B Cycle – 11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 24

Mk. 4:26-34

What will heaven be like?    The truth is we have a concept about what it is like, but we are just projecting an image we believe it to be.  But did you ever consider it is beyond our language to describe.  Did you ever consider how even Jesus could not describe it other than to tell us it is “like” something we have experienced.  Jesus said in today’s gospel, “this is how it is with the kingdom of God.”  It is as if a seed was sown on the grown. It is there and how it grows we are uncertain, but we can see the result of its growth.  It grows and produces fruit.  Is Jessu talking about heaven or is He talking about the kingdom He came to establish. 

It seems He is telling us we are missing out, unaware of the reality of this world we live in.  We can experience in this world what God created us to experience – life in the presence of God.  This kingdom is not some distant place we will enter when we die.  It is here on earth, and we are invited to live daily in that kingdom.  

Jesus does not even have the words to describe this kingdom He came to establish on earth.  All Jesus says about it is to tell us “…what it is like.”  It is like “a mustard seed and like a seed sown by a man.”  Jesus tells us the kingdom of heaven is “like “leaven” (Mt.13:33).  It is like “a treasure hidden in a field” (Mt.13:34).  It is like “a merchant searching for fine pearls” who finds it and sells all he has to possess it (Mt.13:45).  It is like “a dragnet thrown into the sea” (Mt.13:47).  The kingdom of heaven is like “a head of the household who brings out of his treasure things old and new” (Mt.13:52).   The kingdom of heaven is like “a landowner who goes out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard” (Mt. 20:1). 

Did you notice in some of those descriptions, awareness of the kingdom is unrecognized. In others, one becomes aware of it and seeks to discover more about it.  In others there is a weeding out of the undesirable and holding on to the good.  In another we discover it is never too late to accept the invitation to enter the kingdom. 

When Jesus began His ministry, He declared the “the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Jesus was referring to the kingdom He came to establish on the earth. Where we can experience Gods’ presence. I invite you to read and reread those statements by Jesus in Matthews thirteenth chapter and take some time to reflect upon each of them one by one.  You will discover the kingdom of God is not something we should be hoping to experience in the future, because it is ours to experience each day. 

You will also discover the kingdom of heaven is not something we can attain by completing some novena or by some spiritual practice. The kingdom Jesus came to establish is ours and is attainable because that is where we were created to live. It is available to us once we acknowledge it exists and if we simply open ourselves to receive it.  Once we begin to embrace it, we will discover it, life in this world instantly begins to change for us.

That leaven begins to permeate places within us that are dead to sin, to doubt and to where we experience despair.  We will discover God is with us daily.  He will speak to us, comfort us, embrace us and invite us to dance with Him or to sit in His lap and let Him comfort us.  We will discover a new freedom to worship without effort.  We will sing with the angels and walk in the company of the saints each day as we grow comfortable living in the world and in the kingdom of God. 

God will pour the Holy Spirit into our hearts reorient our hearts toward God and free us from the lies of the world.  Our desires will change as the Spirit will enlighten our minds to grasp the scriptures and gain new insights into who we are and how we are to live.  The power of Jesus’s resurrection will flow through us, and we will know we and understand how His death ‘freed us from the penalty of our sins.”  We will respond by giving thanks to God for sending Jesus to redeem us.  It is a journey that can take you years, months, or days depending on how much you want to surrender.  In the kingdom of God on earth the Spirit guides us to holiness and giving up control of our spiritual lives is the hardest thing for us to do. 

Beginning the journey begins with that first step by acknowledging God is offering us a place in His kingdom. A place of comfort amid a life filled with discomfort. Today’s world is chaotic and is challenging every aspect of human existence.  In Me there is peace Jesus tells us.  There it is in a simple yet profound statement by Jesus.  God’s plan was more than to redeem us. His plan was to change us and have us walk with Him each day.

 He has promised to send us the Spirit to change us and provide us with a confident assurance about our destiny and who we why we were created. “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you” (Mt.6:33).  There is a challenge for us to consider today. Are these readings just stories we have heard before and disregard or forget before we get home?  Or is the gospel wisdom from on high, given to us as a compass pointing to the life we are to live as believers.  Living in the kingdom of God is a choice we must make at some point in our lives. God give us a choice, “I put in front of you life or death, choose life” (Jer.21:8).