This past holiday weekend, like every one on the calendar, provided endless opportunities to SAVE! SAVE! SAVE!. If Congress has legislated a postal holiday there is an equal and AMAZING BLOWOUT! or EXTRAVAGANZA! to spend money you would have otherwise been earning that day. Just in case you can't make the actual EXTREME SALES EVENT! you can take in a PRE-HOLIDAY or POST-HOLIDAY SALES EVENT! I believe I have actually seen the before/during/after television sales campaigns inadvertently converge late at night, creating a sort of time warp shopping wonderland in which people are always giddy with delight over FANTASTIC SAVINGS! I seriously wonder if, or why, anyone would pay full price for anything anymore.
But apparently there is a story, told long, long ago, from a time since past, about a soul who paid full price, and then some, for something so glorious that it could not be passed up. Matthew's gospel recounts Jesus' words in the Parable of the Pearl of Great Value. "The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls; on finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it (Matthew 13:45-46)."
Today's shoppers would call this man a fool. Why pay full price when waiting a few days, maybe a few weeks at the most, will net you the same product and keep more money in your pocket to spend elsewhere. Only a fool would pay full price, and only a bigger fool, or a crazy person, would pay more than full price. That's the problem if you let a merchant know how much you want something. They take you for all you are worth. Never let your guard down when you are trying to be a savvy shopper.
But our Biblical shopper was probably as savvy as they come because he was a merchant himself, someone who knew the ins and outs of smart bargaining and smarter purchasing for resale better than most. It's quite clear that he was on the hunt for fine peals because he knew what he was looking for and was eager to find them. He'd had success on his quests before and intended this venture to be equally successful. This merchant was no novice, but a seasoned professional striking out on a trip designed to continue building his business and his professional reputation.
Imagine his surprise then, upon discovering this one, magnificent pearl of great worth, an unexpected treasure-among-treasures right there before his eyes, but in another merchant's possession. What should he do? How should he proceed with the situation? He knows this pearl is meant for him, but he doesn't have enough money with which to purchase it. He must go home, gather all his resources and pray that no one else purchases the pearl before he can return. His one hope rests on the merchant holding his pearl (for he has now come to regard the pearl as his own) seeming oblivious to the value of the treasure he holds in his stock.
So our merchant travels home as fast as he can, counts his money, sells literally everything he owns to make up the difference and hurries back to his fellow merchant to retrieve his pearl. The other merchant feels he has made an incredible deal, selling a single pearl for an outrageously large sum, much more than he would have ever expected. He is quite surprised that his colleague was willing to pay so much, but he doesn't question the fellow's motive or integrity.
It is an interesting sort of twist, to realize that the search for the kingdom of heaven isn't about making the best business deal or appearing wise in its transaction. The kingdom of heaven isn't about putting our nose to the grindstone, living in the real world or taking advantage of whatever life offers us either. The kingdom of heaven appears more to be about discovering the mystery and wonder of God's presence among us , for us, when we bump into it on an ordinary day, even during a simple shopping trip.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Faith Talk
The ABC network recently offered up what appeared to be an interesting program promising discussion about faith in the United States. While I prepared for a yard sale I was hosting on my front lawn the next day, I observed several women considering a vocation in a cloistered convent, statistics indicating how many of us say we believe in God (91%) and a young high school woman's anguish for being ridiculed by teachers and students because she is an atheist. I turned the channel as previews of the next segment's exorcism began. At that point I also wondered if this was a rerun of a program I had already seen. Either I had seen it before or this attempt at addressing faith dialogue in our country completely missed the mark as so many others before it had.
A friend also saw parts of the program and concluded that whoever conceived and developed it was not a person who embraced her or his own faith perspective. I agreed and we also came to the conclusion that religious issues sell if they are limited, extreme views that can be sensationalized. The closest anyone came to discussing faith was a man connecting these values to appreciating nature and falling in love. Billed as a discussion of faith, these two hours did a better job of talking around faith, almost avoiding it all together. Perhaps in an unintentional way this show did address faith dialogue in the United States for what it is, existing only in extreme forms and carried on by people who don't really have a chosen, growing faith perspective. Perhaps now is the time to change that.
One of the things I love best about Jesus is how he drew people into talking about what they believed. He spent a good deal of time doing the talking among his preaching, storytelling and sharing of parables, but he also asked a whole lot of questions. He asked people what they wanted from him before he healed them. He asked his disciples who people said he was, then asked them directly who they believed him to be. His, "I'll answer your question after you answer mine," style with the Pharisees almost appears comical to us because they fell into the trap so easily and so frequently. I don't believe Jesus was trying to trap them. I suspect he hoped that if they stopped to consider their own motives, and how Jesus' message may connect with their own faith, they may come to appreciate how different the present and the future Israel could be. Jesus asked lots of questions, not to elicit specific responses, but as a tool to help people understand their own faith as it existed, exploring it more fully in the process of seeing where they were heading.
