HOW DO YOU GET INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD
Text: Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with
all your mind. This is the greatest commandment. The second most important
commandment is like it: Love your neighbour as you love yourself.
Jesus often taught the crowds and his disciples with parables ….
Earthly stories with heavenly meanings…. Often they begin with,
“The Kingdom of God is like this,” Or, “Unless you become like this
or do that you can’t enter the Kingdom.”
Look at this list and see if you can guess which story it refers to.
Those included:
A sinner is more likely to enter than a Pharisee.
A jeweller who looks for a perfect pearl
Only childlike people
The lost
Wastrels
Late-comers
Foreigners
Beggars
High producing wheat
Insignificant seeds with growth potential
The lazy but conscience- stricken
Those excluded:
Newly married
Anxious farmers
Rich people
Hypocrites
Dedicated sons and daughters
Of course, that’s looking at what Jesus said from the wrong angle
and the message he gave is for us as much as for those he talked to
in the 1st century . Let’s look again and see what Jesus says to us about
getting into the Kingdom.
The Kingdom is only for those who have the capacity to change and move
on and accept God’s supreme power. Think of what Jesus said about the
workers in the vineyard and who was vindicated, or about becoming like
children?
People who take risks for something worthwhile like the man who sold
everything to buy the pearl of great price or out of compassion like the
Samaritan can enter the Kingdom. The value put on people by God is quite
different from human estimation. God is the only judge of individuals.
Its no good telling God as the Pharisee did that he was better than the publican.
The parables of the lost sheep, coin and especially the son tell us that
God is prepared to act and save the lost. He goes out of his way to look
for those lost but the son had to know his own need and make a positive
move toward being reconciled with God. The brother could have had the
same treatment but he was unable to accept the transformation that
God offered.
The sower and the mustard seed tell us that God looks at what we are
and those who appear insignificant, provided they have the potential
for growth, are able to enter the kingdom.
The rich young man who was turned away by Jesus is a key incident.
That young man wanted to follow but he couldn’t quite relinquish his riches.
There are two parts to the great commandment we have as our text;
the single-mindedness that relies entirely on God’s grace. The young man
wouldn’t give up his money because he wanted salvation but also to keep
his earthly insurance…. Riches.
So are you able to think about entering God’s Kingdom?
What have you to do, and to be, to enter?
Live your life with God at its centre and do everything as well as you are able;
always in relationship to God’s laws and guidance. When you fail and fall,
admit that you have sinned and in repentance confess to God. No bargains
but simply rely on God’s grace. The only way that you can live a
God-centred life is to treat your neighbour as yourself and follow
the life pattern of Jesus.
When the whole human race can do that, heaven and earth will become one,
and the Kingdom that God, that Jesus came to invite us to enter, will become
a full reality. Meanwhile, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the greatest commandment.
The second most important commandment is like it:
“Love your neighbour as you love yourself.”
AMEN
