Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52
The kingdom of heaven surprises us.
We stumble upon it, quite by accident.
Or we find it because we're looking for it.
Let's begin with a basic question:
What is the kingdom of heaven anyway?
Jesus speaks of sowers and seed … weeds and wheat … mustard seeds and yeast … treasure in a field, a pearl of great value, and a fishnet.
Thy kingdom come, thy will be done … on earth as it is in heaven.
What is the kingdom of heaven?
We might begin in the beginning, with Genesis … the creation story; God’s mandate to us: Care for the garden I've created … care for the world I give to you.
Birds of the air, fish of the sea, all creeping things … all things, great and small.
We can listen to the prophets … and no better word than Micah:
The LORD has told you, O mortal, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?
Jesus in the wilderness:
One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Do not put the LORD your God to the test with foolish behavior and immodest demands.
Worship only God, and serve no other.
The Sermon on the Mount:
Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who make no claim for themselves … who show up with empty hands!
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness – a fair world, where love has a chance, and everyone is well-respected.
Blessed are those who strive for peace, for they will be called children of God.
Whenever you fast, do not look dismal.
Do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth.
No one can serve two masters … you cannot serve God and wealth.
The kingdom of heaven comes to us in all sorts of ways.
For me, it’s often in movies … like “Avatar” or more recently, “Transformers” and the last of the “Harry Potter” series – themes of loyalty and sacrifice and love … people, or machines, going the extra mile and then some … my spirit is stirred … tears well up in my eyes.
I might be reading when the kingdom of heaven comes my way, with a startling thought, a new idea.
I can be singing a hymn, and the kingdom of heaven washes over me with grace, mercy and peace.
The kingdom of heaven sneaks up on me when I see brave people struggling against enormous odds … a child with severe physical challenges runs a race, every step, labored and demanding, but runs the race with joy.
The Catholic Workers Soup Kitchen on 6th Street, downtown LA … near the end of lunch-time, there wasn’t much left – a young man, in his early 30s, came by - I ladled onto his empty plate the remnants of some beans and salad … I said to him, “I’m sorry, this is all we have left.”
And he said to me with a smile, “That’s all right. When you’re hungry, it all tastes like steak.”
The kingdom of heaven shows up in my work with CLUE – Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice …
We recently had a successful effort to organize food workers at LMU … a two-year effort … stories of hardship and humiliation at the hands of a corporation that needed to do better by its employees.
With work and planning, it was done … they have a union now.
They have job security, affordable health-care, pay for overtime, and no one can threaten them with job loss when they’re sick. When I saw their tears of gratitude, the kingdom of heaven was there.
There’s no predicting it; God is a God of surprises.
But God is also faithful.
God sees to it that the Kingdom of heaven comes our way often.
Let's take a look at three parables this morning.
In the first parable, a man in the field.
What was he doing there anyway?
The land isn’t his.
Might he be a tenant farmer?
Or out for stroll in the rolling countryside of Galilee?
The man finds a great treasure.
Hidden by some previous owner?
In a time of war?
War was common in Galilee … nations fought to control it, because of its agricultural wealth and its broad planes.
The writer of Revelation chooses Galilee as the sight of the final struggle for control of the earth … Armageddon … or in the Hebrew language, har Megiddo … or Mount Megiddo … about 25 miles southwest of the southern tip of Lake Galilee.
Fortresses were built there to guard the main highway between Egypt and lands to the east … the trade route came up from Egypt along the Mediterranean Sea, and then crossed to the east through Galilee and its planes.
Soldiers were a common sight.
Perhaps some frightened family buried their treasure to avoid confiscation … who knows what happened; they never returned, and the treasure lay there, maybe for years.
It’s found one day, quite by accident.
And it’s large.
Too large to dig up and put in the pocket.
This is a serious treasure trove.
A real find.
Huge.
The man joyfully liquidates all he owns, and buys the field.
I suppose we could ask questions about proper ownership, and shouldn’t the man have made some effort to find the original owners, or their descendants, or at least tell the owner of the field?
We cannot and should not push a parable for every detail … lest we miss the point.
And the point?
The kingdom of heaven is sometimes found, quite by accident.
Let’s move on.
The pearl of great value is found by a pearl merchant.
He knows what he’s looking for.
The merchant gladly liquidates his holdings to purchase the pearl.
Again, might ask questions.
Like, what comes next?
Now that he owns the pearl.
Can he eat it?
Will the pearl provide shelter for him?
Again, we shouldn't be sidetracked.
The point is clear:
If we're looking for the kingdom of heaven, we'll find it.
Ask, and it will be given; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened.
And we'll know it, when we see it.
And when we see it, we’ll know that we want it.
Donna’s little niece received a gift last week, and when she opened it, she said, “My heart tells me; this is just what I wanted.”
When we see the kingdom of heaven, our heart tells us: “This is just what we wanted.”
Now to the last parable …
The parable of the net … to the shores of Lake Galilee - someone throwing a net … when the net is full, it’s dragged to shore - good fish into a basket … and the rest discarded.
Jesus adds a serious note to all of this.
So it will be at the end of age … as the wheels of history turn … one era ends and another begins.
For some, regret and sorrow … painful grief … tears and clenched jaws … bitter remorse.
Why?
Because they chose to stand on the wrong side of history.
Pharaoh instead of Moses.
Caesar rather than Christ.
Wealth over God.
Privilege and power.
Grab the sword.
Enslave others.
Mistreat the poor.
Pillage the earth.
The wrong side of history:
Apartheid in South Africa.
Hitler and his hatred.
The Berlin wall.
The smell of napalm in the morning.
The young man in Norway.
The choices we make against the will of God … choices that diminish love rather than build it up … negative thoughts; bitter feelings … the darkness we welcome and the light we shun.
The wrong side of history.
And then the moment of truth: the crushing realization.
And there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The parable of the net - a reminder to stand on the right side of history … choose well what we value … the greater journey, the better way, the life and love of Jesus Christ our Lord … what is true and right, just and good.
The right side of history!
For thine is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever. Amen and Amen!
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