Don Friesen
Stories have always been an important part of preaching. Pity the congregation that can't go home from divine services with at least one story or anecdote to digest. One of the best-sellers during the Middle Ages was a book entitled Legenda Aurea The Golden Legend a book of great popular appeal that was copied into all the languages of Europe. Written by Jacobus de Voragine (~1228-98), a Dominican, and translated by another Dominican, Jacques de Vitry (~1180-1240), it was a collection of stories used in sermons. It may not make the New York Times' best-seller list today, but in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries stories used in sermons were known as exempla, and certain monks had developed the narration of the exempla into an art that was very successful. (Anne Pellowski, The World of Storytelling, cited by Brian Cavanaugh)
Sermon stories, exempla, or illustrations are older than the Middle Ages, of course. The oldest known Christian examples occur in the sixth-century homilies of Saint Gregory the First (540-604), but all of these were just following in the tradition of our Lord, who used many stories or parables, as the Scriptures describe them.
A rabbi was once asked: "Why does the parable possess such great influence?"
To which the wise rabbi replied, "I will explain this with a parable." And he said: Truth was accustomed to walk about as naked as the day he was born. No one allowed him to enter a home, and everyone who encountered him ran away in fright. Discouraged that he could find no resting place, Truth encountered Parable, all dressed up in colourful, expensive garments. Parable asked his friend, "Why are you so dejected?"
"I am in a bad situation," replied Truth. "I am old, very old, and no one cares to have anything to do with me."
"No," replied Parable, "it is not because of your age that you are disliked by people. Look! I am as old as you are, and the older I grow, the more I seem to be loved. Let me tell you the secret of my apparent popularity. People enjoy seeing everything dressed up and somewhat disguised. Here! I will lend you my garments, and you will see that people will like you as well."
Truth followed his friend's advice and dressed himself in the garments of Parable. Ever since then, Truth and Parable walk hand in hand, and people love both of them." (Howard W. Polsky & Yaella Wozner, Everyday Miracles: The Healing Wisdom of Hasidic Stories)
The Kingdom of God Is like ...
Jesus used many parables, and he especially used them to describe the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven, as Matthew prefers, using the word, "heaven," as a circumlocution for the sacred name of God. "The kingdom of God," said Jesus, "may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field..." (Matthew 13:24) and then he went on to tell the story of weeds growing up alongside good plants and cautioning us to avoid taking indiscriminate action and thereby destroying both.
"The kingdom of God," said Jesus, "is like a mustard seed...." (13:31) "The kingdom of God," said Jesus, "is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened." (13:33) "The kingdom of God," said Jesus, "is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field." (13:44) "The kingdom of God," said Jesus, "is like a merchant in search of fine pearls...." (13:45) "The kingdom of (God) is like a net that was thrown into the sea and caught fish of every kind...." (13:47)
On and on flow the stories from the lips of Jesus. The kingdom of God "may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves." (Matthew 18:23) The kingdom of God "is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire labourers for his vineyard." (20:1) The kingdom of God "may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son." (22:2) The kingdom of God "will be like this. Ten bridesmaids took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom..." (25:1), and then Jesus goes on to tell a story of two groups those who were prepared for the wedding, and those who were not! In the Gospel of Luke Jesus says, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it?" (Luke 13:18; repeated in 13:20) And then comes forth the whole repertoire of parables used in the Gospel of Matthew.
The Kingdom of God Is a Central Biblical Theme
Today's sermon is brought to you by the letter, "K," and the Bible's K-list is not all that interesting. It contains a lot of hard-to-pronounce names, but like last week one word and theme stands head and shoulders above the rest the word, "kingdom". According to scholars, the kingdom of God is the most central and comprehensive theme in the entire Bible, and there are no shortage of passages we could have read this morning to convey this biblical theme.
Our reading from the book of Micah is an Old Testament example of eager anticipation of the reign of God, for life with God in charge will be better. Instead of armies bloodying each other to death, God will arbitrate between nations. Instead of Israel being overrun six ways from Sunday by one army or another, God's royal commission will rule with such wisdom and fairness that there will be no further need for military contests. Nations will "beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more...." (Micah 4:3) There will be no more need for military academies! No more need to school people in the destructive arts. Universities won't have to kowtow to military research money anymore! We will "all sit under (our) own vines (in our own hot-tubs) and under our own fig trees, and no one shall make (us) afraid...." (4:4) This is an example of the Old Testament eager anticipation of God's reign.
Jesus made the kingdom of God the central theme of his ministry; he said, "I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God ...for I was sent for this purpose." (Luke 4:43) And the synoptic Gospels chronicle his itinerant ministry "through cities and villages," says Luke, "proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God." (8:1)
In fact, Luke tells us that before Jesus' birth the angel told his mother-to-be, "He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." (Luke 1:33) And when Jesus grew up and was deciding on the shape of his ministry, Luke tells us that "the devil led him up and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world." (4:5) The devil knew how important the kingdom was to Jesus and was hoping that Jesus would use one of the current earthly models as the pattern for his own kingdom. It was tempting, but it was not to be.
"Strive for the kingdom," said Jesus. (Luke 12:31) "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near." (Matthew 3:2) "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news." (Mark 1:15) And they did!
