I
love the parables, I love imagining what “the kingdom of God” is like….but I
must admit, I just thought that the kingdom of God referred to the idea of
heaven….the idea of the ‘fullness of time’…but it seems I was wrong. Thanks to
my friend Alice for encouraging me to look more carefully at the Scripture and
what it might mean. According to scripture scholars the idea of the kingdom of
God does NOT refer to a place like heaven, but rather a TIME when “God’s power
for good is fully manifest in the world and evil is defeated”. In listening to
the first parable our take away is that this kingdom of God grows most often
when we don’t even know how, until, at some point we might see some of its
growth or it’s fruit!
I
try to imagine what that might be like, the best I can come up with is perhaps
those fleeting moments of bliss when you have a sense that everything, for just
this instance, is just right:
the
warmth of the sun on your face after too many rainy cloudy days;
witnessing
the laughter on your sisters face, the kind that makes her throw back her head
and shakes her whole body, after so many years of sorrow;
the
sense of peace and joy in your heart after a job well done or a day well spent;
Part
of the fragility of this idea is the knowledge that this peacefulness won’t
last forever, at least not now, because this isn’t heaven (as my aunt used to
say often). We learn to see and treasure these moments, recognize them as
little bits of perfection, and hold them in our hearts. They strengthen us on the
journey.
The
second parable of the mustard seed speaks to us of the power of HOPE. We
absolutely know that little things mean so much. We don’t often know, like
ripples on the water when we skip a stone, we don’t know how even our smallest
actions can effect others.
In
trying to think of an example of this, I struggle. But that makes sense and
proves my point: we DON’T know how our actions affect others….and that’s OK.
Years later when someone said to me: “It meant so much to me when you came with
me to chemo…” that’s a kingdom of God moment, isn’t it?
When
I am the receiver of the kindness, well, that I can recognize…I know how lovely
it was when a colleague brought me a glass of ice coffee, or a younger person
offered me that last seat on the uptown local at the end of a long day. It
makes me wonder if I ever did that for someone else?
As
I struggle to find examples of Kingdom of God moments, I sadly recognize that
it’s way easier to name the exact OPPOSITE of this: I can name easily moments
of hurt and evil…whether I’ve been the one to commit the sin, or the one who
was hurt by the sin of another.
When
we speak badly about someone else’s character,
When
we spread rumors or untruths,
When
we engage in behavior that is hurtful to others
When
we go out of our way to make someone else uncomfortable
When
we don’t do an honest days work
These
are moments that reflect our broken humanity and our weakness, our sinfulness:
the total opposite of what we long for in the kingdom of God.
Our
challenge today is to live our lives in such a way that we celebrate many more
moments of bliss, of love, and laughter, and fewer of those less than shining
moments…
Luckily
for us, God is all loving and merciful…God forgives us even when we hurt one
another, if we are truly sorry. Do we even recognize the need for our own
contrition and repentance?
The
mustard seed is a parable of hope: we CAN grow and we CAN be better! Do we WANT
to work towards that?
My
prayer for us today is that we may create and celebrate many more Kingdom of God
moments for ourselves and our world!
