THE ULTIMATE TREASURE
The Kingdom of Heaven is like
a treasure hidden in a field. Matthew 13:44
A man ran furiously along the dock to the ferry boat slip.
He made a tremendous jump over twelve feet of water and
landed with a painful crash on the deck of the ferry. As
he lay there rubbing his injured leg, one of the deckhands
went to his side, took him by the arm, helped him up and
said, "You
didn't have to do that, buddy. The boat wasn't going out,
it was coming in."
A person looks at his or her watch and says, "Well,
I have to run." Often times it seems like everybody's
running somewhere—to work, to lunch, to the bank,
to the elevator, to the Airport, to a vacation spot, to
a gym, even to Church on Sunday morning. Drive onto any
highway at commuter time or walk along any big city sidewalk
at high noon and it seems like everyone is chasing some
elusive, high-speed butterfly, or a ferry boat they think
is pulling out of its slip. It's true isn't it? Everyone
appears to be in hot pursuit of some goal or another which
will make life a little bit better. And when the pursuit
is over, another one promptly begins—and another—and
another.
Psychiatrists are telling us that if we continue
to be totally goal oriented in our success-focused culture,
we will destroy much of the possibility of experiencing
genuine fulfillment. If we are jumping from goal to goal
to goal we are only putting ourselves in one situation
of stress after another. If we can't at some point learn
to be at peace with the process of living itself, and be
content at some level with our choices, there goes happiness!
Popular author, Merle Shane (When Lovers
are Friends, Bantam
Books) writes about a man she knows who has searched for
fulfillment all his life; In the beginning, perhaps because
he was born poor, he thought it had to do with having things
that money seems to carry in its wake. And after he'd become
an engineer and then a developer and a millionaire, he
discovered that money was not it. He tried women, and fancy
cars, and even a dog and a yacht, but this failed him too.
So he tried traveling, and not working, and ultimately
dropping out (the extreme), but nothing seemed to help.
By the time I met him ( she writes) he'd searched everywhere
anyone could suggest he look. He searched and searched,
trying to find he knew not what. He tried guitar lessons,
taking three a day, one in classical guitar, one in flamenco,
and one from a "hippie" folk
singer who taught him about "grass." He tried
figure skating, practicing every afternoon, working his
figures out with his slide rule in a three ring binder
every night, he tried antique collecting, filling his apartment
up with so many grandfather clocks and Persian rugs he
had to open up a store. He alternately tried eating and
dieting, getting married and divorced, and finally he tried
fasting and celibacy and giving up his worldly goods. He'd
been a Buddhist Monk for several years when she saw him
next. His hair was gray, he wore a robe, but he still looked
the same, and when asked if he'd found fulfillment yet,
he answered, "No, it's
still out there."
Yes! We all yearn for more out of life. And what we yearned
for last year - even last week - isn't enough today.
Fulfillment remains that elusive butterfly, that ferry
boat pulling away from the dock. "It's still out there" we
imagine, and the pursuit goes on—and on—and
on—until we begin to understand that it's not "out
there," but "In
Here," within our own self. "The
good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces
good," Jesus
said this in the Sermon on the Mount.
The "Parable of the Treasure" (Matthew 13:44)
and the "Parable of the Pearl" (Matthew 13:45)
are twin parables with the same message. In both cases, the
discovery of something of immense value comes as a surprise—a
complete shock. In both parables, we detect the joy of an
exciting discovery. In both parables when the discovery is
made it fulfills all of the finder's hopes and dreams, so
much so that compared to the new-found treasure, everything
else is without real value and can be let go with a feeling
of contentment. The message is clear: The Kingdom of God
is the all-embracing, totally-absorbing, ultimate Treasure in
life. The value and importance of this discovery takes
precedence over everything else in life.
Whether it comes
as an unexpected find or as the sudden realization of
a life-long search, the Kingdom
is the supreme Treasure that eclipses all else (Luke:
13:34). Jesus tells us "Where
your treasure is, There will your heart be also." This
enlightened perspective, found in the teachings of Jesus
puts it all in ultimate perspective for us; all our relationships,
all our hopes, all our problems, all our pains, all our
pleasures. Jesus teaches us to take the inward journey
deep into our inmost being in order to discover the greatest
of all treasures—The
Kingdom of Heaven—the loving Presence of God ever
present within us.
This is "eternal life." Jesus teaches us to
be with God in this way, to position ourselves under the
guidance of God, to experience God's love in this way,
to discover our life's meaning and purpose in this way.
So! Let us stop now and Thank God for this enlightened
perspective on life—this ultimate perspective,
that the greatest of all life's treasures: The Mystery
of God's everlasting Love has been revealed to us through
Jesus the Christ; that we have been called to participate
now in that Mystery of Mysteries, through our love for one
another.
Blessings,
Rev. Paulette
