Our lectionary scriptures today inform us that the welcome of God surpasses the rigidity of the law.

If anyone asks what price must be paid before you can enter into the Realm of God, the answer is: God gives it freely, the Realm of Heaven has no need of sacrifice, or earthly payment.  We cannot give God anything that God does not already possess – except for one thing… a spirit of mercy and love.  That is yours to give, freely.  To enter into the Kingdom of Heaven is not given away entirely gratis…  God will not give it to anyone who lacks love and mercy.

I find the scripture readings for the Roman Catholic lectionary text interesting today, especially when placed beside our lectionary text…  The Roman Catholic text is from Luke 13: 22 – 30:

A bystander asked Jesus, “Master, will only a few be saved?”  Jesus said, “Whether few or many is none of your business.  Put your mind on your life with God.  The way to life – to God! - is vigorous and requires your total attention to love.  A lot of you are going to assume that you’ll sit down to God’s salvation banquet just because you’ve been hanging around the neighborhood all your lives.  Well, one day you’re going to be banging on the door, wanting to get in, but you’ll find the door locked and the Master saying, “Sorry, you’re not on my guest list.”  “You’ll protest, ‘But we’ve known you all our lives!’  Only to be interrupted with his abrupt response, ‘Your kind of knowing can hardly be called knowing.  You don’t know the first thing about me.’  “That’s when you’ll find yourselves out in the cold, strangers to grace.   You’ll watch Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets march into God’s realm.  You’ll watch outsiders stream in from east, west, north, and south and sit down at the table of God’s kingdom.  And all the time you’ll be outside looking in – wondering what happened.”  (The Message)

If we do not aspire to a spirit of generosity and love, and seek a spirit of mercy, then we do not know Jesus; and are not saved.  Our love is the one thing God requires.  The master wants us to have a generous heart, a spirit of hospitality, a welcoming and inviting nature.  If you give from your heart, lovingly, then, the kingdom of mercy and love will be yours.

This is what the conflict was about with the woman who was healed on the Sabbath.  Jesus healed her out of a spirit of compassion.  Those who took offense at it didn’t know about God’s mercy; they were at the synagogue for all the wrong reasons.  They were there to follow all of the prescripts of the law.  They were there to earn their reward.  Eat the right foods, celebrate the right festivals, learn the scriptures and live by the letter of the law.  Be a good fundamentalist.  But this is not what God desires.  You can follow the letter of the law – all of its regulations – all of its prescripts, and it will mean nothing if your heart is not changed.

The desire of God, and all the saints in heaven, will be the same as yours if your aim is to have a loving and generous heart.  Once you let that love guide you then you’re there, you’ve arrived, you have entered into the Realm of God.  That is why we rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, show compassion to those in distress, and give abundantly from the heart.  This is the way of the Kingdom of Heaven.

You might notice that I equate the Realm of God with the Kingdom of Heaven.  When it comes to the heart, they are one and the same.

J. Janda, playwright and poet, from Sandy, Utah wrote a poem that relates to this spirit of love.

We

I cannot leap

jump

from or out of

this

body flesh bone

house

and now I

am

the only

configuration

I can come

to

feel or know

so

let me love

this

space place

I now in-

habit

before my

breath

becomes wind

and

all for nothing

seduces me

into

lying, denying

my who

that

I am afraid

of or

care for

J. Janda from his book “IN EMBRACE.”

(Other Poetry by J. Janda http://www.sfmission.org/museum/documents/janda_hanbelachia.pdf )

He is also the author of the book that inspired our children’s message in worship this morning,  “The Lost Child.”

To follow the heart… to love… and to be true to love is our calling.