This sermon is based on (Matthew 13.31-33, 44-52) and (1 Kings 3).
The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. It's like yeast in bread. It's like a treasure buried in a field. It's like the most beautiful pearl in the world. It's like a net full of fish.
But having said all that, what is it? What is the kingdom of heaven? It is a something, a je ne s'est quoi hidden deep in Jesus's soul that nobody else can yet see. But it's real.
It became real in Jesus’ day. He brought it forth from his soul. and shared it with the people who were prepared to listen. And it can be real in our day too.
What is the kingdom of heaven if you don't use words like yeast, mustard, pearls, nets of fish.
All these images are simile of abundance, of overflow, of excess, like the wine that never gives out at the wedding at Canaan of Galilee, the 5,000 people fed to excess on a few loaves and fish, the water that welled up to eternal life that Jesus gave to the woman at the well and countless other stories. And concrete actions of Jesus which he performed when he was still on earth and which he still performs through his spirit.
We know about austerity. We know that there isn't enough to go round and so we have to scrimp and save and make do. So how can we move from austerity to abundance of love from God? This extends to what is happening now and not just what happens in eternal life.
Let me tell you something which I think the fathers of the church taught. For example, Augustine Augustine and the others taught that you cannot find the unseen hidden God unless you desire him according to his will. Desire is everything it is a precious gift at times unless it's been destroyed by sin, cynicism, despair, or self-indulgence.
Augustine said that it's through longing that the heart grows deep.
Can you remember your desires when you were a child? I was a passionate child. So, it's easy for me to remember longing for the summer holidays. Do you remember that first night of the summer holidays? Longing for my birthday, longing for Christmas.
Behind the need for our desires is the hidden desire for God which we should long to find.
I spent last Monday with a 92year-old priest friend of mine who still has a thirst for God for knowledge. We discussed the books we both just read and our continuing desire to grow as people.
We discussed our struggles to conquer our sins. It is in desiring that the heart grows deeper. But just a little bit of bad news before we finish. Let's consider the net full of fish. Some of the fish are thrown out because they are bad. And there is nothing more horrible than a rotten fish.
About myself, any wrong relationships I have had in the past, rotten habits, arrogance, and all the rest of disobedience to the unknown father and his son Jesus have got to be burned up and disposed of.
Because it's this rotten stuff in us all that makes it impossible to believe in Jesus's kingdom of absolute abundance. It's the yeast, the mustard seed, the field full of treasure, pearl of great price, and the net full of all kinds of fish.
I will share this quote with you from a service I attended last week. “At the end of the day, our lives are about love. Your lives are about service. Your lives about working for the common good. Your lives are about helping those who are weak to be stronger. Not to use whatever power you think you have over each other.”
Isn't that what Jesus said?
The first reading today from the book of Kings, the great King Solomon is asked, "What would you like me to do for you?"
And instead of asking for more power, for more wealth, for a win over his enemies, he asked God for a mind to discern his will. A mind to discern the will of God so that he can serve the people who are in his care to the best of his ability.
This is what we are called to do in baptism, to work for the common good, to ask God for a discerning mind so that we do what is right for God and for his people.
In the gospel, we heard Jesus telling the disciples what the kingdom of God is like. The kingdom of God is about joy and the beauty that comes from knowing God and serving him to the best of our ability.
The kingdom of God is also like a mustard seed, the smallest of all seeds. And yet, when it is grown, it becomes the tree that every bird that every person can find shelter under. The kingdom of God is for everyone who wants to come into it.
Jesus tells his disciples today, "The kingdom of God is like a net that catches fish and the good fish is kept and the bad fish is thrown away." I would pray that we would try to be the good fish that is caught in the kingdom of God. So that in our lives, in our actions, we can bring the good of God in all the situations in which we find ourselves working and serving God and his people.
Rachel
June 28, 2025
