| Sermon, July 11, 2004 |
| "The Net" Parables of the Kingdom, Part 7 [1] Matthew 13: 47-50 Rev. Matthew M. Fry |
As we continue to experience the Word of the Lord together, Let us Pray. Awesome,
All-powerful God, you have called us your own. You have reached out to all of humanity with
your mystery, and have implanted the kingdom in our realm. Help us as we respond to it, so that
we might accept your call. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come
to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us
from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and
Redeemer, Amen.
All-powerful God, you have called us your own. You have reached out to all of humanity with
your mystery, and have implanted the kingdom in our realm. Help us as we respond to it, so that
we might accept your call. If these words are not Your Word, may they be forgotten and come
to naught. But if they be Thy Word, may they adhere to our hearts, forever transforming us
from glory into glory, into the creatures you would have us be, Thou who art our Rock and
Redeemer, Amen.
Hear now The Word of the Lord as it comes to us in the gospel of Matthew. Listen.
Matthew 13.47-50. The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.
Matthew 13.47-50. The Word of the Lord…Thanks be to God.
The parable of the Net, like Jesus’ interpretation of the Weeds, has the flavor of judgment. But
because it is the last of the parables of the kingdom, I think it may not have the sense of irony
that Jesus puts into his other sections of judgment. Storytellers and authors commonly try to
end their sections or chapters with a good climax. This is why I assume that either Jesus or
Matthew (neither of whom slouched when it came to authoring) did just that by ending the
sequence of kingdom parables with the Net. The completion, the wrap up of the age, the end,
makes it natural as a finale. The points of eschatology, or theology of end times, bear much
weight positioned as they are in this parable, the last about the kingdom.
because it is the last of the parables of the kingdom, I think it may not have the sense of irony
that Jesus puts into his other sections of judgment. Storytellers and authors commonly try to
end their sections or chapters with a good climax. This is why I assume that either Jesus or
Matthew (neither of whom slouched when it came to authoring) did just that by ending the
sequence of kingdom parables with the Net. The completion, the wrap up of the age, the end,
makes it natural as a finale. The points of eschatology, or theology of end times, bear much
weight positioned as they are in this parable, the last about the kingdom.
Note quickly that the word for net [used by Matthew], sagene, is only used this one time in the
entire New Testament. Other words are used [multiple times] for net: amphiblestron for throw
net, and diktyon for net and network, but sagene is used only once. This net, that is dragged
through the water, indiscriminately takes in everything in its path.[2]
entire New Testament. Other words are used [multiple times] for net: amphiblestron for throw
net, and diktyon for net and network, but sagene is used only once. This net, that is dragged
through the water, indiscriminately takes in everything in its path.[2]
If you haven’t got them by now, you are not going to. But if you have, that last sentence
should ring the bell that one of the 4 categories has just been sounded. Category number 1, the
kingdom is all-embracing. Our mental image probably has the net as containing nothing but fish.
And since the obvious referral point to the fish is people, we think that the kingdom only deals
with humans. But the net touches everything in the world; not just souls, but bodies, and not
just people, but all things animal, vegetable, or mineral. So, hot cross buns are not just bread;
they are the fruit of the plains marked with the sign of the mystery of the kingdom. And to go
heavier, cathedrals are not just rock piles or shelters; they are stone parables of the splendor of
the kingdom.[3]
should ring the bell that one of the 4 categories has just been sounded. Category number 1, the
kingdom is all-embracing. Our mental image probably has the net as containing nothing but fish.
And since the obvious referral point to the fish is people, we think that the kingdom only deals
with humans. But the net touches everything in the world; not just souls, but bodies, and not
just people, but all things animal, vegetable, or mineral. So, hot cross buns are not just bread;
they are the fruit of the plains marked with the sign of the mystery of the kingdom. And to go
heavier, cathedrals are not just rock piles or shelters; they are stone parables of the splendor of
the kingdom.[3]
Jesus says in John 12.32, “I, if I be lifted up, will draw all to myself.” This does not mean
just people. It means all things, all beings. All of creation has God’s hand upon it, and all of
creation is being called back to God. In Luke 19.40, on Palm Sunday, when Jesus is told by the
Pharisees to have his disciples stop the crowd from shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in
the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,” he replies, “If they were quiet, the stones would
do it for them, shouting praise.”
just people. It means all things, all beings. All of creation has God’s hand upon it, and all of
creation is being called back to God. In Luke 19.40, on Palm Sunday, when Jesus is told by the
Pharisees to have his disciples stop the crowd from shouting, “Blessed is the one who comes in
the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest,” he replies, “If they were quiet, the stones would
do it for them, shouting praise.”
