perceive.

For this people's heart has grown dull,

and their ears are hard of hearing,

and they have shut their eyes;

so that they might not look with their eyes,

and listen with their ears,

and understand with their heart and turn -

and I will hear them."

 

'But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear.  Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.'

 

Faith in God Begets More Faith

 

There is a certain way of seeing.  In a very real way, people either see this way or they don't.  I call it "the eyes of faith".  You either see God at work in the world, or you don't.  You recognize grace, or you don't.  You see God as present in this world - and present in your life - or you don't.  I have heard it said that "faith is more caught than taught."  I think this is basically true.  I think you have to put yourself in position to catch faith, just as a wide receiver in football or an outfielder of infielder in baseball must put himself in position to make the catch.  But it is a mystery to me why some people "catch" faith and some people don't.

 

Jesus recognized this truth.  "You disciples are getting it," is what He basically said to them. "You see something in me.   You see - somehow, some way - that I am the long-waited-for Messiah."  This is what He means when He says, "Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it, and hear what you hear, but did not hear it."  Crowds of people, on the other hand, saw the same Messiah right in the midst of them - saw Him healing people, saw Him teaching like no other rabbi had ever taught, saw Him speaking with a whole different kind of authority - and yet did not recognize Him as the Messiah.  In the fulfillment of Isaiah 6:9-10, which Jesus quotes in this passage from Matthew, their hearts had grown dull, they were seeing but not perceiving, and hearing but not understanding.  In other words, they did not have the eyes or ears of faith.

 

Jesus says something quite interesting in this passage.  He says in verse 12: "For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away."  What is He saying?  He is not talking about material wealth.  The context makes that clear.  The context is knowing the "secrets of the kingdom of heaven".  (Note:  Matthew did not think the name of God should be uttered casually, so he is the only Gospel writer who used the phrase "kingdom of heaven" instead of "kingdom of God".)  The context in this passage has to do with recognizing the kingdom of God.  To see God at work, to see Jesus as the Messiah, you have to have faith.  Faith itself is a gift, really.  You must be willing to receive the gift.  But faith in God is a gift from God, and a work of the Spirit.

 

So I think verse 12 means this:  "For to those who have faith, more faith will be given, and they will have an abundance (of faith); but from those who have no faith; even what they have (whatever that is) will be taken away."

 

In other words, faith begets more faith.  A lack of faith begets more of nothing.

 

Think about how this might be true in your own life.

 

If you read the Bible with "the eyes of faith", the Bible is going to speak to you in a much more powerful way than if you read it simply in an academic way.  Your faith will grow when a passage you are reading suddenly speaks to you right where you are!  You'll see and feel the Spirit at work, and you'll be encouraged to keep reading the Bible.  On the other hand, if you read the Bible in a very academic way and find it dry and rather boring and irrelevant to your life, you won't be inclined to keep reading it.

 

People of faith tend to seek out other people of faith - even join "faith communities"!  Once a person does such a thing, he or she is hearing others talk about their experiences of God on a regular basis.  They are hearing stories of faith from the Bible, and all the stories of the mighty ways that God has acted throughout history, according to other people of faith.  They are going to be surrounded by people praying, and people talking about answers to prayer, and other ways that they see the Spirit moving.  On the other hand, why would a person without the eyes of faith join a faith community?  Those are just "superstitious people", or "people who can't make it on their own."  Their lack of faith begets more skepticism, perhaps even a certain judgmentalism when it comes to people of faith.

 

If you have the "eyes of faith", when something happens that most people would say, "Wow, what are the odds that that would ever happen?", you say, "God was in the midst of all of this.  I can't exactly tell you how, but I know that God was present in all of this."  That attitude then leads to you being on the lookout for how God is going to show up the next  time.  If you don't have the eyes of faith, you'd say, "That was quite a coincidence" or "That was just fate" or "That was one in a million.  That will never happen again."  Lack of faith, in this case, means that you're even more likely to not see God at work in the next thing that happens.

 

So... how do you want to see the world?  The disciples didn't always get it.  Sometimes they were pretty thick-skulled, as you will see if you read the Gospels again.  But overall, they were open enough to be people of faith, and as time went on, they became people of greater and greater faith.  If you want to see the world as the disciples did, then, be open. 

 

Be open to the possibility that God might show up in your life during the next half-hour, and again tonight, and again tomorrow.  If you want to be a person of faith, or if you want to have your faith grow, then be on the lookout!  Pay attention!  Ask God to "open [your] eyes to see Your hand at work in the world about us...", as we pray in Eucharistic Prayer C, p. 371.  (The Book of Common Prayer)  Be on the lookout.  And you will see God at work in your life.  And then you will see Him again and again and again.  Faith begets faith.  Or, as Jesus put it, "For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance..." (Matthew 13:12)