Word to the Wise
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 - Tuesday in the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
[Romans 8:18-25 and Luke 13:18-21]What is the Kingdom of God like? To what can I compare it? It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden. When it was fully grown, it became a large bush and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches. Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God? It is like yeast that woman took and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour until the whole batch of dough was leavened."
In Washington, D.C., one may visit many large and architecturally impressive buildings that house the various organs of government. There are also some very impressive "monuments" to various heroes of American government or military actions. These are "national" institutions and Washington, DC, is the capital of the American "kingdom." One may have a similar experience in almost any "nation." This, in fact, is the way we tend to think when we think of "kingdom." It is a defined group of people governed by a defined group(s) of people and it has "boundaries." This is not the "kingdom" that Jesus is talking about. Jesus' kingdom is defined by the individual believer in communion with other believers, and not by buildings or boundaries. The Body of Christ would continue to exist even if the Vatican disappeared today! This is not an argument against the "institutional church" or against the "apostolic succession." But both of those realities have been shaped by human history and inclinations into forms of visible expression that resemble human kingdoms or nations and tend to operate like those realities. The Holy Spirit works with humans as they are! The mustard seed and leaven are tiny things that yield great realities. Jesus did not come to build a new temple like Herod's in Jerusalem. He came to start a new kingdom in the faith and hearts of believers. If we humans choose to build buildings and organize the Body of Christ like a monarchy, the Holy Spirit will work with that. But the real kingdom is in the hearts and faith of the people who walk in and out of those buildings. AMEN
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