HOW FAR  AM I FROM 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD?

INTRODUCTION

The title of my homily for this 31st Sunday in Ordinary Time B is, “How Far Am I From The Kingdom of God?”

TODAY’S GOSPEL

The second last sentence in today’s gospel is a statement from Jesus. Jesus says to the scribe, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” [Cf. Mark 12: 28b to 34]

The last sentence in today’s gospel is, “And no one dared to ask him any more questions.”

In this homily I’m daring each of us to ask Jesus this question: “How Far Am I From The Kingdom of God?”

This could lead to another question:  “Just what is this Kingdom of God or Kingdom of Heaven that you, Jesus, are often talking about?”

If you’ve ever left the United States for a vacation or a trip, you know the feeling on returning of coming to the custom’s desk - usually at the airport - or at the border - and you pass your passport over to an officer. You stand there as he or she looks at your passport - your picture - you - and then a computer screen. Then there is a pause. Then there is that wonderful message, “Welcome home!” You’re back in the good old U.S.A.  Then you get home and you come into your house and you feel, “It’s good to be home.”

So we know when we’re home. We know when we’re in our own state and when we are in our country.

But do we know when are we in this kingdom of heaven that the scribe in today’s gospel is not far from?

Would Jesus say to us: “Welcome home. You’re in the kingdom?” or would Jesus say, “You’re not far from the kingdom of God” or would he say, “You’re far from the kingdom of God”?

That question is the gut and the genesis of this  homily.

THE KINGDOM: NOT ONE OF OUR USUAL STATES OF MIND

On a scale of one to ten, ten being the highest and best, if we were asked, "How good am I as a member of God’s kingdom?".  most of us would become silent.

I don’t hear myself or most of us using that word "kingdom" or asking that question. However, we do see ourselves or identify ourselves as being members of various other kinds of categories:

       o       Ravens or Redskins or Steelers Fan

       o       Marylander

       o       Catholic

       o       Christian

       o       Independent, Democrat, Republican

       o       Annapolitan

       o       Married, Single

       o       Rich, Poor, Middle Class

       o       American - American citizen

                                     

We could possibly rate ourselves on a scale of one to ten on those categories - but how good are we as a member of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven?

I know I hesitate when I think about this question - because I’m not that sure of the criteria. There are no t-shirts to wear, bumper stickers to put on our car, games to watch, coffee mugs to drink from - with the words, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I’ve heard people say from time to time, “I’m not that good a Catholic!”  Or “I try to be a good Christian.” To say that implies we have an idea in mind what constitutes a good Catholic and a good Christian and we sort of know how we’re doing.

Then there is that “uh oh!” state we wonder about - if we’re living in it: the state of grace. That’s an “Uh oh!” We have glimpses of what that is all about.

But today I’m preaching about being in the state or mystery called, “the Kingdom of God”.

If we read the Gospels we often hear about being a member of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven.

What’s it like to be in that kingdom - so we can compare ourselves to the model - or get an estimate on how we’re doing?

I don’t know if the scribe in today’s gospel wanted to enter Jesus’ group or Jesus’ view or Jesus way of doing life. I don’t know if the scribe - meaning someone who was educated - understood what the Kingdom of God meant.

Another question: fill in the blank.  I see myself mainly as a ___________?

I think that’s a great question - hey I made it up. I would think that what we fill in that blank with would tell us a lot about ourselves.

Would the answer be “human being”. I see myself mainly as one more human being on this planet and there are lots of us. Or would we fill in the blank with one of these words as our #1 answer on how I mainly see myself: mother, father, husband, wife, plumber, lawyer, accountant, kid, teacher, lover, friend, Christian, Catholic, son, daughter, grandparent, cancer survivor, lonely, satisfied, rich, lucky , blessed.

If we come up with the #1 way we see ourselves, then we could rate ourselves on a scale of 1 to 10 - 10 being the highest and the best.

IN THIS HOMILY

In this homily I want to push and press for the category of being a kingdom member as a possibility for how we see ourselves.

In today’s gospel we hear about a scribe - someone without a name. For starters we only know that he can read and write. Then we find out that he asks Jesus a big question: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” 

Had he been watching Jesus? Did he hear about Jesus? Did Mark put this question in here because all of us down deep ask that question all the time - and most of the time - without knowing we’re asking it?

What’s it all about? Where am I? How am I doing? God - are you satisfied with how I’m living my life? Oh my God, I’m scared about all this down deep at times.

And Jesus answers the man by quoting the Shema - the great commandment to Israel: “Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”

The Shema - the Great Commandment - which we also heard in today's first reading from Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 was put on a tiny piece of parchment - rolled up - and put in a tiny box - the Mezuzah - and that was nailed to one’s door frame - as a reminder. Here’s the plan. Here’s the message. Here’s the key. Here's how to live life.

Then Jesus added a second commandment - also from the Jewish Scriptures: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” [Cf. Leviticus 19:18b]

Public speakers often say, “If you can’t put your message on a matchbook cover or a calling card, you don’t know your message!”

There it is - there’s the plan. There’s a plan. And it can fit on a tiny piece of paper.

But does it put us in the kingdom of God? Does it put a smile on God’s face when we live that plan, that message? Does it put us in the state of grace? Will that bring us basic joy?

We have to answer these questions. We have to spell out the implications of the two great commandments Jesus mentions in today’s gospel. We have to score ourselves on how well we are doing.

The metaphor or image or word I like for the Kingdom is Dream. The Kingdom is the Dream of God for all his children for all creation.[1]

CONCLUSION

My goal for this homily today was just to ask the question - and to ask each of us to put ourselves in the skin of the scribe. We can read and write. We can listen. We can think.

Asking ourselves if we are members of the kingdom - widens the circle.

We know we’re members of the Church? We know we’re members of a parish - state - country. But being a member of the Kingdom - now that’s mystery - that’s wider. That challenges us to see the Church as a means to bring us into the Kingdom of God. [2] It makes the head person not the pope - or bishop - or priest - or who have you - but God our Father - and Jesus as our Teacher as he is in today’s gospel - at other times he’s our High Priest - as we heard in today’s second reading. It focuses that the scriptures, the writings, the Church, it’s teachings and teachers, are to challenge and help us to enter into the kingdom - which Jesus describes in many images and ways.

It also widens the circle to include all people - all religions - and all ways of life.

I picture the scribe in today’s gospel walking away thinking about that last statement from Jesus, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” What happened to him next? Did that comment from Jesus crush him or help him to become creative and enter into the kingdom of God - even it meant squeezing through the eye of a needle - walking the narrow way - move from being a goat to becoming a sheep - coming back and entering a Christian community?

We don’t know what happened to the scribe, but we can know what’s happening to us. Amen. 

NOTES

[1] Cf. The God We Never Knew by Marcus J. Borg, Harper San Francisco, 1997, pages 141-155; 133-137; 100; also read once more the "I Have A Dream Speech" by Martin Luther King Jr. August 28, 1963. It can be found on Google by just typing in, "I Have A Dream Speech," Martin Luther King Jr.

[2] Cf. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Documents of Vatican Council II, # 45; Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, Documents of Vatican Council II, #1