You know, nowhere in the parable does the word fish appear. If it did, I could give you a
wonderful section about how the carp and the bass, the marlin and the trout, all types of fish are
included in the net. But the Bible doesn’t even provide the word fish. Matthew and Jesus really
want us to get the point. The net takes in ALL. Not just all types of fish i.e. souls, but all things:
mud, boots, and all sorts of life and creation. “Even the stones would cry out.”
wonderful section about how the carp and the bass, the marlin and the trout, all types of fish are
included in the net. But the Bible doesn’t even provide the word fish. Matthew and Jesus really
want us to get the point. The net takes in ALL. Not just all types of fish i.e. souls, but all things:
mud, boots, and all sorts of life and creation. “Even the stones would cry out.”
So, the note of the all-embracing nature of the kingdom is once again resounded. Which
shows how we as the church are to act. If the kingdom works like a dragnet, gathering every
kind of created thing, then the church should avoid the temptation to act like a sport fisher who
is interested mostly in speckled trout and hand-tied flies. The church cannot find itself in the
habit of rejecting as junk the flotsam and jetsam of the world, the human counterparts of the old
boots, bottles, and beer cans that a truly all-embracing fishing operation will inevitably dredge
up.[4] So, once again, since the kingdom calls to all, the church must be for all.
shows how we as the church are to act. If the kingdom works like a dragnet, gathering every
kind of created thing, then the church should avoid the temptation to act like a sport fisher who
is interested mostly in speckled trout and hand-tied flies. The church cannot find itself in the
habit of rejecting as junk the flotsam and jetsam of the world, the human counterparts of the old
boots, bottles, and beer cans that a truly all-embracing fishing operation will inevitably dredge
up.[4] So, once again, since the kingdom calls to all, the church must be for all.
Jesus didn’t shy away from sinner, so why should the church? And don’t tell me the church
welcomes sinners. I know better. So do you. The church welcomes sinners who repent and
then never seriously need forgiveness again. It can re-clasp to itself members who gossip or
lose their tempers, small sins apparently, though who made that distinction I will never know nor
understand; but God help those who commit more serious sins, like perversion, or worse,
disagreeing with those of us who are clearly right theologically. And the church has the gall to
make such invidious distinctions in the name of the Lord who unqualifiedly told Peter, the Chief
Fisher, to forgive his sinful borther seventy time seven times, for the SAME SIN.[5]
welcomes sinners. I know better. So do you. The church welcomes sinners who repent and
then never seriously need forgiveness again. It can re-clasp to itself members who gossip or
lose their tempers, small sins apparently, though who made that distinction I will never know nor
understand; but God help those who commit more serious sins, like perversion, or worse,
disagreeing with those of us who are clearly right theologically. And the church has the gall to
make such invidious distinctions in the name of the Lord who unqualifiedly told Peter, the Chief
Fisher, to forgive his sinful borther seventy time seven times, for the SAME SIN.[5]
And if the radicalness of the all-embracing nature of the kingdom that is present here, doesn’t
blow you away, this will. For more subtle, and more powerful, there is another resounding note
here.
blow you away, this will. For more subtle, and more powerful, there is another resounding note
here.
Jesus gets to the subject of judgment here, and in a manner that I think is a foreshadowing of
the parables of judgment that will come during Holy Week. When I talk about the church and
sinners, it is easy to object. “What about reform? Are we to give the world the impression it
doesn’t need to straighten up and fly right? Are we to imply that it can get away with murder?”
the parables of judgment that will come during Holy Week. When I talk about the church and
sinners, it is easy to object. “What about reform? Are we to give the world the impression it
doesn’t need to straighten up and fly right? Are we to imply that it can get away with murder?”
Well, for openers, the world has already gotten away with – no, that’s too weak; the world has
already been redeemed by its murder of God himself incarnate.[6] If the world cannot be
stopped from its ways by the flood nor by the prophets, nor by the preaching of Jesus on the
Mount, then what chance does the church have? Won’t we get the message of the Bible;
nothing will stop the world from sin. It’s why Adam & Eve were sent out of the garden here to
the sin filled earth. And if Jesus didn’t come to earth to change its ways, why do we think that
we should? No, the subject of judgment comes in another manner.
already been redeemed by its murder of God himself incarnate.[6] If the world cannot be
stopped from its ways by the flood nor by the prophets, nor by the preaching of Jesus on the
Mount, then what chance does the church have? Won’t we get the message of the Bible;
nothing will stop the world from sin. It’s why Adam & Eve were sent out of the garden here to
the sin filled earth. And if Jesus didn’t come to earth to change its ways, why do we think that
we should? No, the subject of judgment comes in another manner.
The fishers did three things when the net was finally full. They hauled it up to the beach, they
sat down, and they gathered the good into a bucket and threw away the bad. The words used
for good and bad are noteworthy. Kalos in Greek is indeed the root for Kal’ hemera, or good
morning. But when Kalos means good, it means good with undercurrents of Beautiful, Fine or
Fair. It means good, but also more than that. Not incredibly noteworthy, but of some note.
