July 26, 2026

Sermon Transcript

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

Last week I came across an article about the USS Akron, a rigid air ship from the 1930s. Ninety years ago, aviators thought that lighter-than-air behemoths like the Hindenburg and Akron were destined to rule the skies. The Akron was nearly 800-feet long and could carry up to one-hundred crew and passengers on flights across oceans and continents.

One day after a difficult voyage from New Jersey to California, the Akron was preparing to dock in San Diego for refueling. Ten-thousand people gathered near the mooring mast to watch. The ship appeared in the sky, began her descent, and dropped what were called “spider lines” for two-hundred navy recruits on the ground to grab. Their job was to pull the ship down and secure her. What they hadn’t counted on, however, was the sun’s warming effect on the California ground. Suddenly, with two-hundred sailors holding the lines, a gust of rising hot air caught the ship in its updraft and began lifting her into the sky again. Most of the sailors clinging to the lines instantly let go and fell a few feet back to the ground unharmed. Another man let go at twenty-feet and suffered only a broken arm. These let go and lived. Three men, however, did not let go. One was able to find a foothold, lash himself to the cables, and wait to be pulled up into the cabin. The other two who did not let go were not as lucky. As the ship shot into the sky they held on until it was too late, and soon fell hundreds of feet to their deaths. The story speaks a terrifying parable that makes one, clear point: let go before it’s too late.

In today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us five parables about the kingdom of God. Have you ever wondered: what is Jesus talking about when he refers to the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven? In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the term ‘eternal life’ to describe the same thing. But what does he mean? Let me tell you how I understand it: when Jesus spoke parables about the kingdom of God, what he seems to have meant is that heaven is advancing on earth. Heaven is slowly, silently, steadily, but sometimes abruptly taking over here on earth, and in our lives. The kingdom of God is the life that God wants to give us taking over the life that the world tries to force us to live. It’s a bottom-up process, not top-down. It happens from within as much if not more so than from beyond. So the kingdom of God, says Jesus, is like a mustard seed taking over a field. It is like yeast taking over a lump of dough. It is like treasure hidden in a field, or a pearl of great price taking over someone’s life. It is like a net that fishermen cast into the sea sweeping across and taking over the waters. The central message of Jesus is that God is taking over. God is advancing from all directions on this life of ours, and nothing or no one can stop God.

What is our responsibility, if anything, as the kingdom of God takes over here on earth? I believe the parables we have heard give us a clue. What we have to learn how to do is let go of anything and anyone who would carry us away from it. Listen again: The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. To me, the point of the parable has nothing to do with who the man was, what he was doing out in the field, or who buried the treasure in the first place. The point is that when he stumbled upon it – when this new reality came upon his life – he was able to recognize its surpassing value, and with great joy let go of his old life. The merchant in search of fine pearls did the same thing. When he finally discovered one that he knew was above all others – when this new reality came upon his life – he was able to let go of all that he had in order to possess it.

Also in today’s reading, the parable of the net tells the same story about our need to let go. The net that the fishermen placed in the water was called a drag-net. It was weighted on the bottom, and attached at each end to a boat that pulled it ashore. As the net advanced toward the shore, whatever reality of fish and plant life that existed in its path would be caught up in the net and brought to shore. The fish could hold on and swim against it, but to no avail. In like manner, the kingdom of this world is going to give way. From deep within the kingdom of heaven is going to sweep across reality as we know it and replace it. We too can try to hold on to what is, or what was, or what never was, but holding on is a futile task. Sooner or later we all have to let go. Letting go is the Christian calling as the kingdom of heaven supplants the kingdom of this earth. Letting go of the old life is what we strive to do so that God might hand us his new life. Letting go is the secret. Letting go is the mystery of the kingdom of God.

Let go. Release your anxious grip on life. Normally I tend to be careful about spouting clichés, especially from the pulpit. But I must admit that some phrases become clichés because they speak a world of truth. One such phrase is this: Let go and let God. That cliché, with special emphasis on the first two words, very nearly captures the calling of the Christian life. Let go. The longer I struggle to be a follower of Jesus, the more I realize it’s first a matter of letting go. You can’t follow Jesus until you let go.