Which brings us back to the preaching, storytelling and parables for which Jesus is also well-known. As Father Mulcahy, chaplain to the fictional MASH 4077 unit, replied when complimented on a sermon, "You can't miss when you've got good material." Once primed to think about what they believed, the people responded to Jesus' words because it kepi them thinking, stirred up their faith and expanded their vision of who this God of Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Jacob, and now, Jesus, was to them on a daily basis. Jesus talked about who was blessed, how they were salt and light, and that the kingdom of God already existed among them. Imagine the conversations as friends and families came together after Jesus had preached or taught in their communities.
The Biblical Epistles tell us that conversation continued and expanded even further as the early church grew. The Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians, as well as the individuals Timothy, Titus and Philemon, all received letters from Paul discussing specific issues each had raised in long distance dialogue with him. Christianity was an exuberant, vibrant faith movement that took root, survived and flourished when other religious groups did not last. Surely God's grace and the Holy Spirit moved among these people striving to integrate the teachings of their savior into their hearts and lives. But even as they aimed to embody their beliefs they talked about what their faith meant to them, how they applied its tenets in their communities. When confusion, frustration or roadblocks occurred, the conversation didn't end. This is to say that the faith of the early church wasn't blindly accepted. It was lived as Gospel.
Valiant effort that this latest attempt to explore faith in the United States was meant to be, it didn't show viewers that there are people out here who think about what they believe, aim to grow in those beliefs and live them each day. Are these ideas part of your faith experience? Who do you talk with about your faith? Who challenges you to educate yourself, to grow, to dig inside yourself for the richness that God's grace provides? How can we continue to hear Jesus' questions, listen for his stories and lessons, and continue to talk to each other about what they mean to us?
A friend also saw parts of the program and concluded that whoever conceived and developed it was not a person who embraced her or his own faith perspective. I agreed and we also came to the conclusion that religious issues sell if they are limited, extreme views that can be sensationalized. The closest anyone came to discussing faith was a man connecting these values to appreciating nature and falling in love. Billed as a discussion of faith, these two hours did a better job of talking around faith, almost avoiding it all together. Perhaps in an unintentional way this show did address faith dialogue in the United States for what it is, existing only in extreme forms and carried on by people who don't really have a chosen, growing faith perspective. Perhaps now is the time to change that.
One of the things I love best about Jesus is how he drew people into talking about what they believed. He spent a good deal of time doing the talking among his preaching, storytelling and sharing of parables, but he also asked a whole lot of questions. He asked people what they wanted from him before he healed them. He asked his disciples who people said he was, then asked them directly who they believed him to be. His, "I'll answer your question after you answer mine," style with the Pharisees almost appears comical to us because they fell into the trap so easily and so frequently. I don't believe Jesus was trying to trap them. I suspect he hoped that if they stopped to consider their own motives, and how Jesus' message may connect with their own faith, they may come to appreciate how different the present and the future Israel could be. Jesus asked lots of questions, not to elicit specific responses, but as a tool to help people understand their own faith as it existed, exploring it more fully in the process of seeing where they were heading.
Which brings us back to the preaching, storytelling and parables for which Jesus is also well-known. As Father Mulcahy, chaplain to the fictional MASH 4077 unit, replied when complimented on a sermon, "You can't miss when you've got good material." Once primed to think about what they believed, the people responded to Jesus' words because it kepi them thinking, stirred up their faith and expanded their vision of who this God of Abraham, Isaac, Sarah, Jacob, and now, Jesus, was to them on a daily basis. Jesus talked about who was blessed, how they were salt and light, and that the kingdom of God already existed among them. Imagine the conversations as friends and families came together after Jesus had preached or taught in their communities.
The Biblical Epistles tell us that conversation continued and expanded even further as the early church grew. The Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians and Philippians, as well as the individuals Timothy, Titus and Philemon, all received letters from Paul discussing specific issues each had raised in long distance dialogue with him. Christianity was an exuberant, vibrant faith movement that took root, survived and flourished when other religious groups did not last. Surely God's grace and the Holy Spirit moved among these people striving to integrate the teachings of their savior into their hearts and lives. But even as they aimed to embody their beliefs they talked about what their faith meant to them, how they applied its tenets in their communities. When confusion, frustration or roadblocks occurred, the conversation didn't end. This is to say that the faith of the early church wasn't blindly accepted. It was lived as Gospel.
Valiant effort that this latest attempt to explore faith in the United States was meant to be, it didn't show viewers that there are people out here who think about what they believe, aim to grow in those beliefs and live them each day. Are these ideas part of your faith experience? Who do you talk with about your faith? Who challenges you to educate yourself, to grow, to dig inside yourself for the richness that God's grace provides? How can we continue to hear Jesus' questions, listen for his stories and lessons, and continue to talk to each other about what they mean to us?
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