The Gospel reading for this week has a parable and its interpretation once again – just like last week. And once again, the reading skips over part of the narrative that St. Matthew is constructing. Given that it can seem like parables are just a funny sort of rhetorical device that rabbis used in Jesus’ day to teach their disciples, whereas in truth, the hard work of trying to unpack the meaning or meanings of a parable is how the path of wisdom was shown to the hearers.

We do ourselves a disservice when we skip from teaching to interpretation in the lectionary. When that happens it seems like we’re demonstrating that faith is easy, just know the answers to the questions and good things will come to you. (And that’s certainly been a message I’ve heard from preachers over the years.) But that’s not at all how this works, and I don’t think it was what Jesus was saying in this passage or in any of the others where we hear his teachings to his disciples.

Spiritual growth requires friction. It requires us to live into confusion and discomfort and a kind of lack of clarity as we struggle to make sense of who God is and what God expects of us. Honestly, most learning, real internalized learning, requires enough friction that we can internalize what we have grasped. Superficial, easy answers give way to simple learning that is quickly forgotten. It’s one of the many concerns I and others have about using Artificial Intelligence in unwise ways.

You can watch the full sermon directly at this link.