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Matthew 18:1 At that time the
disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?" 2 He called a child, whom he put among them,
3 and said, "Truly I tell you,
unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of
heaven. 4 Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in
the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever welcomes one such child in my name
welcomes me. 6 "If any of you put a stumbling block before one
of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great
millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depth of
the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of stumbling blocks! Occasions
for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to the one by whom the stumbling block
comes! 8 "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut
it off and throw it away; it is better for you to enter life maimed or lame
than to have two hands or two feet and to be thrown into the eternal fire. 9
And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out and throw it away; it is
better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and to be
thrown into the hell of fire. 10 "Take care that you do not
despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels
continually see the face of my Father in heaven. 11 12 What do you think? If a
shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not
leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went
astray? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it
more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. 14 So it is
not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be
lost. 15 "If another member of the church sins against you, go
and point out the fault when the two of you are alone. If the member listens to
you, you have regained that one. 16 But if you are not listened to,
take one or two others along with you, so that every word may be confirmed by
the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If the member refuses to
listen to them, tell it to the church; and if the offender refuses to listen
even to the church, let such a one be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. 18
Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and
whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. 19 Again,
truly I tell you, if two of you agree on earth about anything you ask, it will
be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three
are gathered in my name, I am there among them." 21 Then Peter
came and said to him, "Lord, if another member of the church sins against
me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?" 22
Jesus said to him, "Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.
23 "For this reason the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a
king who wished to settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he began
the reckoning, one who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him; 25
and, as he could not pay, his lord ordered him to be sold, together with his
wife and children and all his possessions, and payment to be made. 26
So the slave fell on his knees before him, saying, 'Have patience with me, and
I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the lord of
that slave released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But that same
slave, as he went out, came upon one of his fellow slaves who owed him a
hundred denarii; and seizing him by the throat, he said, 'Pay what you owe.' 29
Then his fellow slave fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me,
and I will pay you.' 30 But he refused; then he went and threw him
into prison until he would pay the debt. 31 When his fellow slaves
saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported
to their lord all that had taken place. 32 Then his lord summoned
him and said to him, 'You wicked slave! I forgave you all that debt because you
pleaded with me. 33 Should you not have had mercy on your fellow
slave, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his lord handed him
over to be tortured until he would pay his entire debt. 35 So my
heavenly Father will also do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your
brother or sister from your heart."
Jesus said that the
Kingdom of Heaven in Matthew and God in the other Gospel accounts is near. What
did he mean by that? Where is this kingdom? Jesus constantly throughout the
ministry depicted in Matthew, Mark and Luke refers to the Kingdom as being
near. Matthew talks about the Kingdom of Heaven while Mark and Luke refer to
the Kingdom of God. Are they different? The simple answer is no, they are the
same place, simply making a distinction for the audience that is listening to
their respective narrative. Jesus wants us to stop thinking in terms of some
future event when it comes to the Kingdom. God created the heavens and the
earth and the Genesis story makes no distinction between the two except that
the earth is the dry land. Pay attention folks, the ride gets better from here.
If God makes no distinction between heaven and our own definition of Earth,
then why should we. Jesus is telling us that the Kingdom is here with us, right
now. In simple words, you are living in the Kingdom of God. I have heard it
said that we are to be a foretaste of Heaven as a church. What I believe that
means is that we are to share the Kingdom with the world even though we
recognize that it is not fully complete until Jesus returns in glory to us.
Jesus however, wants us to understand that the Kingdom is here with us. We are
to understand that all of creation resides in the Kingdom. So instead of
waiting for our own physical deaths to allow us to receive the promise of
eternal life, the promise has been fulfilled in your lifetime when you give
your life over to Jesus, follow His principles and teachings and share His love
in relationship with everyone.
So what does Jesus
want us to understand when we talk about the Kingdom? The Disciples take an
egocentric view of this question when they ask, who is the greatest in the
Kingdom? Jesus answer undoubtedly surprises them when He does not answer their
question directly but says that unless we become like a child we cannot enter
into the Kingdom. What exactly does Jesus mean by the Kingdom?
Jesus gives us some
great examples in the text you heard today. He talks about being a little
child, sharing the childlike wonder and obedience to God. If we cannot approach
God as children, we miss an important concept in obedience and love for God as
parent. Jesus reminds us that it is we who become stumbling blocks for
understanding this. When we become stumbling blocks for others or ourselves, we
create barriers to living in the Kingdom. When we hate, when we fight, when we
divide, we create barriers to living in the kind of love that God wanted from
the very beginning of creation. Jesus reminds us that a shepherd watches the
whole flock but concerns him or herself the one lost sheep that wandered away.
