What is the Kingdom of Heaven Like?
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52
by Jim Westmoreland
I believe we human beings have a perception problem. We often think we have
the proper perspective on an issue when in fact we are way off.
There's a charming story that Thomas Wheeler, CEO of the Massachusetts Mutual Life
Insurance Company, tells on himself: He and his wife were driving along an interstate
highway when he noticed that their car was low on gas. Wheeler got off the highway at the
next exit and soon found a rundown gas station with just one gas pump. He asked the lone
attendant to fill the tank and check the oil, then went for a little walk around the
station to stretch his legs.
As he was returning to the car, he noticed that the attendant and his wife were engaged in
an animated conversation. The conversation stopped as he paid the attendant. But as he was
getting back into the car, he saw the attendant wave and heard him say, "It was great
talking to you."
As they drove out of the station, Wheeler asked his wife if she knew the man. She readily
admitted she did. They had gone to high school together and had dated steadily for about a
year.
"Boy, were you lucky that I came along," bragged Wheeler. "If you had
married him, you'd be the wife of a gas station attendant instead of the wife of a chief
executive officer."
"My dear," replied his wife, "if I had married him, he'd be the chief
executive officer and you'd be the gas station attendant!"
Yes, we often think we have the proper perspective on an issue when in fact we are way
off. Jesus understood this tendency for us to get it wrong. Especially when it comes to
spiritual things. So, he often taught by telling a parable. In today's lesson Jesus used
the poetic device of a simile. In high school English class we learned that a simile is a
comparison using the words "like" or "as." He said the kingdom of
heaven is like:
1. A small seed
2. A pinch of yeast
3. A hidden treasure
4. And a pearl of Great Price
The first two comparisons are about small things, things that you might not see or give
any thought to. Brett Blair, a Christian writer and preacher reminds us of a costly lesson
about small things. He writes, "As you may know the Shuttle program has been grounded
for several weeks due to cracks in the fuel line. We are reminded about the tiny rubber
o-ring about three-tenths of an inch wide. To look at a tiny o-ring that small would not
impress anyone. And yet 15 years ago two of those rings were placed in the aft field joint
of the Solid Rocket Booster to stop gases from escaping. Whether it was the unusually cold
weather, a contaminate introduced into the zinc putty used on them, any number of
potential compression problems, or human error during manufacturing, these two miniature
o-rings failed to do what they were designed to do, and the Space Shuttle Challenger
exploded before the watching world, 73 seconds into her flight, claiming the lives of all
seven crew members.
"It's the little things. Tiny viruses the size of a pin head, heart valves no larger
than a man's thumbnail, single votes in an election, an ill-chosen word from a loved one -
little things have tremendous power. Matthew 13 records the story Jesus told about the
smallest thing His audience could identify with--a mustard seed." This was a parable
about hope, about mighty growth from small beginnings. The Gospel, itself, began with a
tiny baby in a manger. What small seeds in us can grow into something special if we give
it to God? Now, we think we are small and insignificant, but with God things change.
The second story about small things is the little pinch of leaven that is used to leaven a
whole bushel batch of bread. Something so small can have such great influence. If you had
ventured a guess about the future of Jesus' kingdom two thirds of he way through his
ministry, how optimistic would you have been?
He grew up in a despised province of the Roman empire. He was born before his mother's
marriage had become official. He did not appear publicly until he was thirty years old,
and then he spent most of his ministry time in the commercialized and more heathen
northern Israel, away from the religious power center in Jerusalem. After two years he'd
gathered a dozen unimpressive disciples and gained a few converts, mostly among the poor
and the unlearned. During the last year of his public life he generated such passionate
opposition from both the moneyed aristocracy and from religious fundamentalists that they
joined forces, an unlikely alliance, to have him painfully and shamefully executed.
Who would ever predict that from such bleak beginnings a great kingdom would grow? Who
would look at the early disciples and predict the spread of the Gospel throughout the
world?
