Matthew
13:31-33, 44-52
What does the phrase
the Kingdom of Heaven mean to you? …
People often
think that the kingdom of heaven means a place we go to after we die. But that
is not what Jesus is talking about.
The parables in
today’s Gospel tell us that the kingdom of heaven is worth having. It is as
valuable as a giant pearl or buried treasure.
It is as
ever-present as the aroma of yeast in baking bread. Jesus mentions a
quantity of flour that may have produced this loaf of bread. The sizes and quantities
Jesus mentions are enormous, nearly impossible to imagine. That is the point –
the kingdom of heaven is abundant, more than enough for everyone.
These parables
tell us we should do everything we can to get the kingdom of heaven, the
kingdom of God. They tell us it is worth having, and here now, today, for the
asking. But they don’t really tell us what the kingdom of God is.
Since we are reading Matthew’s Gospel, we need to
know what Matthew believes about the term. So, I checked out the other texts in
Matthew about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven.
First, it’s
important to know that Matthew uses these two terms to say the same thing. Matthew often uses the word heaven to avoid
speaking and writing God’s holy name, which is one way of obeying the
commandment to respect the name of God.
Second, the term kingdom of heaven refers to life
here on earth. The kingdom of God has come, John the Baptist and Jesus both
say. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near!”
In Jesus’ time,
the Pharisees did believe in life after death, but only after some sort of
apocalyptic event, at the end of days. Other groups of the time, like the Sadducees,
did not believe in an afterlife. Life is today, and it’s essential to make the
best of what we have here and now.
So, when Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven, he
is talking about conditions in daily life, on earth, today. Other references in
Matthew describe the attitude we are to have in order to receive it. We are to
be like children; we are to be humble, not like privileged rich people; we are
to be merciful. We are to seek first the kingdom of God, and everything else
will fall into place in our lives.
It is in Matthew
5, at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, in the Sermon on the Mount, that we get
a good look at what Jesus means. Especially in the Beatitudes, we begin to
understand what the kingdom of heaven is like.
It is comfort
for the oppressed and the grieving; it is righteousness for those who seek it;
it is the whole earth for the meek; it is mercy for the merciful; and it is a
relationship with God like the relationships we know between parents and
children.
The kingdom of
God, or the kingdom of heaven, is not a place, it is a way of life, a life of
mercy and justice and humility. It is God’s activity and our activity; it is verbs
more than nouns. I like to think of it as the reign [R-E-I-G-N] of God. The
reign of God is everywhere, all the time, if we just look for it.
When we show
mercy to a person in need, that is the reign of God in action. For example: When
we gather food for the hungry, that is the reign of God in action. … When we
fill the bus with school supplies and socks, that is the reign of God in
action. … When we welcome someone new to the church, that is the reign of God
in action, especially when we share cookies and conversation with them after
worship. … When we call or visit the sick or homebound folks, that is the reign
of God in action.
There have been lots of short clips on TV lately of
a new documentary about Princess Diana, who died in a car accident 20 years ago
this month. Some of the clips are of her and her children, but others are of
her focus on humanitarian aid to many people around the world. She touches and
holds sick children, bends down to listen to a story; she uses her popularity
to get other people involved in helping, too. When I remember her, I remember her
devotion to her children and her care for others, signs of God’s reign in her
life and her heart.
I love this video of God’s reign in
action. For over 15 years, Dr. Patrick Angelo has delivered meals and warm
clothes twice weekly to the homeless living on Lower Wacker Drive in Chicago.
Lower Wacker is a street beneath a street in Chicago. Because it is somewhat
sheltered from rain and snow, it is a frequent shelter for homeless people. Dr
Angelo tells the story of realizing these people needed help, and how he
believes he is responding to God’s call by feeding them and helping to keep
them warm.
Please pray with
me. God of mercy, you reign in our lives and in our world, even when we don’t
notice your activity. Lead us to seek you and be your hands and voice in your
kingdom. Amen
