Jer 18:1-6. Ps 146:1-6, Mt 13:47-53
Most of this week’s reading have been Matthew describing the Kingdom of Heaven. Telling us what heaven is like by way of short parables that describe a mustard seed, yeast, a great treasure and a pearl. In today’s version heaven is a great catch of fish which are then sorted. If you’re like me, talk about the Kingdom of Heaven usually means I start thinking of life after death. The great future Kingdom in which we will live happily ever after.
However, there is another way to think about both Matthew’s description of the Kingdom and the reading from Jeremiah which I think gives us an insight into what God may be telling us.
If we think about the Kingdom of Heaven solely in terms of life after death or perhaps some future Heaven that may even exist on this earth, then the readings make it sound as if God is the primary judge and good and evil will all be worked out by God at the end of time. Matthew has angels separating the wicked from the upright and punishing those who are evil.
There is certainly some truth in that way of looking at the parable. We should certainly not take it upon ourselves to judge others nor feel that we can do anything in this life without consequences. But let us remember that God became human in Jesus to tell us how much we are loved here and now. Jesus existence on earth also tells us that life here is of utmost importance and God is intimately involved in all our lives. So why would the parables point only to an ideal that is beyond our life time. Isn’t more likely that the parables were meant to be insights into what life right here, right now is all about.
Consider, what if the Kingdom of Heaven can also be seen as the ideal for how we could be living out lives today. What’s more, consider it’s possible because God is part of the present moment. If we aren’t alone in living a life as God wants, we have God’s help to do it. If this is possible then consider that Matthew’s parable is about all the good and bad fish we have dragged into our lives over the years. Good habits, good relationships, good intentions but also bad habits, bad relationships and bad intentions. As we get older, we can look at what we’ve collected over the years perhaps it’s time to sort them out and get rid of the bad fish and just keep the good stuff. Aren’t we capable of that? Don’t we often do that as part of everyday life. We judge what is good and what is bad. We take from the storehouse of our experiences those things that help us be better people and let go of the thoughts and intentions that separate us from others or make us more selfish. This is a bad pun, but useful, maybe we should be rid of all the “sel-fish” and keep all the good fish. (I just couldn’t resist.)
The reading from Jeremiah seems to support this idea. That we who are clay aren’t one thing or another, but dynamic beings who can be reshaped in God’s hands to do what is needed. If the first shape doesn’t work out well, perhaps with God’s help, we can try a new shape. Taking, as Matthew says, new things as well as old from our storeroom of life experiences. We can see what has been good for us and what has been bad for us and choose to form our life into what is better for us now.
With God’s help we can choose and in doing so discover our own piece of God’s Kingdom right here and right now. That, I believe, is the message God was sending when God sent Jesus into our world.
