Hello my friends,

Today I want to reflect with you on several parables from Jesus that he tells one right after the other in Matthew 13. They all have different metaphors and characters but a very similar theme. A theme that is very timely and needed in our context today.

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Hidden Beneath The Noise.

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”

He told them still another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous ⁵⁰ and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked. “Yes,” they replied. He said to them, “Therefore every teacher of the law who has become a disciple in the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”​
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Seeking Understanding

The summer of 2014, I had the honor of teaching pastors in training in the Congo and Rwanda in Africa. With English as my only language, I relied heavily on a translator to teach my classes on the doctrine of the Trinity and the Book of Revelation. What I learned right away was how difficult it was to convey all I needed to through a translator in the amount of time given, let alone convey the depth of complex topics like the hypostatic union of three persons, one God, and all the symbolism found in Revelation.

My students all spoke numerous languages and lived vastly different lives than I did. In order to serve them well and help them complete their course of study and clear the threshold for ordination, I would need to first learn as much about their culture and context before I even stepped on a plane to come to them, let alone into a classroom to teach them. Otherwise, I would risk just frustrating them and standing in the way of what they needed.

This is a lesson I learn time and time again from Jesus. Whenever I read his words and learn more about the context into which he said them, I am amazed at what a master of communication he was. He not only was born and raised in the culture to which he was ministering, but he didn't even begin his public ministry until later as an adult, spending all those prior years learning the scriptures, traditions, and the history of his people, like many other Jewish boys of his time.

This is again a deep testament of his humility. He not only stepped down from heaven and became a human baby, completely reliant on his mother and father, but he didn't live as if he knew everything. He spoke to the people in his context in ways that related to their everyday lives to convey deeper truths.

Same Framework, Different Narratives.

I believe this is a big reason behind why he gives multiple parables in a row here, conveying essentially the same thing but with different mechanics and characters.

A merchant is going to have a different life from a baker and farmers from that of anglers. Jesus then uses different occupations and tasks to convey what "the kingdom of heaven is like." In each parable, we see the same essential framework. Something is hidden, while it is small, the outcome is massive, and those who witness it give everything for it. The tiny mustard seed gets hidden beneath the soil and turns into a tree big enough to house birds. We see the same progression with yeast hidden in flour, treasure hidden in land, pearls of great value discovered, and fish discovered beneath the surface of the sea.

From such similar themes, we can deduce that the kingdom of heaven is unassuming, easily overlooked, taken for granted, deeply valuable, and worth giving up everything for. It is something comparable to love, peace, hope, joy, justice, and freedom. The things that was cannot reach out and touch, taste, or smell with our immediate senses, things we often have to rely on metaphors to describe, but things that give the deepest meaning to life and make it worth living.

The Kingdom of Noise.

Reading these parables in our world today, it helped me to remember something important about our own context. Our communication of everything is very loud, especially historically speaking. I think we often take for granted how new and unprecedented our transmission and consumption of information is in our modern era. The average American today consumes an estimated 34 to 74 gigabytes of information and roughly 100,000 words daily, a staggering volume thousands of times greater than the minor fraction of a megabyte or a few dozen spoken or handwritten words available to an average person in the 1700s, let alone the 1st century.

We live in a world where information travels at the speed of the internet, rather than at the speed of a horse, ship, or messenger on foot. Everywhere we turn, we can hear the latest news along with hundreds of takes about that news within the blink of an eye, all in 4k resolution and crystal clear sound. We live in a really loud world. Add to this dynamic how the loudest voices are focused on and platformed. The news that travels the fastest is rarely good news, but bad. Misinformation travels at greater speeds on social media than the truth does. And much of our attention is constantly pushed towards the loudest figures, who are saying and doing either offensive or inflammatory things.

In a world like this, I believe the kingdom of heaven is not only easily buried beneath the noise, but can make us question if it exists at all. When all we see and hear is cruelty and evil very loudly, it can cause a deep sense of hopelessness as if that is all there is and will be. Yet I think the challenge of Jesus' parables for our time is to look for heaven hidden beneath the loudness of hell. To look for the islands of authenticity hidden in the sea of performative patriotism and performative Christianity. To look for pearls of justices and mercy being carried out that are easily buried by the onslaught of news about corruption and cruelty.

If Jesus were giving these parables today, perhaps he would say something like, "the kingdom of heaven is like being profoundly moved by a brilliant human artist or the majesty of creation in a deluge of AI slop and immediately supporting local art and environmental protections."

Or maybe, "the kingdom of heaven is like someone who lives in a city surrounded by Christian nationalist mega churches, yet unexpectedly finds a little church that is faithfully following Jesus and loving all their neighbors. When they find that little church, they immediately make it a weekly habit to attend and joyfully commute the 25 minutes it takes to get there."

Or maybe it would be like, "the kingdom of heaven is like a woman who turns off her screens to tend to her sourdough, or her garden, or her art, all for the sole purpose of reconnecting with her own humanity. And when she does, she immediately feels strengthened to put one foot in front of the other again."

