What is my greatest treasure?

Sunday 17A 39^th August 2023

[Romans 8:28-30, Matthew 13:44-52]

Could we even begin to imagine the terror of having our children or partner kidnapped by the fanatical groups Boko Haram or ISIS? A recent television documentary showed this happening in parts of Africa, and to Yazidis in northern Iraq. How would we cope with the horror of not knowing where our family members had been taken? Were they still alive, as slaves, being routinely beaten or raped? Would we ever see them again?

Jesus announced the Good News that the Empire of God had begun: a living community that would outlast Rome’s powerful legions. People belonging to this Empire were said to be “redeemed”, as a first-century slave, or victims of ISIS or Boko Haram might be freed by paying a ransom. But today, claiming that we have been “redeemed” doesn’t mean much to us. It’s a dead metaphor. We may have been taught that this is why we should go to church or celebrate the Eucharist, but what does it mean in practice, especially for young people?

We might be touched more effectively by Jesus’ story of the buried treasure which a person found when working in someone else’s field. The only safe, legal way to get their hands on it is to buy that bit of land, so they sell everything to raise the money and get the treasure.

Today we see the same single-minded focus in young athletes, swimmers or musicians who hope to become champions. Even as children, they practice and train for many years. But what about us? Is there a treasure for which we hunger and strive with all our heart? If Jesus Good News that God’s Reign has begun doesn’t much excite us, is this because our generation is tired of endless arguments attempting to prove that “God” does or does not exist? Weary of such mental gymnastics, perhaps we need to look again at what Jesus was talking about: the deep hunger within us for friendship and love. Do we remember what life is like when we are deeply loved?

We cannot de-fine the Infinite One, but Jesus own actions and compassion showed that God is more approachable than the most loving of parents, and can be talked to as friend. Jesus used the child’s affectionate name “Daddy”, and invited us to pray to “Our Father in the skies”, without meaning that God is male, or is out there among the trillion galaxies. Jesus assumed that God is present everywhere, and as Infinite Consciousness is aware of all that happens to us. This is why Paul – in today’s reading from Romans – can say that God co-operates with all those who love God, “turning everything to their good.”

If this extraordinary claim doesn’t match out little experience of life, we need to recall that in order to believe the Good News, we need to “repent” (Greek metanoia), to get a new mind so as to see a picture far bigger than our little ego-centric world-view. As we grow closer to God we begin to see that the love of this Infinite Friend makes relatively trivial the many evils in our life. Whether they come from nature – sickness, weather events – or are inflicted by people, they can ultimately deepen us, making us more aware of God and compassionate towards others. Indeed, trusting that we have an infinite future in this Love, all our fears dissolve.

How can we grow deeper in this friendship? In the same ways that we deepen a human love relationship: by spending time with our Beloved; offering our self; listening; asking. For good reason, mystics in all ages and in other religious traditions have described their friendship with God in terms of sensual love, but many “religious” people do not recognise this treasure, stopping far short with commandments and rituals.

But we cannot be friend to God merely as individuals. Because all people are loved by God, we are all intimately linked. The community Jesus invites us to build comes alive to the extent that we care for each other, feed and clothe the needy; shelter the homeless; and abolish forever the scourge of war. Impossible tasks? Not when we find that every good deed, every act of kindness, no matter who performs it, is done in collaboration with this loving Partner who lives within us.

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