Pentecost 7

Pentecost 7 (Matthew 13:31-33;44-52)

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like…”

The Kingdom of Heaven is a set of personal relationships.

The language of the Kingdom is the language of relationships. It is a poetic language of metaphor, simile and symbol. It is a language that derives from an experience. In many ways it is the language of romance.

The kingdom of heaven emerges in the midst of our daily lives in the most unassuming and unforeseen ways. Jesus teaches that the kingdom is like a tiny seed. That seed is easy to ignore. But, it contains the full potential of something greater and something magnificent. If we look only at the outward and visible form of the seed we miss the greater reality the seed contains.

The Kingdom is also transformative. Like the small measure of yeast it penetrates the whole slowly and inexorably. It permeates the soul as the yeast permeates the dough. If we are looking for a quick fix or an immediate gratification we miss the emergent quality of grace.

These qualities of great potential in small measures require the virtue of patience to appreciate and to apply.

The Kingdom of heaven is also expressed in the categories of value and priority.

And so, the kingdom is like a hidden treasure or a rare pearl of great price. The merchant sells all of his wealth to gain the greater treasure he discovers almost by chance. He acts quickly and decisively lest he lose the prize. He makes the acquisition of the treasure his first priority.

A basic principle revealed in the Bible is that we worship that which we value most. And, we can discern that utmost value by where we place our time and attention. What we think about most shows us what we treasure. What brings us the greatest joy in life is where we place our passion.

In Jesus’ day that treasure was wealth and power. The people who met Jesus expected the Messiah to give the righteous elite of Israel the power to destroy their enemies, enslave the nations and fill Jerusalem with gold and silver and precious gems.

For all the outward display of religious fervor in First Century Judea, the  bottom line value then was no different from the bottom line value of our society today. That bottom line value is wealth and power.

Jesus use of parables to describe the kingdom of heaven in the poetic language of relationships confused and bewildered everyone. Only his mother and his best friend appreciated that language and valued that description of the kingdom. Everyone else simply ignored the teaching and kept looking for what they considered the obvious. For them, the Kingdom of Heaven was the embellished stories of King David the conqueror and King Solomon the wealthy. For them, Rome was the image of the Kingdom they anticipated.

Relationship, kindness, compassion and personal transformation in Divine Love were all meaningless categories at best and  outright obstacles to the bottom line value at worst.

Nevertheless, Jesus adds that one additional quality of the Kingdom is universality. It is like a broad net that encompasses all sorts and conditions of people. The Kingdom is the relationship God offers in Jesus Christ. The offer of the relationship is universal and unconditional.

No one deserves the kingdom. No one is entitled to the Kingdom. No one is excluded from the kingdom. It is an unconditional gift to all people everywhere.

The final sorting of the good and bad is the self selection of the final judgment. The basis of the final judgment is the ultimate value the individual soul has chosen to embody in this life.

Those who have chosen love as the ultimate value receive love as the ultimate reward. Love is not a sentiment or a feeling. Love is a person: Jesus Christ. All who seek love find love and they find love in Jesus Christ.

All who have chosen wealth and power as the ultimate value in life walk the path of pride. The end result of pride is despair. What they seek most is simply not present in the Kingdom. What they value most is what they have chosen to worship, What they have chosen to worship forms and shapes and molds their soul. Like the fish that have no value to the fisherman, the souls of the lost cannot find any value in the central defining value of the Kingdom.

Had these souls even the tiniest seed of love in their souls they could make a different choice. Had they even the smallest measure of yeast in their souls they would experience transforming grace. They did not value the grace; they valued the money. They did not value the love; they valued the power. They were not willing to sacrifice their attachment to wealth and power. Unlike the merchant, they did not make the choice to buy the field that held the treasure. They did not choose the pearl of great price.

The Kingdom of heaven emerges in our ordinary day to day experiences. The guiding principle of the kingdom is choice. The bottom line value of the kingdom is love. The Kingdom of Heaven emerges from where we place our priorities and what we value most.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like seed, yeast, treasure, a rare pearl of great price and the fisherman’s net cast wide and far to encompass all people. The Kingdom of heaven is like all of these things and more. The Kingdom of Heaven is nothing more and mothing less than Jesus Christ.