The Kingdom of Heaven may not be what you think

Let’s start with a highly relevant but often unacknowledged challenge in the Gospel text - Matthew’s circumlocution of “kingdom of heaven” for Mark’s, Luke’s and even John’s reference to the “kingdom of God”. Matthew writes from the perspective of a good Jewish person of faith who, out of respect for the name of God and with the humility of humans who cannot know God enough to use the name of God, refers to the “kingdom of God” with the “kingdom of heaven”. This is unique to Matthew, who uses kingdom of heaven (KOH) 34 times, kingdom of God (KOG) 4 times, and Kingdom alone 14 times. Mark uses KOG 14 times,  Kingdom alone 4 times, and KOH 0 times. Luke uses KOG 32 times, Kingdom alone 11 times, and KOH 0 times. John isn’t much interested in the whole “kingdom” theme, so KOG appears twice, Kingdom alone twice, and KOH 0 times. Matthew edits Mark’s use of KOG and the source he shares with Luke’s use of KOG to be more in keeping with Jewish reticence about using G-d’s name.

It is important to let people know that when Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven” he is really talking about the “kingdom of God”. Without this understanding, “kingdom of heaven” can easily draw our attention from earthly things to heavenly things. The Apostles’ Creed begins “I believe in God, the Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth,” as if these two are distinct and maybe only loosely related, and, of course, heaven does come first. This allows some to imagine that Matthew’s understanding of God’s kingdom might be more oriented to the heavenly than to the earthly. This is encouraged by the theology of many Christians, who understand that the main reason Jesus lived, died, and rose again was so that believing Christians might go to heaven after they die, leaving the Creation and Creation care as largely unimportant. If not in even a passing mention in a sermon, then in a Bible study of Matthew’s Gospel, this should be addressed to remind us all that the Good News of Jesus happens in and for Creation, including the humans who are called to bear this Good News in and for Creation.

Matthew 22:1-14

God is an inviting God

Is nature already partying with God?

This portion of Matthew’s Gospel is all about conflict with the chief priests, elders, and Pharisees. It starts with chapter 1, verse 23 when Jesus’ authority is challenged. Jesus deflects their challenge with a counter challenge about John’s baptism and then follows with parables that put his challengers in a bad light. He leads with the parable of the two sons (1:26-32), then the parable of the wicked tenants after which they realized, “Hey, he is talking about us!” (1:33-45). The parable of the wedding banquet begins with “Once more Jesus spoke to them”, so it appears that this is the third parable dealing with Jesus’ challengers, (Not that we should assume we aren’t at all like those who refuse the invitation to the wedding banquet).

The big take away is that God is an inviting God. Initially, the king doesn’t take “no” for a response to his invitation, but sends out people to talk them into it. Again, they are too self-satisfied and lightly or violently blow off the king’s graciously persistent invitation. The king reacts viciously. (OK, this is a parable, no need to make it an allegory where everything is a one-to-one truth between the character of the king and God’s character). Still, the king is an inviting person. “Go into the main streets and invite everyone to the banquet” and they do, “both good and bad, so the wedding hall was filled with guests.” This party needs to be a smash hit, so pack the place with anyone who wants a great meal and a generous host. God is an inviting God.

The event with the guest without the wedding robe is something of a cultural mystery, but probably has something to do with, “When you come to a party, respect the party and, you know, PARTY!”.

The connection with Creation is the expansiveness of the invitation. Who else is out there on the main street? A walk in nature, a dive beneath a lake or ocean, a look at the sky - day or night, is like a stroll through a bridal shop with gorgeous wedding garments everywhere. The beloved Creation isn’t going to be denied entrance just because some humans are more interested in their businesses or farms. The beauty of nature, the perfumes of nature, the songs of nature, the dances of nature are evidences that they are already partying with God. Who are we to mar their wedding garments, trash their beauty, stink up their perfumes, overcome their songs with static, or disable them so they can no longer dance? We are guests. It is not our party.

