Scripture (Matthew 13:31-33, 44-48) can be found here…
The kingdom of heaven is like a story that leaves us with more questions than answers.
Jesus shares more parables in this morning’s passage, more brief stories designed to “tease the imagination, challenge accepted values, or make a point.”[i] And he uses to a phrase that echoes throughout Matthew’s gospel: the kingdom of heaven. In the other gospels, Jesus speaks of the kingdom of God, but Matthew’s Jewish audience regards the name of God as too holy to speak out loud. So. The kingdom of heaven it is.
In the year 2020, as monarchies seem to be on the wane, and royals are prone to criticizing and even stepping outside the institution itself, it’s hard for us to grasp what the word “kingdom” meant to those who first heard Jesus’ parables. But one thing’s for sure: whatever “kingdom” meant to them before they heard Jesus, that meaning had changed after. Monarchy was intended to be something grand, powerful, and impressive. Jesus speaks of God’s kingdom as something quite different.
You think a kingdom is like a palace. But the kingdom of heaven is like a little yellow seed—a seed so small, you might lose it if you weren’t paying attention. But that seed produces a nice big tree. How about that? A kingdom that makes sure the birds are cared for in their nests!
You think a kingdom is all about the power of the king. But how about the power of a little flour left to ferment… to get a little funky, a little smelly, but which, hey look at that, makes bread rise, feeds a crowd. This feels like a good time to mention that the word kin-dom seems to work better than “kingdom” to describe what Jesus is talking about… a way of living that sees mutual care and concern at the heart of the gospel, at the core of what it means to be close to God.
You think your religious beliefs are something you can be casual and measured about, something you can pull out when it’s time to go to temple or church. But God’s kin-dom is like something you find and then hand over everything you have in order to possess it. Like a perfect pearl, glowing with the beauty of the depths of the ocean—and you are overjoyed to spend your last dime so that you might have that ocean-view always.
Something may start to occur to you here. This kin-dom is all-inclusive. The sower is here, the one living off the land. So is the woman sparking the yeast to life and baking bread for multitudes. And the merchant class—the buyers and sellers of things like opals and pearls and fields. And then we come to a group near and dear to Jesus’ heart.
You may think the kin-dom looks like a fancy meal for the big cheese… what people from Philly call, “the big mahoff.” And there’s no question, meals are definitely a big thumbs up for Jesus! But in this moment, he says, the kin-dom looks like these guys right here—and he throws one arm around Simon Peter, and the other around Simon’s little brother Andrew—these guys, out in their boat all night, and they throw the net in the water, and bring up a great haul of fish. Then they bring it back to shore, and separate the good fish from the bad fish.
That last part got my attention. Are a lot of “bad” fish brought up in nets? I spouted off to our bible study that, I didn’t think so. I was so wrong. It turns out, in large commercial fishing operations, yes—a shockingly high amount. 40% of what’s in the nets, they call bycatch—creatures that are simply not what the fishers are looking for, and are tossed back, usually injured and dying. It’s a terrible statistic. In fact, it’s unsustainable—it’s a real problem for our oceans and for the future prospects of all kinds of marine species. (By the way: you can go online to find out which kinds of fish are sustainably brought to market, so that your dinner is helping and not hurting.
Of course, the main reason one throws a fish back when using a line or a fishing pole is, the fish isn’t big enough. It’s not mature.
I’d therefore like to propose a change to this last parable. The kin-dom of heaven is like a kindly fisherman who brings in loads of beautiful fish of every species—and who gives the little guys a chance to grow.
Something like that.
Everyone’s included. And by sharing these stories that allow his listeners to see how the kin-dom is unfolding through examples drawn from their lives, Jesus gives us all an opportunity to wonder: Where have I seen the kin-dom today? New Testament professor Holly Hearon writes,
“The ordinariness of the tasks invites us to see signs of the kin-dom of heaven in our day-to-day lives; to recognize that it is emerging in our very midst. This becomes an invitation to us to cultivate the practice of seeing God’s work among us through questions:
What do we expect to see?
And where do we expect to find it?
Have there been times when our expectations have been overturned?”[ii]
This last question is key. We are used to thinking of God as regal, and remote, and, yes, as enthroned in heaven. But Jesus is not having it.
God is with you as you hopefully plant a seed in a pot or your garden.
God is with you as you make something to eat.
God is with you as you think about how you want to spend your time, your talent, and yes, your treasure.
God is with you as you go about the labor and the rest, the making and the taking of nourishment, the lying down and the rising up of all your days. God is with you. Look around you, right this minute, and realize it. Say to yourself, or to your companion, or to God: God is here. Now, What do I see?
The kin-dom of heaven is like a story that leaves us with more questions than answers.
The kin-dom of heaven is like a storyteller who takes the bits and pieces of our everyday lives, and reminds us: they are holy.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
[i] Dennis C. Duling, Matthew 13:3 footnote, The HarperCollins Study Bible, Wayne A. Meeks, General Editor (New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993), 1881.
[ii] Holly Hearon, “Commentary on Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52, Working Preacher, July 26, 2020, http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4512.