Sunday, February 21
“Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”
This year, the Wednesday and Thursday Bible Study groups have been focusing on the gospel according to Matthew. Because Matthew, like many Jews in his day, took “hallowed be thy name” so very seriously, he rarely wrote the word “God.” For example, instead of Jesus saying, “The Kingdom of God has come near,” as he does in Mark and Luke, Matthew records him saying “The Kingdom of Heaven has come near.”
Most of the time, in Matthew’s gospel, the word “heaven” does not refer to a place, nor does it refer to a promise about what will happen after we die. Heaven is simply a way to talk about God without using God’s name. Being aware of this literary device, we have discovered, makes a huge difference in how we understand the teachings of Jesus in Matthew’s gospel.
Recently we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount, which contains some of the most beautiful and challenging teachings of Jesus. Throughout the sermon, Jesus promises the kingdom of heaven to those who are faithful and courageous. “Blessed are the poor in spirit,” he proclaims, “for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…..Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
It’s easy to misinterpret these beatitudes as a promise for life after death: “if you are poor in spirit, or if you are being persecuted, don’t worry, you will get your reward when you die and go to heaven.” But the promise Jesus is making is much more immediate–the promise that you can be part of the kingdom of God (what I would call the “realm of God’s love”) breaking in right here and right now.
When we acknowledge our spiritual poverty–our need for one another and for God–we participate in creating a new kind of community where God’s love reigns. When we find courage to stand fast even in the face of persecution, we are creating a space for God’s love to take root.
Jesus’ message is not about going to heaven after we die; his central message is that God is already at work ushering in a realm of love and justice–and we can choose to be part of it. That is truly good news.
May your realm of love come to fruition, God, and may we be part of it. Amen.
–Debbie Clark