1 Kings 3:1-15
Matthew 13:44-52

Both of our biblical texts for today speak about wisdom.  The first tells us that as Solomon was becoming King of Israel he was overwhelmed with the responsibility and wondered how he could possibly be up to the task.  He prayed that God would give him wisdom that he might rule with justice and know the difference between good and evil.  Oh, if more leaders would seek that kind of wisdom today!  Today’s second reading reports three parables that Jesus used to teach wisdom to his disciples. I’d like for us to focus on two of those parables and perhaps we can gain some parabolic wisdom from them.
           
The use of parables was by far the most effective teaching method that Jesus used.  He was neither the first nor the last person to use parables as a teaching method, but Jesus certainly was the most effective in using parables.  There is frustration with most of Jesus' parables.  Most of them do not have an ending.  They are stories that Jesus just seems to stop telling.  Of course, what happens to many people is that on hearing or reading the parable they write their own ending which seems to have been Jesus' intent. 

Our second reading for today is in a setting of six parables.  It is as if Matthew sees the reign of God in our lives as a multi - faceted diamond.  He holds it up for his readers to see.  Each of the parables is like turning the diamond in another direction in order to be able to see it better.  These parables provide lessons for our learning.  They teach us the priceless worth of the reign of God, the joy of possession, the willingness to surrender everything else for the rule of God in our lives, and they call us to decision.
The people in these two parables about treasure have made a discovery. They have found joy, and in their joy they have acted decisively. In one shining moment of discovery, everything has come into focus for them. They know what they have to do and they go do it. If, upon their discovery of the treasure or the pearl, these two protagonists had not acted decisively, if they had been cautious, hesitant, prudent, they would have missed the joy. Go and do likewise, Jesus seems to say. So many parables are stories about what God has done or is doing in the world. These parables seem to be examples of wise human behavior. The in-breaking reign of God demands a decisive, joyfully active response.

There are a couple of significant differences in the two parables that we link with one another. The man who makes the discovery of treasure in the field was not looking for treasure. He just stumbled upon it. On the other hand, the dealer in pearls who found the spectacularly expensive pearl was presumably an expert in pearls, someone who had perhaps spent a lifetime looking for the perfect pearl.

Perhaps that's the way it is with the kingdom of God. Sometimes we stumble upon it, unawares. Sometimes it is given to us after a lifetime of careful struggle and searching. Whenever the kingdom dawns upon us, the key thing is to be ready to do what is necessary to get on board.
Jesus told a story about a man who happened to find a treasure hidden in a field.  His discovery so excited him that he sold everything he had so he could purchase the field (Matthew 13:44).  He bought the entire field, the sink holes, the poison ivy, the sticker bushes, the rocks, the weeds, everything. 
This man stumbled onto a treasure for which he was willing to stake his whole life. It was not uncommon in those days during times of turmoil, unrest and war for people to bury the few valuables they had in small boxes in a field they owned and after the crisis or war subsided to dig up the treasure.  Of course, there were times when people lost their property in war or were unable for some reason to return to their property and thus their treasure remained buried.  This story was a real event that many of Jesus' listeners knew had happened.  

In 1997 I met a man in a refugee camp in the West Bank who at that time had been there 50 years.  Fifty years earlier the Israelis had confiscated his family’s property.  He claimed he still had the key to the house.  The rules are that if he leaves the refugee camp he forfeits his right to the property, so he stays hoping against hope that one day he’ll get the word that he can go home, go to that property and reclaim what, at least in his mind, already is his.  The house to which he holds the key was destroyed years ago but here is a man who has staked his whole life on regaining that property because that property is a treasure to him.

To what have you staked your whole life?  Do you know?  One way to find out is to read through your bank statements.  Our bank statements reveal our priorities.  The point is that we stake our lives to something or someone and we determine what or who it is.  To whatever we stake our lives is the hidden treasure and that becomes the hidden drive of our lives. What we treasure and where our treasure is, there our hearts, passion, the center of our beings will be also.

Our lives will be healthier and happier when we identify the hidden treasure of our lives and bring it out into the light of day for full disclosure.  I submit to you that that we all have the same hidden drive, deep in our beings, if we can be still and quiet long enough to listen to the voice deep in each of us it is the voice of God inviting us into relationship with God.  The reign of God is a relationship with God which includes relationships with others.  A relationship with God, the awareness of God's love and acceptance comes to us unannounced and surprises us.  We are oblivious that God is seeking us and suddenly one moment we become profoundly aware of God's offer to love.  What is our relationship with God worth?  Is it worth staking our whole lives on it? Will we do anything, sell everything in order to have this treasure?

 How do we find this treasure?  Actually it finds us.  That is part of the message of the parable of the hidden treasure.  The man was going about his work routine plowing a field when the point of his plow uncovered the treasure.  Usually when we get into a seeker mode it is because what we have been doing to make us happy, content, to supposedly give meaning to life isn’t working.  What we don’t realize in all of this unsettledness is that long before we began seeking, behind all of our seeking, is God seeking us.  We may encounter God through Scripture, meditation, conversation with a friend or a stranger, the beauty of nature, the face of child, or maybe even in church.  We are not limited to just one event or situation that unearths this treasure.  What ever unearths the treasure seems always to surprise as the man in Jesus’ story was surprised when he found the hidden treasure.  One of the times my “plow” unearthed this hidden treasure of God’s love and care I responded by writing a prayer.  Here is the prayer I wrote upon discovering the hidden treasure of God’s love and presence in life.

