Sermon for: Nov 9, 2008 (Good Shepherd, Salinas CA)
Brian H.O.A. McHugh, priest
Season: Proper 27A_RCL_Pentecost XXVI

Basileia tou Theou, in the Greek. The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven. The Reign of God. The phrase, in its various English forms, appears in the Gospels and the Christian Testament over 100 times. It is a strong theme in Judaism, as the hope that God will restore the nation of Israel to the land. In Islam, it refers to the absolute reign of Allah over all things or Creation; or, to a possible earthly entity, sometimes referred to as the caliphate or imamate, where Allah’s laws are embraced and adhered to, bringing peace and unity to the devout [Islamic scholars have used Matt 13: 13ff to support their position]; or to a spiritual entity revealed after the Day of Judgment, inhabited by those who have gone to Heaven. We find all these various aspects of the nature of the Kingdom in the history of Christianity. Why? I believe, because somewhere inside, we all want Peace, Justice, Compassion, and Joy as the context for Life. Essentially, human beings are creatures of Hope, which Barack Obama tapped into.

It has been argued that the theme of the Kingdom is the core, central heart of Jesus’ message in the synoptic Gospels. The theologian Tom Harpur, a Canadian Anglican priest, has put it succinctly: “Jesus did not come to save us from our sins; He came to usher us into the Kingdom of God” (paraphrased). Certainly most of the Gospel parables speak to the nature of the Kingdom of God. We have one today – the Wise and Foolish Virgins.

We could argue all day about the nature of the Kingdom – and scholars have. Every one of them uses Scripture to support their view. Personally, I have centered my thinking on three of the sayings ascribed to Jesus: First, Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand; Second, My Kingdom is not of this world; and, Third, The Kingdom of God is within you. This morning, I want to share some thoughts about the Kingdom, and for us to look at what the parable we have today says about that Kingdom and about how we become a citizen of it.

In the history of Christianity, various attempts have been made, both in the East and the West, to merge the temporal and spiritual realms. In the East, it was Byzantium, where from Constantine on, the church and the empire were seen as one, and the Church’s Liturgy reflected the splendor of the Oriental court. In the West, it was the rise of the Roman Catholic Church as a temporal power, using spiritual power and the fear it held to control politics and wealth. The Medieval period implied that church and state were one. This collapsed in the 16th C with the Reformation, though vestiges still remain, for example in Vatican State, English establishment, and the Islamic Ulema. In my opinion, reading over history, the attempt to associate the Kingdom of God with an Earthly Kingdom has both never worked, and has missed Christ’s message. It hasn’t worked because we have failed to understand the meaning of the Incarnate Christ, and therefore failed to see what must lie at the heart of the manifestation of the Kingdom.

I use “truth-story” for “myth” so that we understand that “myth” indeed expresses truth and not falsehood or fantasy. Over the decades, I have come to understand that the truth-stories/myths of all faiths and religions attempt to answer two central and related questions: What is the nature of Existence?, and Who are we as human beings? In the Christian tradition, though I disagree with some interpretations, the Genesis Creation stories answer the first question: All Existence is a manifestation of the Divine.

The second question is powerfully answered by the Cross on which, in the Christian myth, the Christ died. The cross in some form has existed in many religions, including Egyptian and Buddhist. It has always been a symbol of Life. This is why Protestantism rejected the crucifix, which had come to represent suffering more than Life in popular understanding. The Cross represents, by it’s horizontal arm, matter/flesh; by it’s vertical arm, spirit. This is who we are as human beings: matter enlivened by Divine spirit. The story of the birth of God to Mary by the “coming upon her” of the Spirit tells us this. Other religions and their myths have made the same point. As one example, note the story of the birth of the Egyptian god Horus, son of Osiris, to Isis. The meaning is the same: What animates us, what makes us a unified living human “soul” is the indwelling of the Divine. In essence, this is what we mean by "Christ died that we might live”.

Here I think lies the meaning of the Kingdom, and it’s manifestation. The Kingdom of God cannot manifest itself until each one of us realizes that God lives at our core, in our heart. We are a part of the Divine energy that created and creates the Universe. Tom Harpur puts it this way: …the story of Jesus is the story of each of us in allegorical form. As spirit-gifted animals, we are crucified on the cross of matter; we are bearers of the Christ within, and will one day be resurrected to a glorious destiny with God.[1]

The Kingdom is God is within you, Jesus said. To me, this means that it can’t appear until the light of Christ flares up in us and flows out from us. It is not going to be imposed at the end of some eschatological Age, or after some last, destructive Judgment. The Kingdom of God is at hand, Jesus said, for there He stood among them, mirroring the Divine within them. Which means that we must stand in the World as Christ. My Kingdom is not of this World, Jesus said ….. implying that the Kingdom cannot come through worldly power or Peter’s sword or might, but only by the light of the Divine shining out of each of us, giving light to the World. The Gospel is clear that the greatest sign of the Kingdom breaking through is Love.

And so, what does the parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins tell us? Here’s my take. I understand the home to which the Bridegroom arrives to be each of our hearts. He is coming to marry His divinity with our flesh, to make us a whole human being. But in reality, the Divine Bridegroom is always there, or we would not be alive. So the issue is, are we prepared to Welcome Him? All of us have lamps: our bodies, our hearts, our minds, our senses, our intellects. But do these lamps have adequate fuel? Worship is a fuel: How do we worship? The Eucharist is the heart of our worship for a reason. It sacramentally fuels us with the Body and Blood of the Christ, teaching us to feed on God. Reading is a fuel: What do we read, or watch, or study? Do they shed light to help us recognize the Bridegroom? Relationships are a fuel: Do our relationships glow with the love, justice, kindness of God? Self-love is a fuel: Do we love ourselves as God loves us, or mistreat ourselves? How we love God and ourselves determines how we love others. Charity is a fuel: How do we give of ourselves to sustain others?

The parable tells us that the Bridegroom comes at moments we don’t anticipate. Our work this week is to ponder the ways we keep our lamps burning. God is always here, bidden or unbidden. It is a darkened heart that obscures God’s Presence. Our work is to keep as many lamps as possible well fueled and burning brightly, creating a welcome for Holy Wisdom, like a plane honing in on a runway at night. As our reading says, and it is Good News: Wisdom .. hastens to make herself known to those who desire her .. she goes about seeking those worthy of her, and she graciously appears to them in their paths, and meets them in every thought. When Holy Wisdom leads us to the Christ Within, the Kingdom makes its appearance. Only then can the World be transformed.

[1] The Pagan Christ, Tom Harpur, pg. 147