I was always pretty good at arithmetic. I think it’s because I love baseball so much—I learned at a very early age how to figure out batting averages and earned run averages and winning percentages and things like that. I learned how to figure out bowling scores at a young age, too.
As I got older, though, I started to realize that there’s a difference between arithmetic and mathematics. The higher up I got in math, the worse I did. I was pretty good at algebra, and geometry was still okay. On the other hand, when we got to trigonometry I started to struggle, and when we got to calculus, well, forget it. I didn’t understand it, and I still really don’t understand it.
I tried to read and re-read the math books, but that did not do me much good. Remember how math books read? They go through a whole bunch of equations, and then at the end they say something like “From this we can clearly see that x=27+(3y-24/39).” And I’d say “What? We can clearly see that? I can’t clearly see it!” I could not even dimly see it. I had no idea how they’d gotten from where they started to where they finished.
I thought of that when I read our scripture from Matthew for today. Jesus goes through a bunch of stuff about what the kingdom of heaven is and why they should be working toward it. He gets to the end and says to his disciples, “Do you understand?” And they all say “Yes.” And I’m going “What? You understand that? I don’t understand it.” I don’t really even start to understand it.
You know, I suspect the disciples really did not understand it, either. They just did not want to look stupid. You’ve done that, too, I’ll bet. I know I have. Someone explains something, and we don’t have a clue about it, but we’re afraid they’ll think we’re dumb if we admit we don’t have a clue about it, so we nod our heads and go, “Yes, yes, of course. I understand.” All the time we’re hoping it’s not something we really need to know, because we’ve not understood the first thing about what we we’ve just been told.
Unfortunately, Jesus was not talking about calculus, which I’m sure is a fine and useful subject but is one that I’ve not used at all since I got out of college. Jesus was talking about the kingdom of heaven. As I said, he was telling us what the kingdom of heaven is like and why we should be working toward it.
That’s something that it’s pretty important to know. It’s important to know not just because we hope to go to heaven some day. That’s part of it, but you know, we know that, whatever heaven is, it has to be pretty good, because that’s where God is. We’ll have plenty of time to get into the details once we get there.
The main reason it’s important is that, as Christians, we’re supposed to be trying to do what we can to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth. Every week, we say the Lord’s Prayer, and in that we pray, “Thy kingdom come.” We’re praying for God’s kingdom to come on earth. If that’s what we’re praying for, it’s pretty important that we know just what it is and why we’re supposed to try to bring it about.
In our reading from Matthew, Jesus talks about the kingdom of heaven is like. First, Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. It starts out as something really small, but by the time it’s done growing, it becomes really big.
Let’s think about that. How many times have you looked at a situation and said, “Well, you know, what I could do about that would not amount to anything. It’d be a drop in the bucket. There’s no point in my even trying to help there, because it would not do any good.” I’ve said that. I’ll bet you have, too.
What Jesus is telling us is that we should not fail to do things just because they seem like little things. The kingdom of heaven is going to grow by people doing little things. The kingdom of heaven starts to come with something so small that no one even notices. Then it grows and grows, until suddenly it’s there and no one can ignore it.
It’s like what Jesus told us in the parable of the sower, which we talked about a couple of weeks ago, when he said that one good seed that takes root can produce a hundredfold. Even when it seems like there’s very little that we can do, we still need to do the little that we can. If we do what we can do, and everyone else does what they can do, God will do what God can do and the kingdom of heaven will actually come on earth.
Jesus then says the kingdom of heaven is like yeast that’s mixed in with flour. Again, it starts with something small—it does not take much yeast to make dough rise. That little bit of yeast, though, goes through a whole big lump of dough. See, it’s not just that the things we do combine with the things others do. It’s that the things we do influence others to do things. Just as that little bit of yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise, the good things we do influence others to rise above where they are. We create a rising tide that lifts everyone and, again, brings the kingdom of heaven closer to coming to the earth.
The things we do, whether we do big things or small things, can help make the day closer when the kingdom of God actually does come on earth. Is that really important, though? Our answer to that question may not be as obvious as it seems.
I mean, I’m sure that, in theory, we’d all like to see the kingdom of heaven come on earth, but on the other hand, we’ve got a lot of other things to do, too. Besides, for most of us, our lives really are not all that bad right now. They may not be perfect, but they’re okay, and in fact sometimes their pretty good. Would the kingdom of heaven really be all that much better? Would it be so much better that you and I should disrupt the good lives we have now just to try to help bring it about? Is the kingdom of heaven really worth giving up all the good things we have going on right now?
Jesus says it is. Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is worth everything. That’s what the statements about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great value are about. Jesus says that if we really understood what the kingdom of heaven is, we’d be willing to give up everything we have to get it. Everything about our earthly lives pales in comparison to the kingdom of heaven. Jesus is telling us, in effect, to do the math. He says that no matter how great our lives may be, no matter how much fun we might have, no matter how much satisfaction we may get out of life, all of it put together is not worth as much as the kingdom of heaven. Jesus says we should be willing to get rid of all of it if we can get the kingdom of heaven in exchange.
Jesus’ disciples said they understood. Maybe they did, but I doubt it. I doubt if we understand, either. We may understand in theory, but there are very few of us who live our lives that way.
I know I don’t. I don’t live my life trying to bring about the kingdom of heaven. I do some good things, sometimes, but there are a lot of times I don’t. When I look at myself, I don’t see someone who’s willing to give up everything for the kingdom of heaven.
How about when you look at yourself? Do you see someone who’s willing to give up everything for the kingdom of heaven? Or do you just see someone who does some good things, sometimes?
The stakes are pretty high. Look at the next thing Jesus 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. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
Now, you may be saying, “Wait a minute. Just because I’m not willing to give up everything for the kingdom of heaven, that does not make me evil.” Well, okay, probably not. But it does not make us righteous either, does it? So where does that leave us? After all, Jesus does not talk about any sort of middle ground here. His statements don’t really see to allow for us to claim to be sort of righteous, with just a little evil thrown in. It’s one or the other.
I don’t claim to have the whole answer, but here’s where I think it leaves us. I don’t think Jesus talked about the furnace of fire just to scare us. The kingdom of heaven is not a kingdom of fear—I don’t see anything Jesus ever said that would indicate that. Jesus wants our faith to come from love, not fear.
I think Jesus talked about the furnace of fire because he wanted to emphasize that this is serious. We’re not supposed to just play at being Christians. Our faith is not supposed to just be one of things we do, something that competes for our time and attention with all our other interests. Our faith is supposed to be at the center of everything we do. Whether we’re at work or at home or at coffee or at the ball game or wherever we are and whatever we’re doing, our faith is supposed to be at the center of it.
Sometimes, as Jesus said, that may involve doing small things. Sometimes, it may involve giving up some things. It will be worth it, though. It will be worth it, because when we do it, we will be doing our part to bring about the kingdom of heaven on earth. There is nothing in this world which can compare to that.
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