Vicars Letter - 9th August 2024

Rev. Summer Benton

Dear All Saints’ Whānau, 
 
We are into our second week of a sermon series on parables. After Guy’s sermon last week, our house church had a robust discussion about how our understanding of the parables of Jesus impacts the way we do life together now. One of my favourite resources on Biblical theology is the Bible Project. They have a one-hour podcast episode on the purpose of parables (you can listen here if you’re interested). In this podcast, the Bible Project theologians point out the pitfalls of interpreting parables as “moral lessons” and explain instead that they are used by Jesus to announce the Kingdom of God.  
 “The parables aren’t simply a kind of neat, clever way that Jesus taught moral or ethical truths. They’re not simply a way that he taught systematic theology through symbols. They are an expression in the service of his announcement of the Kingdom of God.” 
We have been on a journey this year of exploring what it means to be authentic community and allow people to see glimpses of God’s Kingdom through the way we live our lives together. Many of us have also been asking what it looks like to share our faith in conversations (with our words). How do we share Jesus with those around us? These questions along our journey weave together so closely and I have loved watching us as a community wrestle with these topics. The fact that we are asking these questions means we are living out our faith and seeking to spread God’s Kingdom in this world. 

I encourage you to hold this in mind as we explore different parables together over the coming weeks. Each of these parables in some way announces or points God’s people to the Kingdom of God. How might we point those around us to God’s Kingdom? How might we do that with our actions, with our words, with the way we love one another deeply and authentically? 

Let’s ponder that in our own minds, in our small groups, relationships, and as a body all together on Sunday morning. See you then. 

In love, 
Summer