Matthew 13: 31-33; 44-52
What do you think … would Jesus love eBay or Craigslist? As you may know, eBay and Craigslist are kind of like online garage sales where you can advertize, bid upon --- in the case of eBay --- and buy virtually anything you can think of. Treasures can be found!
Now, to be clear, Jesus is not an avid collector of Star Wars memorabilia or a seller of knock-off Gucci purses or interested in used furniture. Rather in today's gospel our first impression from at least 2 of the parables could be that Jesus loves a good deal, like the deal found by Morace Park. Mr. Park is a British antiques dealer who, after paying $5 for an old film container on eBay, found inside a never-released seven-minute movie featuring Charlie Chaplin valued at $60,000. Or perhaps Jesus is talking about the deal found by Philip Gura, an American literature professor, who after paying $481 for a photograph of poet Emily Dickinson came to find out that it is just the second photo of Dickinson known to exist, which by the way, makes Gura's discovery priceless.
It seems that way does it not; Jesus is all about the joy that comes from discovering something valuable --- possibly priceless---while perusing piles of seemingly ordinary items.
But yet, I wonder if that is what Jesus means in today's gospel? In Matthew chapter 13, Jesus tells us of a man who stumbles across a pile of treasure buried in a field. This man is so taken with his discovery, so overwhelmed at its value, that he sells off every other item in his possession to purchase the land and make the treasure his own. You might call it overkill. You may even wonder why this man cannot share it with the original landowner. But Jesus says, "This is a great deal."
We also hear about a merchant who makes his living buying and selling pearls and spends his days scouring the markets for the best of the best. Upon finally finding it, the man mortgages his home and sells his cars on Craigslist all to purchase a single, sparkling pearl. We might think it a waste, and an unsound financial investment but not at all in the eyes of Jesus. For him, such sacrifice for such treasure is well worth the investment.
So, is that what this lesson is about? Life is all about shopping around until we find what we are looking for? In the parables Jesus tells us that the very reign and rule of God, the loving and life-changing activity of God in heaven, has broken into our world and is available now. It is here to be discovered and embraced. Yet, like a Honus Wagner baseball card sitting in a shoebox at some grandmother's garage sale, the kingdom of heaven is found in unassuming places and encountered in unlikely ways. Furthermore, Jesus is suggesting, whatever it costs you to "get" it is well worth it.
Nevertheless a clear danger is to think that somehow Jesus is suggesting that we are to be constant religious shoppers trying to discern the presence of the tiny bit of Kingdom, and when we think we see it, sell everything in order to "have" it. Do you see where that is dangerous? It seems that we think Jesus is saying that we all need to set out on another quest to have something else.
But that is not quite right because what, though, is the quality of the Kingdom? When found, as we see in the parable, no one has to tell the pearl merchant or the finder of the treasure to sell everything to buy the field, or the pearl. Rather they cannot help themselves. In fact, the Kingdom is something that, when found, it owns us, not the other way around. That's why no one who "puts hand to the plow and then turns back is fit for the Kingdom of God." If we can turn back, if we can walk away from the field, if we can walk away from the pearl, if we keep going back looking for more, then what we have found is not the Kingdom.
Rather the question may be in what unlikely places do we find God's power and presence? Some think the key to discovering God is in getting mystical and otherworldly. They might espouse some process of escaping the trappings of flesh and world and ascending to some higher plane where God abides. Yet, that doesn't seem to jibe with Jesus' teaching of the kingdom being uncovered in the ordinary, now does it?
And of course there are others who might argue that the key to connecting with the kingdom is being good enough to gain admittance. You know, help enough old ladies across the street, donate enough money to charity, make a lot of people smile, make very few people cry and when your days are done boom --- you are in the kingdom. But that seems at odds with Jesus' own description of the kingdom as treasure being stumbled upon in a field as if it's something freely given.
No, encountering God, experiencing God's power and being caught up in God's love, being caught up in the Kingdom of God is not stumbled upon while shopping on eBay or Craigslist. It must be things we can encounter in the ordinary, and access easily.
So what is the most ordinary place that we can access easily? What about here? Is this the place where we encounter the kingdom? Think about it for a moment. Jesus' ultimate point in the parable is that he himself was the means by which the kingdom had come to Earth. It was in Jesus that the love of God, the power of God and a reconciled, right relationship with God could all be received. Christ and his work on the cross are the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price. And this is the place where that very same Jesus is to be encountered today.
Do we believe that when we gather here, in this unassuming place, that the greatest treasure in the history of God's universe is here for the taking? Do we believe that when God's Word is read here, preached and sung here, that Jesus is speaking here? Do we believe that when we hear, "We are forgiven," "We are forever a member of God's family" or "Take and eat this bread that is body, take and drink this wine that is blood" that the power and promises of Jesus Christ are taking hold in us and doing something miraculous in us?
To be honest with you I have traveled the world and seen many beautiful churches, more gorgeous than this one --- maybe you have, too. We have seen sights in nature, beaches, mountains, fields and valleys that are more beautiful and spiritual uplifting than we can find on the other side of Highways 410 and 1604. And again to be honest with you this place --- like any other --- is filled to the brim with imperfect people and the message of forgiveness and hope to all people we are trying to share to an unbelieving world sounds like absolute insanity. The apostle Paul said as much himself. "...the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." (1 Corinthians 1:18).
So I admit finding the Kingdom of God in the ordinary like the Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd may seem crazy. But let me ask you something else, what if the work of the kingdom of God is not only found here but is also found in us? We are baptized, believing followers of Jesus Christ, then the Scriptures tell us that we are now a living, breathing "field," filled with the priceless treasures of Jesus.
Yes, we with all of our past mistakes and present problems. We are filled with the truth of Christ that can change someone else's eternity. We are filled with the Holy Spirit who has given us the same compassion as Christ and a desire, like Christ, to bless others. Yes, we are now part of a royal priesthood whose very presence has the power to "...proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." (1 Peter 2:9).
Yes, we as a community and each of us individually as believers are the unlikely, ordinary and easily accessible places where the greatest treasure in the world can be found and encountered. We --- you--- are the online auction where a hurting world can bid on trash and receive untold treasure in the form of forgiveness, unlimited and life-unending. But realize that with that comes an incredible responsibility for yes, it comes at a cost. Taking ownership of all that God has in store for us through Jesus Christ will come at the cost of confessing our brokenness and our need for a savior. It means saying goodbye to a life of wandering, a life of shopping around, and living a life of worshiping Jesus. It will mean that our days of searching are done and finding peace in the fact that we have arrived in God's family.
May this be a place where the treasure of Christ is easily encountered. May the treasure of Christ be accessible for the world, in us the field of Christ. May you and I, wanderer and seeker, find this treasure, be possessed by it, use what we have learned and remind the world, that it is not to be found in expected places; and no matter what the price tag seems to be, it is free and it is definitely, undeniably worth the cost. Amen.

