FOURTEENTH SUNDAY

How to enter into the Kingdom of God.

Today's gospel shows a way to enter into the kingdom of God. What will
profit a person if he gains the whole world and loses his soul. What do we
need to enter into the kingdom of God.
1.The kingdom of God is not about Money and wealth...
Once a pastor made an announcement saying, "I have a good news and a bad
news. The good news is that we have enough money to build a new church
and the bad news is the money is in your pocket".And the pastor then announced in the Church saying, "I have a hundred
dollar preaching that will last only five minutes, a fifty dollar preaching
that will last forty-five minutes and a ten dollar preaching that will last an
hour, now let us take up the collection and see which one I will preach".The Lord appointed seventy people to preach the good news. These people
represent the seventy nations of the world. Yes, The Lord asked them to go
everywhere to preach the good news. And they were asked to take nothing
with them, no money, no bag or purse. All they took with them was the
love and kindness of God; they took with them his blessings. What they
received freely from the Lord, they gave it to all without any reservation.
And everyone who came in contact with them began to experience the
unconditional love and kindness of God and everyone who came in
contact with them began to experience life an abundance of life.
2.The kingdom of God is not about power and authority...
Once an old man named Bill visited his best friend who was dying and said
to him, "we have been friends for long long time. we were powerful
people in town and we both loved baseball and now you are dying; when
you go to heaven, would you please find a way to communicate with me if
there is baseball in heaven". His friend agreed and then he died. Few days
later, while he was sleeping, he hears his friend's voice. The voice says,
"I've got a good news and a bad news. The good news is there is baseball
in heaven". "what is the bad news?" The bad news is you are pitching on
Friday". Then Bill ended up in a hospital dying, and the family called his priest.
while the priest was standing beside his bed, Bill was slowly fading away
but he still motioned for something to write on. The priest lovingly handed
him a pencil and a piece of paper and Bill used all his strength to write a
note. Then he died. The priest thought of not looking at it right away and
while he was doing the funeral for him, he opens the piece of paper and
announced to all" I know Bill. He was a wonderful man and He wrote something on a
piece of paper before he died. Now I will read it to all.. then with loud
voice he read, "Father... you are standing on my oxygen tube".
Today's gospel says that the disciples were sent like lambs among wolves.
They were not given power and authority. They were sent as they were as
ordinary and everyday people but at the same time, because of Christ's
presence among them, they performed miracles and wonders. They healed
the sick and cast out demons. They were sent two by two. The Bible says
where two or more gather in his name, there he is. Christ was with them
until the end of time.
If the kingdom of God is not about money and wealth; not about authority
and power, then what is the kingdom of God is about...?
3. The kingdom of God is all about peace.
In today's gospel, Jesus asks his disciples to share His peace with others. Where there is peace, there will be love and forgiveness. Where there is peace, violence and hatred will disappear. Peace brings non-violent approach toward all living things. And nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate a man. Nonviolence is a weapon of the strong. And Jesus asked his disciples to hold on to His divine peace that will liberate all from economical and political slavery and will give them freedom to live today and hope for the future.
Once a lady saw three old men knocking at her door and she opened the
door and asked who they were. They said, "we are money, power and
peace" And she invited them into her house but they refused saying only
one of us could come in. So she discussed with her husband and decided
to welcome peace into her home. She went out and said, "we decided to
welcome peace into our home". And when peace began to come in, money
and power also began to come in. she asked why. then peace said, where
there is peace, there will also be money and power as servants. when there is no peace, money or power will take over and there will be a big destruction.Let us bring peace into our homes. The Bibles says, "Blessed are the peace makes, they are called children of God". Let us continue to be children of God, Amen.