Jer 2:1-3,7-8,12-13, Ps 36:6-11, Mt 13:10-17

This morning we are reminded how easy it is to lose touch with our God. And this morning we should remember how easy it is to be filled with God’s life-giving gifts. Our readings tell us it is as easy as seeing and hearing, as easy as drinking fresh running water.

We believe in a God who acts in the history of our world. The Jews were the first to recognize this. They escaped Egypt because they believed in God. Eager for freedom they went into the desert where, as you know, God supplied food and water until they found their way to Israel. In the same way we believe that Jesus is God born in this world to demonstrate that God is part of what happens every day in our life and the world around us.

Still in today’s reading, the Jews with their history of the Exodus betray God once they are in their promised land. Every part of the population, priests, lawyers, shepherds and prophets all have lost touch with their God. They lost what they had at the beginning.

Unfortunately, Jesus encounters the same problem with most of the people he is talking to. His parables aren’t helping people understand what God is about in their lives. He tells his disciples they are lucky because they believe and therefore, they see and hear in a different way. They have eyes that come from faith, they know Jesus is God’s presence in the world. Too many others miss what is right in front of them and try holding on to something else.

Jesus’ parables are not meant to hide the kingdom of God but serve as way to engage people so they see the paradox of God in their own lives. Jesus quotes Isaiah who said, “they will hardly hear with their ears, they have closed their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears.” It isn’t the parables that are the problem it’s our willingness to see and hear. It is our ability to use our faith as the lens to see the world.

Jesus’ frustration is similar to what Jeremiah expresses in the first reading: instead of drinking from a fresh stream of water Israel chose to make cisterns that don’t hold any water at all. Instead of appreciating the abundance right in front of them they try to trap and contain it. They are trying to keep it for themselves. This isn’t the first time this behavior shows up in the Old Testament.

Remember the story of the manna in the desert? The Israelites are told to take one day’s supply. Instead, some try to take more and store it and it turns wormy. In both stories a life-giving gift is freely available. Trying to hold on to it, to horde it for ourselves destroys its life-giving qualities.

The challenge for us is to remain faithful to the open and loving way of life Jesus showed us so we won’t lose our sight or our hearing. In the same way as the ancient Jews in the promised land and those unable to hear Jesus’ parables, we can easily get distracted, whether it’s by life’s disappointments, the rush of everyday living, or perhaps the lack of enough to do and lose touch with what is most important. When we become closed and fearful we can lose the joy and happiness with which we are meant to live.

Today’s readings say we have been freely offered “a garden land … with goodly fruits,” a “fountain of life,” and through Jesus, God’s own presence among us. In Monday’s first reading Micah said: “You have been told, O man, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do the right and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God.” If we can stick to that, I think it will be easy to see and hear all the rest God has to offer us.