THE SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME – A

1 Kings 3:5, 7-12
Romans 8:28-30
Matthew 13: 44-52

When the first words of the gospel wash over you this Sunday you might for a moment wonder if the proclaimer isn’t on the wrong page. You may poke the person next to you and whisper, “Didn’t we hear this one last week?” After all, for the third Sunday in a row, the phrase the kingdom of heaven is like occurs several times in the pericope. And having heard the phrase so many times you may be tempted to tune out. After all, how many things can the kingdom of heaven be like? What we are actually experiencing in these gospels is akin to gazing at a splendid jewel. We would make a mistake were to we to think that one glance could take in the whole gem. Fine diamonds have many facets. Light glints differently from each one.

We might be tempted to think that when Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like, each simile sums up the entire reality. But listen more closely and you will see that facet is apt. Jesus is talking about different aspects of the one reality. He is tying into human experience and inviting us to make a leap into mystery, the wonder of how God works in our lives and how we respond.

Do you remember the first moment you began to believe? Do you remember the first time you took the Good News to heart and decided it was meant for you? That was the first moment you accepted the wondrous fact of God’s love for you, the first moment you believed that you were purchased at a great price, and that your destiny is eternal. That was the moment you met Jesus and heard his invitation to follow him. What difference did that make? Where does the truth rank in terms of importance in your life?

The first two parables today tell of people, in one case happening upon, and, in the other, finding as a result of careful searching, finding something of great value that is worth selling everything else in order to buy the trove. Sometimes I think that were we to hear God reigns when each time we hear the kingdom of heaven is like, we would be closer to Jesus’ intent. These parables are all about God’s desire to be in intimate relationship with the ones he has created, with you and with me. If one is searching for that relationship as one is who is struggling to find meaning in life, that is one thing. If one has a sudden awakening out of the blue, so to speak, that is another. The end result is the same, that life will never be the same again. And everything that formerly was held in importance can seem like so much dust. What we might miss, however, is that that reaction, that conversion is exactly what God longs to see in the human heart. That is what Jesus expects from those he invites to be his disciples. Think of the encounter between Jesus and the rich person who asked: What must I do to inherit everlasting life? If you remember their dialogue, you remember that Jesus is amazed at the goodness of the person who has striven all his life to keep the commandments. Jesus looks on him with love, which is another way of saying that the man spoke truth. Jesus invites the man into the perfection of his ways: Go sell what you have and give to the poor and come and follow me! And remember what happens next. The person goes away sad. Why? Because he had much wealth and couldn’t imagine himself without it. In other words, he found the treasure, he found the pearl of great price, but couldn’t sell everything else in order to possess it.

Do you remember the song from Oklahoma? The line reads: With me it’s all or nothing/ it’s all or nothing at all. That is not far from what Jesus is saying. Poverty must be part of the response. That’s what Francis of Assisi discovered and invited his band of brothers to learn as well. Add to the idea of poverty the challenge Jesus issues to those who would be his disciples to take up their crosses everyday and follow him and you begin to see how demanding Jesus’ call is. And how little sense it makes – in worldly terms. Which my also explain why so often people who had heard Jesus went away shaking their heads and muttering: Who can do this? Jesus’ response? With humans it is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

That brings us to the other side of the kingdom of heaven is like coin. God’s coming reign is like that net thrown into the sea. All kinds of fish are caught in it and hauled to shore. The more evidence the Church gives of being select in terms of who is welcome at the table, the clearer this aspect of the parables is denied. Jesus said: Come to me all you who are weary and I will refresh you. Notice that he said all. None of the categories into which we cast people and make them unacceptable apply. All. As soon as we say surely Jesus doesn’t mean him, her, or them, we aver that we haven’t learned the lesson and probably place ourselves outside the pale. Come to me all of you is that net again. All kinds will be caught up in the wonder of the telling. It’s up to God to make the determinations who are the wicked and who the righteous. And I suspect we might gasp at the recognition of some in either camp.

It amazes me that when Jesus asks: Do you understand all these things, the response is such a ready “Yes.” Perhaps that’s why Jesus then says, maybe not. The hearer has to ponder and pray over these parables in order to decipher their meaning and determine the response. The hearer has to put the parables in the context of God’s actions from the beginning and ask: How shall I respond? The more daunting the response seems, the more one is tempted to wonder who can do this, the closer one is to standing in amazement at the call and recognizing the wonder of God’s grace that empowers.

That’s why we move to the table of the Eucharist to give thanks and experience the transformation. It is not just the bread and wine that are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ, but so also are the assembly transformed into the Body of Christ. The Eucharistic Bread will be broken and distributed to be taken and eaten. A caution. Those who do so must allow the same things to happen to them. That’s what the kingdom of heaven is like.

Sincerely,

Didymus