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Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like…” Well, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a whole lot of different things. In the parables collected in today’s Gospel reading, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a seed, like yeast, like a treasure hidden in a field, like a fine pearl, like a net full of fish. That’s quite a string of similes, and there doesn’t seem to be a great deal of connection between them. We might even find ourselves asking, “Well which one is it? Is the kingdom a seed, or is it yeast, or is it a treasure, or what? What is the point that we are meant to take away from these five seemingly disconnected parabolic similes?”

It may help us to begin by realizing that these parables are not trying to tell us that the kingdom of heaven is a thing, an item among other items, the way a seed or a treasure or a pearl are items among other items. When we hear the phrase “kingdom of heaven” we tend to think of it in terms of things, in terms of nouns, in terms of static units that we can point to and say, “There, that’s it, that’s what it is.” A kingdom is a place, a realm, a geopolitical entity that we can walk around and mark on a map, like Great Britain or Sweden or Monaco. And heaven is up there, the sky—or if we want to be a little more sophisticated about it, heaven is higher plane of being, the nearer presence of God, not literally the sky, but a place that is higher and deeper and broader and more intense with divinity than this place where we live now. Put them together, and the phrase “kingdom of heaven” means “God’s place,” “God’s realm,” the domain of experience or the area of life where we can come closer to the tangible presence of God. If we take “kingdom of heaven” in that sense, then these parables are telling us what kind of thing we ought to be looking for if we go out to look for the kingdom of heaven as a thing among other things.

But I have a strong suspicion that Jesus did not think of the kingdom of heaven as a thing or a place or an item among other items; I have a strong suspicion that Jesus did not think of the kingdom of heaven as something that could be found and grabbed and held on to, the way a treasure or a pearl or a net could be found and grabbed and held on to. In Aramaic, the language that Jesus spoke, and in Greek, the language the Gospels were written in, nouns and verbs are much more closely related, things and actions sort of shade off into each other; the way you think about the world in Greek or Aramaic is more dynamic, more fluid, than the way we can tend to think about the world when we think in English.

The Greek word that we translate “kingdom” in “kingdom of heaven” is basileia; and basileia can refer to the thing, the place or the realm of a king, or it can refer to the action, the dynamic work of being a king, the ruling or reigning activity of kingship. So we could say these parables are about the “kingship of heaven, the ruling or reigning of heaven.”

And “heaven” in this phrase is just Matthew’s way of saying “God.” Matthew, remember, was writing for a congregation of mostly Jewish Christians, and in Jewish custom it was considered irreverent or disrespectful to say the name of God too lightly. Devout Jews would never pronounce God’s proper Name, Yahweh, out loud; and they could be very reticent about even saying the word “God.” Even in some Jewish writings today, you will find the word “God” printed out “G-d,” because spelling out the whole word is considered disrespectful to the fullness of divine mystery. Matthew follows that Jewish sensibility, and doesn’t like saying “God” too often; so where Mark and Luke describe Jesus talking about the “kingdom of God,” Matthew shows Jesus talking about the “kingdom of heaven.” Heaven here isn’t a static and particular place, either in the sky or beyond the sky or on some higher plane of being; heaven is God, heaven is the quality of being in closer relationship with God.

So the “kingdom of heaven” means the “reign of God”; it means a quality of living, it means a way of being, in which God’s will and God’s ideals and God’s values are the most important thing, are the motivating factor in our wills and our ideals and our values. Entering the kingdom of heaven doesn’t mean going to a supernal place; it means experiencing a dynamism of life in which we seek God’s justice and God’s peace, God’s promise of right relationships and well-being, God’s love and God’s grace, as the most important values that we have, the central felt worth that makes everything else worthwhile. The kingdom of heaven, the reign of God, is nothing more or less than the living of a God-filled life.

