Proper 12 A 08

What is “the kingdom of heaven” and what does it have to do with you and me in 21^st century America? That’s the question which comes to mind after hearing this morning’s Gospel in which we are presented with five short parables. “The kingdom of heaven is like” 1) a mustard seed, 2) yeast, 3) treasurer hidden in a field, 4) a pearl of great value, and 5) a fish net full of fish.

After presenting these parables, Matthew tells us Jesus asked the crowd which had been following him listening to these, “Have you understood all this?” They answered “Yes” (Mt 13:31). Then Matthew tells us that Jesus went to his hometown, Nazareth, and taught in a similar fashion in their synagogue. We’re told they “were astounded” but after recalling that they knew Jesus since he was a child and they knew his family, “they took offense at him” and so “he did not do many deeds of power these, because of their unbelief” (Mt 13:51-58).

Let’s reflect on “the kingdom of heaven” and see if we are like the enthusiastic crowd or Jesus’ doubting neighbors who could not experience the power of the loving Lord in their midst.

The key to understanding what is “the kingdom of heaven” is found earlier in the Gospel where Jesus teaches the disciples the Lord’s prayer: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Mt 6:10). In the Hebrew Scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, David described heaven in the 23^rd Psalm as a banquet table overflowing. Isaiah has a similar metaphor in chapter 25 where he speaks of “a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines” (Is 25:6).

Later Matthew tells us Jesus told another parable with illusions to heaven. “Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: ²‘The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. ³He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come” (Mt 22:1-3).

In heaven, God’s will prevails, and so it is viewed as a place of blessing, of joy, of the lack of suffering and death, a place and time of celebration like a wedding feast. Heaven is a place of harmony because God’s will rules. So what is God’s will for earth as we pray in the Lord’s prayer?

The internationally known theologian, Hans Kung, says: “From the first to the last page of the Bible, it is clear that God’s will aims at (our) well-being at all levels, aims at (our) definitive and comprehensive good: at the salvation of (all humanity). God’s will is a helpful, healing, liberating, saving will. God wills life, joy, freedom, peace, salvation, the final great happiness of (us): both of the individual and of (humanity) as a whole.[1]

God’s will on earth is for our well-being, our happiness, our salvation. How do we find this well-being? This well-being is not just an intellectual concept, but comes as the result of the actions and life style which we develop in response to God’s will for us.

All too frequently we think of God’s will as expressed in the Ten Commandments. Perhaps you have seen those famous bill boards, like the one which reads: “Which part of ‘thou shalt not” don’t you understand?” We especially need to recall the God billboard which says: “That “love they neighbor thing…. I meant it”[2]

Indeed Matthew tells us when a lawyer, seeking to know God’s will, asked Jesus “which commandment in the law is the greatest?” (Mt 22:56). Jesus answered: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” ³⁸This is the greatest and first commandment. ³⁹And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ⁴⁰On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.’(Mt 22:37-39).

“What then is love, according to Jesus” Hans Kung asks? “A first answer is that, according to Jesus, love is essentially love of both God and man. Jesus came to fulfill the law by making God’s will prevail, and God’s will aims at (our) well-being. That is why he can say that all the commandments are summed up in this dual commandment of love…. It is typically of Jesus that love becomes the criterion of piety and of a person’s whole conduct…. But this love does not mean a mystical union with God in which someone tries to withdraw from the world, to be isolated from men and one with God. In the last resort a love of God without a love of man is no love at all….”

Hung continues: “Our second answer to the question of love must be stated more precisely: according to Jesus, love is not simply love of man but essentially love of neighbor. It is a love, not of man in general, of someone remote, with whom we are not personally involved, but quite concretely of one’s immediate neighbor. Love of God is proved in love of neighbor, and in fact love of neighbor is the exact yardstick of love of God. I love God only as much as I love my neighbor.”[3]

So “the kingdom of heaven” is life in the present moment (“give us this day our daily bread”), life totally aware of God’s presence, and life filled with love of God and neighbor in very concrete ways. When we live that way, the impact through God’s Holy Spirit can be as powerful as planting a tiny mustard seed which can grow into a large bush that provides nests for the birds, or as powerful as yeast which expands dough into fine loaves of bread to feed us and others. We not only experience our own well-being, but contribute to the well-being of our neighbor. Lives lived loving have great impact.

