Dr. Ron Sumners
July 10, 2005
Ours is an incredible universe in which we are faced with a myriad of options in every direction. We have to make value judgments at every tum. Carlyle Marney said, "there is no agony in life more acute than that experienced in these moments when we realize that we have what we chose, but it doesn't satisfy, and the cost was too high." We look at all the things we have and consider all the sacrifices that went into getting them and sense the disparity between the two.
We find we have climbed the ladder of success only to find it is leaning against the wrong building. I would be surprised if there is any adult who is a total stranger to that experience. We have no more fundamental task in life than facing the options before us and making the right choices. On one hand, we can pay too much for something of little real value. On the other hand, we can refuse to choose the things that really do have value and worth.
Jesus chose images that were familiar to his hearers. He was not into hidden messages for a chosen few. Every village present had no trouble understanding the stories that he told.
The first image I want to share is the story of a buried treasure. Many a farmer had the experience of plowing and suddenly hitting something only to discover a chest full of coins or jewels. For centuries the nation of Israel had been a battleground for the two great cultures of the ancient world - the Egyptians and the Babylonians. They had swept across Palestine again and again.
People hid their possessions from the invaders and the soil of Israel became pocketed with treasure stashes.
The second of Jesus' images is the particular jewel whose value stood above all others in the first century. Diamonds were so rare and could not be processed adequately so they played no real part in Mediterranean culture. The pearl was regarded as the most precious jewel. Cleopatra had a pearl given to her by a suitor that would be $3,000,000 in today's currency.
The pearl develops from a drop of sand that gets inside an oyster's shell. The oyster secretes a milky-like substance to soften the sharp edges and in time a pearl develops. This thing of beauty is developed through pain, which is not an uncommon thing in life. Those mothers here can testify to that truth.
The ancient world valued pearls as a symbol of hope, a reminder that bad things can give birth to good things. Aren't the gates of heaven made of pearl according to John? Christ's pain opens the doors of our joy.
In Jesus' story, a merchant came across the most beautiful, perfect pearl he had ever seen. He recognized its value and acted promptly.
The third story grew out of the work of fishermen. These folks would set out in two boats, and when they reached the center of the lake, they would let down a large net between them and pull it toward the shore. When the water became shallow enough, they would get out and drag the net onto the land. Then they would sort the fish. Only those that were edible were kept, the others were tossed back into the water.
All three stories have a common theme:
The task of discovering what is of value. How can we avoid paying too much for things and how can he find the things of the highest value?
After the farmer discovered the buried treasured and the merchant found the unique pearl, their lives became generally different. All that they had was seen in a new light, and there was a joyful re-arrangement of things. Suddenly, there was a willingness to let go of what they had in order to get something obviously better. In other words, when the "ultimate" comes along and we recognize it, it changes the way we evaluate everything and calls for a radical reordering of our lives.
If you stop and think about it, every experience of change has two very different aspects. We get something we have not had before, but we must give up something that we have. In these first two parables, Jesus is saying that healthy change happens when we discover that the thing being offered is greater and better than the thing that is being lost. That is why the farmer and the merchant sold everything they had, and they did it with joy.
What if all the merchants could think about were the jewels he lost? There could be no real joy! Both the farmer and the merchant underwent an experience of genuine change, and in both cases the reorganization of life resulted in something better than they had ever known before. Jesus invites us to process all changes hopefully and expectantly.
What is the supreme value in your life? Jesus taught that it was loving God with all your heart. He spoke of that as the "Kingdom of Heaven."
As subjects of this Kingdom, we must never expect anything in this life to be able to meet all of our needs. Only God can do that! Augustine of Hippo said, "Thou hast made us for thyself, 0 God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee." We are, therefore, to relate to God as we relate to nothing else, and to look to Him as the source of all fulfillment. God and His Kingdom is the treasure. He is the precious pearl. He is worth whatever it costs!
Most of us decide what is of ultimate worth through trial and error, seeking first this and that in an attempt to satisfy the hunger of our hearts.
C.S. Levins once posed this question. "What if we get in eternity exactly what we have lived for in time?" This means that if we have truly loved others and lived for beauty and ideals and causes beyond ourselves, we will continue to participate in the richness. But if we have lived only for ourselves, if every thought and concern has revolved around self and self alone, could it be that all we will get is ourselves and nothing else? Such a condition would be total isolation. That's the worst of all punishments. Solitary confinement for many would be worse than the death penalty.
We must grow to love God for God's sake. This is when we value what God values. And we love God, not just in terms of what He can do for us, but because of who He is. These are reasons to worship God that have nothing to do with our needs, but only the wonder of what God is.
One of my fondest memories of my daughter Katie was once when she was about five years old. She climbed up in my lap and laid her head on my shoulder. She said nothing, which was out of character for her.
I asked, "What do you want baby?"
She responded, "Nothing daddy, I just needed to be close to you for a while."
That memory is precious to me, for she was not there for any utilitarian mission - just the wonder of being with her daddy. That memory is so sweet that it pains me to realize how few times I have gone into the presence of God in that spirit, without any purpose except to say, "I just need to be close to you."
Who is the most difficult person in the world for you to love? Whom do you have the most trouble accepting, affirming, celebrating, and embracing?
If your experience is anything like mine, you would have to admit that it is yourself. One of my deepest issues with God goes back to the very first thing He did for me, mainly, create me. The body I have, the mind I was given, many things about myself, have not been easy for me to affirm. There is much about myself that I simply do not like. I do not feel that I am alone in that feeling.
Across the years I have probably talked to hundreds of people who do not like themselves. We do not seem to believe that God really knew what He was doing when He created us.
When God set back and looked at the world He had created, He said, "It is good!" We are good! What this means in these parables is that each one of us, by virtue of being created by God, is the treasure buried in the field, the pearl of great price, and the fish valuable enough to keep.
Thus, the way to fulfillment lies in affirming that what God did in creation was good in letting that become our joy, as surely as the farmer, the merchant, and the fisherman found their joy in what they discovered. Given that most of us have felt negatively about ourselves, finding out how God feels about us may be the most surprising discovery we will ever make.
The last words of the parable describing the end of the age are ominous. They warn that the angels will come and separate the soil from the righteous and throw the evil into a furnace of fife where they shall weep and gnash their teeth forever. Why did Jesus include this world of fearful judgment? To explain that our existence is a decisive affair. It is possible to come to the ultimate value and be fulfilled. It is also possible to miss the point altogether and come to ultimate failure.
I believe that C.S. Levins was right when he said that there will come a time when either we will say to God, "Thy will be done,” and we will enter the joy of the Lord, or God will say with infinite sadness to us: "Thy will be done” and turn us away. If we steadfastly refuse to say yes to the invitation, no one in all the universe will be sadder than God as he says, "Depart from me." You didn't choose the highest value.
In God's eyes, we are all a treasure, a pearl of great price, a keeper! In our own eyes, I wonder, how do we see ourselves?
Comments