Invaluable Treasure
“Jesus said to his disciples:
‘The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field,
which a person finds and hides again,
and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.’”Matthew 13:44
What is your most prized treasure? What is something in your life that you hold on to — maybe to others it’s ordinary but to you it is not. Perhaps we all have our own little collection of things that we keep because they contain special meaning to us. In this week’s readings, Jesus tells more parables about the Kingdom of heaven, but this time it’s not about mustard seeds or yeast or weeds and wheat. This time the Kingdom is compared to treasures.
There is a man who while working in the fields, discovers a treasure chest containing lots of silver and gold. Overjoyed he goes home, gathers all of his valuables, sells them, and with the money earned he goes and buys that plot of land. Perhaps that plot of land was just an ordinary plot of land. Maybe it was even a plot of land that could not produce much fruit. Yet, he uses all of his money to buy that plot of land. To others this man may seem silly because he is trading in his entire livelihood for a piece of useless land. But this man knows that what he will gain is much more than he ever had and ever could earn. This is the same with our friendship and relationship with God. What we gain in exchange for our sins and selfish way of life is something much more and far better than we could ever have imagined — participation in the life of God and eternal life. But do our actions match that of the man who bought the plot of land? Do we readily do away with our sins and bad habits and joyfully embrace the prized treasure of relationship with God?
The Kingdom is also compared to a merchant who searches for fine pearls. Similar to the man who sold everything to buy the plot of land in which the treasure was buried, this merchant uses all of his money to purchase this pearl of great price that he has been looking for his entire life. To us, this pearl of great price is the Lord, our faith, eternal life. But to God, this pearl of great price is us, each and every one of us. The conditions in which the pearls are found may not always be pristine. They may be covered in slime or sand or other debris, yet the merchant sells all he has to purchase it. St. Paul tells us that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We are so valuable to the Father that He sent His only Son into the world to gather us to Himself. We are the dirty pearls, yet the Lord washes us, cleanses us, and polishes us with His love and mercy. The Almighty God searches us out and gave His all — His only Son, the Son’s life — just so we might be saved, so that we might come to realize our value. The debris on us do not devalue us because the inherent value of each and every one of us lies in the truth that we are the beloved sons and daughters of the Father. In other words, our sins and wrongdoings do not define us. We are defined by what God sees us as — His precious treasure, His pearls of great price, His sons and daughters whom He has loved from all eternity.
So, what is our invaluable treasure? What is that which occupies our hearts? Does it lead us to God? Perhaps today we can revisit those fields and rediscover that which first caused our hearts to be filled with joy.