I was reflecting on the kingdom of heaven this week when I wrote, "Imagine claiming to believe in heaven, where everyone has what they need, where people from every race, nationality, and language are present, where the water, air, and land are clean, lush, and vibrant, where there's no war, oppression, or exploitation, where everyone is treated with dignity, then turning right around and raging against anyone who wants those things here on earth, calling them a "socialist," and somehow not see the blatant contradiction. After all, Jesus taught us to pray this way: "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

Participating With The In-breaking Of Heaven.

My point here is that we live in such a loud world that I think it can be very easy to fall into wrongly thinking that the work of Jesus is going to be equally loud but in a positive direction, which can leave us feeling really hopeless, as if nothing good is happening at all. However, if we reintroduce ourselves to how Jesus describes the kingdom of heaven, remembering that it is found in the quiet, unassuming, hidden places of our world, subversively working towards massive, world changing implications, then I think this would change everything for us. We would not only be better able to hold onto hope that we will see goodness prevail, but we would be better equipped to find and participate in the hidden ways of the kingdom of heaven ourselves.

Perhaps that is the invitation Jesus is extending to us through these parables. Not to wait for the Kingdom to arrive with enough volume to compete with the noise of our age. Not to measure God's activity by what is trending, viral, powerful, or dominant. Not to confuse visibility with significance.

Instead, Jesus invites us to become people who learn to recognize the hidden work of God. To notice the teacher who quietly changes a child's life. The neighbor who brings a meal to someone grieving. The advocate who keeps showing up for the vulnerable. The artist who creates beauty in a cynical world. The small church faithfully loving its community without recognition or applause. The person choosing compassion when cruelty would be easier. The friend who tells the truth when a lie would be more convenient. The countless acts of mercy, justice, generosity, courage, and love that rarely make headlines but nevertheless help hold the world together.

The Kingdom of Heaven is often found there. Hidden. Unassuming. Easy to overlook. Yet carrying within it the very life of God. Perhaps the greatest danger of living in such a loud age is not that evil exists. Evil has always existed. The greater danger is that the noise convinces us that evil is all that exists.

Jesus refuses to let us believe that. He invites us to look deeper. To look beneath the surface. To search the field. To knead the dough. To dive for the pearl. To cast the net. To keep our eyes open for the quiet places where heaven is already breaking into earth. And when we find it, may we treasure it.

May we nurture it. May we join it. May we give ourselves fully to it.

Because the Kingdom of Heaven is still here. Still growing. Still transforming. Still surprising. Still turning the world upside down through the ordinary faithfulness of people who have discovered that love is worth everything.

Prayer

Lord Jesus,

In a world filled with noise, distraction, outrage, and fear, teach us to recognize the quiet ways your Kingdom is at work.

When cruelty seems louder than compassion, help us see the hidden seeds of goodness growing around us.

When corruption dominates the headlines, help us notice the people faithfully pursuing truth and justice.

When we are tempted to despair, remind us that your Kingdom has never depended upon popularity, power, or visibility.

Give us eyes to see the treasure hidden in the field.

Give us hearts that recognize the pearl of great value.

Give us wisdom to notice the yeast quietly transforming the dough.

And give us courage to invest our lives in the things that matter most.

Help us become people of your Kingdom.

People who plant seeds of hope.

People who practice mercy.

People who tell the truth.

People who welcome the stranger.

People who care for creation.

People who seek justice and embody compassion.

May we never allow the noise of this world to drown out the still, steady work of your Spirit.

And when we struggle to see your Kingdom, remind us that you are still present in the hidden places, still bringing life where others see only barrenness, and still making all things new.

May your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Amen.

Now I'd like to hear from you! Did you find this helpful? What thoughts came to your mind as you read? Feel free to respond to this email and share your thoughts with me. I look forward to reading them. A 30 Day Day Devotional: I wrote a daily devotional in hopes to provide a companion for people seeking to follow Jesus through the season of we are currently navigating together. You can find out more below: $20.00 Following Jesus In A World Obsessed With Empires: 30 Days of reclaiming the hope, compassion, and justice of Jesus. Today, our world can often feel overwhelmed by darkness, division, and despair. I created this 30-day devotional to... Read more Get it now! ​ Ways to support: If you'd like to support this project, you can do so through one-time-gift of any amount you feel is right. You can also subscribe through a $5/mo, $15/mo, or $25/mo. Several others have also asked for a recurring gift option that is different from the ones offered here, like this one. If you'd like me to set up a different option for you, please just send me an email with the word "support" in the subject line. As always, I really want to thank all of you for reading and for all the ways you support me and this project every single week. I'm thankful for the ways we are building this together and hope it creates a lasting, positive change in our world along the way! I sincerely appreciate you all, Ben Remember, you can now view this and all previous newsletters as well as invite friends to join through this link: https://benjamin-cremer.ck.page/profile.

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