Or again, what is the kingdom of heaven like? And to what can it be compared?
It is like a wealthy father who loved his only son. They shared everything in life and withheld nothing from one another.
One day the son was murdered in the streets by a gang of orphaned teens. In his grief the father was also moved to compassion and said to himself, “what good is all my wealth without my son? All that I had was for him, and yet here are his killers, mere children themselves, with no one to love them and call them their own”.
So he vows to provide a home for every orphan he can find. He provides for them food, shelter, clothing, education, stability.
And still he wants to give them more.
He writes them a series of letters telling them of his son, and his grief and how it moved him to compassion. He writes in great detail of his love for them all. He wants the children to know him, and to know that they are loved, so he gives each of them a copy of those letters.
And still he wants to give them more.
He wants them to know they are secure in their future and part of a family, so he offers full adoption to any who desire it, along with an equal share of his entire estate so they will have all the sense of security and belonging that his own son had.
And still he wants to give them more.
He loves them as he watches them grow. He loves them as they read his letters and discuss them. Even argue about them. He loves them as they dream of their futures and what they will do for themselves with all the wealth they will inherit. He loves them even as they disappoint him.
He wants them to know they are truly loved, and he knows that even after all he has done for them, they may still doubt his love for them individually. He loves them as they hide themselves from him, ducking away as he walks down the hall. He loves them as they write him letters of confession and slip them under his door. He loves them as they feel their weight lifted and mistake their temporary relief for his forgiveness. He loves them as they refuse to read his responses or meet with him in person and cling all the more to his original letters, and other evidence of his general love for them all. He loves them as they push their doubts deeper and deeper in denial.
He just loves them. Through all of this he loves them. And he wants them to know they are loved, each of them, for who they are. He knows they need to know him personally and let themselves be known by him. They need to hear his voice speak into their lives, and they need to come to him with all that they are. Just as his own son once did. So he makes himself available to each of them. All hours, anytime, his door is always open.
Many avoid him. Many don’t. The ones who spend time with him become so certain of his love for them that they can no longer doubt if they tried. And it changes them. They learn to bring all of their joys and troubles, success and failures to him, and he helps them to see themselves as he sees them, as they are, as children who are loved, and not as they once were as children who had been abandoned.
This.
This is what he wanted to give them all.
Then the day came that the father grew ill and died. When the lawyers came to divide the estate it was discovered that the father’s entire fortune had been spent bringing so many children into his family. He gave everything he had to them already.
There was much grieving in his house.
For those who avoided the father, but looked forward to their inheritance there was great disappointment. These went on to live lives of selfish gain, telling themselves they deserved it, and resenting their father’s generosity for leaving them with empty pockets.
But for those who truly knew their father, they simply grieved the loss of the one they loved so much, and understood that all along it was the father himself who was their inheritance and nothing in this world could make them richer than they already were just for having known him.
All of them were truly loved, but only a few will ever truly know it.
Again, what is the kingdom of God like? And to what can we compare it?
It is like the child who truly knows they are loved.
