The Problem with "The Kingdom of Heaven" by The Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith
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The Rt. Rev. Andrew Smith
Trinity Hartford July 27, 2017
7th after Pentecost, A: Proper 12
"The Problem with 'The Kingdom of Heaven'"
Jesus said, ”The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and then covered over; then in his joy he goes and sells everything that he owns and buys the whole field.
“The Kingdom of Heaven.” This is a biblical phrase used in the Bible only in the Gospel of Matthew. And as every Bible commentator would point out, it is “the kingdom of heaven” that is the center, the focus, the heart of Jesus’s proclamation and teaching. It’s what he came to be about.
Here’s the problem for us, today. Two problems, actually. Kingdom And heaven.
The first is, even though we have this word “kingdom” and we regularly pray for it, “thy kingdom come,” we have little or no experience of what a “kingdom” really is.
Last time folks in this land lived under a king was in 1776, three hundred thirty-eight years ago, and that king was an ocean away. From the earliest days, including in the Biblical writings, the absolute power of kings — life and death — was absolute and to be feared. Laban exercised ultimate authority over his household and clan. Even the claim of Paul in the Epistle is based on portraying a royal court, with the Spirit and Christ interceding with God on behalf of the saints. As the king went, in victory or defeat, so did the people. Further, in Scripture and in the Western tradition, including England, that kingly authority was held to be a divine right; if one stood against the king, not only did one challenge the king’s power, but also God, and the divine order.
These days, in those countries which do have a king (or queen) — (notice that in Scripture all authority is masculine, which creates yet another problem for us today, especially as we observe the fortieth anniversary of the ordination of women as priests [finally] in The Episcopal Church) — the power and authority of those monarchs (a word which means one ruler over everyone) is severely limited, by the presence of democratically elected assemblies.
So it’s hard for us to know about kings, or lords, except perhaps as we read, or witness totalitarianism or the actions of radical, extremist groups today, how the life of a nation or a people, and the lives of individuals, subjects of the king, were held in the balance by the authority of one person.
Imagine one person, with absolute control for better or worse, for life or death, over a whole people, over your life. That is so far beyond our ken.
The other problem with the phrase “kingdom of heaven” is that we don’t know all that much about heaven. We each may have our private visions, and some may not think much of “heaven” at all, but as Paul wrote, at best we can perceive heaven as if we’re peering through a darkened, frosted window — with perhaps a few glimpses of the place here and there, but certainly not the whole picture.
If we can’t say much about heaven, then can we can look to the other Gospels, and the rest of the New Testament, where, by and large, the key phrase for Jesus’ central proclamation is “The kingdom of God?” Again, that’s not all that much objective help — for isn’t God another, greater mystery?
What then shall we do, if the central message of Jesus, or at least its tag-line, “kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God,” refers to a system (kingdom) in which we do not live (and I suspect would not accept,?) and with a place/time/person (Heaven, God) about whom we don’t have a whole lot of factual information? How shall we understand — and preach — the Kingdom of heaven?
I heard one answer to that question one summer some years ago in the village church in San Carlos de Arsenal, in far north Costa Rica. It was a hot! Sunday morning. We had travelled there in a minivan with our Costa Rican host family to the sugar cane fields for the wedding of Marielos, the niece of our Mama Tica (Costa Rican “mother”). It was Sunday mass, and since we were near the border, there were a number of Nicaraguans in church who had crossed over to work the sugar cane. As I listened to the sermon in Spanish, I became aware that the priest was preaching mainly to the Nicaraguenses. Telling them how blessed they were to be in Costa Rica. My eyebrows went up. I leaned over to whisper to Cecelia, “Is he saying what I think he’s saying?” A devout Catholic, she scowled and curtly replied, “Si.” He was telling them flatly that Costa Rica was the Kingdom of heaven.
Outrageous? Don’t the Jehovah’s Witnesses call their buildings, Kingdom Hall? Isn’t it a tenet of Roman Catholicism, and maybe other churches, that to be a member and only there is to be in the Kingdom? Haven’t there been groups that have separated themselves and gone off to create the Kingdom on their own? Or taken people by force: the Crusades, the recently proclaimed Islamic caliphate?
Jesus warned us about that, when he said, Beware: when some say, look it is here, or lo, it is there (Mark 13:21).” What shall we say?
First, to remember, as in today’s teachings, Jesus taught in images. Even “Kingdom of Heaven” itself is an image.
"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed that someone took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all the seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”
God is planting something new that might seem really tiny, — among the disciples — now in us — but look how it shall grow!
"The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”
It is something that will infuse and change the world.
"Again, 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.”
What God has offered for those who seek the best is something so valuable that it’s worth giving up everything else one owns to possess it.
“The kingdom of heaven 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.”
Can we use images that are contemporary? Could we say that the kingdom of heaven is like a mother whose family lives surrounded by violence who sees in a far country a better life for her children and pays an exorbitant amount for the chance that her children can go there?
Further, about the Kingdom of heaven, there is more to come: a time, who knows? "Again, 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. So it will be at the end of the age.”
And Jesus said, "Have you understood all this?" They answered, “Yes.” Good for them!
But have we understood this? Well, perhaps a little bit. We know that we are called into an enterprise which is monumental, cosmic, involving all creation, in a new relationship through Christ with God as monarch that is far different from the “what a friend we have in Jesus” sentiment, a growing thing whose seeds have been planted in the world and in us by the life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and that it is a thing of more value than anything else we can possess or imagine. And there’s more to come.
If you like things nailed down, made clear and definite, this must be tough. If you hate the archaic, patriarchal image, “kingdom,” well, it’s what we’ve been given, and I haven’t found anything to replace it. Realm? Perhaps. One thing always to remember: the reality is God’s. It is not from us. By grace we may be called to be part, but, as we admit in prayer, the kingdom, the power, the glory are God’s, God’s alone.
So, ”The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and then covered over; then in his joy he goes and sells everything that he owns and buys the whole field.
It is good news, this Kingdom of heaven, even if the proclamation is based on language outside our experience or in language we don’t use or want to use today. Good news. A gift. Search for it, give up what you need to to get it, live under God’s rule and guidance, let the kingdom grow in you, spread it and mix it into the world, and pray and look for kingdom come.
Our life’s joy.