Sunday 07/27/14 Freeville/Homer Ave
UMC’s
Sermon Title: “What is the Kingdom of Heaven like?”
Old Testament Scripture Lesson: Genesis 29:15-28
New Testament Scripture Lesson: Romans 8:26-39
Gospel Lesson: Mathew 13:31-33, 44-52
Welcome once again on this, the Seventh
Sunday after the feast of Pentecost. Pentecost, the day that tongues of fire descended
upon the apostles and the early followers of Jesus Christ. On this day, the
Holy Spirit moved like a mighty wind, and the Christian Church was officially
born.
On this being the Seventh Sunday
after the feast of Pentecost, today we have a gospel reading were Jesus Christ
gives us many short parables or short stories. You see on this day, instead of
one story or parable, we will hear many parables. These parable will be about about
“What the kingdom of heaven is like?”
“The kingdom of heaven.” Some of us
might hear the term “the kingdom of heaven,” and say, “well what is that?” Some
might say, is it that place way up there, were angels sing, and the saints
praise God? The place of Golden roads, peace, love, joy, and abundance, which
by the way is gated and guarded by Saint Peter. Why does heaven have a gate
anyway? Is the song “Stairway to Heaven” an actual path to the great hereafter?
Jesus Christ talked of “the kingdom
of heaven” to his disciples and to his early followers. He said, that “the kingdom
of heaven” is near. In fact, in the gospel of Mathew 6:9-10 when Jesus taught his followers the “Lord’s
Prayer,” he said, “Pray then in this way: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come. Your
will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
So Jesus told his
disciples and his early followers, that “the kingdom of God,” or “the kingdom
of heaven” is coming. If this kingdom is to be ushered in fully when Christ
returns, and if this kingdom is somewhere up there in the heavens then, what
about the here and the now?
One could argue that we
should just sit idly by and wait for Christ’s triumphant return to earth. That we
should wait until our own deaths to see “the kingdom of heaven.” I mean if “the
kingdom of heaven” comes after this life, then shouldn’t we just sit around and
wait for it? Or is there something more to this life that we are living? Are we
supposed to build God’s kingdom here on earth, as we await his kingdom to come?
I heard a line that a pastor said once, “don’t be so heavenly minded, that you
are useless here on earth.”
“The kingdom of heaven.”
What is it? Where is it? When is it?
In the gospels, Jesus
tells us to love our neighbors. Jesus teaches us a better way to live, a better
way to treat one another, and a better way of building community. Jesus also
tells us however, to build the kingdom in the here and the now.
Will this kingdom that we
build here on earth ever compare to the kingdom to come? Of Course not, yet
Jesus tells us, build my kingdom here on earth, as you await the next kingdom.
Build the world of love, caring, peace, justice, and mercy that I have taught
and have shown you, as you await my return. As you await the hereafter.
So “what is the kingdom
of heaven like?” It is that glorious place of rest and joy after this life. It
is the triumphant return of the Lord to trumpet sounds. It is also what we are
building in this church, and in this community today. For we are building “the
kingdom of heaven” here in this place, and in this community. With the love of
Christ, with our behaviors, with our actions, and with our teachings, we are building
the kingdom here, as we await the kingdom to come.
I remember watching a television
show once, and the name of show escapes me, but a man in the show got angry,
and then he said to another person in the show, “I’m going to knock you to kingdom
come!” At the time I saw this, I said, “huh,” what does that mean?
What I know now, is that
it means God’s kingdom is in the hereafter. Further, if someone tells you that they
are going to “knock you to kingdom come,” that sounds like they are trying to
end your earthly life, and send you home to be with the Lord!
When we hear the mission
statement of the United Methodist Church, which is, “to make disciples of Jesus
Christ for the transformation of the world,” this “transformation of the world”
is the building of the kingdom in the here and the now, as we await the kingdom
to come.
Sometimes I think though,
that the mission statement of the United Methodist Church could also be “to
make disciples of Jesus Christ to build God’s kingdom, as we await God’s kingdom
to come.”
So beyond just faith in God, beyond
just faith in Christ, we are called to transform the world, and to build the
kingdom. As says it the book of James 2:15-17, “If a brother or sister is naked and lacks
daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace;
keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs,
what is the good of that? So faith by itself, if it has no works, is
dead.”
So if we
just believe in Jesus Christ, and we do nothing with it, we neglect the
building of the kingdom in the here and the now. Sure our faith might get us
into heaven in the hereafter, but why would we sit idly by and allow this world
to be the way it is. For when we are transformed spiritually, when we are
changed from the inside out, we are called to live into the fullness of our
calling by God.
This
fullness could result in us going down the street, could result in us going to
the next town, to a seminary, to china, and etc. When are transformed by Jesus
Christ, when we are truly changed, we are called, we are inspired, and we are even
driven to change the world. This is building the kingdom here, as we await the
kingdom to come.
