The disciples approached him and said,
—Why do you speak to them in parables?—

The disciples were afraid and I am afraid, because Jesus’ message is a scary proposition and sometimes we feel as if we just don’t get it.

Certainly the disciples weren’t asking a simple question regarding the Lord’s approach to teaching. What they were admitting was that they didn’t get it. Jesus knew that. He said:

—Hear then the parable of the sower.—

…and he went on to explain the parable. He helped them in figuring it all out. Thankfully they were wise enough to remember His words and record them for us. He also told them that they were the chosen ones to whom —knowledge of the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven has been granted.— What a blessed assurance that is. To hear the Lord say:

—blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.
Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people
longed to see what you see but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.—

Truly the disciples were no different from the rest of the population of Israel. They had worked like the rest. They had families like the rest. They struggled like the rest. They went to synagogue and offered sacrifice at the Temple at the appropriate times, but for some reason they were set apart to hear and see the things the prophets had longed for. They were set apart and chosen by God. It wasn’t something they earned by good fishing or good tax collecting. It just was, and they, like us, were afraid because sometimes they just didn’t get it. Here was Jesus offering these parables, and they watched the learned who just didn’t get it. The wise were confounded and here were the simple disciples thinking, well if they don’t get it what about me? Jesus turned and offered the little ones, whom we’ve heard so much about over the past several Sundays, reassurance. Reassurance from God destroys fear.

Brothers and sisters,

We come here every week and somewhere deep in our psyche we wonder. Am I saved? Will Jesus welcome me into heaven? Am I doing right by God, the Holy Church, my family, my fellow man, and humanity in general? Do I know God’s will for me and how I should carry out that will? The questions are innumerable and the worry can be very deep.

We think that if we have faith in God, and follow the teachings of the Holy Church, all will be well. We want to believe that, but we still wonder, we still question. We still say, —why do you speak in parables?— Can’t we just get direct assurance, like the disciples did, hearing Jesus Christ tell us:

—blessed are your eyes, because they see,
and your ears, because they hear.—

My friends,

God is saying that to us. We have His assurance. While we cannot do anything to assure ourselves and give ourselves an ironclad guarantee of salvation we do know that we are privileged to have received the secret that has been shared with us, God’s little ones. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is our assurance and we have been set apart to hear and see the things the prophets had longed for. We didn’t make it happen. We can’t do anything about it. We are here because God chose us. He chose us and like the disciples we have accepted God’s love and His revelation. Jesus takes us aside every Sunday in the beautiful sacrament of the Word and He continues to teach us, to fill in the blanks and answer the questions for us. This sacrament flows from God’s promise to the prophet Isaiah:

so shall my word be
that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,
but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it.

We have that word, that teaching, right here in our Holy Polish National Catholic Church. God’s word and revelation are assuring us of our destiny. They are doing God’s will in our hearts and minds through the power of sacramental grace, and they offer the promise of salvation to us because we have chosen to listen to those words.

Brothers and sisters,

Now it’s time for the scary proposition. We only begin our cooperation with God in the hearing of the word. To carry out God’s word we must act. In acting out God’s words we are achieving the ends for which God sent those words – the hundred or sixty or thirtyfold return on God’s investment in us.

We know that hundred percent guarantees and hundredfold returns do not exist in this world, but God offers each of us His one-hundred percent eternal guarantee and by carrying out His word hundredfold returns will be realized. God is telling us: Hear My word, do My will, be saved and bring the message of salvation to others.

Let us end by considering Paul’s teaching to the Romans:

Brothers and sisters:
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing
compared with the glory to be revealed for us.

Our wondering, our uncertainly, even our physical, financial, and psychological sufferings are meaningless in light of what God will reveal through us and for us. That is the promise of the glory we will see.

For creation awaits with eager expectation
the revelation of the children of God

We are God’s children and what we reveal to the world – through our faith, our prayer life, our acts of charity, the way we treat each other, our families, strangers, those in need, everything we do to carry out God’s word – is reflective of God among us. The revelation we preach will bring the hundredfold return.

We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now;
and not only that, but we ourselves,
who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,
we also groan within ourselves
as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies.

As we work, as we struggle, as we bear the truth of God’s word to all of humanity, we groan. We know the struggle is difficult, sometimes painful, and sometimes even as costly as life itself. All the time we groan because while we work we eagerly anticipate the fulfillment of that work, the hundred percent guarantee of God given to those who hear His word and do His work, and the hundredfold return God’s word will bring, through you and me.

So now we have the answer. No more fear, no questioning, only knowing that we have something precious, and assurance for fulfilling the mission we have been given, to bring Jesus Christ to all. Amen.