Late Night Ponderings

This past Sunday, New Community in Spokane received a dynamic Word from God. It hit me hard and has left me with musings and ponderings all week. The passage is Matthew 13:44-46 known to theologians as the "Treasure Parables."

The great thing about parables is that there is only one point to them, but that point is sometimes seen/shown in multiple ways. These short parables have more complexity in them than some of the longer ones.

A quick read tells us this: a man finds treasure in a field. He sells all he owns and buys the field for the treasure. Also, a man finds the most costly pearl ever. He sells all he owns and buys the pearl.

Conclusion? Hint: Don't jump there.

I must first ask you to ask yourself a couple of questions. First, "How do you see yourself in light of God?" And second, "How do you see God in light of yourself?" Yes, you read that correctly. I want you to know how you see God in light of yourself.

It is easy to see ourselves in light of God. We are sinful, horrid beings in desperate need of grace. Our best is nothing to God. That is easy for us to see, especially when we sin. The hard part tells us to look at God in light of ourselves. Since I am bordering heresy, let me explain this. This is not taking a look at the human condition followed by God. That is seeing ourselves in light of God. What I want you to do is to search your heart and really think about how you see God.

Do you put him in a box? Do you shove him off to the side? Do you make him convenient only when you want? A friend of mine recently had a revelation about how he saw God. He tried to put him in a box that said, "God only works in this way because that is all I know how he works." My friend knows now how faulty that thinking is. So, please, examine yourselves (it is Scriptural after all).

Now, let's look at the meat of these parables. A man searched a field and found treasure in it. Another man found a super costly pearl, a "pearl of great price" as Scripture reads. Both men had to respond to this, and they both responded in kind. They went and sold all they had to acquire their desired treasure. The first and easiest way to see these verses is seeing the treasure/pearl as Christ. We are to identify with the men who stumbled upon these great treasures. And, as they did, we must give up all to possess the treasure that is Christ. Please note that I am not saying we can buy our way into heaven, because that is not what Jesus ever taught. Jesus said, so I echo, that we are to give up all we have. In the spiritual, that does not always mean we sell everything and go live in a monastery. What it means is that we become a living sacrifice, giving up our desires, affections, dreams, pursuits, etc., for that of the Holy One. Everything we live for changes when we come in contact with the true Treasure.

Think about it. These men no longer had houses! They could not even feed themselves, but they had that which is greater. They no longer cared for their own well-being, only that of the Treasure.

See why that is so easy? We understand Christ is the true Treasure. We have just seen ourselves in light of who God is. Christ is worth giving up all because he is holy and we are not. So, what is the other understanding of this parable?

Look at the context of this passage. This is the same chapter as the parable of the sower, the parable of the weeds, the parable of the mustard seed and leaven, and the parable of the net. In each of them, the world is the field/dough/sea. In the parable of the weeds and net, we see a look at the close of the age when the angels separate the wheat and the tares/good and bad fish. So why do we always see Christ as the treasure?  Hopefully, by now, you see where this is heading. In this alternate reading, WE are the treasure and Christ is the man. WE are the pearl and Christ is the man.

Listen to Paul in Romans: "God demonstrated his own love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Hear that? Christ gave up everything he had so that he could redeem (buy) us. This is viewing God in light of ourselves: that we see the drastic lengths he went to tell us that we are loved and we are worth it all. How can we keep God in a box after that? How can we hope to push God aside when he tells us we are worth dying for to save?

So, which is correct? Hint: it is both.

The greater question is: who or what is the main character of the parable? The answer is always, emphatically Christ. He is the Treasure and he gave up all for us. If you read this as Christ as the Treasure, then you must see the worthlessness of humanity in light of the glorious riches of Christ; but if you see Christ as the man, then you must see how precious we are to God.