Wheat among the Weeds

Matt. 13:24-30

Sometimes I have a better understanding of something based on what it is not rather than what it is.  A good day is like that for me.  I'm not real sure what constitutes a good day for me, but I can give you several details

of what a bad day is like.  The funny thing is without the bad days you have no point of reference to determine any of the good days.  Grace, forgiveness, kindness, etc., all may have varying degrees of defining criteria, but everyone knows the opposite of each.  Un-grace is clear. Unforgiveness is transparent.  Meanness is  detectable.

The facts of paradox are powerful and sometimes we humans walk a thin line on both sides.  It is like the person who is totally unsatisfied with life because it is boring, but yet doesn't embrace change and growth clinging instead to the safety net of routine.  Duh!  How could your growth in the kingdom of God mirror that sentiment?  I can see myself in it, can you?

In many ways the world is not what the kingdom of God is and the kingdom of God is not what the world is.  Here are some examples of the present state of both kingdoms:

The world kingdom is full of societies, clubs and agencies that restrict

entry due to who you are or what you have accomplished. 

The kingdom of God has no such restrictions. 

All races and social classes are welcome regardless of accomplishment.

The greatness of the kingdom of the world is measured in power, might and

economic prowess.  Greatness in the kingdom of God is the least or the servant of all.

The kingdom of the world is hinged upon laws both of science and justice. 

The kingdom of God is anchored in love.

The kingdom of the world exalts the wealthy and powerful.  The kingdom of

God belongs to the weak and poor in spirit.

The righteous in the kingdom of the world are enamored with selfishness and

decadence.  The kingdom of God is rife with folks who compete for the

privilege of serving one another.

As I contemplate these paradoxes, I realize some of the kingdom of the world most assuredly has marched its way into the church.  Sometimes it is hard to define the kingdom perhaps because we look at the church for an example and come away with less than a matching Christ-like model as portrayed in the gospels.  There is a danger that as we become more in the world, we can be more of the world.  That is why church can sometimes look more like those things above that describe the kingdoms of the world than what Jesus  purported 2,000 years ago.

Non-Christians may be more confused than anyone.   What if you only saw the kingdom of God as a TV evangelist asking for more money, or a screaming red faced man yelling on the Corner with spit flying from his mouth, or a message on a small piece of paper you picked up off the floor of the grocery  store saying you are going to hell.  What is a true kingdom witness?  Could the non-Christian see the real kingdom shining from the example of the body of Christ?  Yes they could, and when that happens there is no more powerful a witness.  It requires actually applying our faith to our everyday lives and living as Jesus leads.

That is a beautiful picture, however, the body of Christ must guard against becoming apathetic as we make our way through our days here on earth waiting for the perfection of the future kingdom to be ushered in by Christ.  We live in a transitional time.  Transitional by definition also implies transformation.  Even now, while we wait for Heaven, the kingdom of now invites us into a whole world of paradox as we give a message that transforms death to life, human injustice to divine justice, despair to joy, legalistic polarization to grace and what is old to new.  Yes, the kingdom is tragically incomplete right now in our falleness, but every so often, here or there, now and then, we see clues of what God will someday achieve in perfection breaking through the brokenness of this world.  The reign of God is breaking through daily into the kingdom of this world.  It never stopped after being installed by the crucified Carpenter from Galilee.  We can be its heralds.  We are the wheat among the weeds.