Matthew 13:44-46 (NIV)
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a
field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in
his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.
Reflection
The Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God is like this:
It’s like you are out and you find a coin – we’ve all done it! Remember when they had pennies and seeing one on the sidewalk where someone who dropped it couldn’t be bothered to bend down and pick it up – what joy – we even called them lucky pennies. Can you remember how many pennies, dimes, quarters have you picked up in your life?
Now imagine you are in a field and there’s a coin poking it way through, oh and over there a shiny bit of silver and what’s that …a tip of a candlestick and maybe a ruby over that way! Wow, this is a treasure field and we are stumbling across this stuff and what shall we do now. – why buy the field of course. So what if this field is really filled with glimpses of God – that every shiny bit and every dulled jewel showed us a piece of God’s kingdom. What could we call those treasures that litter those fields of our lives? How would we name them? And more importantly would we recognize them when we saw them?
I mean how many others walked through the same field and nothing stood out. How many times have we walked by and never even noticed the field never mind what just lay beneath the surface.
How many times have I read this passage and said to myself “crazy guy – maybe there are no more coins hidden, maybe that jewel was the only one buried there, and even though candlesticks sometimes come in pairs there is no guarantee there are more in this field.”
The Kingdom of God is like a field of treasure just waiting for us to walk through and notice that this is a piece of the Kingdom and who knows what or when you will find something buried there. So you can pick up the coin and well, stick it in your pocket - it’s your lucky day or you can put it back and and buy the field! This field is like the Kingdom of God - it is full of treasures – sell all you have, in other words: put your whole self into it. Recognize the coin in your hand as the tip of the iceberg.
Remember the story of Jesus and the rich young man, the one who goes sadly away because he cannot do what Jesus says he must in order to have eternal life- to be with God : sell all he has and follow Jesus. Jesus was asking him to put his whole self into it and giving him a way to get what he said he wanted. He was seeking something. I mean really trying but he knows he’s missing the mark or he wouldn’t have bothered with asking Jesus anything. And then when what he is seeking is within his grasp- “Just do this – sell all you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me” Jesus says. He can’t do it.
Perhaps he was more like the merchant looking for fine pearls, sure the merchant had pearls, had probably seen many fine pearls but he knew there was one out there; one that was the most lustrous maybe even a perfect pearl. And one day there it is, the finest he has ever seen- he recognizes it as being the finest he has ever seen, perhaps will ever see and chooses to sell everything to have that pearl. He does what the rich young man cannot. He commits himself, his whole self, to the purchase the pearl.
The Kingdom of God is like a merchant who recognizes a fine pearl and gives all he has for the pearl. The Kingdom of God is like treasure buried in a field and the person who picks up, puts it back and sells all he has to buy the field.
They are not the rich young man who goes sadly away from Jesus, away from his dreams, away from the Kingdom of God and mostly away from Joy. Because that is the impression I get from the two parables we looked at; the people in the parable they are happy – overjoyed – they are quick to recognize what they have stumbled upon or sought – there is no hesitation, here it is – right now – within their grasp and they are going to take the chance that this is what their lives are about.
The Kingdom of God can be like that, it can take you (perhaps overtake you) if you let it. You have found a treasure, you have purchased a pearl and now what are you going to do?
Holy God
How many fields have we stumbled across
without once recognizing they are filled with treasures?
How many pearls have we held so tightly that we missed
even looking for the greatest pearl of all?
Help us to see the treasures and pearls scattered in our lives.
Let us see that even a glimpse of the Kingdom
Is reason enough to be filled with joy.
And we ask that our joy be contagious, that it fill our lives
and the lives of all we know.
We ask that this may be so.
Amen
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a
field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in
his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls.
46 When he found one of great value, he went away
and sold everything he had and bought it.
Reflection
The Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God is like this:
It’s like you are out and you find a coin – we’ve all done it! Remember when they had pennies and seeing one on the sidewalk where someone who dropped it couldn’t be bothered to bend down and pick it up – what joy – we even called them lucky pennies. Can you remember how many pennies, dimes, quarters have you picked up in your life?
Now imagine you are in a field and there’s a coin poking it way through, oh and over there a shiny bit of silver and what’s that …a tip of a candlestick and maybe a ruby over that way! Wow, this is a treasure field and we are stumbling across this stuff and what shall we do now. – why buy the field of course. So what if this field is really filled with glimpses of God – that every shiny bit and every dulled jewel showed us a piece of God’s kingdom. What could we call those treasures that litter those fields of our lives? How would we name them? And more importantly would we recognize them when we saw them?
I mean how many others walked through the same field and nothing stood out. How many times have we walked by and never even noticed the field never mind what just lay beneath the surface.
How many times have I read this passage and said to myself “crazy guy – maybe there are no more coins hidden, maybe that jewel was the only one buried there, and even though candlesticks sometimes come in pairs there is no guarantee there are more in this field.”
The Kingdom of God is like a field of treasure just waiting for us to walk through and notice that this is a piece of the Kingdom and who knows what or when you will find something buried there. So you can pick up the coin and well, stick it in your pocket - it’s your lucky day or you can put it back and and buy the field! This field is like the Kingdom of God - it is full of treasures – sell all you have, in other words: put your whole self into it. Recognize the coin in your hand as the tip of the iceberg.
Remember the story of Jesus and the rich young man, the one who goes sadly away because he cannot do what Jesus says he must in order to have eternal life- to be with God : sell all he has and follow Jesus. Jesus was asking him to put his whole self into it and giving him a way to get what he said he wanted. He was seeking something. I mean really trying but he knows he’s missing the mark or he wouldn’t have bothered with asking Jesus anything. And then when what he is seeking is within his grasp- “Just do this – sell all you have and give it to the poor and come and follow me” Jesus says. He can’t do it.
Perhaps he was more like the merchant looking for fine pearls, sure the merchant had pearls, had probably seen many fine pearls but he knew there was one out there; one that was the most lustrous maybe even a perfect pearl. And one day there it is, the finest he has ever seen- he recognizes it as being the finest he has ever seen, perhaps will ever see and chooses to sell everything to have that pearl. He does what the rich young man cannot. He commits himself, his whole self, to the purchase the pearl.
The Kingdom of God is like a merchant who recognizes a fine pearl and gives all he has for the pearl. The Kingdom of God is like treasure buried in a field and the person who picks up, puts it back and sells all he has to buy the field.
They are not the rich young man who goes sadly away from Jesus, away from his dreams, away from the Kingdom of God and mostly away from Joy. Because that is the impression I get from the two parables we looked at; the people in the parable they are happy – overjoyed – they are quick to recognize what they have stumbled upon or sought – there is no hesitation, here it is – right now – within their grasp and they are going to take the chance that this is what their lives are about.
The Kingdom of God can be like that, it can take you (perhaps overtake you) if you let it. You have found a treasure, you have purchased a pearl and now what are you going to do?
Holy God
How many fields have we stumbled across
without once recognizing they are filled with treasures?
How many pearls have we held so tightly that we missed
even looking for the greatest pearl of all?
Help us to see the treasures and pearls scattered in our lives.
Let us see that even a glimpse of the Kingdom
Is reason enough to be filled with joy.
And we ask that our joy be contagious, that it fill our lives
and the lives of all we know.
We ask that this may be so.
Amen
