A sermon preached at St. Mary’s by Graham Low on 31st July 2024

We are fortunate to live in a part of the world where there is a reasonably robust and trustworthy banking system. If it were not so we would probably hide whatever money and valuables, we might have, and hope it would be safe. That was what happened for most people in New Testament times. Today’s first parable reveals how risky this can be: someone might find the treasure and steal it. It seems that a person of no great wealth (because he had to sell all he had to buy the field), finds someone else’s buried treasure, re-hides it, and rushes off to buy the field so that he might own the treasure as well as the field. The morality of this action is rather uncertain or even doubtful. It seems that the owner of the field is unaware of the treasure in his field. It seems likely that the treasure is the hard-earned cash of a relatively poor person. So this first of these two brief parables seems at one level to be about a rather ruthless landowner.

The second parable makes more sense when one recognizes that pearls were much more valuable in New Testament times than they are today. The pearl merchant would wish to maximize the difference between buying and selling pearls, and here including selling all that he had to achieve a big profit. We might also note here that the word for fine here – kalos – means things that are not just good but also noble, precious and beautiful.

As David mentioned last week the parables have a degree of ambiguity and openness about their interpretation and today’s are no exception. Among other things these two are about the joy evoked when we find something valuable, and not only in a financial sense, but also by finding joy in the kingdom, represented here by the treasure and the pearl. It is about joy now, it is about the actions of believers now. Although the kingdom may be hidden, as we read in immediately preceding verses, it can be found, and we are encouraged to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to find it. It has been wisely said that anyone who counts the cost of discipleship has completely failed to grasp the greatness of the reward.

We can at least say that there is nothing in these two parables to indicate directly that they are what Jesus thought would be the right way to act in everyday life. We may note that the protagonists in both of these parables enthusiastically sell all that they have. We may also remember that Matthew has already drawn our attention to parables in the previous chapter which indicate that those with wealth cannot enter the kingdom of God. Perhaps this is a prompt to ask ourselves the question: what would make you sell that you have have?

Today the Christian church remembers the life of Ignatius of Loyola. He was born into an aristocratic Basque family, educated as a soldier and as a courtier. In a battle against French forces at Pamplona in 1521 his leg was wounded by a cannon ball. During a lengthy recovery he read books on the lives of the saints and on Jesus. He abandoned his wealth and sought “to know God’s will and the grace to carry it out”. After many years of missionary activity he and his followers formed themselves into a religious community in Rome called the Jesuits. For the last 16 years of his life, Ignatius gradually shaped a missionary community of priests and lay brothers which continues worldwide today. From these early years a characteristic Ignatian spirituality developed. It involves day-by-day engagement with the mystery of God, as reveled in human history and experience, in Jesus Christ, in the scriptures, and in the life and worship of the Christian community. This engagement with the mystery of God gives shape to personal and corporate life, by integrating contemplation and action. Thus reflection on encounters with God in prayer and life form the basis on which choices are made. A mark of Ignatian Christian discipleship is grounded in service. Its origin is in the love of God. This discipleship is developed through the use of the principles Ignatius set out in his book called Spiritual Exercises. More about that another time. It seems more than likely that Ignatius was moved by parables, such as those we have heard today, to a life of witness to the ways of God and God’s kingdom. Amen.