“Kingdom Moments”

A Sermon Preached by

The Rev. Jean Niven Lenk

First Congregational Church of Stoughton

United Church of Christ

Every once in a while, someone will approach me and say something like this: “I know you must have extra pull with the Big Guy Upstairs, so could you see what you can do about getting nice weather for our wedding next Saturday?”  I usually reply to these kinds of statements with a line I stole from one of my clergy colleagues – “Sorry, I’m in marketing, not management.”

Those of you who are in the field of marketing have probably heard of the “rule of seven.”  That is, a message must be seen, heard, or read an average of seven times before someone takes action on it.  In this church, we are aware of this “rule of seven” and try to communicate to you in a variety of ways the various ministries and activities that happen here.  So, you might hear me announce an upcoming event at the beginning of worship, and you may also read about it in Notes & Notices in the worship bulletin, AND in The Link, AND in one of our seasonal brochures, AND on a poster on a bulletin board.  You might even read about it in the Pennysaver or the Stoughton Journal.  When you think of how dependent we are on the written word for communicating, it is hard to imagine how people got their message across before Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press in the 15^th century. 

In Jesus’ day, of course, people didn’t have the benefit of flyers and posters and newsletters; information was passed along orally.  And when Jesus spoke, he wasn’t just announcing to his followers the next potluck supper; he was trying to tell them about the Kingdom of Heaven.  Now the people who thronged to hear Jesus preach knew about earthly kingdoms; afterall, the early church was under the tyranny of the Roman empire, and three generations of Herods ruled in Palestine during Jesus’ life. 

But the Kingdom of Heaven was a foreign concept to Jesus’ followers, one that was hard for them to grasp.  It has nothing to do with power, honor or wealth and everything to do with following Christ and living our lives for others as he did. 

So how do you get people who are accustomed to more traditional images of power and leadership to understand and commit to a new way of living if they can’t even imagine what it’s like?  How do you talk to them in a way that will open their eyes and unplug their ears, that will change their hearts and minds – indeed, transform their very lives? 

Jesus’ solution is to use parables – stories that teach a lesson.  And to connect with his followers, he uses images drawn from the fabric of daily life in ancient Palestine.  In his 40 parables throughout the Gospels, he teaches his audience about God with similes about weeds and wineskins and fig trees and lost sheep; in this way, he is able to capture their attention and draw them in in order that they might change their way of thinking and seeing things.

In the thirteenth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells several of these parables.  The Kingdom of Heaven is like… a treasure hidden in a field.  A worker digging in the field comes upon the treasure, and he sells everything he has to buy the field so the treasure will belong to him.  And it is also like a merchant in search of fine pearls… When he finds the pearl, he sells everything in order to buy it.  Such is the Kingdom of Heaven: a treasure worth everything you have.

And, the Kingdom of Heaven is like… yeast, which transforms a small amount of dough into enough bread to feed a crowd.  And it’s like… a grain of mustard seed, one of the smallest seeds on earth, yet when it is planted, it grows so large that the birds can make nests in its branches.  The mustard plant was a common garden weed – like our modern-day dandelions – but such is the King of Heaven: from small, common beginnings can grow something great.

Not only does Jesus describe the Kingdom of Heaven in an unusual way, but this Kingdom he proclaims is far different than what people have been expecting.  In a day when many wanted a military power to challenge the tyranny of Roman rule, Jesus preaches that God’s Kingdom is not about power or domination, but of love and generosity and service to others.  Rather than being a geographic location, “The Kingdom of God,” Jesus says, “is within you.”  It is a relationship between us; it is wherever God’s forgiveness and mercy are felt and lived out among us.  It is wherever God and neighbor are loved.  It is wherever there is reconciliation and healing, wherever the hungry are fed, the lowly uplifted, the stranger welcomed, and injustice fought.

God invites us in this morning’s Gospel to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth by letting the seed of God’s love in our heart – even it’s only the size of a mustard seed  – to let it grow into something big; God invites us to let the leaven of God’s love in our hearts – no matter how small the portion – let it expand into something great.  We never know how we might be able to create “Kingdom Moments” here on earth, how a small gesture on our part can make a big difference to someone else.  We never know when our loving touch, the chance remark, or just the right words of comfort, can have unexpected results. 

Bishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his ongoing work against apartheid, was once asked to recall the formative experiences of his life.  He replied:

“One incident comes to mind immediately.  When I was a very young child, I saw a white man tip his hat to a black woman.  Please understand that in my country, such a gesture is completely unheard of.  The white man was an Episcopal bishop, the black woman was my mother.”

God’s love working in us and through us can start just that way, with something as small as a mustard seed, with a gesture as seemingly insignificant as a tip of the hat.  We assume it takes something grand to create a Kingdom Moment on earth.  But even the smallest of gestures can communicate the most powerful of all realities, the love of God.

Jesus showed us God’s Kingdom during his earthly ministry when he fed the hungry, defended the poor and outcast, healed the sick, comforted the sorrowful, and offered forgiveness and a new start in life.  These were signs that the Kingdom of God was not just something we could expect in the future, but could become a reality here on earth.

Every day we, too, have opportunities to create Kingdom Moments by sowing seeds of love, kindness, and forgiveness, by doing something or saying something which in some way is a reflection of God's love.  Perhaps the direction of Bishop Tutu’s whole life was changed from that tip of the hat, that simple gesture of respect and love.

We assume that in order to make the world a better place, our faith must be bigger, deeper, stronger than it is.  But Jesus says to his disciples – and to each one of us -- “If you have the faith the size of a mustard seed, you will move mountains and nothing will be impossible for you.”

No matter how small our faith seems to be, each of us in our own way can reflect the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth and be instruments of God.  In the words of St. Francis, “Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy…”  Although we may think our faith is insufficient to the task, dwarfed by the difficulties and challenges of our lives, Jesus gives us a different message; God can take what seems to be small and insignificant, and can accomplish far more than we could ever imagine.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like… a net full of fish which is thrown over all of us at once, drawing us together.  Despite our hesitancy, our anxieties, our feelings of inadequacy, we are pulled into the lap of our loving God, who lifts us up out of the tangled webs of our lives to receive and be conduits of God’s grace, love and healing.

What is important is not how large our faith is, but how open we are to God working in us and through us.  Although we may feel inadequate to the task God calls us to, we have what is needed for God to do extraordinary things through our ordinary lives.  Let us reflect God’s Kingdom here on earth, being instruments of God’s peace, and conduits of God’s unconditional and overflowing love.  Amen.