The Kingdom of Heaven is like what???

It’s like this…and like that.  It’s sort of an idea similar to…Oh no, let’s try this again.  Try to remember that when we talk about God we use simile and metaphor.  The kingdom is like a fish new full of all sorts of stuff.  You keep the good and toss back the bad.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like a buried treasure.  If you think the treasure is worth it, buy the field.  If you don’t have your wits about you, you walk on by and miss the value.  I think we do that to people all too often.

The Kingdom of Heaven is like the person’s search for fine pearls.  The merchant who was wise sold the shop and bought the very best of pearls knowing full well that its surpassing beauty and value made the deal worth every cent.

They are important glimpses into the thinking of God and the workings of discipleship.  Just who is the treasure hunter, the merchant of pearls and the fisherman that appear in the stories?  Don’t look at me.  My eight year old daughter caught the biggest fish the last time out.  If it’s not us who is it??

The Almighty is the hunter, the fisher, the merchant and the treasure hunter.  Now, just where does that leave us?  If we’re in the picture (and I cannot imagine Jesus talking about the kingdom without us) where are we?

It seems that you and I are the treasure!  We’re the pearl of great price!  We’re the good stuff hauled ashore and worthy of keeping!  Bishop Shaw of Massachusetts reminds us that being the pearl, the treasure and the ‘good stuff’ of the kingdom is at the core of being Christian.

Even as sinners God loved us so much that He sent His only son.  It was when we were sinners, without makeup, without clothes; naked before the Lord in our dealings, without righteousness that God loved us.  God loved us first!  And invited us to come along in friendship, discipleship and love.  When we blow it and fall back into sin, God is still there pulling for us, cheering us on to get it right.  And when we don’t get it right the Almighty doesn’t take back any of the love and welcome, but waits patiently, expectantly for his wayward friends to return home.

When it all went wrong and we put Jesus on the cross, we killed God’s son.  His only son who he loved.  We were worth so much to God that he didn’t let us get away with it.  Raised from the dead, Jesus came back among us again and again; wherever two or three arre gathered, whenever bread is broken in his name.

Pearls of great price are we?  I think we’re pearls of the ultimate price.  Christ died for you.  Bishop Jack Spon has said that the phrase “Christ died for you’ is a guilt trip”  It can be if we’re trying to repay God.  If you take it as a gift, a grace, and try to live your life as if you are a pearl of great price; a person of surpassing value out of gratitude, well, then you might be worth something after all.  Especially when you remember that there are many others out there just like us.

You can show that you are a pearl or a polished gem whenever you show off the best qualities of who you are.  When you’re generous and gracious you can put a smile on a stranger’s face and make a neighbor feel that they are a gem, precious to the Lord as well.

By the Almighty’s choice we are a great treasure; a fine pearl, really good stuff!  We might not always live up to expectations, but that doesn’t change a thing.  Our surpassing value lies in the fact that God loved us first and foremost.  Thanking God is all about living a life that reflects the inner worth of the person next to me because the Lord recognized what I was worth from the very beginning!

Peace!

Father Jack