On How to Receive the Kindom of God
October 6, 2024
Traceymay Kalvaitis
Psalm 8
O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. Out of the mouths of babes and infants you have founded a bulwark because of your foes, to silence the enemy and the avenger. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are humans that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Yet you have made them a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Sovereign, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Mark 10: 13-16
People were bringing children to him in order that he might touch them, and the disciples spoke sternly to them. But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them, for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
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Today’s sermon is titled On How to Receive the Kindom (sic) of God.
If you think I did not say “kingdom,” you are correct. I said kindom of God. The linguistic change was proposed in the 1980’s by a theologian by the name of Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. It is a beautiful and appropriate change, in my opinion. As we have learned before, the familiar phrases kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven would be more properly translated as the reign of God or the reign of heaven. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are not physical places, they are a state of being. To change kingdom to kindom invites us in to a different way of living, living in relationship…living in relationship with one another, recognizing that we are all part of humanity, and living in relationship with God, recognizing that, as Jesus says in John 14:20, “I am in you and you are in me.” The kindom of God is perfect language to hold such deep meaning.
Listen again to exactly what Jesus is saying to his disciples as he chastises them for chasing away the children. Jesus says, “…whoever does not receive the kindom (sic) of God as a little child will never enter it.” If we take out the negatives, it becomes “receive the kindom of God as a little child and enter in.” The implied theology in this statement is profound, especially when we recall the words of Jesus’s answer to the Pharisees from Luke 17: 20 and 21. “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kindom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Look, here it is,’ or ‘There it is.’ You see? The kindom of God is within you.”
Friends, let’s think carefully about this, because I know I am not the only one who inherited, from previous generations, ideas and theories about the nature of God that are, frankly, unhelpful and, in some cases, potentially harmful. Let’s say I have accepted the commonly held belief that God chooses to spare some while others perish, then I receive a diagnosis that my life is hanging in the balance. If I have unresolved conflict in my life, if I am carrying guilt and shame, it could be almost impossible for me to feel worthy of receiving forgiveness, receiving mercy, receiving the grace of God that can lead to healing even if I am not cured. The theology that most of us inherited does not aid us in the times we need it the most. The theology that most of us inherited is woefully inaccurate, in my experience. The good news is that we need not be limited to inherited theologies. We need not be limited by ideas and theories about God that make God seem distant and unapproachable. Now, there is scripture that supports such theories, to be sure, but there are way more in number that assure us that God is a force of infinite love, compassion, care, and acceptance. Most of the time, we get in our own way of sensing the presence of God within us, and around us, and within others, too.
Jesus says, “Receive the kindom of God”…it is “within you;” receive it as a little child receives and enter in. How do little children receive? They receive as if they deserve it. Isn’t this the case? I read more than one commentary on this scripture this past week that said we should receive as children receive, humbly and gratefully. I don’t know what children they have in mind, but my experience of little children is that they are eager and confident in their receiving. They do not question whether or not they deserve it. Children absolutely have to be taught to say, “thank you.” Psychologists estimate children are usually closer to 7 or older before they are capable of being genuinely grateful.*
I think Jesus knew about children when he said receive the kindom of God as a little child and enter in. I think Jesus knew that children are curious, open-hearted, trusting, and eager to receive…eager to receive as if they absolutely deserve what is coming to them. I think Jesus is inviting us to be just as confident in receiving our place in the kindom of God.
The question is, can we receive it? Can we feel worthy of it no matter our past shortcomings and mistakes and failures? Can we enter in to relationship with all beings, not just the ones that look like us and speak like us, but all beings in God’s kindom…all the two-leggeds, the four leggeds, the winged ones, the crawling ones, the swimming ones, all those in the plant kindom from the smallest single celled organisms to the old-growth trees? Friends, we are invited into relationship with all of God’s kindom because we are an integral part of the unfolding creative process that began with the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago. It is all God, Friends, and we are part of it.
Here is the really beautiful thing. If we can receive the kindom of God and recognize our place within it, we can then, and perhaps only then, be able to see the inherent worth in others…the inherent worth in all others…all people, all animals, all beings because we are all part of God’s kindom and we are all kindred. From within, operating as one part of a much larger whole, following the example of Christ actually becomes possible. Loving our neighbor as ourselves, loving our enemies, loving God with all our heart and soul and mind, forgiving those who have harmed us, receiving forgiveness from those we have harmed…it all becomes possible.
But if we would rather remain under the illusion of “independency,” if we would rather face life and all the challenges and adversities on our own steam, if we would rather maintain a zero-sum-game perspective where your gain means my loss so fend for yourself….well…those are choices available to us all, but what a small, petty, lonely life that is. I imagine we have all been there and it is no place I wish to dwell.
I want to be part of the kindom of God. I want to be part of something infinite. I am ready to look for the Christ light in every person and in every situation. I am ready to see beyond the labels of political parties, nationalities, and gender. I am ready to acknowledge that I am dependent on the water, minerals and sunlight, dependent on the trees and plants and algae that make the oxygen I breathe. I am ready to acknowledge that the family crossing our southern border with Mexico is a family just like my own; they may have less but they are not less than; we are kindred. I am ready to break cycles of violence, cycles of oppression, cycles of negativity, cycles of dysfunction within my own family and within my own community. I am ready to be an agent of peace. I am ready to stand in relationship to all who are incarcerated, all who have caused harm, with the knowledge that no act of violence or harm is an isolated event; it is hurt people who hurt people. We are all part of the kindom of God. Let’s try living like it, Friends.
In closing, on this Communion Sunday, we have received an invitation of sorts…an invitation to receive, to receive as the little children receive, to receive the kindom of God eagerly, with the full assurance that we deserve it. In receiving, Friends, we will change…so be forewarned. We will love more, we will see more light, we will value others more, and we will experience a level of connectedness that will make us less fearful about our own end of life because we will know we are an indelible, everlasting part of the wholeness of creation. Jesus is pointing the way for us. Receive the kindom of God as a little child and enter in. So be it. Amen.
*https://www.pbs.org/parents/learn-grow/age-7/character/gratitude
Pastoral Prayer Holy Spirit of God, I thank you for this church community where we have freedom to worship as we choose. We pray for those communities of every faith, around the world, that are not so fortunate. On this World Communion Sunday, I offer a prayer for the children of the world…a prayer for their well being. May they know a love that is true and kind and protective and may that love be a guiding light for their young hearts and minds. Help us, Lord, to not lose touch with a love such as that, for regardless of age or position, we are all in need of something, some healing, some comfort, some assurance. Strengthen us to serve when we are called to serve, and soften us to receive when we are offered assistance. For those that are suffering, Lord, grant them peace; for those that are fearful, grant them assurance that nothing can separate us from the love of God. May we use the power of prayer to ease our minds and hearts, and to offer ourselves in spiritual support of those in our prayers. This we ask in Christ’s name. Amen.
Benediction: I leave you with this blessing from the book of Numbers, chapter 6 verse 24:
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to
you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.