The Kingdom of Heaven is Like . . .

Have you ever scratched your head at the parables Jesus gave in the Gospels? It is truly amazing when God finally opens the eyes of our understanding to scripture, and allows us to know what has been beyond us. His Growing up, His ‘Kingdom of Heaven’ parables were completely inscrutable to me.

Matthew 24:14-30 informs us that the kingdom of heaven is ‘like a man traveling to a far country that called his own servants and delivered his goods to them.’

What the heck? What does that mean?

Most believers know that to better understand one verse you need to read the preceding and succeeding verses. Verse 13 speaks of the Son of Man (God the Son) returning. And then, in the following verses, we are treated to a parable featuring a man traveling. Coincidence? Doubtful. As we see in the rest of the parable, this man is both powerful and exceedingly generous, giving out of his abundant grace (and in measures according to his own unfathomable will), and rewarding those who had multiplied what he had given to them.

Are you starting to understand the parable? I trust you are; these passages are indeed illuminating.

In the parable we begin to see that ‘the man’ is clearly God, that his servants are Christians, and that what he gives to them in his grace is the opportunity for salvation. The moral of this parable concerns what we do with what he has given us. Do we bury our salvation? Do we hide it, keeping it for ourselves without ever sharing its light with the world, like the ‘wicked and lazy servant’? Or do we invest this great gift, sharing Christ with our fellow travelers? Do we recognize that we are duty-bound to our Lord to share the light He has given us?

As we scurry about our business this busy week, hassling our way through congested parking lots and crowded stores, let’s try to keep the memory of our Savior in mind, and to recall that He shared His light with everyone He encountered, showing us how to expand the kingdom of heaven. Because those who sit in darkness are in desperate need of the light. They need out love, our tender mercies, our time, and our example. As Jacob Marley said: ‘Mankind was my business’. So let us be about our Father’s business this Christmastime. It can be as simple as letting that person ahead of you in line, donating to the various charities to provide gifts for the poor children, or a simple smile as you greet someone in the marketplace. Those who squander the gift will have no place in the kingdom (Matthew 25:30), and this is a fate we should not wish on our worst enemies. Rather, when we see these masses, we ought to recall verses 35-36: 'For I was hungry and you gave me food; I was thirsty and you gave me drink . . .'

On the Manger Scene

You’ve heard the uncomfortable tales of unbelievers publicly shaming Christian displays of support for Christmas. It’s hard not to respond negatively—and retaliate—when we are bashed for setting up a simple harmless manger scene, or for giving a cheerful ‘Merry Christmas.’ In responding to these assaults on our faith, we must remember the teachings of the Man we are celebrating. Jesus taught us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to pray even for our enemies, to persist in our faith whether convenient or not. If it comes to a confrontation, you might do well by pointing this out to the offended: ‘I am celebrating the birth of a Man who promoted peace and love.’ And you might finish by asking the offended unbeliever: ‘Do you have a problem with celebrating the birth of a man known as the Prince of Peace?’ After all, they take no offense at MLK Jr. Day (as, of course, no right-thinking human would), and Martin Luther King was merely reiterating what Jesus taught long ago.

You have to wonder about the moral compass of someone who is angered by celebrations of a Man of peace. Certainly there can be nothing wrong with honoring Christ on your own property, and even public crèches should be seen as inspirational, not offensive; they remind us to rise above our petty differences and love our neighbors, and to put aside all hatred. The birth of Jesus is certainly worth celebrating! But let's try to look on our unbelieving neighbors not as our enemies but as fellow travelers, the difference being that they are walking in darkness. So let us respond with light.

The One whose birth we celebrate on Christmas day is watching, having sent us out as sheep amidst wolves. Therefore we are to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10:16). Be bold in your faith, but gentle in your response to the faithless.