Rarely did Jesus say things bluntly or straightforwardly. More often than not, he came at a truth indirectly, sideways-like, in order to come in under our defenses and around our prejudices. His best tools in this were his “parables.” In them, Jesus takes images drawn from familiar things and uses them a new way, to explain God’s Kingdom. It’s to our benefit then that Jesus’ first parable is such an easy one to understand. The story begins with a man who goes forth to s

Joseph Henrich makes the argument in his recent book The Weirdest People in the World, that We in the West are just Weird. Perhaps you’re thinking, what does this have to do with the Gospel lesson this morning? “Whoever loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.” Jesus wasn’t undermining the local family, so much as calling into question the power structure of society as a whole.

“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into the harvest” (9:38). Just as the disciples kneel down to pray, Jesus turns to them and tells them that God has answered their prayer— Jesus tells them, “You’re hired!” They’ve been drafted to join in Jesus’ work, to do the very things he’s been doing—teaching, healing, preaching, casting out demons.

Today’s lesson from Matthew’s Gospel could righty be titled, “Jesus is on the move.” For over the course of a few verses, we see Jesus going from person to person, encounter to encounter, bringing healing and wholeness and reconciliation everywhere he goes.

Today is Trinity Sunday, the day when the Church celebrates and contemplates the triune nature of God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It used to be that the question of the Trinity was at the center of vital debate in the Church. Nowadays, churches and theologians happily relegate the Trinity to the margins. And yet, it is important that we continue to observe this holy day.