Proper 12 -- I Kings 3: 5-12; Psalm 119: 129-136; Romans 8: 26-34; Matthew 13: 31–33, 44–49a
A homily by Fr. Gene
Tucker, given at The
Cathedral Church of St. Paul, Springfield, Illinois, on Sunday, July 27, 2014.
“THE KINGDOM OFFERED, THE KINGDOM RECEIVED”
(Homily text: Matthew 13: 44-46)
This
morning, we hear five more parables which are found in chapter thirteen of
Matthew’s gospel account. These short
parables are interwoven into the chapter, around the Parable of the Sower
(heard two weeks ago), and the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (heard last
Sunday).
This
morning, we’ll concentrate on just two of these five parables, the Parable of
the Pearl and the Parable of the Hidden Treasure.
But first,
to begin our approach to these two short teachings, we will engage in a bit of
humor:
One Sunday
morning, as Father is scurrying around, getting ready for Mass, he notices that
Charlie is kneeling in the back pew. He
takes some notice of this, for Charlie isn’t known to be the most pious of the
Father’s flock. Though he can’t hear
exactly what Charlie is saying, it seems as though Charlie is engaged in some
very serious prayer.
Indeed,
that is the case.
Charlie
says, “O Lord, please help me win the lottery this week!”
Mass is
ended, Charlie leaves the church, the week unfolds, and Charlie does not win
the lottery, not even one of the smaller prizes.
The next
Sunday, Father notices that Charlie is, again, in the back pew. And though it’s still sometime before Mass is
about to begin, Father notices that Charlie seems to be deep into his prayers
again.
Indeed,
that is so, for Charlie prays, “O Lord, you know I asked you last Sunday to
help me win the lottery. You didn’t come
through for me last Sunday, so please, please, help me to win the lottery this
week.”
Again, Mass
is ended, Charlie leaves the church, the week unfolds, and Charlie does not win
the lottery, not even one of the smaller prizes.
On the
third Sunday, Charlie is, once again, in the back pew. The prayer is much the same as the previous
two Sundays, “O Lord, I really, really need to win the lottery this week.”
Suddenly,
the Lord’s voice booms out from the arches of the church, saying, “Charlie,
work with me here, buy a ticket, why don’t you!”
In
Charlie’s case, the moral of the story is clear: In order to have a chance to win, one has to
buy a ticket.
In the case
of the Parable of the Hidden Treasure and the Parable of the Pearl, the moral
is clear: We are expected to do whatever
is needed to take possession of the kingdom of heaven.
Notice that
the moral in the joke and in the parables is quite similar: A great blessing awaits, and we are
encouraged to do whatever we need to do in order to receive it.
Before we
consider the richness of God’s offer, made to us, of the kingdom of heaven, and
our response, let’s notice some aspects of Jesus’ teaching.
Both of
these brief parables have a central theme:
- A great and valuable thing is within reach.
- We are called to do something in response, in order to gain it.
Some
historical details in each of these parables are worth noting:
- In the Parable of the Hidden Treasure, it was common in Jesus’ day for a person to dig a hole and bury valuables. After all, in those days there were no banks, and no safe deposit boxes. So burying something where the chances were small that someone else might find it seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Jesus leaves untouched some aspects of this parable, such as: 1. Wouldn’t the land owner be entitled to the discovered treasure? (Yes, the rabbis of Jesus’ day said that should be the case.); 2. Was the finder of the treasure engaging in some form of deceit in order to take possession of the treasure? 3. Did the finder stumble on the hidden treasure while he was out gleaning the edge of the field during harvest time? Scholars sometimes engage in trying to unpack these various issues. I believe that Jesus simply wants us to get the point that, if we were to have a chance to take possession of a great treasure, that we would do anything and everything to get it. That’s the point, I think.
- Today, the advertising slogan is “Diamonds are a girl’s best friend.” In Jesus’ day, that slogan would go like this: “Pearls are a girl’s best friend.” Pearls, in the ancient world, were highly prized possessions, worth doing anything necessary to take possession of.
From the
time that Jesus chose His first disciples, down to our own day, some Christians
have given up nearly everything in their lives in order to claim a place in the
kingdom of heaven.
Those first
disciples, who would soon become apostles, left their homes, families and
former occupations in order to follow the Lord.
In the Book
of Acts, we read that the early Church lived pretty much like (what we would
call) a commune today. When people came
to faith in the Lord, they sold their possessions and brought the proceeds of
the sale to the apostles.
Those who
had made a profession of faith in Jesus sometimes found that their families
would disown them. Sometimes, their
former friends did the same. Some lost
their former professions as a result of becoming a Christian. Many gave up a lot in order to take their
place in the kingdom of heaven.
In later
times, monasteries would come into being, and men and women would set aside
everything in their former lives in order to take a place in the kingdom.
In our own
day, missionaries leave familiar surroundings, families, friends and former
occupations to bring about the coming of the kingdom.
For most of
us, however, such drastic changes of lifestyle or of the places where we live
aren’t a part of the choices we make in order to become a part of the kingdom.
And I think
that, because the choices we must make in order to claim our place in the
kingdom aren’t so drastic, making the choices we must make, nonetheless, in
order to take our place are a lot harder.
So perhaps
we might approach that decision by asking ourselves these questions:
- Is my relationship with God the central most important reality in my life?
- Is God, and my love for God, the reality that defines the importance of everything else in my life?
- What choices do I make in terms of the use of my time, my talents, and my treasure, if being a citizen of the kingdom is the most important thing in my life?
May we,
through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, be enabled to see our place in the
kingdom of heaven, and be enabled by that same Spirit to do whatever it takes
to claim our place in it.
AMEN.
