The Kingdom of Heaven

By
Matthew 20:13-16 But [the landowner] replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous? So the last will be first, and the first will be last.

I am not a Bible scholar.  In fact, other than my own Bible readings, and listening to sermons through the years, and reading a few spiritual books, I'm not well educated in the Bible at all.  I do read the daily verses and the devotionals published by Forward Movement Day By Day.  These can be found here: http://prayer.forwardmovement.org/forward_day_by_day.php?d=24&m=9&y=2017

As I read today's devotional, I was reminded of the many times Jesus says, "The kingdom of Heaven is like..."  He describes a mustard seed, a lovely pearl, a bit of yeast, a found treasure, etc.  In every case, I have heard that this is to be an instruction to us as to how we should live our life here on Earth: striving for heaven, as it is more valuable than anything, growing the kingdom of Heaven here on Earth, or some other similar ideas.

In today's Gospel lesson (see above), the writer for Forward Day By Day invites us to examine our own views of generosity, and what it means to be generous, and how God blesses us extravagantly.  In today's (excellent!) sermon at church, our priest talked about how we want life to be fair, like the first workers hired, but that life isn't fair.  Essentially, God isn't fair, but He loves and cares for us. (I hope I related the essence of the sermon correctly!)

After I read the verses and the devotional this morning, a thought came to me: What if Jesus isn't talking about life here on Earth, but is talking about life in heaven?  Perhaps he truly is describing the kingdom of heaven, and what we can expect when we get there.  Now, this is probably not a radical thought, and I'm sure it's been posited before, but I have never heard this view expounded upon.

In today's Gospel lesson, perhaps Jesus is telling us that when we get to heaven, we should not be jealous or envious of those who repented and turned to Him late in life, while (some) of us followed Him all our lives.  Perhaps he's preparing us so that we are ready for the emotions we might have when "others" are admitted to heaven alongside us, even though they didn't lead righteous lives.  Or at least not as righteous as ours! 

I must admit that this is not something that had occurred to me before today, and I am not one to try to interpret scripture, but this idea took hold of me and wouldn't let me go!  I have been burning to get this idea in my blog, but struggled to find the words and the time.  I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

Until next time, may your day and your loved ones be blessed!

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

It's Almost Time!

By
Welcome back!  It's been about 6 months since my last post, and I'm sure my loyal readers (all 3 of them!) have been wondering when I would be back. Football season will be here before you know it! Do you know how I can tell? The preseason magazines have begun to hit the shelves (and my mailbox)! The various conferences will be holding their media days next month, and then the teams will be holding their preseason camps, with the first games being played on August 27, the stupidly named Week Zero.  But I haven't just been sitting around doing nothing for the last few months. Oh, no! I've just completed my preseason Power Rankings, and so will now begin writing my previews of all 131 teams and the 10 conferences, which will take me up until the first games. I will publish my previews according to the following schedule: 7/18     Part I           Teams 131-121 7/19     Part II         Teams 120-111 7/20 ...
Read more

Are You Ready?

By
  Welcome Back! College Football is only 9 weeks away- just 64 days until the 1st games on Aug 24! That means the college football preview magazines are all out, and I've been hard at work assembling data and researching the upcoming season for my previews. Here is what you can expect from me, and when you can expect it. Beginning on Monday, July 15, I will do my individual team previews. I will basically do 10 teams a day (after doing 12 a day for the 1st 2 days- 134 doesn't divide by 10 evenly...) for 2+ weeks, and then 5 a day for the last 4 days (my Top 20). These will take you through August 2. These will be presented in reverse order (from #134 to #1) according to my own preseason Power Rankings.  On August 5, I'll start my conference previews, which will take 2 weeks. 9 1/2 conferences plus Independents equals 10 days.  That takes us all the way to Game Week! Well, sort of. There are only a handful of games on Aug 24, which has the incredibly dumb name of Week Zero...
Read more

More Struggles

By
Growing up, my family attended the Presbyterian Church.  My mom had been a Baptist, and my dad grew up Methodist, so I guess this was a compromise.  I did all the normal kid-at-church things: nursery, VBS, Sunday School, Wednesday Night Suppers,  acolyte, confirmation class, youth group.  I really enjoyed my time, and grew to really appreciate the time spent there. When I went to college, I intended to continue going to church, and even went a few times, but just stopped going.  A big part may have been that Sundays was the only time I could sleep past 7 am, especially in the fall (football games on Saturdays).  And once you stop going, it's easy for things to stay that way. My senior year, I met Jackie in my Educational Psychology class.  After 6 weeks of dating, I proposed, and she accepted.  We were married at her home church in Snellville, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church.  It was my first exposure to the Episcopal Church. We lived in...
Read more