In Paul’s
Epistle or Letter to the church in Rome, or the Book of Romans reading from
this morning, the Apostle Paul then tells us that nothing will separate us from
the love of God. In fact, the Apostle Paul said, “For I am convinced that
neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God promises are concrete, and never
changing. Have faith in me He says, and you will be in paradise for eternity.
He also says though, I need you to build the kingdom in the here and the now,
until eternity comes.
The specific parables or stories that
Jesus tells us this morning are, first that of a mustard seed, and how a little
mustard seed can grow to a large plant, that according to one of my sources
could be up to three-meters high. One little seed, tremendous growth and
transformation. Jesus says that “the kingdom of heaven” is like that. Jesus
then tells the parable about a women who mixes yeast with three measures of
flour. Historically speaking a handful of good yeast mixed with three measures
of floor, could make enough bread to feed up a hundred people. Jesus said, “the
kingdom of heaven,” is like that.
Jesus then tells the parable of the
hidden treasure. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in
a field, which someone found and hid; the in his joy he goes and sells all that
he has and buy that field.” You see the person was changed by the treasure, by
God, and then gave up everything to give that treasure to others. The person
then bought the field, which is the place that God can be praised, and that the
kingdom on earth can be built, while awaiting the kingdom to come.
Jesus then tells another parable and
says, “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.” You see the person who found the treasure in the field sold it, as he had
already come to know what the treasure is. The merchant however, is willing to
sell everything to have and know the treasure first hand. Jesus Christ is the
treasure, and he asks us all that we know him, and that we build the kingdom
here on earth, as we await the kingdom to come.
Jesus then tells a final parable, and
says, “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.”
Jesus then says, when it is all said
and done for us in this life, will we be in the good pile, or the bad pile?
Will we have faith? Will be build the kingdom of God, as we await the kingdom
to come. Jesus then instructs his disciples and listeners that if they
understood his parables, to go and tell others the good news of God’s coming
kingdom. That we are called to build the kingdom here, as we await the kingdom
to come.
I would like to close this morning
with a story. This story is about building “the kingdom of God”. It is called “Stop Selling Sugared Water”. Here is how
it goes: “Who among us could live without computers? It seems they’re
everywhere – in our studies at home, on our desks at work, in the library, the
bank and even the cafe. We get pleasure from them, we swear at them, we need
them.”
“But it’s only a recent thing. Just 3
generations ago the Chairman of IBM declared there is a world market for only
five computers. As recently as 1977 the President of Digital Equipment claimed
there is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home!”
“The revolution was brought to us in
large part by Steven Jobs, the founder of Apple Computers. Steve Jobs was just
21 when he and Steve Wozniak invented the Apple Computer. Until then computers
were a monstrous mass of vacuum tubes which took whole rooms. Then the two
Steve’s managed to take that mass of tubes and incorporate them inside a box
small enough to sit on a desk.”
“Jobs and Wozniak offered their
invention to Atari. They weren’t interested in big bucks – all they wanted was
a salary and the opportunity to continue their work. Atari knocked them back.
They offered it to Hewlett-Packard, but Hewlett Packard knocked them back. It
seemed Jobs and Wozniak alone could see the possibilities. So Jobs sold his
Volkswagon and Wozniak sold his calculator, and with the $1300 that gave them
they formed Apple Computers. The company was named Apple in memory of a happy
summer Jobs had spent working in an orchard.”
“The rest is history. By all accounts
Steve Jobs is a visionary, and spurred on by that vision he built a successful
computer company. But Jobs soon discovered that if his vision was to reach
fruition they needed greater management expertise. So Jobs approached John
Sculley, then President of PepsiCo. There was absolutely no reason why Sculley
should leave a highly paid position in a world leading company to go work with
a bunch of computer nerds in a fledgling industry. Not unsurprisingly he turned
Jobs down. But Jobs wouldn’t take no for an answer. He approached Sculley
again. Again Sculley turned him down. In a last ditch effort Jobs passionately
presented his visionary ideas to Sculley and he asked Sculley a question that
forced him to accept. The question was this: “Do you want to spend the
rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the
world?”
“Do you want to spend the rest of
your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?”
Indeed Jobs and Sculley did change the world.”
“Jesus comes to us with the same
question: “Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or
do you want a chance to change the world?” Most of us spend our lives making
sugared water, going to work to accumulate more possessions and perhaps finding
space for God and the world in our spare time. But Jesus had a vision to change
the world. His was the vision of the kingdom of God and he calls us to place it
at the center of our lives, to make it our reason for existence (Matthew 6.33).”
Let us all go forth this day and this
week then, and continue to seek ways to love and serve each other, so that
people will know who Jesus is. So people will follow Jesus, and then help us to
build his kingdom in the here and now, as we await his kingdom to come. Praise
God and Amen!
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