The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand. And It's Kind of a Big Deal.

Text: “17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)

This statement, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” is kind of an important one in the Gospel of Matthew. It’s an important idea. Matthew starts with a description of Jesus’ birth, but what is he emphasizing when he does? The fact that Jesus is a king— in fact, not only a king, but the son of David. Then, Matthew doesn’t spend time telling us about there being no room for them in the inn and visits from shepherds. He talks about the foreign delegation that comes to bend the knee to this new-born king. And, of course, that leads to an attempt on His life from a rival king.

Matthew turns to John the Baptizer next. And how does Matthew sum up John’s message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” From John, Matthew turns his attention to the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. And how does he sum up Jesus’ message? “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” First the messenger, now the King, Himself, are declaring the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven.

I feel like the line from the movie “Anchorman” is strangely relevant here. I’ve never actually seen the movie, but I understand that one of the main character, Ron Burgundy’s, big lines, is “I’m kind of a big deal.”

In the movie— and do not stop me if I’m getting this wrong, because we’re going to have to go with the basic point either way— Ron Burgundy (played by Will Ferrell) is a TV anchorman with “delusions of grandeur,” as the saying goes. The line “I’m kind of a big deal,” sort of sums him up quite well. He wants to be famous, to be a big deal, but if you have to tell everyone that you’re a big deal then you’re probably not. (Spoiler alert, as the kids say....)

Jesus is no Ron Burgundy— or Ron Burgundy is no Jesus Christ (I’m not sure which one is better)— and yet, at these words of Jesus, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand,” I almost feel the need to add: “It’s kind of a big deal,” inviting you to wonder, “If you have to tell everyone that it’s “a big deal” then is it really”?

I know we’re not normal Christians, we’re modern American Christians, but do you need to be reminded of how big a deal that really is? If so, then look at the world around you. We can go through just the news headlines, for example. I did a quick check just this morning: One person died in a Montrose Township house fire; A man returning from Asia during the coronavirus outbreak; someone else stole and shared patient data from a “southeastern Michigan hospital system.” And those are the tame ones. That doesn’t touch the war and bloodshed, the natural disasters, the shocking evil that we commit against each other.

And then you and I have the gall, the temerity, the I-don’t-know-what, to complain, “Why would a loving God create a world like this?” He didn’t. You did. I did. Adam and Eve and every one of their descendants (except one) choose a world like this every single day. The 10 Commandments aren’t a bunch of arbitrary rules so that God can try to control you. We even have a special name for a place where the 10 Commandments are kept perfectly, all of the time: Paradise. You and I have chosen this world instead. God didn’t create this world. You and I did. But now the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Even here in this building, I feel the need to remind you, “That’s kind of a big deal.” Let me be very clear: I know that you love this building. It means a great deal to you. What I’m saying is: I’m not sure that it really means as much as it really should.

This place is more than just a communal version of a cabin “up north” where you sometimes go on the weekend in order to get away from things for a little while.

I get that it means a lot that, for many of you, your parents brought you to this very baptismal font <cough> years ago. And their parents brought them to this same font _____ years ago. You brought your children here to this font and perhaps they even brought their children to it, also. That’s not what makes it special.

That’s not what makes it special.

I get that many of you were confirmed before this altar, confirmed at this communion rail. For some of you, your parents were confirmed here, your children were confirmed here, your grandchildren were confirmed here. That’s not what makes it important.

Let me reiterate: the problem isn’t that they mean too much to you, the problem is that they don’t mean enough.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: Repent. the Kingdom of Heaven is here!

If this font is only important because of the people you know who have been brought here to it, then by all means, shove it up against the wall. Get it out of the way for more important stuff.

It is not an obstacle, standing in the way of what we want to do in this building, to be pushed out of the way when it’s inconvenient. It is the very doorway through which you have entered into the unseen reality of what has come to you in this building: the very Kingdom of Heaven. The list of people who have come and who have been brought to the font is not nearly as important as the person you found there in the waters of baptism: Jesus Christ. All that He earned for you on the cross was put there into the water for you to find, including Himself. You not only found Him there in the waters, He joined Himself to you and gave you an inheritance in His Kingdom.

It is not an obstacle, standing in the way of what we want to do in this building. It is the very doorway through which you have entered into the unseen reality of what has come to you in this building.

We just got done

That Kingdom of Heaven that has come is an entirely new creation in which there is no death or mourning or tears or pain for the old order of things has passed away and He who is seated on the throne has made all things new (). And that Kingdom came to you at this font. You were made a new creation through the water in it, combined with the word and promise of Christ.

Let’s remember what it is that Jesus is proclaiming because that is what you have right here. The Kingdom of Heaven is here.

You were buried there, with Him, into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, you were raised to a new, eternal life in His Kingdom.

Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is right there.

If this altar were only important because of who has been confirmed here, then by all means, go ahead and push it out of the way when we have something else we need to put up there or just treat it like any other table, put whatever you need to on it.

{through words/preaching}

From this altar, Christ, Himself gives you a foretaste of the eternal feast of heaven. Upon that altar sits the very body and blood of Christ, Himself, in, with, and under bread and wine— the body and blood of the King of Heaven, given for you, on that altar.

If you’ve forgotten why what you receive at this communion rail is such an amazing, literally earth-shattering, gift, then check to see if you still have flesh and blood. If you do, then believe what the scriptures say of it: “...the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. ...[T]hose who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God” ().

If you’ve forgotten why what happens at this rail is really “kind of a big deal” then look around you to see whether you are still in the world. And if you are then remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble as the Scriptures say in and and .

If both of those are true, then know for certain that you will have the devil also around you, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let you have no peace within or without, as the Scriptures picture him in and ; ; ; and .

Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. { and }

(Slight paraphrase of question #20, “Christian Questions with their Answers,” Luther’s Small Catechism.

From this altar, Christ,Himself gives you a foretaste of the eternal feast of heaven. At this communion rail, forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation are placed in your hands, are placed upon your lips.

If you’ve forgotten why what you receive at this communion rail is such an amazing, literally earth-shattering, gift, then check to see if you still have flesh and blood. If you do, then believe what the scriptures say of it { and }

If you’ve forgotten why what happens at this rail is really “kind of a big deal” then look around you to see whether you are still in the world. And if you are then remember that there will be no lack of sin and trouble as the Scriptures say and as you well know.

If both of those are true, then know for certain that you will have the devil also around you, who with his lying and murdering day and night will let you have no peace within or without, as the Scriptures picture him: “He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (John 8:44).

He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

(Slight paraphrase of question #20, “Christian Questions with their Answers,” Luther’s Small Catechism.

(Slight paraphrase of question #20, “Christian Questions with their Answers,” Luther’s Small Catechism.

At this communion rail, forgiveness of sins, eternal life and salvation that He won for you on the cross are placed in your hands, are placed upon your lips to sustain you through all that you have to endure in this life; to overcome the devil and all his schemes as he tries to deceive and mislead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and, although you are daily attacked by these, here you are strengthened and kept steadfast in the One True Faith until the day when He returns and you enter His Kingdom fully and forever.

That is what you have the opportunity to invite people to be part of.

, and to strengthen and keep you steadfast in the One True Faith until the day when He returns and you enter His Kingdom fully and forever.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: Repent. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. It is kind of a big deal, isn’t it?