“The Kingdom of Heaven is Nuts”

Dear church,

I would not blame you if you said: ”The kingdom of Heaven,” which Jesus describes in so many stories and metaphors, “it is nuts!” That’s how it comes across many times: a utopia on earth. Well, that’s how it came across to the original audience in the first century as well. “What is this guy talking about, - the last will be first?” The kingdom of Heaven is by design provocative and subversive. It goes under your skin. It challenges the status quo. It forces us to re-think long-held practices. Let us be clear: This Jesus of the kingdom parables would be fired in nine out of ten churches today and the board would say, “This is not the right leader for us. He’s too radical.” Jesus would invite people in and not worry much about security. He would pay the sexton more than the clergy, and I know Bill Johnson would love that. He would give out the best food, not the leftovers from your cupboard, to Manna on Main Street. He would be the leader and protector of the Lamb people, shepherding them through town. He would be called a communist and maybe an anarchist in today’s world. For sure, what he said about the Kingdom of Heaven is sometimes hard to take. So, how can we take it? 

A vineyard is the stage for today’s parable. The world of work and business is where the gospel tickles our sensibilities in the gospel reading for this Sunday. It revolves around a perennial question: how much should people get paid for their work? We have these discussions frequently today. Does the CEO of company X, who drove the revenue and value of the corporation straight into the ground, really deserve to be paid 100 million dollars a year? Wait a moment, let’s go one step further: does she deserve to be paid that much even when she does a great job? That’s the macrolevel of the fairness question. It’s very real when you talk to some people. Then there is the micro-level. It sounds like this… Is the minimum wage of $ 7.25 per hour in Pennsylvania a wage that people can live on, pay their rent, pay their groceries, pay the costs for healthcare? And many people would say… no! That’s the perspective from the grassroots level where you just try to pay your bills. That’s a reality for too many people. So, the question of fair compensation is as old as civilization and it floats around our community still. It has never been sufficiently answered, although there are places that I perceive as fairer, better and more just than some others. 

Now Jesus throws in this statement: “The last will be the first.” Imagine this wonderful biblical statement in the real world. Just for the fun of it, apply it to a line of fans waiting to get tickets for an Eagles game. Maybe I can get your attention now! Imagine you have been waiting all day to purchase one of those precious remaining tickets for the big game and at the end of the day, the organization says, “Guess what, we have decided that the last will be first today and those tickets go to fans who came most recently to us. Can you imagine the (s…) storm on Social-Media? 

But you are smart people and you listened to the parable and you will tell me that the biblical parable is different because here, everybody gets paid. Everybody gets a ticket in this parable. That’s correct and important to remember but it doesn’t change how it feels to those who labored all day and are now forced to watch the others getting paid first. And then, to add insult to injury, they get no more compensation than those who barely broke a sweat. Are they talking amongst each other? You bet they’re talking! They are complaining… “These guys don’t ever get picked first because they don’t work very hard. They are just lazy! Did you see the wink on the guy’s face? A full day’s wage for one hour of work! I’m out of here.” 

Perhaps, dear congregation, there is a reason why Jesus calls this the “Kingdom of Heaven.” Perhaps it will never the “Kingdom of Earth,” will never work down here, among mere mortals, in the flesh and blood of humanity, in the world of Adam. Perhaps Jesus wanted to emphasize that God is different, very different in many ways from our ways. Especially, God is more generous than we tend to be. And what do we do with this parable? Does it have enough relevance for us down here to teach and preach and talk about? 

Here is my try… While we will never reach the level of God’s generosity, we could get inspired by this imaginary story of God treating workers in a vineyard and giving them each a full day’s wage. And while we will never reach the level of God’s justice, perhaps we could get inspired by these stories in which frequently the last and forgotten members of our society are given special treatment. And while we will never reach God’s level of love, we can reach higher levels of love. The kingdom of Heaven is no recipe for a better world here on earth – it would be immediately shut down, I’m convinced of that. But it is an important reminder that we need to have greater aspirations for justice and generosity and neighborly love. It can be a rough and wicked world out there. It can be brutal. It can be cold. As Christians we are called to bring some light and hope and divine love to this world. To take a page from the kingdom of heaven… and to pay attention to those who often come last. Let us listen to the spirit who sends us to unusual places! 

Amen.