Most of you are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount as recorded by the evangelist, Matthew, in chapters 5 through 7. In that discourse he describes the nature of the Kingdom of God, and how one is expected to deal with your fellow brothers and sisters within that kingdom. He finishes up the discourse by defining who will and will not be part of that kingdom. His words are these:

A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many deeds of power in your name?' Then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers.'

I wonder how those questions of the many might be paraphrased in the Twenty-first Century. Perhaps Jesus would describe it like this: 'Lord, Lord, did we not become bible believing, born again Christians? Did we not try to make everyone into our mold? Did we not give our lives to destroy the evil people who do not believe like us? I think the Lord would again reply, 'I never knew you; go away from me, you evildoers."

We have such a long way to go before the Kingdom of God comes to fruition. The greed for power of our administration and the fanaticism of the Religious Right make it almost seem impossible for the kind of Kingdom that Jesus was talking about in his discourse that we call the Sermon on the Mount. But if you don't agree with the administration, and you don't agree with the Religious Right, don't get too cocky. We are all guilty of the last example of bearing bad fruit.

Turning the rule of our nation into a theocracy is not the answer. Building great military might is not the answer. Isolating ourselves from the third world is not the answer. None of these will bear good fruit.

How then do we bring into being the Kingdom of God? I would suggest that you read Jesus' sermon again. There you will find the answer. To bear good fruit; you must love your neighbor as yourself; you must feed the hungry and care for the sick; you must turn the other cheek and go the extra mile; you must even love your enemy. These are the things that will bring in the Kingdom of God.

Jesus did not give us an easy prescription. In the words of President Bush, "It's hard work." The task seems overwhelming, but our task is not to be successful, it is to be faithful. That we can do. If each of us is faithful to our calling, and comes to the aid of our sisters and brothers, the Kingdom will come into fruition. God will provide the success.