Here, but Not Yet: 11th Sunday of Ordinary Time.

The Kingdom of God. Where is it? What does it look like? When is it coming?

 These are all good questions. But, any answer the world gives is inadequate and doesn’t go far enough. The world can never describe the kingdom.

The Kingdom is more magnificent than a star nebula, more surprising than an unexpected wildflower.  More grand than the Himalayas or the Rockies. Deeper than the Mariana Trench and vaster than the Sahara.  The Kingdom encompasses the mystery of life and enfolds the mystery of death within it.

The Kingdom is beyond time (being both now and coming) and beyond all space (being here and not here). The Kingdom is Righteousness and Justice fulfilled ,it is Truth and Love. The Kingdom is beyond anything we can ever imagine.

To ask where is the Kingdom of God is to ask the wrong question. There is no “somewhere else” where the Kingdom lies. There is no “over there”.

Rather, the Kingdom is a promise, promised by God and hoped for by his people.

At the same time the Kingdom is already present; fragile, and tender as a seedling, everywhere God reigns in the hearts of people of good will. The Kingdom promised, hoped for, and mysteriously present is full of; grace, endless possibility and unimaginable potential, wherever there is Faith and Hope.

Jesus told us, only the Father knows the time of its coming.  It will come unexpected, like a thief in the night, or as the unannounced bridegroom. Jesus taught us to pray “thy kingdom come, thy will be done” revealing an aspect of the Kingdom that is “not yet, but coming”.  The Kingdom is in the process of becoming the new heaven and a new earth.

The “Kingdom, promised and hoped for”, announces its own coming and continuously makes itself known through God’s own creative, sustaining and transfiguring of life itself. In Salvation History, the Kingdom was promised to Abraham and Isaac. It was announced by the prophet Isaiah. The Kingdom was radically made present and active through the life, death and resurrection of Our Lord, Jesus. The Kingdom continues to be revealed and expanded by the work of the Holy Spirit, and the life of the Church.

 In the first reading God promises to take the insignificant and the unlikely (wither a people, a nation or an individual) and turn it into something grand and glorious.

“I will take the crest of the cedar and tear off a tender shoot and plant it on a high and lofty mountain. It shall put forth branches and bear fruit and become a majestic tree giving shelter to all creatures”

 We see here that the “Kingdom promised and hoped for” begins as something delicate and fragile. Yet, the promise has the seed of extravagant fulfillment within it.  For God says “as I, the Lord have spoken, so will I do”

But, for now, the Kingdom is secreted away, germinating within the world. Its abundance and goodness is hidden from sight. Freedom is hidden within oppression, joy within suffering, justice within injustice, truth within lies, love within hate, life within death.

 Jesus calls this “hidden-ness” a shining lamp beneath a bushel basket, or the dormant power of yeast or the secret of salt that preserves, or a priceless pearl hidden within the sea.

And the Kingdom’s revelation seems at first random as seed scattered or as insignificant as the mustard seed. Yet, each small and hidden thing contains God’s own creative potential and endless possibility within it. And it’s growth is as unstoppable as it is surprising.

  When Jesus taught, healed and forgave sin, the “kingdom hidden within” becomes the “kingdom revealed”; lepers were healed, the deaf hear, and the blind see, as oppression becomes freedom, sorrow becomes joy, darkness becomes light, and death becomes life.

Jesus tells his disciples “Cure the sick and tell them the Kingdom of God is near at hand for them”. Miracles are signs of the Kingdom present here and now.

In Jesus we learn that the Kingdom both “hidden” and “revealed” is not exclusive, but radically inclusive. Offering shelter to every bird in the sky, every creature on the earth, every man, woman and child. His banquet table is that big! (And he would have it no other way.)

But, the world (with its princes and principalities, its structures and apparatus) tries to hold back the Kingdom. We live in this struggle. We live in the “kingdom promised” (by God), and “revealed” (through Salvation History), but, still hidden within (the World).

We only see hints of the kingdom, as if it were, at the periphery of our vision, or like a shimmering figure on the distance horizon or like a reflection in a mirror; dark and distorted.

And yet, we are faithful servants of the Kingdom. Doing the work of the Kingdom when we love the best we can and show care, concern, and compassion to those who cry out for it. 

This is the courage St Paul speaks of when he says. “We are not discouraged, we are courageous”. He tells the Corinthians “We walk by faith not by sight”.

We live in an unfinished world. We live in the hidden-ness of the “Kingdom here, but not yet” . We walk towards a promise we cannot seen. We look for signs of the new heaven and the new earth that seem to slip through our grasp. We work so hard for the Kingdom (often without seeing the results of our efforts. Often we fail all together.) But, we are not disheartened, anxious or afraid. For, through all these things, we walk in Faith and Hope.