For the past several weeks we have been listening to St. Matthew’s Gospel and the parables of Jesus on the kingdom of heaven. In the parable of the sower, it is the word of God that can find rich soil and bear tremendous fruit for the kingdom (Matthew 13:3-9). Then Jesus teaches that the kingdom of heaven is like a field filled with wheat, but suddenly there appear weeds along with the wheat; through patience and discernment the wheat grows and is later sifted and gathered for the kingdom, while the weeds are collected and burned (Matthew 13:24-30). This morning Jesus gives us the final three parables in that series. We hear that:
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.
—Matthew 13:44-46
Both of these parables are very similar. As soon as the treasure is discovered, or the pearl is found, the person sells everything in order to fully possess that awesome gift. There is a sense of joy and transformation that accompanies the kingdom of God, changing one’s entire outlook and experience.
At the same time, however, those two parables are quite different. We can begin with the treasure found in the field. Firstly, how likely is that to happen? Actually, in the time of Christ, it would not have been uncommon. This parable is being told in Roman-occupied Palestine. In many places in the world at that time, and even in places in our own world today, there was instability and the possible threat of invasion and forced migration. If you were a wealthy land owner, and had many possessions and personal items of great value, you might put them all together and bury them somewhere on your property. The hope would be to flee from the imminent danger, and return afterward and take up your treasure once again. For many, perhaps that day would never come. It would not have been so uncommon, in Jesus time, for a person to find treasure in a field.
The point of the parable is that the discovery of the treasure comes as a total surprise. Indeed, when the man finds it, he quickly hides it again, and with great joy he goes and sells everything he has so he can buy that entire field (why take a chance?!) and have that treasure forever.
How different is the parable about the pearl of great price. There was not so much surprise as a profound sense of wonder and satisfaction when the merchant finally discovers what he has longed for all along. He had been searching for precisely a pearl such as this one! Perhaps he had traveled far, and at the great expense of time and money. No matter! He sees that pearl and is completely captivated by its beauty.
In our own lives, the kingdom of heaven captures both of these dimensions. When it comes to our faith, or our experience of God at the core of our vocation, there is something there of a total surprise. To suddenly recognize who we are in Christ, and how much value God places on us, is astounding. Who among us could have ever imagined that God would offer His only Son so that He could have us with Him in heaven for all eternity? It is an incredible and amazing surprise, a treasure stumbled upon in the field.
Even so, deep within our hearts we have always longed for a love like this. We yearn and pine for the kind of relationship that accepts us unconditionally, that cares for us and challenges us to become all that we were always meant to be. Even once we have discovered our vocation, and heard the voice of God calling us into a deeper relationship with Himself, we continue to search all the more deeply. We want to know, to discern as many details as possible to find out what will please God and how we can become more completely those fruitful and faithful disciples of Christ that we hear about in the Gospel.
An excellent example for us this weekend is found in the first reading, from the First Book of Kings. We hear about King Solomon, who at a very young age finds himself as ruler of one of the greatest nations in the world. Indeed, he prays to the Lord, “I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted” (1 Kings 3:8). Solomon had done nothing to receive this remarkable privilege and responsibility. His father, King David, had amassed tremendous wealth and resources so that Solomon could build the temple. On one level, he possessed everything a man could want to be happy. Nonetheless, he had the humility to realize that there was still more that he needed to discover. When God comes to him and invites him to ask for anything (imagine!), he responds:
O Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father, David: but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act . . . Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?
—1 Kings 3:7-9
It is a beautiful prayer that begins Solomon’s journey into a world of sagacity and insight. God responds to him, “I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you” (1 Kings 3:12). But it could not have been automatic. Solomon did not download a lifetime of wisdom. He would have had to apply himself to long hours of study, and it would take years for him to learn all that was necessary to govern God’s people. Of course, we also know that one of the greatest “teachers” is failure. How many humiliations and failings did young Solomon experience before he gained the interior knowledge of the heart that alone is worthy of guiding God’s own people? This young man, who had found the treasure in the field, also sought passionately for the pearl of great price.
Closer to our own time, we can reflect on the life of St. Teresa of Calcutta. As a young religious she had answered the call of God and was faithful, content and fruitful. At the age of thirty six, on her way by train to make her annual retreat about 100 miles north of Calcutta, suddenly she received a profound “call within a call.” Jesus was crying out to her, inviting her to discover Him in the poorest of the poor. He revealed to her that He was hiding in the darkest holes of the earth, naked, hungry, rejected and alone. “Come, be my light,” He beckoned her. She would spend the rest of her life discovering what that meant and how God was inviting her to answer this mysterious invitation.
For all of us, we have stumbled upon the treasure in the field, an identity and meaning in life that goes beyond anything we could have ever imagined. Still, we are invited to explore that reality more and more deeply each day, to truly seek out the pearl of great price in the heart of our vocation.
In conclusion, Jesus offers one final parable, the net cast into the sea, capturing fish of every kind, and a lot of other sordid things. Once the net us full, what is good is placed in buckets and what is bad is thrown away. It is a parable about the final judgment, and Jesus offers the clearest of interpretations for us all:
Thus it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth.
—Matthew 13:49-50
We are all called by God, all given the amazing invitation to discover and embrace the riches of the kingdom. Yet Jesus teaches us also that we will stand before Him and give an account at the end of our lives for how we have received—or not—that kingdom. St. John of the Cross writes that, “at the twilight of life, we will be judged by love.” There is something very comforting and consoling about that reality. At the end of our lives, we will be judged by the God who is Love, who gave His only Son to save us and give us new life. Still, we are called to receive and then offer that same love to both God and neighbor. That is what it means to be part of the kingdom of heaven.
This morning we can ask ourselves, how have we appreciated and offered thanksgiving for this treasure we have discovered as a total surprise and an overwhelming gift? How are we continuing to seek and search for the fulfillment God’s kingdom each day, bearing the fruit of love in what we say and in all that we do? This is the gift of God, and it is worth everything if we may only recognize it, embrace it and spend all eternity entering into it more deeply.
