July 30: Close to You

THE WORD IN THE GOSPEL

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

He told another parable to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and planted in his field. It’s the smallest of all seeds. But when it’s grown, it’s the largest of all vegetable plants. It becomes a tree so that the birds in the sky come and nest in its branches.”

He told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in a bushel of wheat flour until the yeast had worked its way through all the dough.”

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold all that he owned and bought it.

“Have you understood all these things?” Jesus asked.

They said to him, “Yes.”

Then he said to them, “Therefore, every legal expert who has been trained as a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings old and new things out of their treasure chest.”

THE MESSAGE: Close to You

You know, I love the Bible. I especially love the stories about Jesus and the stories that Jesus told. But I also love the visions of the OT prophets, and all the stories told by ancient people in attempts to understand God and human life. But, as I’m sure you know, the Bible can sometimes be complicated and confusing. And sometimes, because we are people living in a world that is radically different from the world in which the Bible was composed, we read the stories in the Bible – stories that are thousands of years old – and we form conclusions that are not faithful to the original or intended meaning of the text.

For instance, in today’s gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples a series of short parables about the Kingdom of heaven. He begins each parable by saying, “the kingdom of heaven is like . . .” and then he uses a metaphor or image to make his point.

Now, to me, it seems like Jesus is tackling a very difficult topic in trying to describe the Kingdom of heaven. I mean, if someone asked you, “What is the Kingdom of heaven like?” what would you say? 

I think most people would describe heaven as a place that has golden streets and pearly gates and maybe angels flying around playing harps. A place of almost indescribable beauty. A place where God sits on a golden throne, surrounded by adoring saints and angels.

And the Bible supports that image, at least in part. Although there are no descriptions o harp-playing angels anywhere in the Bible, there are images in the book of Revelation of a holy city with streets of pure gold and with twelve gates, each made from a single pearl.

Now this is where things get confusing. Jesus never talked about the Kingdom of heaven like that. He never described it as any place, and certainly not as a place up in the clouds somewhere with those angels and pearly gates.

You see, most people think of heaven as that beautiful place where we hope to wind up when we die – a place that is beautiful beyond imagination and that is freed from the problems, the pain, and the grief of life in this world.

But whenever Jesus described the Kingdom of heaven, he was talking about something very different. He wasn’t talking about a place that is somehow separate from this world. Jesus understood the Kingdom of heaven – which he also called the Kingdom of God – as something that is very much a part of this world, very much down to earth, literally.

Just look at the ways he described the Kingdom of heaven: by using stories about common people doing common everyday things. A farmer sowing mustard seeds in his field. A woman adding yeast – or leavening – to a batch of flour. A merchant searching for a fine pearl.

According to the gospel of Matthew, the first thing that Jesus does when he starts his public ministry – the first thing he does after he comes out of his time of testing in the wilderness – is to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven has come near!”

Jesus’ entire life and ministry from that point was focused on revealing this kingdom that has come near, through acts of healing, through offering forgiveness, through reaching out to those who were outcasts, through caring for the poor, and, of course, through these parables or descriptions of the kingdom.

And for Jesus, this kingdom is not a glorious place in the “sweet by and by” up in the sky. It is as close and as tangible and as real as a mustard seed or a bit of yeast in a bowl of bread dough. This is the kingdom of heaven that Jesus invited people to live into – not a place to go after we die in some future life, but in the here and now. Jesus invited people to perceive the kingdom of heaven in every nook and cranny of daily life, and in things as insignificant and as mundane as a mustard seed or yeast.

There’s an interesting passage in the gospel of Luke. This is from chapter 17:

Pharisees asked Jesus when God’s kingdom was coming. He replied, “The kingdom isn’t coming with signs that are easily noticed. Nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ Don’t you see? God’s kingdom is already among you.”

Now, mustard seeds and yeast are certainly not easily noticed. They aren’t flashy signs of God’s presence and power, which is what we might expect if the kingdom of heaven were coming near. And yet, they are exactly what Jesus used as signs of the nearness of God’s kingdom.

Jesus made it clear that this kingdom is already here – it’s already a part of our daily lives. It’s not something we’re waiting for or hoping for. Our challenge, as people who follow Jesus, is to train ourselves to see the true signs of the kingdom in mundane and ordinary people, places, and things, and then to live into that kingdom each and every day.

I think it’s surprising – shocking even – to think that we could find traces of the kingdom of heaven in a mustard seed or bit of yeast. Neither of them is particularly valuable or beautiful. And yet, this is exactly what Jesus taught and modeled – that the power of God and the glory of the kingdom are revealed not in grand displays, but in quiet, unexpected ways.

Let’s consider the mustard seed. In Jesus’ day, mustard plants were nuisances that farmers would pull out of their fields. And yet, in Jesus’ parable, someone takes one of these seeds and purposefully plants it in a field, where it grows to be the largest of all the vegetable plants – so large that birds could nest in its branches. This tiny seed, which some people would consider useless, winds up growing into something large and fruitful and useful.

And what about the yeast, or leaven? In Jesus’ day, leaven was something like a “necessary evil.” It was needed to leaven bread, but it also was considered unclean and impure. After all, yeast causes fermentation and can cause some foods to spoil. Remember that the Israelite families were instructed to remove every trace of leaven from their homes in order to prepare for the Passover Feast. And yet, just a little bit of this “impure” stuff can leaven a large batch of dough for bread.

In Jesus’ parable, the kingdom of heaven something that grows from tiny and insignificant seeds and bits of yeast to produce an abundance of good things.

Where can we find this mustard seed and this yeast – this common, everyday stuff that, according to Jesus, are signs of the kingdom that is already among us?

Perhaps we find them in our common, everyday acts of love, compassion, and understanding. Especially in those acts that others might think are useless or meaningless or pointless. Like when we forgive someone who others might find unforgiveable, or when we show a bit of love toward someone who is considered unlovable, or when we care for people without counting the cost or the risks. When we do things that other people might snub their noses at. When we take on the “dirty” tasks of caring that no one else wants to do. When we faithfully and consistently share our time, our talent, and our gifts in so many small ways each day.

This is what the kingdom is like. And it’s all around us, all the time.

And this is how the kingdom grows: one small seed, one pinch of yeast at a time.

But the best part of all is that this kingdom that revealed in all these small, subtle ways, is like a priceless treasure. Jesus describes the kingdom as a pearl that was so valuable and so beautiful that a merchant sold everything he owned so he could buy it.

I invite you to take a moment to consider how all those little things that we do in the course of our daily lives helps reveal and advance that precious and lovely Kingdom of heaven, right here in Cobleskill.