When we speak of love of God and love of neighbor, we are not speaking of great deeds and great sacrifices, albeit on rare occasions these may be necessary. In the first place and for the most part it is a question of behavior in ordinary life. Indeed that is what the Lectionary is all about during these summer months. The Church’s calendar at this time is called “Ordinary time” and the Gospel passages chosen week by week seek to teach us how to live as faithful disciples of the risen Lord in the ordinariness of our daily lives and therein discover our well-being, our joy, our peace and fulfillment.

“Just how far love goes particularly in ordinary life can be seen under three headings which serve to define this radical love in a very concrete way, as it exists between individuals or between social groups, nations, races, classes, Churches.”[4]

First, love in action means forgiveness. “Forgive us our trespasses as we also forgive those who trespass against us: (Mt 6:11). We will hear much more about forgiveness in Chapter 18 of Matthew later on the Sundays we call Proper 18 and Proper 19. We will learn our call to forgive is not just once, but seventy seven times (Mt 18:21-22), and we will hear the parable of the wicked slave who is forgiven much but who refuses to forgive those who owe him little (Mt 22:23-35).

So whom do you need to forgive in order to experience your own forgiveness? What is stopping you from forgiving him or her? Can we collectively forgive our enemies? In the Anglican Communion today, we have camps of people who espouse one position or another ardently. Can we forgive those who oppose us, be open to learning from them, and even loving them as our neighbor? Are there people here in this parish whom we cannot forgive? In this Diocese?

Secondly, love in action means service. Jesus washes the feet of his disciples at the Last Supper, and he teaches his disciples to do the same kind of service (Jn 13:12-18).

We so easily seek attention, seek to be the honored one, the one served. If it is not in our interest, why should we help? We all know the Church is a voluntary organization of disciples of Jesus. Nothing gets done in our lives together as church unless someone does it. Do we volunteer here or in other places to serve others? Where in our lives do we give voluntary and humble service to others without expectation of remuneration or honor or self interest?

Thirdly, love in action means renunciation. We have to give up our attachment to possessions (Mt. 6:19-21). Jesus said, Matthew tells us, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6:21). And again: “You cannot serve God and wealth” (Mt 6:24). We are also taught to turn the other cheek when struck (Mt. 5:39), to give our coat and cloak (Mt 5:40), and to go a second mile in helping another (Mt 5:41). In short, Jesus tells us, Matthew notes: “Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you” (Mt 5:42).

When we live in the present in the divine presence, that is, under the gracious rule of the risen Lord on earth as it is in the kingdom of heaven, we will discover with joy the treasure buried in the field (Mt 13:44) and the pearl of great value (Mt 13:46).

“Have you understood all of this?” Or do you believe Jesus is speaking in nice language but in the real world we cannot live this way?

For your homework this week (I give homework and let the good Lord do the testing), I ask you to reflect on three questions:

2) whom do I know in my immediate surroundings that needs something which I can provide?

And 3) how does God through the teachings of Jesus figure in the decisions I make in my life day by day?

At the end time of our lives and/or of history itself, the kingdom of heaven will be like a net thrown into the sea and dragged ashore filled with fish of every kind. The angels will come and “separate the evil from the righteous” who will celebrate at the wedding feast with all their neighbors who have now become brothers and sisters in Christ.

God bless you and keep you this day and always. And remember that the good Lord loves you more that you can ask for or even imagine. Do you believe that?

[1] Hans King, On Being a Christian (Doubleday, 1976), p. 251.

[2] www.llerrah.com/godsbillboards.htm

[3] Kung, ibid. p. 257.

[4] Kung, ibid., p. 262.