Matthew 13 : 44-52 Sermon The gospel tells us that people had gathered on the shore of Lake Galilee and they listened to Jesus as he speaks words of deep wisdom. The topic is the kingdom of heaven, but typically Jesus is not giving a lecture on theology. Rather he is searching for simple words and familiar images with which people might grasp the essence of the subject, words and images which might help them to understand not what they might be curious about but what they actually need to know. So instead of a lecture Jesus tells stories. In particular he tells a simple tale about a merchant who makes his living trading in pears. One day he comes across a pearl which is so beautiful and so precious that he goes away and sells everything he owns and spends everything he has to purchase it. That, Jesus says, is what the Kingdom of heaven is like. So far so good. We can understand that message. We understand enough about economics and investment to realise that the merchant has done the right thing he has seen an opportunity and he has grasped it. We who are used to judging the value of goods, we who regularly, if subconsciously, have to decide what our priorities are and what is most important to us, we can understand this story. The pearl was more important and more valuable than anything else, so everything else could be set aside in order to gain it. The Kingdom of God is no less valuable. That it seems is what this parable tells us. So far so good. But Jesus does not actually say that the kingdom of heaven is like that pearl the one worth giving up everything for. Jesus says that the Kingdom of heaven is like the merchant who is in search of fine pearls. So what happens to him? At first glance he comes out very well; he becomes the owner of a fine and precious pearl. He has got rid of everything he possessed and he now owns an enormously valuable pearl, but nothing else. He has the pearl but he has no money left to pay his rent, no money to buy food, no money to pay school fees for his children. The only way he can be rich is by finding someone who will buy the pearl from him, and if he does that he
will not have the pearl any more. So either he has the pearl and is poor, or he gives up the pearl and becomes rich. The clear logic of what Jesus is telling the crowds is that he cannot have both. So the story is quite the opposite of what people often take it to be. Possessing the Kingdom of heaven is not something which we should expect to leave us enriched and proud and strong. It is far more likely to leave us impoverished and humbled and weak. The story warns us that if we wish to have the kingdom of heaven in our lives it will demand of us everything we have. For unless we want it as much as that merchant enough to be ready to be impoverished for its sake we are not going to be able to have it. Jesus is striving to make it clear that he is not offering any kind of easy answer to the problems we face in life. What he offers is going to cost us, it is going to cost us everything, and what we will gain from it will be so mixed, according the fishing metaphor which follows, that it will take angels to make sense of it all in the end. It might be more attractive to imagine that the text teaches that the man was wise because he gave up his little wealth in order to gain something more valuable. That appeals to our logic. But that is not what the text tells us, and as I have suggested, the simple logic of the story does not support that interpretation. Indeed such an interpretation would not fit with the whole message of the gospel, which is never an appeal to our narrow selfinterest, and always a call to serve and to trust. If we see the Kingdom of God in the same way we see financial transactions, where one thing is given to procure another, we will surely be missing the point of the grace of God. If we think of it as something we pursue for personal advantage, we will surely be missing the point of the example of Christ, our crucified saviour. If we think that we can agree to sacrifice something in order to gain something of greater value in return, we will be missing the point of Christian commitment. If we think that we can enter into a deal with God because we believe we will come out of it well in the end, we are surely missing the point of faith.
Do you remember the stories from earlier in the gospels where Jesus called the first disciples? Do you remember what he promised them in order to buy their loyalty? You may be able to recall words from Jesus about how the sacrifice they had made in giving up so much to follow him would ultimately be repaid, but that only came when they were already some way along the journey, such words of assurance only came as they approached the time of crucifixion. They were not called on the basis of any kind of contract or promise and they did not initially follow for that reason. If they had what would their sacrifice have been worth, what would their faith have been worth? In our day we often hear the gospel presented in the opposite terms- here is what you are promised if you trust Jesus, here is what you will get if you follow him. We can see why we might choose to present the gospel that way, but it is not the way Jesus ever presented it. He spoke about the cost of following him long before he said anything about what we might gain from following him. And that is the basis on which we are called. If it were not then what would our faith be worth, and how could we even call it faith? I hope that you can see some connection with our theme of stewardship. It is tempting to present such a theme in a way which we can readily understand and relate to, in a way which might appeal to us. If we use the resources we have control over in the right way it will be worth it in the end. If we each contribute more to the church then we will by definition have a better church to be part of. If we give more then we will gain more. That is logical and in many ways it is true. However I m reluctant to say that and to leave it at that because it does not seem to be faithful to what Christ teaches. Christian faith is not a contract it is a commitment. The church is not designed for self-interest, but for service. We are called to be witnesses, not to the benefits of believing, but to the sheer goodness of God and to the way of Jesus Christ who emptied himself and gave up all he had. If we see beauty and truth and promise these things then we need to be ready to give up everything, not because he
will reward us but simply because we have seen in the gospel such beauty and truth and promise that we can find nowhere else. If what Christ teaches strikes us as true and right and real then we will want that more than we want anything else, not because we will gain from it but simply because it is true and right and real in a way that nothing else is. If his way seems to us to be the best way, the proper way, the most meaningful way to live our lives, then we will want to follow that way more than we want to achieve anything else in life, not because we expect it will solve all our problems but simply because we recognise that there is no other way to fully live. It is only when we say I don t care what I get from this, I just believe that it is right, that we can discover wealth and reward indirectly, coming in ways we had not understood or expected. It is only by dying to selfish desire that we can gain eternal life. It is only after crucifixion that we discover resurrection. That is always the gospel message from beginning to end. So what use is the pearl? The pearl has no value if all you seek is its value. But if you are so captivated by its beauty that you are willing to lay aside everything you have just for the love of it, then and only then will you discover its true value. So what is the use of the church? The church has little value for you if it is only another organisation which you belong to because you expect to benefit from it. That is always going to lead to disillusionment and disappointment. But if you are so enthralled by the message of Jesus Christ that you want nothing more than to dedicate your life to following his way and being part of his on-going work, then and only then will you see the value of being part of a faith community like this one. In practice that might mean many different things for different people, and different things at different stages of life. It will always involve offering our time, our talents and our treasure, in whatever balance is appropriate at the time for a cause greater than ourselves and for a reason bigger than our pleasure. It will never make us rich, not in any sense that
we fully understand. But it will certainly make us alive with the life of Christ himself.