Those of you who were here last week will remember the parable of the wheat and the weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). A farmer who planted a good crop of wheat found it to be infested with weeds. When his servants suggested that they rush out to the field and pull up the weeds, the farmer told them to wait. He was able to release his anxious grip on the situation, and trust that all things work together for good to those who love God. Two weeks ago it was another non-anxious farmer who was able to let go of the seed that fell upon the soils (Matthew 13:1-9). He suffered little over soils that were unproductive, and concentrated instead on the good soil. In today’s Old Testament reading (1 Kings 3:5-12) we heard how Solomon was able to let go. Solomon let go of his desire for great riches and vengeance over his enemies and asked God instead for the wisdom to discern good from evil. Again and again, in parable after parable, in the Old Testament and the New, I hear the gospel message of grace calling us to let go.

Letting go is easier said than done. Not long ago, a parishioner was telling me how he had chanced upon the perfect parking place directly in front of his apartment in the West Village. The next morning he came out to discover that one of the tires was flat. His brother was visiting at the time, so the two of them jacked up the car and put on the spare. Then, instead of simply putting the flat tire in the trunk and driving to the nearest service station, the man began rolling the tire by hand the ten blocks he would need to go. His brother, who was from the suburbs, protested, “Why don’t we just drive it there?” “Are you kidding?” replied the man. “And let go of the best parking place I’ve ever had? I may never park this well again!”

How hard that is to let go of the places we occupy and the things we have. How hard it is to let go of grudges and grief, to let go of possessions and prejudices, to let go of the past and regret, to let go of ourselves before it’s too late. How hard it is to let go of the delusion that we are indispensable, that we are invincible, that we are immortal. It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for some of us to let go and let God be at the core of our beings. Here’s the paradox with us: we think that holding on is the key to life. We think that gripping our gripes and grievances will bring about personal satisfaction. We think that exerting control over people and situations will bring about order. But it seldom, if ever does. Those who can’t let go – won’t let go – often wind up being carried away to deadly places. Yes, deadly places.

Are we able to let go? Jesus seemed to think that we are. The farmers let go. The man who found the treasure let go. The merchant who found the pearl let go. In lifting these up before us, Jesus invites us to do the same: to let go and live by grace. Grace means that you have God’s permission, even God’s encouragement, to release your clenched-fist approach to life and trust that God is for you. If God is for you, who or what can be against you? Sometimes letting go is a finger-by-finger process. Sometimes letting go is the art of not picking up certain things in the first place. Sometimes letting go is a painful, agonizing choice.

Jules Verne was a 19th century French novelist, poet, and playwright. His works include the enduring classics: Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days, among others. One of his lesser known novels is entitled The Mysterious Island, published in 1875. It tells the story of five men who escape a Confederate Civil War prison by commandeering a hot-air balloon. As they rise into the air, a storm hits and blows them far out over the ocean. With no sight of land, and no way to heat the air in the balloon, they descend closer and closer to the angry surface of the ocean.

The men decide that the only way to survive will be to throw overboard some precious items they thought would be essential. So they let go of their extra clothing and weapons, and the balloon lifts a bit above the waters. But not for long: again the balloon begins to fall to the sea because of the weight. The men have no choice but to throw over their food and water. Doing so buys them some time, but still not enough. The balloon continues to drop toward the sea. Finally, one man has the idea to tie the ropes together that hold the basket in which they sit, and then cut loose the basket itself. This they do, and the balloon rises above the waters just in the nick of time. At last they spot an island, ride the balloon towards it as long as they can, and eventually let go themselves and swim to shore. The point is, they lived because they knew that holding on to certain things would only plummet them into the sea. They made it to the other shore because they learned to let go, even a little at a time.

What might you be clinging to that is preventing you from taking hold of the life that really is life? The challenge of the kingdom, today and always, is to let go of the world’s death-dealing ways before it’s too late. The kingdom of heaven, eternal life belongs to those who learn to let go.

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