Trinity 8

 

Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52, Romans 8.26-39, 1 Kings 3.5-12

The Kingdom of Heaven is like…

Seeds are obviously important as this is our third week in a row where they are mentioned by Jesus. Perhaps it’s their potential to become useful, great and beautiful, all from something we might not look twice at.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like, like what? When you dare to imagine, do tiny seeds and yeast come to mind? Maybe we think of a warm summers day, free from all worries, resting in a gentle breeze. But how often are we aware of unseen things? The yeast in our bread is neither seen nor tasted yet without it things would be a bit flat, it’s at work without us giving it a second thought.

Perhaps treasure and jewels are there as symbols which are easier to relate to as things which are instantly desirable by most people, dazzling symbols of things which we might want so much that we would sell everything to get them. Jesus was trying to get the crowds which had gathered by the lake to see that if they understood what the kingdom of heaven was like they would want this above everything else.

Put another way Jesus was engaging the minds of the crowd to consider the same question that God asked Solomon in our Old Testament reading’ Ask what I should give you’ which I take to mean what is it that you want right now above all else.

What would our answer be? Healing for sick people, peace in the parts of the world where unjust suffering is endured day after day, certainty that we will be reunited with our loved ones who have gone before us?

Paul reassures the church in Rome that the spirit interprets our deepest longings, the yearnings we may struggle to articulate to God. We are reminded of the fact that no suffering or loss, no pain or worry sits outside the scope of God’s love for us. He never looks at a situation and thinks’ sorry but you are on your own this time’.

The last part of today’s reading from Paul’s letter reminds me of that feeling of security offered to children lucky enough to have loving parents or guardians. As a small boy growing up in Essex it felt like my parents were superheroes and I couldn’t imagine coming to any harm as long as they were there. As I grew older I realised the limitations every parent faces and that most are just doing their best, muddling through at times.

The beautiful thing is that whether we were lucky enough or not to have had loving people raise us, Paul reminds us that ‘God is for us’ in a way that simply can’t be matched, he’s given his own Son for us and secured for us, everything we will ever need. Despite whatever suffering we may have to face we cannot be separated from the love of God in Jesus.

So even if we are so down we cannot pray, even when we cannot feel God’s comfort or healing, he is there with us, knows our innermost thoughts and the Kingdom of Heaven is no less real.

The Kingdom of heaven may often be found in unexpected places, a common theme throughout Jesus’ teachings, encouraging his followers to have open eyes, hearts and minds. We need to overcome our prejudices and challenge long held assumptions to have the greatest chance of catching a glimpse of God’s kingdom.

It's so easy to get worn down with the bad things we see happening that our minds become closed to the good. Near my workplace in south London there’s been a spike in people grabbing mobile phone’s from those holding them out as they walk along the street talking. The thieves then speed off on electric bikes or scooters.

So when a young woman told me she was shouted at by an unfriendly looking homeless man in the street, I understood why she sped up and ignored him, but he was too fast for her. As she turned to ask what he wanted he presented her with her purse containing cash, cards and travel passes, ‘you dropped this back down the road’ he said as he handed it over.

In the last part of today’s gospel Jesus refers to the ‘master of a household who brings out his treasure, what is old and what is new. Those hearing Jesus were meant to see that whilst there is great value in the wisdom accumulated by their ancestors over the centuries there are also now new treasures to be discovered in the Kingdom of Heaven.

We have potential to achieve most when we come together drawing upon the wisdom and experience of older people but combining this with the energy and fresh ideas of the younger people.

There are no restrictions based upon past knowledge and experience, no current limit by age or physical ability, we have to trust in God and dare to imagine a future with him. Each one of us has potential to bear fruit in a new way, we just need to find the courage to imagine and then pursue this.

After all, friend of mine started a yacht building business in his loft and everyone told him it would never work. Last time I checked with him he told me ‘sails had gone through the roof!’

On a more serious note we must not settle for ‘that will do’ or ‘that’s for other people’ at any stage of life, be confident that God still has plans for us, probably not as boat builders, if we are prepared to offer ourselves.

Those who were against Jesus would have been wise to heed his warnings. He and his followers might appear weak and insignificant compared with the Roman army and the Jewish temple, yet he was letting them know that from small beginnings his power would grow and spread and rise up to exceed anything they knew and the examples of the mustard seed and yeast were attempts to get them to listen in a way that wouldn’t be possible if he told them straight.

This is something dangerous for the authorities, the kingdom could spread in ways that they can’t always see or control and they were right to be frightened.

It’s something to keep in mind when we are few in number, when our beliefs and actions are ridiculed by those whose minds are closed to the extent that they are, sadly, missing out on so much.

People who have been ‘infected’ by God’s Kingdom ‘infected’ for want of a better word, have been known to do stuff that looks crazy to others, like standing up for their values when ridiculed and outnumbered, like helping those who can offer nothing material in return and losing ‘friends’, that just turned out to be acquaintances, as they change to live out their faith.

Daring to imagine something that doesn’t already exist isn’t easy for us. Maybe part of the problem is that imagination is often referred to in a negative way alongside delusion and untruth. We may grow up hearing ‘it’s a figment of her imagination’ and then it certainly doesn’t sound like it’s something to be encouraged.

But surely we can dare to imagine what glimpses of the Kingdom of God might be like. When I have previously asked people what they thought the Kingdom is like their answers included peace, justice, forgiveness, love and freedom from suffering.

It’s worth celebrating the fact that we are all invited to discover our own images of what the kingdom of heaven is like. Jesus is certainly reminding us that we don’t need to be great theologians by the everyday subject matter used in his parables, God’s kingdom is accessible to everyone and can be found in the everyday.

Ultimately, I can’t tell you and you can’t tell me exactly what the kingdom of heaven is like as we each have to discover this for ourselves. But when we do catch a glimpse, the new reality Jesus told of breaks in, and we will see things in a way which is wonderfully new.

Amen

Kevin Bright

30^th July 2023