Something Old, Something New

Change 4 – Something Old, Something New

Reading: Matthew 13:47-52 47 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a fishing net that was thrown into the water and caught fish of every kind. 48 When the net was full, they dragged it up onto the shore, sat down, and sorted the good fish into crates, but threw the bad ones away. 49 That is the way it will be at the end of the world. The angels will come and separate the wicked people from the righteous, 50 throwing the wicked into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51 Do you understand all these things?” “Yes,” they said, “we do.” 52 Then he added, “Every teacher of religious law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a homeowner who brings from his storeroom new gems of truth as well as old.” (Matthew 13:47–52 NLT) Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven, a mystery we don’t fully understand, is “like” something we can understand: a fishing net. He is not saying, the Kingdom of Heaven “is” a fishing net. The point is that there are some aspects of the Kingdom of Heaven that can be grasped more easily when we use a “like” to describe that truth. The net caught every kind of fish. We identify as the good fish, but we are not the ones to determine who else is good (in) and who else is bad (out). It seems obvious to us that because we’re the good fish, then everything we like, prefer, and value is good as well! But the reality is that the fish sorting isn’t up to the fish! There may be some things we like and prefer that are appropriate for our church, our society, and our nation. But we aren’t the fish sorters and the net caught “fish of every kind.” The disciple of the Kingdom of Heaven brings new gems of truth as well as old. Some people taste the new wine and say, “The old is better!” Jesus affirms the old, but says the new is better. The old is rules; the new is relationship. The old is law; the new is spirit. There are always teachers of religious law that don’t become disciples in the Kingdom of Heaven because they’re trapped in the old and blind to the new. They’re stuck, unwilling to hear and unable to learn and grow and change. Question for us: How are we doing with that? Let’s be unstuck, able to learn and grow and change! There are new gems of truth as well as old! Prayer: Father, Thank you that the Kingdom net is open wide. Thanks that it’s open for me and my friends to enter. Please help us to use our influence to keep the net open and accessible for as many others as possible. For your Kingdom’s Sake!