Military people think in terms of the big picture. So do politicians and corporate
executives. Maybe, just maybe, if we began to think in terms of people as
people, not objects or collateral damage, we might begin to understand the
concept of Kingdom as God intends.
What is it that
Jesus says, “Where two or more are gathered…” He does not say that the small
numbers do not matter, rather as few as two have huge power in the kingdom of
God. But we have rules in the kingdom. Since we are forgiven people, we must
learn to forgive. That is an important concept of loving one another. If we
find it impossible to forgive, how is it possible that we will ever can receive
our own forgiveness? I wonder how many of us have such a judgmental attitude
that we believe we are better than, entitled to or above our fellow human
beings in the world? When asked how many times we must forgive, Jesus replied
seventy times seven or an infinite number.
Jesus emphasizes
this with the parable about the King who wished to settle accounts with those
who owed him money. He forgave the debt of the person who owed him the most
only to have that man go and demand from those who owed him. The kingdom is
like the King who forgave the debt of all that owed him and the expectation is
that forgiveness would be passed down to those who owe those who are forgiven.
Does this make any sense? We are a different kind of people who live in a very
different kind of kingdom. Love does not follow the rules of culture or
politics or those who aspire to success at any cost.
How do we
experience the Kingdom in our own lives? What a great question for all of us to
ponder over during this season of Lent. What is it that is keeping you from
enjoying an intimate relationship with God? Is it your fear that God might
transform you into someone different and you might no longer fit into the world
around you? Have you ever considered that if that is the case, maybe it is the
world that has a bigger problem? What if I told you that God wants you to be in
relationship with God and that God is willing to sacrifice life itself to open
that door for you? What if I told you that God has already done that so that
you and I can live in the Kingdom today?
Living in the
Kingdom for the early disciples meant giving up everything for each other. It
meant being willing to give up their possessions, their material things, their
homes and put all of that in the central pot so that no-one went without. The
early disciples witnessed to the power of God with joy and celebration every
waking day. They shared God with everyone they encountered with great joy and
performed miracles and healings through the power of God. How? Because they
were willing to surrender to the Kingdom. Are you willing?
For the last five weeks,
I have talked about renewal. What does it mean, what does it feel like, and how
do we do it. We began with the first church and the disciple’s empting
themselves to allow the Holy Spirit to fill them. They did that through prayer,
fasting and desire to be in an intimate relationship with God. Filled with the
Holy Spirit they went out and drew thousands and ultimately millions into
relationship with God. But it took willingness to be the instruments of God. We
looked at Stephen and his seeing the glory of God in front of him. Again, he
achieved that pinnacle by his willingness to witness to the power of God even in
the face of culture and political power that wanted him to blend in, fit in,
and become part of the world around him rather than being radical enough to
share love with one another. We saw the conversion of Paul and were reminded
that sometimes when we are doing the wrong thing; we can be so passionate about
it and focused on it that we have blinders to what is righteous and Godly. So
we need to slow down and ask God in, ask God to discern for wisdom and guidance
about what is the right thing. Last week we talked about the truth of God.
Jesus reminds us that we are to follow the path that God has for us, the Big
Dream that God has called you too. If you are willing to empty yourself of your
own desires and be the instrument of God, great things can be accomplished. We
are all called to a Big Dream that God has asked you to walk with God on. Are
you willing to not listen to those who would have you blend into the world but
rather go where we have never been, do what we have never done and share love
with those we have yet to meet? Finally, today we are offered a place in the
Kingdom. Not some future residence where the world around us is safe and
secure. Rather, we are called to witness to the power of God right here, right
now. The Kingdom is around us, embracing us and lifting us up to new
opportunities. If we are to truly live into the life that God intended from
creation then we must be willing to follow God wherever that may be.
Jesus said the
Kingdom is near. Do you have the courage to reach out and take the key? Where
two or more are gathered, there the key resides. Empty ourselves this Lent and
let God through the Holy Spirit makes us disciples of Jesus Christ for the
transformation of the world. Let us become disciples who are lifelong learners
who influence others to serve. Let us live into a vision where Christ’s love is
in action and we are bringing God to people and people to God.
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