Exceedingly good....

From Helen 

It is good to be here this morning in what is particularly lovely weather. The setting is pretty much perfect, we have company, we have sunshine, we have a sea view when we walk out of Church. It is all in the words of a Mr Kiplings cake advert ‘exceedingly good’. Perhaps almost heavenly ?

There is a story about a Sunday school teacher who was trying to prove a point to her class about faith and following God. She asked, ‘ If I sold everything that I have and gave the money to the Church, would that get me into heaven ?’ the Sunday school class responded, ‘NO’. she asked another question, ‘Ok, If I sold everything that I have and gave the money to the poor, would that get me into heaven ?’ the response was, ‘NO’ so she tried another tack, ‘If I gave you all my money, would that get me into heaven ?’ ‘NO’. ‘well, what will get me into heaven?’ One little boy piped up, ‘You have to be dead first.’

I work with children a lot and they often seem to want to know important things such as,’whocreated God’, ‘why is there evil’ these are the gentle starting questions. However, children also provide answers. To the question,’what is heaven like' I read the following answers:-

"Everything is free and everyone lives in a mansion."

‘Everyone drives a monster truck’,

"Heaven is a place that is so beautiful, you would think it was make-believe. It's perfect"

"Heaven is paradise. The weather is nice. It never rains. Nothing can go wrong. We will be perfect."

Well a write up like that does tend to make heaven sound amazing. In our gospel reading Jesus used short parables to explain what the Kingdom of Heaven is like. He pointed to what heaven is like in the future and also now. He showed that heaven was about living life the way that He did by experiencing a world turned upside down where those who are at the bottom of society are lifted up.

We are part of the kingdom of heaven by the fact that we follow Jesus and by being His disciples we try and be more like Him which means that we seek to point people to a better way a way that is exceedingly good. We know that there is even more to come, what we have now is a glimpse of what will be.

In the gospel reading Jesus used comparisons to challenge people to make a decision were they ready for the kingdom ? were they ready for a commitment that removed everything that stands in the way of God ? and were they ready to spread the good news that they had heard.

This challenge is to us as the followers of Jesus. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven as being like a mustard seed – a small seed that can grow into something huge. The kingdom of heaven is like a small piece of yeast that once put into dough grows and makes bread rise, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who gave up everything he had for a small treasure that meant everything, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who sold all he had for one great pearl again another treasure.

We are the people who have a responsibility to start pointing people to the kingdom of heaven. When Jesus came to earth He turned the world upside down as He lifted the lowly, loved the unlovable, stood up for those outside of society, challenged injustice and offered love and healing as He died for us and rose again thereby promising us hope in life eternal- pointing us to heaven. Jesus brought heaven to earth as He taught us more about Him.

We have the challenge of how we will react to the life changing news of Jesus. We can be like the mustard seed and the yeast doing our own bit to spread the good news of the love of God in our lives. You may feel quite insignificant in the whole scheme of life but to God you are everything. When you love others as God loves then people will be changed. This does not have to be in any great action that is publicised but by being as Jesus to people. Coming alongside them, loving them, being a good friend, helping those who need help. This is your mustard seed, your bit of yeast from which God’s kingdom can grow as you help people tosee and know the love of God. A love from which we are never separated.

Maybe you have not given everything up that gets in the way of your relationship with God. The man sold all he had for a field, the pearl merchant found the pearl of great value. God offers us His love which is the best treasure ever. To know God is to know life, it is to know love and we need to ask ourselves if we have removed everything that may stand in the way of our relationship with Him. It may be time, it may be other people, we may be so busy trying to do the right thing that we forget to pray and so damage our relationship with God who is love and life everlasting.

The epistle reading from the book of Romans said those wonderful words, ‘I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God.’

To know God is to know heaven, the kingdom of heaven is here in part because it is aboutfollowing God knowing that we have the promise of even more. Heaven is here in our lives as we reach out to God, but it is only in part because in life eternal we will truly see what heaven is like. In the meantime I pray that we will all seek to bring heaven to earth by livingmore and more like Jesus -praying for those in need and loving those in despair. AMEN