10 Dec 2015
The idea of “taking the Kingdom of heaven by force” sounds kind
of odd, as it should. I mean, we think
of the Kingdom as a good thing, a beautiful existence . . . and that kind of
life can’t be forced. But, of course, we
know what happens when a vision of the Kingdom (or the vision of any perfect
utopia) is forced to happen. Then we get people like Hitler and his vision
of a perfect society. We get the Muslim
terrorists today who aren’t shy about using force to build up their view of
heaven—and who is and who is not part of that vision.
In a less dramatic way—but still with force—is the way people
put each other down, or make disparaging comments about whole classes of people.
Criticism and judgment are ways the Kingdom of heaven can try to be taken by force. Whether it’s people we don’t like, people on
the other side of the political aisle, people of a different race or religion
or whatever . . . to cut them down to make room for the Kingdom of heaven is to
try make God’s reign happen by force.
And for us Christians, that should sound odd . . . because it
is. The Kingdom of heaven—that vision of
perfect happiness, peace, and love in God—is presented to humanity as an invitation. Isaiah talks about God opening up fountains
in the desert valleys, turning dry ground into springs of water, and making
plants and all sorts of life spring up where there isn’t any . . . all as an offering and an enticing invitation for humanity to see and
understand the goodness of God, the goodness of the Kingdom.
When Jesus offers his Body and Blood to us, it’s precisely
that . . . an offering. He doesn’t force
himself or the Kingdom on us. He offers himself
to us; and we’re left to reject him or accept him. And that’s the most we do for others. We offer the Kingdom to our friends and
neighbors; we offer God’s grace and
mercy to them; we invite them to
share the life of faith we enjoy. And we
leave it at that.
While we certainly hope that the entire world would come to
know our God, we cannot take the Kingdom of heaven by force . . . because that
would be contrary to what the Kingdom
is all about. Instead, we bring to our
friends and neighbors what we ourselves have accepted: the offer from God to enjoy the Kingdom.
Whether or not they accept that offer is up to them. Just as it is up to us, every day, whether or
not we’ll let the Kingdom of God grow in our hearts.
No comments:
Post a Comment