God,
Your other name is Surprise! I hear you and see you in the faces and voices of my children.  One of the great joys in life is for me to call home and hear one of the children answer.  As soon as my voice is recognized, there is a radiance of sheer delight in the voice that says, “Hi, Dad!” I’m taken aback every time by how excited Melanie, Danita, or Brandon is to talk to me.  I’m glad for that.  I am astounded how such a small exchange makes such a large contribution to my joy.
           
It makes me want to take off my shoes.  For Moses it was the burning bush.  For Isaiah it was worship in the Temple.  For me, with the aid of a telephone, it’s a child’s voice that speaks unadulterated love, acceptance, and joy that causes me to know I am standing on holy ground. Thanks for the surprise, God.  What is even more surprising is that even when I anticipate being surprised, I am still surprised.  Your other name has to be Surprise! Amen.

The companion parable says the kingdom of heaven is like the person who goes in search of the finest pearls he can find.  When he finds one that is exceptionally fine, he sells all of his jewels, every possession he has in order to buy this one pearl because its value is priceless.  In this parable the man is a merchant intentionally in search of a fine pearl.  He is different from the man plowing.  The man plowing comes upon the treasure accidentally.  The merchant is searching and seeking.  God comes to some people when they are not searching or seeking.  Others are seeking what can give life meaning and purpose and they discover the pearl of God's love and they shift and reshape their thinking and their entire approach toward life so they can receive, experience and live God's wonderful love.  They are willing to get rid of many things in order to have one thing--the presence of God in their lives, guiding, directing, and instructing how they go about living.  What focus, what commitment--a willingness to get rid of everything else, all other attractions in order to have the singleness of vision to be aware of the presence of God, to be part of the reign of God. 

William Willimon told about a college experience he had during his junior year.  A friend invited Willimon to go with him on a weekend retreat called, "Exploring Christian Ministry" at a nearby women's college. Willimon was not necessarily that interested in exploring Christian ministry, but it was going to be an all-expenses-paid weekend at a women's college, with possibilities of exploring women, so that sounded good to him.

The first night there, four or five young pastors from South Carolina stood up and told them what it was like to be a Methodist pastor in South Carolina. One of the young pastors told about how a cross had been burned by the Ku Klux Klan in the front yard. Another had a concrete block thrown through his back window. Yet another had had his children beaten up on the school ground, bec ause word had gotten out in town that this pastor was a "nigger lover."

Willimon said he sat there, in his low, undergraduate sensibility, thinking to himself, "This is great! Where do I sign up? I didn't know being a Methodist minister was this interesting!"

Jesus is walking along a road one day. He is talking to people about the cost of discipleship. He tells them that, if they follow him, their own family could reject them. Everybody could turn against them. There might be imprisonment, beatings, worse. "There will be a cross involved," he tells them.
And guess what happened? Some, not nine out of ten average people, but some, took Jesus at his word, dropped everything they were doing, deserted their families (for all I know), let the fishing business go down the drain, turned over the tables at the accounting firm, and followed him. That's what the rule of God does to people who stumble upon it, Jesus says.

William Sloan Coffin was the chaplain at Yale University for many years.  He spoke at Yale graduation in 1971 reminding the graduates that their graduation put their lives in danger.

"Even if you win the 'rat race' you are still a rat," Coffin warned. At the beginning of your young lives, what race are you running? Is the race worth it?”  No matter what age we are, those are two important questions, “What race are you running?” and “Is the race worth it?” 

Fred Craddock, one of the best preachers of the modern era told about being a guest preacher and after worship visiting in the home of one of the families in the congregation.  They sat around after dinner and talked. The children played with the family dog, a large, long, narrow sort of dog.
"That's a full-blooded greyhound," the man of the house proudly told Craddock. "We got him after his racing days were finished. He is great with children."

The children rolled on his back, their head between his paws. He licked them affectionately. Well, eventually, it was time for the kids to go to bed. The parents gathered them up and made for the bedroom, leaving Craddock alone with the dog.             Craddock asked the dog, "What's it like to be a greyhound and race professionally? I have never been to a greyhound race myself."           

"It's not a bad life," said the greyhound. "They treat you like a king. Feed you well. I had it made down there in Florida, racing."

"Well why did you leave? Did you just age out? You don't look that old to me," Craddock said.

"No, I'm not old enough for retirement. I quit."

Craddock persisted, "Well, what made you quit?"

He replied, "Well, if you had ever been to a greyhound race, you might understand. In every greyhound race, all of the dogs line up, we are released, and then we follow a little white rabbit thing around the track. It's not really a rabbit, it's just some sort of stuffed thing that is white and is pulled around the track. We all chase it. One day, after a race, I got a close look at that rabbit. To my shock, I found out the rabbit wasn't real! That meant the race was not real. So I quit. I was almost ashamed to have spent so much of my life chasing a fake rabbit."  

So what race are you running?  What are you chasing?  Is it worth it?  When you stumble on the presence of God or the greatness of God finds you, what will you do?  How will you respond?