Preached on Sunday, January 25th, 2026, at All Saints, Collingwood, Anglican Diocese of Toronto. Readings for this Sunday: Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27:1, 5-13; 1 Corinthians 1:10-18; Matthew 4:12-23
“From that time Jesus began to proclaim, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Mt 4.17)
In Matthew’s gospel, before Jesus calls his disciples, and before he does any miracles, he preached, and the message that he preached was this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near” (Mt 4.17). Because this message is the first action of Jesus’ ministry, we could say that it is foundational to his very purpose and mission, that Jesus was all about showing us the kingdom of heaven as something that could and should change our lives.
If we want to learn more about the kingdom of heaven, then we need, like the fishermen, to hear his call, follow him, and learn from him as we do next Sunday when we hear part of Jesus Sermon on the Mount.
Indeed, the Christian life could be called a long and continuous pilgrimage towards the kingdom of heaven, though strangely it’s not a very long journey. Paul says that the God “is near to you, on your lips and in your heart”, and in Luke’s gospel Jesus says that “the kingdom of God is among you” (Lk 17.21). So it may very well be that the kingdom of God is something that was always there before us, we just needed the right eyes to see it or the right ears to hear it.
We can also understand the kingdom of heaven by seeing it in contrast to the world we know, the kingdoms of earth. Just before the events of today’s gospel reading, Matthew describes Jesus’ testing by Satan in the desert. Satan as you recall offers Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor” but their price is that in return for this power, Jesus must worship the devil, which of course he refuses to do. The implication here is that either Satan is lying and this is a prize he can’t deliver, or worse, that earthly power and authority somehow falls within the devil’s sphere of influence.
The possibility that the latter is true, that the kingdoms of earth are within the real of evil or at least susceptible to it, is suggested in the first detail of our gospel reading today, that John the Baptist has been arrested by Herod, and as we know, John will later be executed in prison. Earlier in Matthew’s gospel we learned that Herod’s father ordered the massacre of the boy children in Bethlehem when he heard about the birth of Jesus, so Matthew has already taught us to be suspicious of what earthly kings will do.
Yesterday we learned a further lesson of how evil can flourish in earthly kingdoms. Alex Pretti was shot by federal agents while restrained and lying on the ground. He was an ICU nurse and had been filming the actions of ICE agents. He is the second civilian killed in Minneapolis in several weeks, and is part of a larger pattern of violence. In 2025, immigration agents shot 27 people, killing 7, and also in 2025, 32 people have died while in immigration detention. As someone who has served in a disciplined, professional military, I can only conclude that these are the actions of violent, untrained goons in military uniforms, whose job is to spread terror and repression.
This last week as well, 100 Christian clergy and at least one rabbi were arrested and briefly detained after protesting at the airport in Minneapolis. Several told reporters that they were there to protest against immorality. I like to think that I would have joined them had I been closer. I think these clergy, like the tens of thousands in the streets, are good people who sense the presence of evil but who also sense the nearness of the kingdom of heaven.
So what can we say about the kingdom of heaven as we see it in Matthew? While we could derive a longer answer from reading the whole gospel, I think we can come up with a clear idea even from what little we hear in today’s reading. Specifically we can say three things about the kingdom of heaven. First, the kingdom of heaven is formed in communities, where a group of people come together because they follow Jesus. Second, we can say that the kingdom of heaven is formed wherever acts of mercy are displayed. Finally, we can say that the kingdom of heaven is the triumph of life over the powers of death.
First, community. The most inspiring stories we’ve heard coming out of Minneapolis have to do with neighbours coming together to help and protect neighbours. Families that don’t dare leave their homes and apartments have groceries delivered, and laundry picked up, washed, and returned. Often these efforts are organized by churches and faith groups. The call of the kingdom of heaven is heard collectively. The disciples are called in ones and twos, but they become the twelve, and the twelve found the church. As Paul reminds the Corinthian church in our second reading, the Christian life is lived fully when people discard their factions and petty allegiances and live in a Christ-focused community.
Second, mercy. The kingdom of heaven is visible wherever mercy is shown. At the end of our gospel reading, we hear that Jesus combines his preaching ministry with a healing ministry, “curing every disease and every sickness among the people” (Mt 4.23). Jesus’ healing miracles are, as Father Gordon said last night at our Après Ski service, used to bring us back to wholeness. Healing in scripture is not just medical, it brings lepers and madmen back into the community and it reconciles sinners and offenders to God. Our little food pantry, which I’ve seen emptied in hours, is a sign of mercy, a small sign of care and mercy for those who suffer cold and hunger and homelessness.
Finally, life. When Matthew tells us that Jesus goes to Galilee to bring light to “those who sat in the region and sharow of death” (Mt 4.16), he’s elaborating on the prophesy of Isaiah that we heard in our first lesson. The light isn’t just the knowledge of Jesus that will come to benighted Gentiles who didn’t previously know God, though it is that. It’s also the light of Easter morning, the dawn of the resurrection that floods into the tomb. The powers of earth may kill citizens on the street, they may blow up boats and whole cities, but history shows us that all blood soaked regimes have their day and are brought low because God’s justice is always opposed to tyranny and death. I think the uniformed goons on the streets of Minneapolis know that they are part of the kingdom of death, and I think that knowledge must secretly torment them.
The season of Lent begins soon in February. Once again we’ll be invited to take up Jesus’ call to repent and seek the kingdom of God. This year repentance might mean letting go of the fears and hatreds that make the kingdoms of this world such deadly and lifeless places. And the good news is that we don’t have to look far to find the kingdom of heaven because it is very close. The kingdom of heaven is wherever we see a community that practices mercy and chooses to follow Jesus, the lord of life and light. The kingdom of heaven is within these walls.
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