Jesus did. He said, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven or yeast, which a woman
took, and hid in three pecks (about a bushel) of meal, until it was all leavened."
And, let's continue to remember the first small thing He mentioned: "The kingdom of
heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the
smallest of all your seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and
becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and perch in its branches."--Mark
Braun, "The Mustard Seed and the Yeast"
The next two comparisons, or similes, that Jesus used were about discovering something
special and of great value. The first is about the treasure hidden in the field for which
a man will sell everything he has to obtain. It is a story about dreams and values. Yet,
sometimes, what we want the most is not far away, but we do not see it.
There is a story by Dr. Russell H. Conwell, the founder of Temple University, that has
been told thousands of times. It is called, "Acres of Diamonds." It is about an
ancient Persian, named Ali Hafed, who was a contented and wealthy farmer with a very large
farm with orchards, grain fields and gardens. One day, he heard a story from a Buddhist
priest about how the world was made, which included a comment that a diamond was the last
and highest of God's mineral creations. The old priest told Ali Hafed that if he had a
handful of diamonds he could purchase a whole country, and with a mine of diamonds he
could place his children upon thrones through the influence of his great wealth. In his
excitement, he sells his farm and uses the money to travel all across Asia Minor and
Europe to the coast of Spain in search of diamonds. But the former farmer never finds his
fortune, and he dies as a poverty-stricken, heart-broken man.
But, it just so happens that the fellow who purchased the farm from the fortune seeker was
one day crossing a stream on his newly acquired property when he found a big, beautiful
rock. The fellow placed this strange rock on the fireplace mantel. Several weeks later, a
visitor noticed the rock and just about fell over. He recognized that this wasn't just an
ordinary rock; it was a diamond. In fact, it happened to be one of the largest diamonds
ever to be found. And the farm turned out to be the prestigious diamond mines of Golconda,
which produced the great Kohinoor diamond in England's crown jewels and the largest crown
diamond on earth in Russia's crown jewels.
The reason this story is told so often is that we all have our own "acres of
diamonds" within ourselves waiting to be discovered. And we think that what will make
us happy and contented is outside of us, something that we don't have, and so we work and
dream and search for the "hidden treasure" which is always just beyond our
reach.
What I am saying is this. Surrender your hearts and lives fully to the Lordship of Jesus
Christ and you will begin to discover the treasure hidden in your own life. You will
discover that the "acres of diamonds" that God has for you is right there with
you already.
The second parable about valuable things is the one about the pearl of great price. Here,
the merchant is pictured as constantly searching for great values in pearls. One day, he
finds one bigger, purer and more valuable that anything he has ever seen before, and he
sells everything in order to buy it. He is determined that he must have it. What do we
value like that? And, what would motivate us to be so committed to doing it?
There is a story from the Desert Fathers about a young monk who asked one of the old men
of the desert why it is that so many people came out to the desert to seek God and yet
most of them gave up after a short time and returned to their lives in the city.
The old monk told him, "Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the
bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs
joined in the chase, barking and running. They ran a great distance and alerted many other
dogs. Soon the wilderness was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on
into the night.
After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit
until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt. "Do you
understand," the old man said, "what I have told you?"
"No," replied the young monk, "please tell me father."
"It is simple," said the desert father, "my dog saw
the rabbit."
Jesus told a parable about a man who one day in the market place saw the
pearl of great price. The merchant understood at once the value of the commodity before
him and he sacrificed everything to obtain it. --Brett Blair
When we follow Jesus, he shows us the person we will become
in Him. We see a picture of gifts, joys and blessings that come from
following Christ. There is nothing to compare to. The Christian life is the pearl of great
price!
What is the Kingdom of Heaven like? It is like small things that become big and
influential when God is in charge. It is about things so valuable that we would give up
everything to have. And so, we have a choice to make. Is the Kingdom of Heaven something
to talk about, or is it something to live out in the decisions of faith and obedience that
we make everyday?