Matthew 13:44-52
Did any of you ever want to be a super-hero? Wonder woman, Superman, those kinds of people? I think a lot of kids, at least before the age of the cell phone, would dream about being super, being able to fly, to lift buildings, to have bullets bounce off of you or at least, in the case of wonder woman, off your bracelets. Superheroes seemed to have it all, and even though the comic books we had told stories where they faced terrible opponents, also holding superpowers, our heroes always triumphed in the end. We are born with the desire to triumph over obstacles; two-year-olds get frustrated when things don’t work out the way they want, and they let you know it. I think we are designed to long for a life without limitations.
Very early on, though we learn that there are limitations. We have to make choices in how we spend our energy, our time, our money. And every time we make a choice, we leave behind what might have been. IF you choose to get married to this person, you cut off the possibility of marrying another person. If you choose to buy a Jeep, say goodbye to the Chevrolet.
Today Jesus seems to be saying that the kingdom of heaven is a choice we make -- it’s within our reach, if we are willing to let go of everything else. That certainly seems to be what a lot of saints did. Saint Francis threw the clothes he was wearing at his father’s feet, renouncing everything to pursue the kingdom of heaven. Saint Anthony of the Desert sold the significant property he inherited from his family and gave it all away, except for a stipend to a couple of widows to take care of his sister -- and then went out to live in the desert. So many saints renounced everything to pursue the kingdom.
But that’s not the whole story. There have been lots of saints who didn’t renounce everything. Saint Margaret of Scotland was a queen; Saint Henry and Saint Kunaginda were a married couple ruling over Bavaria. The parents of Saint Therese of Lisieux, saints in their own right, had to struggle like every married couple to provide for their family and deal with living in the modern world. Carlos Acuta was very middle class and had the latest computer games. For many saints selling everything you have to obtain the kingdom of heaven didn’t seem to fit their lives. You and I might envy the saints who gave up everything, but we know we are more like those that had stuff.
One way to get at what Jesus is saying is to go back and read all of Matthew’s chapter 13, which contains eight of the twelve parables Jesus gives us to understand the kingdom of God. When we look at all of them together, we begin to understand that the kingdom is more valuable than anything we can exchange for it, as we hear in the parable of the buried treasure; that everyone is welcome in the kingdom but some choose to turn away, as we hear in the parable of the sewer; the kingdom starts small but grows, as in the parable of the mustard seed; the kingdom is meant to change the world, as in the parable of the yeast. From parables in the other gospels, we learn that the kingdom is like a great party -- the parable of the banquet; we can be left out of the kingdom by getting too involved in other things -- the parable of the ten virgins, remember, five wise and five foolish; and God wants us to take risks to build the kingdom -- the parable of the talents. The kingdom is where God forgives us for all of our transgressions but expects us to forgive each other -- the ungrateful steward. Finally, the kingdom is a free gift, a gift that we don’t earn, a gift God gives to all who ask -- the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Now if you don’t remember any of those parables, ask me later or go read about them, because when you put them all together you get a picture of what Jesus means by the kingdom. When Jesus tells us the kingdom of heaven is within us, that means we have the power to shape ourselves into citizens of the kingdom by the way we choose to see ourselves, our neighbor, and the world in general. If we truly recognize that we are loved beyond anything we can imagine, we can withstand whatever the world throws at us. If we truly recognize that every human being is also beloved and made in the image of God, it will be hard to hate anyone or ignore their pain. If we truly see that everything is a gift, our hearts will be grateful rather than envious; our prayers will begin with thanksgiving rather than petition -- and most of all, we will be happy and look forward to the ultimate happiness Jesus offers his followers in the next life. And if we gain the joy of possessing the kingdom of heaven, we will see others catch the joy from us, because the kingdom of heaven is contagious.
So now that you know what the kingdom is all about, go and tell others, like the head of a household who brings from his storehouse the new and the old.
