The Pastor’s Words

Text:  Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
27 July 2008
Topic:  The Kingdom of Heaven is Like…a Whole Lot!
 
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ!
I’ve been away for the last two Sundays and Pr. Seyler tells me you are all theologians!  Wonderful!   Fantastic!  Of course, this has been true for a very long time, that each one of you is a theologian.  Because, as Pr. Seyler rightly pointed out, theology is simply faith seeking understanding.  And by virtue of our very presence here this morning, you and I are engaging in the study and practice of our faith, which makes us theologians.  So, keep it up; keep seeking to understand the faith we share in Christ Jesus.
In the last two weeks Joanne and I have been to Ithaca, New York for a wedding, to the shore for a day in Wildwood, NJ with our family, to the ELCA’s Global Mission Event in La Crosse, Wisconsin and finally up to the coal regions on Thursday for the funeral of one of Joanne’s uncles.  To state the obvious, we’ve been on the road a whole lot!
But here’s some of what I observed in our travels:  that we live in a beautiful country from the grand vistas that surround the Finger Lakes of New York, to the very clean and very wide beaches of Wildwood, to the stunning bluffs that surround La Crosse, and finally to the very plain and simple life of people in the coal regions.  I also observed that people in all these places were kind and helpful, smiling and conversant, and a pleasure to be with.
In these last two weeks, I also read two books and began another.  The first book was entitled, The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America Is Tearing Us Apart by Bill Bishop, and the second was, A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail by Bill Bryson.  These were two very different books on two very different subjects, but, each of them affirmed for me that we live in a marvelous society in which we have the freedom to express ourselves and even explore our surroundings to our heart’s content.
The third book, which I have only begun to read is entitled, Between Two Worlds: Escape from Tyranny: Growing Up in the Shadow of Saddam by Zainab Salbi.  This woman is the daughter of Saddam Hussein’s driver.  It is the gruesome, personal, story of what it was like to live under the tyrannical regime of Saddam Hussein.
Now, what does any and all of this have to do with today’s gospel?  Well, it tells the story of my life for the last two weeks.   And stories, or parables, are what Jesus used to convey the message of the gospel. 
Today, Jesus tells a story, a parable, about what the kingdom of heaven is like.  I’d like you to look with me at that text again, on the back of your bulletin, to see what this “story” is all about.  What we find is that it’s not really a story at all, but a description, a glimpse, into what the kingdom of heaven is like.
First, I want you to count how many different descriptions of the “kingdom of heaven” you find this parable.  I’ll wait…….How many different descriptions of kingdom of heaven do you find? Five?  Six?  The last verse contains the sixth description.  And, when you read those descriptions, did it seem like there was a common theme among them?  I don’t know about you, but I found there wasn’t any common theme at all, but rather, a whole host of themes and ideas, just like our lives.
If you were to tell the person sitting next to you in the pew what your last two weeks have been like, your story would very different from theirs, and theirs would be very different from those who are sitting up here.
If we were to go across the street to the Catholic Church and listen to their life stories for the last two weeks and then go downtown to Greater Deliverance Church on First Avenue, their stories would be just as different as ours are from each others.
That’s exactly what the kingdom of heaven is like. 
Jesus came to this earth, with a message that he knew would be have to be very dynamic, very diverse, and yet very specific to each person hearing it.  For some, they would need to hear about a mustard seed that generates a bush much larger than the tiny seed from which it came.  Perhaps they would need to understand that even a little faith is better than no faith at all.
For some, they would need to know that the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that makes bread to rise, that kind words and kind deeds, generously given and generously shared, can have a huge effect on others.
For some, searching for the kingdom of heaven is like being on a treasure hunt.  And when it is found, that person’s whole life becomes focused and changed and every part of that person’s life becomes dedicated to living the treasured Kingdom life.
Still others discover that the kingdom of heaven is just one of many pearls in life that seek our attention.  But, for those whose eyes have been opened to the gospel, they come to realize that the finest pearl is God’s Son, Jesus the Christ, who loves us and saves us, just because, which then causes us to give our all for Him.
To the chagrin of others, they realize that the kingdom of heaven has boundaries, that there will be a reckoning of those who have come to faith over against those who have chosen to ignore the gospel, that there are consequences for not paying attention to the teachings of Christ.
Finally, there are those who will discover that the kingdom of heaven is both old and new, traditional and contemporary, existing in this land and in every other place around the world, that it is impossible to fully understand and “bottle up” what the Kingdom of Heaven is really like, because, it is always being revealed in new and marvelous ways.  At the Global Mission Event, we saw and heard of the wonderful, exciting diversity of faith expressed all around the world.
 When we were at the wineries in New York, we tasted a whole variety of wines, each with their own story and particularity.  When were on the beach in Wildwood, we were standing on grains of sand that have come from all parts of the earth.  When we traveled out to Wisconsin, we traveled on highways built to connect people and to assist in the commerce of our nation.  When we stood at the grave of Joanne’s uncle, we stood among generations of people who also struggled to understand what the Kingdom of Heaven was all about.
If we are paying attention, we come to discover is that the Kingdom of Heaven is very dynamic, very diverse, and yet very specific to each person hearing it, that God’s kingdom comes to you and me in different ways, through our own observations of life, through books we are reading, through conversations with our neighbors, and hopefully by your attendance here today.
Your life is different than mine and yet it is just the same.  As no one grain of sand is the same as the next, as the trees of New York are similar to those of Wisconsin, they are different. So it is with the Kingdom of Heaven in our lives.  It is different and yet the same in each and every one of us. 
As theologians, as people seeking understanding of the faith we share, try to keep this dynamic tension in place.  Let us not judge others because their understanding of faith is different from ours.  Rather, let us celebrate the fantastic assortment of faith understandings that God has given us. 
As the tiny mustard seed grows, let us grow and grow and grow into people who see the Kingdom of Heaven in all of its diversity and wondrous beauty.     AMEN