The text from Isaiah declares that God is not just extravagant in God’s invitation, but also a God who delivers from oppression. Who is God delivering? Well, Israel for sure, but it is bigger than them. Ruthless humans oppress all kinds of people, but particularly the poor and the needy. These ruthless ones can even create the poor, turn neighbors into foreigners, and extend their oppressive practices to include the creatures and landscapes of the earth. Isaiah assures us that God will provide them refuge. Not just some kind of barren, bunker refuge, but a party on the mountain with rich food and expensive wine. There will even be refuge from death and tears and disgrace. Parties don’t get better than this!

However, there is also a grave caution for the ruthless. Their cities become heaps of construction materials, forts become ruins, palaces will be gone and never rebuilt. When we look at how Creation is faring under our stewardship, when we see how we seek to monetize and commodify as much of nature as we can, even to its own demise, we have to admit that we are pretty ruthless. We heat the earth beyond its ability to achieve a balance. We rip up the landscape, establish islands of garbage in the oceans, and threaten to be the cause of the next extinction event. Will God deliver Creation from the poverty and need that we impose on it? How? Some of it will come from Creation itself, as the imbalances human cause become destructive to our own cities, forts, and palaces. Some of itwill be from Creation’s built-in resilience and ability to rebalance the planet. Some of it will be humans who value all of God’s Creation as our older sibling and who seek to join God in delivering Creation from oppression, death, tears, and disgrace, and who vow to be ruthless no more.

Psalm 23

Nature, God’s party venue

Psalm 23 reminds us that God is a shepherd who provides safety, food, and water. God sets up a party in the presence of enemies. God will relentlessly pursue God’s beloved with goodness and mercy. God’s party venue is healthy pastures, safe waters, dark valleys that do not terrify, and God’s own presence at the party. The psalmist was probably thinking solely of humans when this was written, but in the time of the psalmist the Creation was not imperiled by humans. There weren’t enough of us to cause grave harm, and their technology didn’t have nearly the impact it does today. So, we can include Creation in what and whom God intends to shepherd. The psalm’s pictures of ‘enough’’ are all about Creation. We don’t have to make them metaphors for internal peace from “want”. These pictures of ‘enough’ are the actual gifts of ‘enough’. Our economic cultures demand an expansion of goods and services that take a toll on the resources of earth, and yet do not bring the peace that the psalmists promises with God’s ‘enough’. Endless wants and endless growth rob the ability of the earth to offer the healthy pastures, safe waters and the serenity that God promises in this text. Let us not undo God’s promises of enough!

Philippians 4:1-9

Creation transformed and invited as we

The Philippians text begins with “Therefore, my brothers and sisters . . . stand firm in the Lord in this way, my beloved”, so we should probably look what is immediately previous to verse 1. Paul writes that “our citizenship is in heaven” and “God will transform our humble bodies” to be like Jesus’ own. Like in Matthew’s Gospel text, Paul’s use of a citizenship in heaven, indicates a citizenship defined by God rather than human principles. This is a citizenship lived out on earth and for the earth, and which is inspired by God’s love for all Creation. Therefore, we have the strength and desire to stand firm. He lifts up two colleagues, Euodia and Syntyche, to urge us “to be of the same mind in the Lord”. This recalls chapter 2, verses 5-11, where we are to have the same mind as Jesus, that is, looking to the interests of others rather than our own interests - it is a Jesus thing to do. Other Jesus things to be and do include rejoicing, gentleness, and not being anxious, all of which brings peace. The Jesus life involves focusing on whatever is true, just, honorable, pure, pleasing, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy. This is a long list, but our citizenship means we are transformed guests at God’s never-ending party, now and forever, so we ought to give it a shot. Paul writes to encourage the Philippians to have a healthy local community, but given that we are citizens of a cosmic kingdom, we can regard the local community as a microcosm that includes the whole community of Creation. We cannot exercise the Jesus life without including the interests of Creation as well as other humans.  Human beings are not the only guests at God’s party. Creation is transformed and invited as well - a new heaven and earth.