What Is the Kingdom of God like?

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Luke 13:18-21

"He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what should I compare it? It is like a mustard see that someone took and sowed in the garden; it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.” And again he said, “To what should I compare the kingdom of God? It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed in with three measures of flour until all of it was leavened."

 

 

1

As usual, let me ask you what we learned last Sunday. Last Sunday we saw two pictures of Jesus, a Pharisees, and a sinful woman. The sinful woman did some weird thing for Jesus. When Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisees’ house to have dinner with him, that sinful woman came in with a bottle of perfume in hand. She knelt at Jesus’ feet, weeping. A minute later, she began kissing and washing Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair. The Pharisees, the owner of that house, says, “Jesus, I cannot accept that woman and her strange behavior. I think she is crazy.” You know what Jesus replied, right? “Hey, man, stop saying that! Let her continue what she wants to do. She just wants to express her tankful heart for me. You know what? Everyone in this town considers her a sinful woman. But, I don’t do that because before God, we are all sinful.” Looking at that sinful woman washing his feet, Jesus continued, “Because you are so good at criticizing this woman even though we do not know why she is called a sinful woman, you lost the much more important ability to look into yourself. If you think about yourself carefully, you cannot criticize her because you are not really different from her.” Yes, last Sunday we learned: Stop criticizing others for something we also do. Instead, look into ourselves first.

 

2

Today I would like to invite you to think about the Kingdom of God. When it comes to the Kingdom of God, guys, what image does spring to mind? Put differently, what is the Kingdom of God or Heaven like? What does it look like?

 

3

Thank you for sharing your thoughts on the Kingdom of God! Now let us take a look at some paintings about Heaven. I did some googling to figure out how people imagine Heaven throughout history. Yes, before the 20th century, most people imagined Heaven as a certain place located somewhere in the sky. After we created planes and spaceship, no one actually believes that Heaven is in the sky. With that being said, when we read the Bible, we can find a very different thought on the Kingdom of Heaven. Particularly, how Jesus understands it. Do you want to know Jesus’ thought? Then, let us open the Bible. It is Luke 13:18-21.

 

4

Jesus does not say the Kingdom of Heaven is in the sky. He does not say even the Kingdom of Heaven is a place.  He says that the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed or yeast. Because of our limited time for worship, let us focus on a mustard see. Do you know what a mustard seed is? A mustard seed is considered one of the smallest seeds in the world. In Jesus’ time, the Israelites believed that a mustard seed was the smallest seed in the world. Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed. What does he mean by that? Jesus thinks Heaven as a living organism like us. Yes, Jesus thinks all of you are part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Each of you is a miniature of the Kingdom of Heaven. As a mustard seed grows up into a big tree, all of you are going to become adults, quite big miniatures of the Kingdom of Heaven. One important point is that you can be an either good or bad miniature of the Kingdom of Heaven. A good miniature of the Kingdom of Heaven may be beneficial to people you live with. By contrast, a bad miniature of the Kingdom of Heaven may be harmful to others.

 

5

Then you can ask: to be a good miniature of the Kingdom of Heaven, what do I have to do? Jesus answers: grow up well, keeping in mind that Rome is not built overnight. To become a big tree, a mustard seed must be armed with consistency and patience. To be consistent and patient, what you need to do is simple. Given several important options to choose, pick the seemingly most difficult one. Yes, your brave decision seems to put you into trouble at first. However, it will make you stronger, wiser, and purer. As a conclusion, please repeat after me: “I am a miniature of the Kingdom of God. To be a good miniature of it in the future, from now on I will choose difficult things rather than easy things.” Let us pray.

 

 

Prayer

God, today we learned that we are part of your Kingdom. Each of us is your ambassador to represent your Kingdom. To accomplish our mission well, we need to grow up well. God, today we promise that given options to choose, we pick the most difficult one, believing it will help us grow up well. Thank you for helping us to realize the secret of your Kingdom. We pray in your name Jesus Christ. Amen.