Sapros, however, is the Greek word translated as bad. Sapros means corrupt, rotten, ugly, not
just bad. This isn’t just a difference between good and bad, this is beautiful and corrupt. And
look closer at how the parable plays out. The criterion for which side the contents of the net
gets separated into is not the innate goodness or badness of the fish themselves, but in their
acceptability to the fishermen. It is their being found Kalos, beautiful, in the eye of the beholder,
that lands them in the “saved” bucket, and the judgment of the sapron, i.e. rotten, ugly, icky,
crummy and corrupt, that gets those thrown away on the beach. That means, whatever is of
use to the fishers, they keep. Because whatever is of use has some sense of beauty or fineness
or fairness. But whatever is not of use, is crummy and corrupt.
sat down, and they gathered the good into a bucket and threw away the bad. The words used
for good and bad are noteworthy. Kalos in Greek is indeed the root for Kal’ hemera, or good
morning. But when Kalos means good, it means good with undercurrents of Beautiful, Fine or
Fair. It means good, but also more than that. Not incredibly noteworthy, but of some note.
Sapros, however, is the Greek word translated as bad. Sapros means corrupt, rotten, ugly, not
just bad. This isn’t just a difference between good and bad, this is beautiful and corrupt. And
look closer at how the parable plays out. The criterion for which side the contents of the net
gets separated into is not the innate goodness or badness of the fish themselves, but in their
acceptability to the fishermen. It is their being found Kalos, beautiful, in the eye of the beholder,
that lands them in the “saved” bucket, and the judgment of the sapron, i.e. rotten, ugly, icky,
crummy and corrupt, that gets those thrown away on the beach. That means, whatever is of
use to the fishers, they keep. Because whatever is of use has some sense of beauty or fineness
or fairness. But whatever is not of use, is crummy and corrupt.
That hand-me-down lawnmower, the one dad tried to pawn off on me, wasn’t that old. But it
didn’t work. It was of no use. It was therefore sapros. It got discarded. The old car he sold
me for a thousand bucks was nothing to look at. I doubt the rust came on it new, but I
can’t be sure that they didn’t think it was the style at the time. I’ve never seen an uglier blue, or
wheels that look better without the hubcaps. But that thing gave me 4 good years and 50,000
miles. And when I speak of it, it is always with love. It was of use. It was Kalos, beautiful.
didn’t work. It was of no use. It was therefore sapros. It got discarded. The old car he sold
me for a thousand bucks was nothing to look at. I doubt the rust came on it new, but I
can’t be sure that they didn’t think it was the style at the time. I’ve never seen an uglier blue, or
wheels that look better without the hubcaps. But that thing gave me 4 good years and 50,000
miles. And when I speak of it, it is always with love. It was of use. It was Kalos, beautiful.
The danger is to see this Net story of sorting, or to read the stories of the Bible, and to think
that we can be of use, or be acceptable to God, if we take the initiative. And we think that you
must reach of level of usefulness. We must be this to be useful. We must do that to be useful.
And that is exactly the ugly corruptness that makes us un-useful. Do you really think that God
the creator can’t use us unless? Unless we get good enough, or unless we do right enough,
unless anything? Cause if so, then you think much to highly of yourself, and much to lowly of
God. God can use anyone, or anything. But God won’t use those who want to earn their
usefulness on their own. That is corruption. That is ugliness.
that we can be of use, or be acceptable to God, if we take the initiative. And we think that you
must reach of level of usefulness. We must be this to be useful. We must do that to be useful.
And that is exactly the ugly corruptness that makes us un-useful. Do you really think that God
the creator can’t use us unless? Unless we get good enough, or unless we do right enough,
unless anything? Cause if so, then you think much to highly of yourself, and much to lowly of
God. God can use anyone, or anything. But God won’t use those who want to earn their
usefulness on their own. That is corruption. That is ugliness.
Our response, which has been aggressively demanded during these parables of the kingdom, is
simply to let God be God, to accept the righteousness GIVEN to us in Christ Jesus, and to accept
the fact that God wills it for all. Question: How did the righteous ones get to be righteous?
Answer: by the free gift of Jesus’ righteousness. Question: To whom was that free gift offered?
Answer: unless you believe in double pre-destination, to every human being who ever lived.
