Daily Reflection | Connected in Christ

Tues., November 21, 2023

The Rev. AARON B. JENKYN

How not to read a parable

The Rev. Aaron Jenkyn preaches on the Gospel of Matthew 5:14-30.

"How (not) to Read a Parable"

There are parts of scripture that can be challenging to read. When they appear in our lectionary once every three years our instinct can be to ignore, explain away, or dismiss them. This is especially true for this weeks Gospel reading, "The Parable of the Talents."

We can get lost in this parable when we insert ourselves into it, reading it as a sort of moral directive. We can get lost in Christianity too when we think of it as a sort of moral code, or a set of ethical guidelines on how to move through the world. But that’s not what Christianity is about. Christianity is about God, and our belief that Jesus shows us the character of God.

And God is love, God is love, God is love. When we read scripture, we need to read it with God at the center, looking for the love of Jesus in the message and words. How is Jesus leading us to the heart of God through this parable?