Even though the Apostle Paul talks about Jesus in more theological terms than the Gospels and uses stories less often than did Jesus, the kingdom of God theme was also important to Paul. In the city of Ephesus, we are told, Paul "entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God." (Acts 19:8) Much later, when Paul was a prisoner in Rome, people flocked to the prison to hear Paul talk about the kingdom of God. "They came to him ...in great numbers," Acts tells us. "From morning until evening he explained the matter to them, testifying to the kingdom of God and trying to convince them about Jesus...." (Acts 28:23) Even though imprisoned there for at least two years, Paul "welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance." (Acts 28:30-31) In response to the "the good news about the kingdom of God..., (people) were baptized, both men and women," Acts tells us. (Acts 8:12)
When Kingdoms Clash
The kingdom of God is a central biblical theme of the Scriptures, and Jesus' stories of the kingdom are delightful, but sometimes I wish he would have been more straightforward in describing the kingdom of God. Sometimes we get the impression that the kingdom of God is a very spiritual and ephemeral entity. After all, Jesus said, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over.... But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." (John 18:36) "No one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above," said Jesus. (3:3) And "no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit." (3:5) These expressions make the kingdom of God sound like a very lofty concept with no particular earthly dimensions!
On the other hand, Jesus also talked about the kingdom of God in very concrete terms. Jesus' words about the kingdom of God were often accompanied with very real and earthly relief from disease and illness. (Matthew 4:23) When Jesus said, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God"(Luke 6:20), the earthly poor rejoiced! Those who were economically disadvantaged rejoiced! When Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10), the persecuted ones those with real, physical, earthly, hurting wounds, inflicted by their oppressors rejoiced! The devil would not have bothered showing Jesus the kingdoms of this world if the kingdom of God did not have something in common with those kingdoms!
Biblical scholars agree that Jesus saw the kingdom of God as both already present in some real, earthly, earthy way, and not yet fully realized. The earliest Christians retained this paradoxical tension, and thought that the Church might give us a good idea of what the kingdom of God is like. Often Mennonites have virtually identified the church with God's kingdom and relegated the rest of society and culture to the devil's rule! Others have spiritualised the kingdom of God, emptying it of all social and political significance so as to leave them free to vote any way they please! Yet others have too easily identified the kingdom of God with social and political movements of the day, selling out to the highest bidder under the presumptuous notion that the kingdom of God would come to fruition in their generation.
If one accepts the notion that the kingdom of God has some earthly dimensions and some earthy character, then there is bound, at some point or another, to be a clash between kingdoms. Jesus himself warned us that it is of the nature of kingdoms to compete, for "nation (to) rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom...." (Matthew 24:7) The clash of kingdoms, including the kingdom of God, becomes dramatic in the New Testament book of Revelation, which describes Jesus as the "the ruler of the kings of the earth." (Revelation 1:5) This is the one whom we acclaim as the King of kings! (1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 17:4; 19:16)
William Willimon, until recently the chaplain at Duke University, tells us that when his country began bombing in Bosnia in 1999, they waited until after Ramadan, for fear of offending American Muslims. Instead, they began the bombing during Holy Week! They knew, suggests Willimon, that "Christians have become so adept at rendering over everything to Caesar that we (have) lost the ability to be offended by Caesar." ("Thy Kingdom Come," October 17, 1999) There was a time when people who followed Jesus knew that there was some dissonance between the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world, but such dissonance seems to have become but a dim and distant memory.
To What Shall I Compare the Kingdom of God?
There is much more to be said about this central biblical theme. When he wasn't telling stories about the kingdom, Jesus also gave us some other hints about it. He said that "Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom... only (those) who (do) the will of (God)." (Matthew 7:21) He warned us that the rich in particular will have some accessibility problems (19:23-24); and there are no plans to put in a ramp to make it any easier for the rich to enter the kingdom of God. If you want some help getting into the kingdom of God, said Jesus, take a look at children! "For it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. ...whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it." (Luke 18:16-17)
Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a lot of different things, and perhaps it is the paradoxical nature of God's kingdom that prompted the poet, Francis Thompson (1859-1907), to pen lines that capture both the paradox and the appeal of God's kingdom:
("The Kingdom of God," The Oxford Book of English Mystical Verse)
Jesus asked, "What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it?" (Luke 13:18; repeated in 13:20) His approach to the question invites our own comparisons. Last summer I was trying to avoid buying a new drill, and convinced that something was wrong with the variable-speed switch I proceeded to tear the stubborn thing apart! When I was done, the switch was beyond fixing, because I didn't realize that the switch had a reverse-screw thingy. I now hare a new drill!
The kingdom of God is like a reverse-screw thingy. In one of his children's songs, Brian Suderman sings about what's it's like when God's in charge:
Another person has compared the kingdom of God to a dandelion. (Catherine M. Wallace) It's not an image that urban keepers of immaculate lawns appreciate, but we all know how these pesky flowers become puffy and at the slightest provocation blow all over the place and take root, and grow! It's not an image that grows on us, but if the kingdom of God is not like a dandelion, I'm convinced that Jesus' stories about the kingdom of God are like dandelions; once let loose, they spread to many places in our hearts and minds and are most difficult to dislodge. Thanks be to God for their persistent witness!
"O world invisible, we view thee,
There is sufficient mystery about the kingdom of God that it cannot be easily captured or managed. Just when we think we've achieved it with the election of some political party, we are forced to go back to the kingdom stories and compare it to the heavenly, eternal version. Just when we've worked out a version that is ideal in theory, it asks us to put it into earthly practise.
O world intangible, we touch thee,
O world unknowable, we know thee,
Inapprehensible, we clutch thee!"
"Let me tell you what it's like when God's in charge.
It's that reverse-screwy thing! Things are the opposite of what we expected. It is indeed an "upside-down" kingdom, as one of our scholars (Donald Kraybill, The Upside-Down Kingdom) has described it a kingdom that inverts the conventions of other kingdoms and realms.
Let me tell you what it's like when God's in charge.
...When God's in charge, the first shall be the last.
... When God's in charge, the last will be the first."
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.