Question: Do you actually mean that there’s nobody at the Last Judgment who hasn’t been given
the righteousness of Christ? Answer: Yes, that is precisely what I mean. Question: Then how
come some of them are judged Sapron? Answer: Because even though they’ve got his
righteousness, they’ve decided they don’t like it; they can’t stand the thought of not being accepted
on their very own personal merit, which is one of the world’s great nonexistent quantities, but then
they do seem to miss the point. Question: Wherever did you dig up ideas like this? Answer:
Matthew 22, and the Parables of Judgment, upon which I preached last summer. Any more
questions?[7]
simply to let God be God, to accept the righteousness GIVEN to us in Christ Jesus, and to accept
the fact that God wills it for all. Question: How did the righteous ones get to be righteous?
Answer: by the free gift of Jesus’ righteousness. Question: To whom was that free gift offered?
Answer: unless you believe in double pre-destination, to every human being who ever lived.
Question: Do you actually mean that there’s nobody at the Last Judgment who hasn’t been given
the righteousness of Christ? Answer: Yes, that is precisely what I mean. Question: Then how
come some of them are judged Sapron? Answer: Because even though they’ve got his
righteousness, they’ve decided they don’t like it; they can’t stand the thought of not being accepted
on their very own personal merit, which is one of the world’s great nonexistent quantities, but then
they do seem to miss the point. Question: Wherever did you dig up ideas like this? Answer:
Matthew 22, and the Parables of Judgment, upon which I preached last summer. Any more
questions?[7]
Another note. Jesus says the fishers separate fish. When it comes to separating souls, the
angels do that. And they do so into the furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. A familiar refrain to those of us who remember the parable of the weeds and its
interpretation. Taken together, the furnace and the weeping and gnashing bear witness to a
double truth about the redeemed order. The furnace testifies to God’s absolute insistence that
nothing and nobody is going to rain on his final parade. And the wailing to the equally absolute
certainty that his parade is the only show in town that’s going to be any fun. All that there is out
there – in outer darkness – is an eternal, stinking pile of self-pity, festering its way to an equally
eternal production of angriness. The damned are not a crowd of wistful types, pining away for a
wonderful deal that some mean scorekeeper of a God did them out of. They are a plethora of
unreconstructed haters, who threw away the best deal ever and now can’t find anyone but
themselves to rightly be furious with.[8]
angels do that. And they do so into the furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. A familiar refrain to those of us who remember the parable of the weeds and its
interpretation. Taken together, the furnace and the weeping and gnashing bear witness to a
double truth about the redeemed order. The furnace testifies to God’s absolute insistence that
nothing and nobody is going to rain on his final parade. And the wailing to the equally absolute
certainty that his parade is the only show in town that’s going to be any fun. All that there is out
there – in outer darkness – is an eternal, stinking pile of self-pity, festering its way to an equally
eternal production of angriness. The damned are not a crowd of wistful types, pining away for a
wonderful deal that some mean scorekeeper of a God did them out of. They are a plethora of
unreconstructed haters, who threw away the best deal ever and now can’t find anyone but
themselves to rightly be furious with.[8]
The note of the kingdom aggressively demanding our response is here in spades. The desired
response, accept the grace of God, for you and all others. Don’t try to earn your salvation. If you
do, then it won’t be a pretty picture. Then, the Sapros are not pretty themselves. Only those who
willfully refuse the gift of reconciliation as a gift will spend eternity gasping on the beach. Doesn’t
sound like a proper way to spend eternity to me. But the choice, it is yours.
response, accept the grace of God, for you and all others. Don’t try to earn your salvation. If you
do, then it won’t be a pretty picture. Then, the Sapros are not pretty themselves. Only those who
willfully refuse the gift of reconciliation as a gift will spend eternity gasping on the beach. Doesn’t
sound like a proper way to spend eternity to me. But the choice, it is yours.
Amen.
[1] This Sermon, and this series is based largely on the book by Robert Farrar Capon, The Parables of the
Kingdom. Awesome book, part of an awesome 3 part series, which includes The Parables of Grace and The
Parables of Judgment. Read them. The particulars of the book follow in this endnotes.
[2] Capon, Robert Farrar The Parables of the Kingdom, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand
Rapids Michigan, 1985, p. 148.
Kingdom. Awesome book, part of an awesome 3 part series, which includes The Parables of Grace and The
Parables of Judgment. Read them. The particulars of the book follow in this endnotes.
[2] Capon, Robert Farrar The Parables of the Kingdom, William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand
Rapids Michigan, 1985, p. 148.
[3] Capon, p. 149.
[4] Capon, p. 151.
[5] Capon, p. 152.
[6] Capon, pp. 152-153
[7] Capon, p. 160.
[8] Capon, pp. 162-163.
[4] Capon, p. 151.
[5] Capon, p. 152.
[6] Capon, pp. 152-153
[7] Capon, p. 160.
[8] Capon, pp. 162-163.
| IMPORTANT After reading the translation: Click on the [X] in the box in the upper right corner of the translation window. That will close it. You will then return to the English version. |
| Posted July 11 , 2004 |
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