Thursday of the 32nd Week in Ordinary Time
Phil 7-20; Luke 17: 20-25
Dc. Larry Brockman
“The Kingdom of God is among you”! Just how did that strike you this morning? Do you feel that the Kingdom of God is here already?
I’ll bet that Philemon, the person to whom our first reading was addressed, did not understand that. Here was a well to do person whose slave had run away. And now Paul was sending him back as a free man, asking the former Master to accept Onesimus as a brother, as an equal. In those days, a slave was valued property. And although Philemon was a Christian, his culture was a strong influence; and a former slave was not easy to accept as an equal. That must have been pretty hard.
But you know what? That’s exactly what the Kingdom of God will be like for all of us. There will be no more rich or poor; slave and master; boss and worker; teacher and student; or husband and wife In the Kingdom of God Rather, we will all be on the same footing- servants to the Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father, but sharing the Glory of our Lord none the less.
And yet, Jesus is telling the Pharisees that one cannot sense the Kingdom, not because it isn’t real; it certainly is real; but because it is already amongst us, but we are blinded to seeing it for what it is. We simply have to recognize that all of us are equal in the eyes of God and rejoice in that.
When you think about it, it is very clear that God values all of us the same, whether we are rich or poor; master or slave; boss or worker; or student or teacher. How can it possibly be otherwise? God made each of us, and God doesn’t willfully make junk. It’s just that all of us have been blessed in our own way, and these blessings distinguish us from one another in this world by the areas mentioned. But these blessings are God’s gifts to us; they are not of our own making. And so when we move into the next life in the Kingdom, each of us will be glorified for how we lived with our gifts, not how we compared to anyone else.
Each of us will be content with our own status with the Lord in the Kingdom of God. It is, after all, heaven. So, if we can do the same here and now- be happy for everyone else in their gifts, then we will share now in the Kingdom of God.
So, our attitude here must be one of humble acceptance of our own gifts, and a lack of preoccupation with our neighbor’s gifts. Such an attitude removes anger, greed, laziness, gluttony, pride, lust, and envy from the scene- the seven deadly sins because such a person is focused on their relationship with God; and they are content with their relationship with God. Not only that, such a person is happy that others have a similar relationship with God.
Indeed, the Kingdom of God is amongst us!