Snapshots of the Kingdom
1 Kings 3:5, 7-12; Romans 8:28-30; Matthew 13:44-52
You know, sometimes writing a homily is very easy. After reading the texts several times and meditating on them day-to-day for a week or more, all of a sudden the words come to me in a flash and the homily practically writes itself. I LOVE when that happens! But this week wasn't one of those times. I think that's mainly because today’s gospel is just so rich. There are so many possibilities to contemplate, it's hard to focus on what to emphasize and what to leave for another day. Well, I gave it my best shot, so here we go.
In today's gospel, we’re presented with a series of parables that continue from last week which invite us to see the holy in the human, the miraculous in the mundane, the extraordinary in the ordinary. In the past two weeks, Jesus talks about seeds and wheat, treasures and pearls. He takes his listeners to the kitchen and to the garden, to the wheat field and to the seashore. And there, in the most ordinary places of their lives, he shows them God. He invites them, and he invites us, to discover what the kingdom of heaven is like.
In today's gospel, we’re presented with a series of parables that continue from last week which invite us to see the holy in the human, the miraculous in the mundane, the extraordinary in the ordinary. In the past two weeks, Jesus talks about seeds and wheat, treasures and pearls. He takes his listeners to the kitchen and to the garden, to the wheat field and to the seashore. And there, in the most ordinary places of their lives, he shows them God. He invites them, and he invites us, to discover what the kingdom of heaven is like.
What is the kingdom of heaven like? Well, Jesus seems to have a lot of different answers to that question. Last week, if you recall, he said it is like a mustard seed and wheat. Both describe how, from small, almost invisible beginnings, great things will come. And in today’s gospel, Jesus tells us it is like finding a treasure hidden in a field, something that brings about life-changing joy when it is discovered and when we are prepared to sell everything we own to obtain it. It’s like a pearl of great price, a thing of great beauty, for which the merchant will give up all other pearls so he or she may purchase it. And like a great net that catches all kinds of fish which are then sorted out according to their quality, with the good ones being kept safe for the use of the Master and the bad ones being tossed away.
We might well ask, “Okay Lord, which is it?” But all of these descriptions are just metaphors because human language is inadequate to describe the kingdom of heaven, in the same way our various concepts of God can never really describe God. We think of God as a loving father, as a shepherd, as the Creator. All of those things are true, but they all, both individually and collectively, still fail to describe God. That’s because God is infinite, and we’re not. And if that’s true about God, then the same can be said about his Kingdom.
So what does Jesus mean by the Kingdom of God? It’s obvious that he’s not referring to the place where we all hope to go after we die. One author I read described it this way: The kingdom of God is what the world would look like if God were in charge! To me, it is anywhere that Love triumphs, where Grace abounds, where Justice is done, where Peace is experienced, where the Well-being of all of humanity is seen and the Dignity of every man, woman and child is being respected and achieved. Anywhere that those things are happening, through the efforts and prayers of many people, we see the Kingdom of God. Here and there, and now and then, we see this new creation. As another theologian said, "The kingdom of God comes in inches, and we must learn to celebrate every small glimpse we can find."
So, according to this definition, then, the Kingdom of Heaven or the Kingdom of God is not a place, but a way of life, the way we ought to be living our lives in the here and now. God's rule or God's reign may not seem so obvious to us in a world terrorized by suicide bombers, filled with wars, and divided along racial and political lines, but it’s there. And today’s parables challenge us into a daily awareness of the kingdom of heaven breaking in all around us. We are called to live out our relationship with God and demonstrate that God rules in our life in all that we say and do. If we truly value God's reign above all else, it will have an impact on the way we live. It will affect the way we spend our time. It will influence what we do with our talents. It will show in how we spend our money. It will be reflected in the way we relate to people around us.
Jesus tells us that the reign of God is like a treasure hidden in a field. Some lucky fieldhand working that field finds it and goes and sells all that he has in order to obtain the field with its treasure. He just stumbled into a fortune. He wasn't looking for it. He didn't expect it. He just was in the right place at the right time.
He also says that the reign of God is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, and on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. In contrast to the fieldhand who found the treasure in the field, this merchant has been pursuing the pearl of great price forever. He has been doing everything he could to obtain something this valuable.
I don’t know which experience is closer to what has happened in your life. But I want you to realize that it doesn’t matter how you find the treasure, it is that you lay hold of that treasure once you find it. It doesn’t matter whether you searched for the God or whether you just bumped into Him one day. It doesn’t matter if you had a dramatic conversion experience or whether you came gradually to faith. What matters is realizing that developing your relationship with God, living in His Kingdom, and possessing eternal life, is the greatest treasure you will ever find.
God's rule and a relationship with God are like a found treasure and like a pearl of great price. God wants to be number one in our life. God wants our relationship with him to be so important that we would gladly, joyfully give up anything and everything we have for that relationship.
How much are you willing to give up for the sake of the kingdom of God? I have asked myself this question off and on most of my life, and I always end up with something like, “Well, I hope... that I would... if the chips were down... be willing to give up everything.” But when I think seriously about it and go through the list of things -- and that includes people, friends, relatives, my students, you -- I get a little shaken up. Am I willing to give up what God has blessed me so much with here for the sake of the kingdom? Would I be willing to give my home and all that I’ve worked so hard for all my life if God called for it?
These are important questions that we all need to spend some time reflecting on. But along with those, there are two more that that we must come to grips with: What do I have that I have not been given? Nothing. What am I that God has not made? Nothing.
Our treasure, our pearl, our riches, can be found right here [gesture to Altar].
Here we receive the Bread of Eternal Life, Jesus Christ himself!
Here we receive the Blood of the New and Everlasting Covenant, Jesus Christ himself!
HE is the pearl of great price!
HE is our treasure, his words, his instructions, his example.
HE is the treasure just waiting there for us!
Do you doubt that he is a loving King?
Do you doubt that he can give you a treasure beyond measure?
(Gesture to Crucifix) Just look - - there is the proof of His love for you! There is the sacrifice he made to redeem us, because WE are HIS pearls of great price!
