Everyone loves a good story. Sitting around a campfire, enjoying ice cream with friends, or at a family meal, we treasure that moment when stories appear. “Tell me a story!” our children plead. Stories are how we make sense of our world.
Jesus was a master storyteller. Today we begin a new series on parables. A parable is a special kind of story: scholar Klyne R. Snodgrass calls them “stories with intent” (Eerdmans, 2008). Jesus employed a wide variety of settings and characters in his parables, taken from ordinary life in first-century Palestine: farms and fields, sheep and birds, parents and children, siblings, workers and supervisors. All of Jesus’ parables have one intent: to illuminate the basileia of God. Basileia is a Greek word that means “economy” or “reign” and is commonly translated “kingdom” (some of us prefer to say “kindom”). It is the state or condition in any time or place where and when God is fully in charge. To illustrate: two phrases from the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy kingdom come” and “Thy will be done” mean exactly the same thing (Leander Keck: lecture).
Jesus’ preaching begins with the Kingdom of God: after his baptism and time of testing in the desert, he proclaimed: “The time is fulfilled! The kingdom of God is near! Repent (turn around) and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:14 NRSV). As we enjoy the parables this summer, let’s listen and watch for glimpses of God’s kindom even in these challenging times in our world.
-by Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell, guest preacher
Rev. Marti Swords-Horrell retired on June 30, 2023 after 40 years of ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church, serving primarily urban churches in Chicago, Maryland, and Syracuse, Ithaca, Albany and Oneonta NY after earning her B.A. at Colgate University and her M. Div at Yale Divinity School. She and her husband Rev. Dr. Dana Horrell live in Clifton, splitting their Sundays between Clifton UMC, Gaines UMC and Hyde Park Community UMC. Their son Nate and his wife Rio and their two grandgirls June and Frankie live in San Francisco; their daughter Maddie and husband Ross and grandson Miles live in St. Bernard. Marti enjoys swimming at the UC Rec Center, studying Spanish, playing cello in the Seven Hills Symphony, working with the Cincinnati Sanctuary Coalition providing refuge for families seeking asylum, and caring for Miles a couple of days each week. She is a member of the Upper New York Conference.