To be sure, that God-filled life is something we don’t experience much in this world. Sin and evil and brokenness can obscure us from the fullness of God’s peace and love. But the kingdom, the reign of God is not merely something far-off and distant, either. Even though sin blocks our full participation in God’s gracious will, we can begin to know God’s love here and now, we can grow in justice and peace here and now, we can let God’s ideals govern our decisions and our relationships and our social interactions bit by bit, step by step, here and now, as we become more able to value each other as God values us. The kingdom of heaven isn’t complete among us yet; but we are already living toward it now.

And on that level, these parables in today’s Gospel are an invitation to discover the kingdom way of living amidst the stuff of our own down-to-earth lives. The focus of these parables isn’t the things, the seeds and pearls and nets, the focus of these parables is the people. The thread that connects the parables is the way these people can see past merely superficial appearances, and can choose the real values, the values that lead to growth and generosity, the values of right relationships and well-being, the values that reflect the promises of God. A man chooses to sow a mustard seed, even though the seed seems too tiny to be worth anything, because he perceives its potential to become a generously growing bush. A woman mixes a little bit of yeast into quite a lot of flour, even though it seems like the yeast is too little to make any difference, because she knows that even a little leaven can transform the whole lump. A man mortgages everything he has to buy one empty field, an imprudent business decision by any standard, because he knows that in the field there is a treasure that is worth everything. A merchant sells his whole stock in order to buy one pearl, probably taking a terrible loss on the whole transaction, because the pearl is everything he’s ever wanted. A fishing crew lets down a big net, wasting time and effort to catch fish they know they’re going to throw away, because they also know that mixed in with the worthless fish will be fish that are very much worth the effort.  In each parable, a person chooses to do something that seems on the face of it to be foolish or crazy or just beside the point—and yet is a choice which unleashes a potential for goodness that surpasses all expectation. The kingdom of heaven, Jesus says, is like these people—it is living in a way that unleashes God’s potentials for yourself and for the world around you, so that all may grow in justice and in peace and in love.

And the point of the parables, of course, is to make us want to be like these people, too—to make us want to see past the surfaces of things and to choose to let God’s values reign in the way we act and feel and live. The point of the parables of the kingdom is to get us to be our own parables of the kingdom. The point is for us to say: The kingdom of heaven is like two friends who are having a fight, who are really angry with each other, the kind of anger that can spoil a friendship—and yet look past the surface of the anger of the moment to see that their friendship is more valuable than that, and so they decide to reconcile and rebuild their relationship. The kingdom of heaven is like a suburban teenager who has always had plenty of material possessions, who discovers an even more valuable sense of compassion and service on an urban immersion mission trip. The kingdom of heaven is like someone living with HIV—not dying of AIDS, but living with HIV—who discovers in illness what it really means to be alive. The kingdom of heaven is like a parish church that wants to grow, and chooses to look beyond the superficial measures of growing in members or dollars to grow in the values of outreach and prayer and living the Gospel—and discovers that growing in that way is what causes growing in members and dollars too. The kingdom of heaven looks a lot like us—when we let God’s justice and peace and love reign in us and through us for the world.

That’s the parable we can hear today; and that’s the parable we can be for Christ.

Readings For Sunday, July 28th, 2002

The First Lesson                        I Kings 3:5-12

At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you." And Solomon said, "You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you; and you have kept for him this great and steadfast love, and have given him a son to sit on his throne today. And now, O LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David, although I am only a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And your servant is in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a great people, so numerous they cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, able to discern between good and evil; for who can govern this your great people?"  It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this.  God said to him, "Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches, or for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, I now do according to your word. Indeed I give you a wise and discerning mind; no one like you has been before you and no one like you shall arise after you.

The Second Lesson     Romans 8:26-34

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?

He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us..

The Holy Gospel        Matthew 13:31-33, 44-49a

Jesus put before them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches." He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind; when it was full, they drew it ashore, sat down, and put the good into baskets but threw out the bad. So it will be at the end of the age.”