“A
Parable of the Kingdom of God” by Dan Schwartz
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by Dan Schwartz
Belton,
Missouri
I had spent the evening of March 29, 2001, in prayer
and preparation for a sermon I was to give on Palm
Sunday. Being the pastor of our branch, I had somewhat
hesitantly assigned myself that preaching assignment,
feeling that I would rather give someone else the
opportunity. However, I was impressed of the Lord
to schedule myself for that date, so I did—trusting
that He would provide the message.
I retired to bed that night with the topics typically
associated with Palm Sunday and the Easter season
on my mind. Early the next morning, the Lord gave
me a dream that I soon believed was the topic He
wished me to use for the upcoming sermon. This was
unique from any other dream that I have ever had.
Although I could see the images in the dream, it
was presented as if I were being told a story.
THE DREAM
I could see a young woman, and I was aware that
she was several months pregnant. It was well past
the time when her condition should be showing; but
there was no visible evidence, and no one could
tell that she was expecting.
Though she wanted the baby, she seemed deeply concerned
about each pound of weight she gained. She was worried
that the pregnancy would cause her to change her
life style. She didn’t want it to interfere
with the things that she liked to do. As the weeks
went by, she became more and more depressed; but
she didn’t know why.
One weekend she decided to go on a camping trip
with some friends, despite the advice from her family
and her doctor that she should stay home and nurture
the baby. Throughout the entire weekend she felt
as though she were being watched and followed by
a child. She would catch fleeting glimpses of someone
through the trees of the woods, but she could never
get a clear sight of the child. She sensed that
this child was carrying a great burden, and she
wondered how one so young could be so burdened.
At the close of the weekend, she was finally able
to see this child who had been following her. As
he stepped out from behind the trees, she could
see that he was a perfect, beautiful little boy.
Then her understanding was opened. She realized
that this little boy was the child growing within
her—and that the burden he was carrying was
the burden of trying to grow and develop despite
the lack of care and nourishment that his mother
was giving him. The woman also realized that the
cause of her depression was the great contradiction
with which she was living—the contradiction
of wanting the baby but not wanting to make the
sacrifices to nurture the child and endure the pain
of delivery.
With this vision of her little boy in her mind,
the young woman returned home, fully dedicated to
taking care of herself and providing for the needs
of her unborn child.
THE INTERPRETATION
I awoke immediately upon the conclusion of the dream,
and I started wondering why I would have such a
seemingly odd experience. But as I pondered it,
the Holy Spirit began presenting the following interpretation
to me.
The woman is the Church, and the child is the Kingdom
of God. It is well past the time when the Church
should be showing visible signs of the growing Kingdom—but
from all outward appearances, no one can tell that
the Kingdom is present.
Just as the woman was concerned about the effect
the pregnancy would have on her life style, so are
we, the Church, concerned about the effect the Kingdom
will have on our way of life. We want the Kingdom
of God in our lives, but we are unwilling to do
the things necessary to nurture its growth within
us. At times we are even ashamed that it should
be visible to others.
As we go about our daily lives, we catch glimpses
of what the Kingdom of God is, but we never gain
a full vision of it. The Kingdom of God is under
a burden of sorts, as it desires to grow and develop
within each one of us. But it is receiving only
scant nourishment from most of us. The Church as
a whole is under a sort of malaise as we labor individually
with our own great contradiction, the contradiction
of wanting Zion but not wanting to make the sacrifices
and the changes in life style that would allow the
Kingdom of God to grow and develop within us.
THE CONCLUSION
I believe that many of us are like the woman in
the dream. We want the blessings of the Kingdom,
but we also want to keep our worldly life style.
We don’t want people to think that we are “different”
from them. There are many worldly pleasures that
we cannot let go, so we try to keep one foot in
the world and one foot in the Kingdom of God. That
puts us right square in the middle—sitting
on the fence, so to speak. We are neither hot nor
cold, and therefore we are in danger of being spewed
out of the Father’s mouth (see Revelation 3:15-16).
Jesus said that our hearts will be where our treasures
are (Matthew 6:21). He also said that we cannot
serve two masters, for we will ultimately love one
and hate the other (Matthew 6:24). We can’t
have it both ways. We cannot stay in the world and
expect to be in the Kingdom of God. It is time for
us to examine our hearts, to see where our treasure
is, and to choose which master we will serve.
Just as a woman must nourish her body with wholesome
food and drink to allow a child to grow and develop
within her, we too must nourish ourselves with spiritual
food and drink so the Kingdom of God can grow and
develop within each one of us. Let us be more diligent
in prayer, fasting, and study of the Word of God.
Let us ask the Lord to show us those worldly things
which bind us down and to give us the strength and
the courage to remove them from our lives. May each
of us catch a clearer vision of the Kingdom of God
so that our heart’s desires might be fully
turned toward that Kingdom.
