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The kingdom of God is given to those who produce the fruits of the kingdom. As usual, Jesus is somewhat enigmatic here. What are these fruits? From whom will the kingdom be taken away? What is the tipping point of the decision?
It can be a worry sometimes, as an ordained minister – have I become like the Scribes and Pharisees? I can be concerned with good order in religious observance. I can claim that I know how things should go in Church. I can claim that I have the answers to the questions of life and faith. Only on Monday we were discussing in that day’s post how beneficial it is for us to have simple faith. Conversely, at certain points, the desire to ‘do things properly’ has been known to cause me to downplay or diminish the simple expressions of faith of others. Often, these expressions have, in hindsight, seemed to be of a much more alive and holy sort than my own, however closely I have stuck to the rubrics, the tradition, however well-established, well-meaning and sometimes-helpful as these can be. And so the terrible question arises: have I quenched faith? Have I even perhaps caused others to stumble?
I have no idea if this is the actual thrust of Jesus’s words in the parables we read today. Whereas at times it is easy for us reading the stories of the Pharisees to look down our noses and think ourselves far more enlightened than they in how we look at Jesus, the words of Scripture this morning cause me to examine my heart again. What is my aim? If it is to give worship to Jesus, to thank him, to encourage others to do the same, to see other people come to know and love him, to see justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit abound, then good. If it is not, it’s time for another trip back to the drawing board.