Daily Reading, 11/3

The kingdom of heaven is like...

That's what today's Gospel passage is about. Jesus talks about what the kingdom of heaven is like. We get a few different pictures in the passage:

"God's kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field.

"Or, God's kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

"Or, God's kingdom is like a fishnet cast into the sea, catching all kinds of fish. When it is full, it is hauled onto the beach. The good fish are picked out and put in a tub; those unfit to eat are thrown away. That's how it will be when the curtain comes down on history. The angels will come and cull the bad fish and throw them in the garbage. There will be a lot of desperate complaining, but it won't do any good."

Jesus asked, "Are you starting to get a handle on all this?"
They answered, "Yes."
Jesus said, "Then you see how every student well-trained in God's kingdom is like the owner of a general store who can put his hands on anything you need, old or new, exactly when you need it." (Matthew 13:44-52, The Message)

If we look at the passage, there are four metaphors: the field, the pearl, the fish net, and the general store owner. We'll return to the fourth a little later, but the first three focus on the kingdom of heaven and what it's like. A couple of things about this:

First, notice that Jesus uses metaphor to talk about heaven. He doesn't talk about what it actually is, but rather what it is like. Why do you think this is? Does it mean Jesus doesn't really know what heaven is? I think the answer is more likely that Jesus realizes we won't be able to understand it if he tells us. It would be like trying to describe an airplane to someone from the 15th century, or trying to describe an elephant to someone who can't see-our descriptions would almost definitely fall short of the actuality. Jesus realizes that, and so he tries to teach with descriptions we might understand.

So what do these metaphors tell us about the kingdom of heaven? There are two messages here, I think. The first relates to the field and the pearl-in both instances a person has found something of such great worth that he is willing to sell everything in order to attain it. Heaven is much the same-it is so incredibly priceless that we should be willing to give up everything in order to attain it. We've seen this before in different ways-the disciples leave everything behind to follow Jesus. In the Gospel this Sunday we'll hear about the poor widow giving all of her money to the poor. The Bible is full of stories about those who have given up everything for God. The field and the pearl provide us with images that present this sacrifice in a new way-the metaphors show that these people give up everything for something that is the most valuable thing they can think of. In other words, they don't leave everything for nothing.

The third metaphor is the fish net description of God's kingdom. This is a little more difficult to wrap our minds around, because it deals with the fate of the wicked-something many of us in the Episcopal Church don't think about too much. Yet Jesus says here that the evil ones will be cast out, and there's nothing any amount of complaining can do about it. Without getting into an entirely different discussion about Hell and the afterlife, let's just say that God is the one who will know who the wicked are, and we shouldn't be passing judgment on anyone else's salvation-only God can see into our heart of hearts and know what's there.

Finally, we come to the fourth metaphor, which isn't even about the kingdom! Rather, it's about disciples of the kingdom-those of us who follow Jesus and strive to bring about his kingdom. Jesus assures us that these disciples will be like the general store owner who has everything necessary for every eventuality. Disciples will be able to undergo all situations because of their faith in Christ. That's a pretty hopeful thing, if you ask me.

What about you? What do you think the kingdom of God is like? Can you think of any metaphors that would help you describe it to someone else (this is especially difficult because we ourselves don't really know what the kingdom is!)