Since the dawn of time, people have looked for treasure. In bygone days, they searched in the fields, in the hills, or under the sea. If they could find gold or diamonds or pearls, they would be happy. Today, people are still looking for treasure. Except now, they look in casinos, the stock market, or power ball lotteries. If they could hit the jackpot, they would be in seventh heaven.
When we speak of being in seventh heaven, we are in a state of intense happiness, utter bliss. The Bible offers us no definition of heaven but in these two pithy parables, Jesus uses images to describe what the kingdom of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is not a treasure, a pearl or an inanimate object located in some distant physical place. Jesus uses metaphors to tell his listeners that the kingdom of heaven is like the action-response of the finder who stumbles upon the treasure. Seeing the value of their find, they do what they must to have that treasure.
Many people think of the kingdom of heaven only as some distant entity beyond the pearly gates that they hope to enter once they cross the threshold of death. The kingdom of heaven is also called the kingdom of God. So, instead of defining the kingdom of heaven as a place, think of the kingdom as God’s will, which is the well-being of all peoples.
Whenever we say the Lord’s Prayer, we pray, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it in heaven,” as though we are anticipating its arrival someday. Actually the kingdom is already here. It’s just that we don’t recognize it with our eyes set on something else, just as the ancient Israelites who were expecting a new earthly realm when they listened to Jesus. The reign that Jesus spoke of is not a secular political governance. He is speaking of governance, all right, but of a different scope. Namely Jesus is speaking of his disciples following the will of God.
These two parables make the same point: God’s kingdom is something of extraordinary value, which calls for a total commitment on our part if the kingdom is to be fully seen and experienced in this time and place. We cannot have that treasure unless we are willing to let go of those distracting and competing values and priorities that get in the way. Values that create within us sinful attitudes or actions of greed and selfishness hinder us from bringing about the kingdom of heaven.
Every day we often have to choose between right and wrong, generosity and selfishness, honesty and lies, people and things, sometimes even between life and death. Jesus is talking not about the trivial choices we make daily but about wise and costly decisions. Such decisions can cost us much but they will bring us a joy that no one can take from us.
What Matthew calls the kingdom of heaven, Luke and Mark call the reign of God. How then does God want to rule the world? His son provides us with numerous guidelines that are priceless treasures once we discover their true value.
For example, these two parables mirror people’s experience of discovering God’s love and forgiveness unexpectedly or after a long search. When we endeavor to practice both the art of loving and the art of forgiveness, we are mimicking the farmer who found the treasure or the merchant who found the pearl by letting go of whatever hinders us from loving and forgiving someone.
The reign of God is a way of living life here and now, not merely a state of being that will unfold once we die. It is a life of faithful commitment, a life of integrity, of trust in God and being of service to others.
So often when we endeavor to learn something, we need someone to set an example. Now imagine Jesus as the one who finds the buried treasure and the pearl of great price. To acquire them, namely you and me, he gave his life on the cross. The more we realize God’s unconditional love for us, the more we find the secret of peace and joy.
Now lets reverse the roles. By virtue of our baptism, we have stumbled on the treasure that is Jesus himself but for many their faith has been too superficial to see the true value of this treasure. Does the value of this treasure move you to follow God’s way of living here and now?
The kingdom of heaven is the outcome of putting into practice all the wisdom that Jesus taught us. Think of the corporal works of mercy. When we endeavor to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give drink to the thirsty, visit the sick or the imprisoned, welcome the stranger, and bury the dead, we are making heaven real for everyone involved.
In the kingdom, all lives are valued treasures in God’s eyes to be honored and cared for and accepted, regardless of their ethnicity, their gender, their race, or their income. God treasures all life and invites us to do the same.
Picture how different our world would be if everyone responded as Solomon did with an understanding heart that could see right from wrong and that the Kingdom of heaven is the most valuable thing we can possess. May God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, courage to change the things we can and wisdom to know the difference.