17th Sunday Year A

17TH Sunday in Ordinary Time Year A – Parables of Treasures and pearls

When we think of the Kingdom of God, what do we think of? What is it that we picture as being the portrait of heaven?

In today’s parables, our stories tell us of the man who finds a treasure in a field and so goes and sells all that he has to buy that field and the treasure within it. We are also told of the man who had spent his whole life searching for that most perfect of pearls and then, when he had found it, again went and sold everything he had to buy it, to own it, to keep it as and for his very own.

Jesus used these images as pictures and illustrations that the people of the time could identify with. Pearls were used as a measure of perfection, of purity and of supreme value, and something that the people could relate to as an ultimate treasure: one that they could begin to understand how and why someone would look to give up everything they owned – to obtain.

So where does this leave us here today – as I have asked in previous weeks: what is the meaning for us today? What is our equivalent of this treasure, this pearl? What is it that we think of when we, as Christians, think of heaven? Would we know it if we saw it? Would we recognise it for the priceless value it has? I wonder.

It would be too easy to say that today’s image might be knowing where the winning lottery ticket, the Euro-millions, is and then doing all that you could to obtain it. But that isn’t enough: it isn’t even close to enough! That is simply about money and wealth, passing things that offer no insight to heaven and no real glance at what it means to be rich in God’s eyes.

Because the Kingdom is beyond that! When Christ was talking about a treasure in a field, he was talking about riches beyond dreams! How many of us have had the “Lottery Dream”? I know that I have and it is not just me. About how much we would win and how we would spend it, divvy it up amongst our families and friends, between our favourite charities and then – and then what? How quickly do our dreams peter out into that question of and then what?

My own imagination doesn’t really go very far after that! So, this convinces me that the Kingdom of God is not a lottery ticket; that is just a daydream of wealth to help me whenever I feel low and downhearted.

I have never seen heaven but I think that I have seen aspects of it during my life and I am reminded of them when I used to perform weddings and baptisms. Yes, my memory can still go back that far - just!

Whenever I look at a young baby awaiting baptism, I am reminded of the times of my own children’s births and baptisms and think that indeed God is good; indeed God is marvellous and indeed heaven must be like that feeling of holding your own new-born child in your hand – or one in each hand if you were fortunate enough to have had twins. The Kingdom of God must be like holding the miracle of a baby in your hands and knowing that God made this happen. There is no treasure to compare with the gift of life.

Except maybe the gift of love. I am so quickly caught up in the joy and celebration of love when I am helping a couple prepare for their wedding-day. It reminds me of their vows and their commitments to each other: that they will leave all other things and commit themselves one to the other. That they have found in this other person, their treasure, their pearl and that they will do everything they can to devote themselves to that person. Their joy and their love must be like the Kingdom of God in that it is priceless, it is pure, it is perfection or as near as we humans can achieve: and it is God-blessed; and it is this love between people that is the visible illustration of God’s Kingdom here on earth.

I cannot paint or sketch. I cannot sculpt or compose. I cannot create a new image of the Kingdom of God that would draw others in: but I can look around me and see God’s Kingdom being lived and being shown by people to people every day. Look and take note.

Whenever we think of heaven or the Kingdom of God, I think it helps if we think about what Christ insisted his key message to us all was – to love one another as he had loved us; to love our neighbour as ourselves and as God our heavenly father loves each and every one of us.

The Kingdom of God is not some cloud with fat cherubs and harps. The Kingdom of God is our being in the eternal love and presence of our Father.

While here on earth, it is seeing and showing God’s love for us as individuals to all those we meet. The joy of birth and love and life are all illustrations of that ultimate treasure we seek – our eternity with our Father in heaven.

But, like the man finding the treasure in the field or that perfect pearl, we have to recognise the treasure when we find it. We have to see the treasure when and where we meet it. And we have to be clear and determined in obtaining the treasure which is God’s Kingdom alive in each one of us and getting rid of all of the other fogs, mists and distractions to allow us to focus on that treasure and to fully appreciate it.