Today’s author is Rev. Scott Tunseth, Retired ELCA Pastor and Prince of Peace Member
If you heard my sermon yesterday you know that I ended the sermon about some of the parables in Matthew 13 with a short modern parable:
The kingdom of God is like a swimming pool with a shallow end and a deep end.
And then I asked: How might that be true, or not, for you?
I also made the point in the sermon that parables are very teachable because they invite each of us to ponder their meaning for ourselves. Parables come alive in our hearing, but also in our reflection, our willingness to engage the meaning. In the sermon I said that parables are like leavening. When we hear them and take them in, they leaven us. Each of us in unique ways. The life of faith is, in one sense, about being open to the leavening of kingdom yeast.
So, back to the simple swimming pool parable above. Ponder what this means for you. Pause briefly to consider. There is no one right answer, of course, but when I think about this image for God’s kingdom, questions come to mind.
How do you like to get into the pool? Do you carefully put in a toe to test the temperature? Do you wade in slowly, inch by inch till you are comfortable enough to dip your head under? Do you prefer to dive in and get the shock of the cold over as quickly as possible?
How do you swim? Do you like to float gently on your back and feel the light or sun on your face? Do you prefer to swim laps? Do you like to dive to the bottom to see what you can discover on the bottom? As a kid I liked throwing a penny and diving down to retrieve it. Do you avoid the high diving board, or do you embrace the challenge? Do you stay in the shallow end where it seems more safe?
There’s no “right” way you get into the pool and no “right” method to swim. But if God’s kingdom is like a swimming pool, don’t we need to get in somehow and splash about? Famed Lutheran preacher Richard Jensen coined the phrase “walking wet” to describe living the baptized life of faith. In that sense, we’ve already taken the dive. Those who are baptized are already wet and called to shake some off some drips wherever we go.
But I’m still very curious: How does this parable speak to you? If you have the time or inclination, talk about it with someone else.
Gracious God, you have revealed to us the mysteries of the kingdom. Give us ears to hear and discerning hearts to guide our walk, or our swim, with you. Amen.