I normally enjoy looking at vacation pictures, so when my wife wanted me to look at her pictures of Italy, I said "sure." For one thing, I've been to most of the places our choir and their family and friends visited, and I wanted to see pictures of familiar places; for another thing, I know most of the participants and thought it would be fun seeing them in exotic settings. The pictures were set up as a slide show on the computer, two-hundred-and-three pictures in all. I also noted that the timer was set to view each picture for eight seconds. Let me repeat - I normally enjoy looking at vacation pictures. Now, I may be arithmetically challenged, but I quickly did the math: eight seconds per picture translates to about 7.5 pictures per minute multiplied by two-hundred-and-three slides. Now, divide that by my limited attention span and that comes out to be ... my changing the setting to three seconds per slide.

And what did I learn from the slides? I learned that Italy is like a fountain, next to which people make wishes and into which people toss coins. Click. I learned Italy is like a city, with streets paved of water, with gondolas the chief mode of transportation. Click. I learned Italy is mile upon mile of grapevines, and quaint towns hanging from the hillsides. Click, Italy is like a cathedral with ceiling embossed with gold and the songs of angels echoed from the lips of our own Grace Church choir during an evening Mass. And just so there is no misunderstanding, they were Grace Church choir members and not Grace Lutheran Church choir members because if it were known that the choir members were Lutheran, their angelic voices would not have echoed during Mass. More's the pity! Click. The end.

Two-hundred-and-three slides three second intervals. Do you now know Italy? Of course, that's only a rhetorical question, because the answer, based on my limited description is, "No. Of course you do not know Italy." My description doesn't begin to scratch the surface of that magnificent and ancient land. And so, if any of you have vacation plans for Italy, don't cancel them.

If the Gospel text for today is any indication, Jesus describes heaven about as well as I just described Italy. That is to say, not all that well. "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed...." Click. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast...." Click. "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure...." Click. "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant...." Click. "The kingdom of heaven is like a net...." The end. And then Jesus asks a rhetorical question of his disciples, "Have you understood all this?" They answered, "Yes." I don't think so. I think the disciples were just trying to be polite. "nice sermon, Pastor." That type of thing. How could anyone possibly understand the kingdom of heaven with such a sketchy and inadequate description?

Certainly Jesus is not trying to confuse. Jesus is not trying to rattle us with riddles. Jesus uses picture language, images, stories, parables as he touches upon the ultimate mystery of God. If our God is as big as we think God is, then sometimes the way of God are so complex that the very lowest on the intellectual food chain cannot even begin to grasp. Sometimes the ways of God are so simple, that the wisest of the wise remain befuddled. And so Jesus makes use of metaphor and simile and figures of speech to hint at the grandeur which is God ... and the kingdom of heaven.

As Barbara Brown Taylor points out, "Jesus did it all the time. Throughout the Gospels, and in Matthew's Gospel in particular, he was always making comparisons. Sinners are like lost sheep, the word of God is like seed sown on different kinds of ground, the kingdom of heaven is like a wedding feast, God is like the owner of a vineyard. "The kingdom of heaven is like this. . . ." he said over and over again, telling his followers stories about brides and grooms, sheep and shepherds, wheat and weeds."

And Taylor continues, "Have you ever wondered why (Jesus) taught that way? Why didn't he just come right out and say what he meant? If anyone in the world were qualified to speak directly about God, surely it was Jesus, and yet he too spoke indirectly, making surprising comparisons between holy things and ordinary things, breaking open our everyday understanding of things and inviting us to explore them all over again.

In terms of today's Gospel text, a key to understanding seems to be this: when Jesus speaks about the kingdom of heaven, he is not talking about "heaven" as in a life beyond this life. In these particular word pictures, Jesus is not concerned with some heavenly tomorrow, he is talking about an earthly today. So a better way to translate the term "kingdom of heaven" is to use the phrase, "the reign of God." Listen to it this way: "The reign of God is like a mustard seed which begins tiny and grows large; like yeast which causes bread to rise; like a treasure hidden and uncovered; like a pearl of great price; like a net that catches all kinds of critters." The text is not a riddle about heaven, but rather a potential for reality about life on earth under God's reign. God calls on us to engage in partnership with Jesus, to usher in God's reign in this stormy world.

I want to ask a question that is not rhetorical. I know there are some here today who were a part of the trip to Italy. Did any one of you do this? Did you get on the plane at JFK and immediately set your watches six hours ahead to Rome time? Some travelers do that. They recognize the time change and set their watches to destination time in great anticipation. I think that Jesus would want us to do something similar. Anticipate the kingdom of heaven. Anticipate the reign of God. And now set your lives to be the seed, the leaven, the treasure and the pearl of great worth. Be the caster of nets to help bring it about.

An example: even as a tiny mustard seed matures into a bush large enough to extend shelter to the birds of the air .... so we, you and I, help usher in the reign of God as we mature in our own extending of hospitality and shelter. You and I, when we exercise even a tiny mustard seed of compassion and outreach, help bring about the reign of God ... a little bit of heaven on earth.

An example: even as yeast is added to flour to create bread ... we can be the leaven of the kingdom of heaven ... helping others to rise above their fears and failings. We can be the leaven of love in the lives of others. If we can but touch two lives for God's kingdom, and those two lives touch four, and those four lives touch eight... we can change the world! (That is, Jesus can usher in the reign of God - through us). Changing the world though acts of love and kindness might not seem a very practical way of doing things, but acts of terror and violence are surely not doing the job!

An example: our earthly treasures and precious pearls hold out the false promise of wealth; we discover true treasure and help usher in the reign of God by our willingness to share material gifts with those who are less fortunate than we and advocate that our government do the same of our behalf..

Oh yes, God could usher in the reign of God any number of ways. However, this is how God chooses to do it. With you and me as seeds, yeast, treasures, pearls, nets. The reign of God is like a mustard seed of a child, like little Mikey Fitzpatrick, all wiggly and wet at the font. With the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the fulfillment of parental commitments, little Mikey will grow into Michael Edward Fitzpatrick, mature Christian. And we will witness the transformation, as Briana and Don promise to bring Michael "to the word of God and the holy supper." Jesus chooses to usher in the reign of God through Briana and Donald and Michael and you and me! To share the treasure of salvation with an otherwise poverty stricken, ever more violent world.

You have your pictures of heaven on earth; I have mine. You have your pictures about the reign of God in this earthly realm; I have mine. My pictures include something like this: that somehow the Grace Lutheran Choir could return next year to Rome and sing once more at St. Peter's. And not only would Pope Benedict XVI welcome the Lutherans, he'd volunteer to help out in the tenor section! After all, we Christians can't really do an awful lot to usher in the reign of God ... when we fail to harmonize all that well with one another.