"The Advent of the Redeemer" - A Sermon on Matthew 13 by Paul Rorem
Originally preached on St. Ambrose day (Dec. 7): a reading from the Gospel according to St Matthew, the 13th chapter.
Jesus Said, “Let anyone with ears listen! The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, 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.”
The Word of the Lord.
The text is a familiar bit of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God, but perhaps we can again hear something new in it. “Let anyone with ears listen!”
The images are well known – the treasure hidden in a field, the pearl of great price – but the usual way we picture the scene is not the good news of the season.
Usually we picture ourselves as the central character in these scenes – the one who finds the treasure, the one who buys the priceless pearl. But how does that fit you, or me, when it comes to the kingdom of heaven? Yes, that’s what we need and want; but if it is hidden, how do you know where to look? You are searching, but where? And, if you were in the right field, would you know what this treasure is if you could find it? What is this “kingdom of heaven”? Worse still, even if you knew what you had found, would you give up all that you have for it? Would you sell everything for the one pearl?
If it all depends on us as the human star of this story, the prospects of a happy ending are not good. Worst of all, whenever we do have a glimpse of the kingdom and we grab on to it, we cannot seem to hold on, and it slips away again.
When we are honest about ourselves and our abilities, we can admit that we are not sure where to look or what to seek; we are not so confident that we would give up everything for one thing; and certainly not that we could hold on to it forever. No one could, not one.
Well, there was one. No, not St. Ambrose, but his creative flexibility in interpreting scripture can help us see this text anew.
When we cast ourselves at the center of the text, as the one who is supposed to do things right, the news is not good but bad. But there was one who did it right, thank God, and now we can welcome the coming of the redeemer.
There was one who gave up all that he had, to enter this world’s field, “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and took the form of a servant.” God’s own self has claimed this field, has given everything up, every heavenly joy and then every earthly comfort, for this one pearl of great price: finding us, claiming us, buying us, treasuring us, saving us. You see, from that point of view, when you give up the leading role and indeed repent of it, and give it over to Christ’s coming into the scene, then things turn out differently. Then, you’re the treasure, you are the pearl. The kingdom of heaven is that you’ve been lost but are being found, you’ve been tarnished but are being polished, you’ve been buried but are being treasured.
The full name of the season before Christmas is “The Advent of the Redeemer,” and the message this morning is that this redeemer has come to find you and buy you back, to cherish you and to treasure you with joy as the pearl of great price. That’s the good news of this text and all of our church seasons.
Further, it may not yet be clear even to you yourself where your value is, but know this: you are being found and treasured, not to be saved like a pearl in a vault but to be invested in the ongoing work of the redeemer for others. Indeed, perhaps you will feel spent and used up, but you are nevertheless to be preserved and treasured, forever.
St. Ambrose saw Christ in scriptural places we might not even think to look; and he captured this central role for the coming of the redeemer in his hymn, “Savior of the Nations, Come.” There is one verse not in this Presbyterian hymnal that we have here:
God the Father’s precious Son
Girds himself in flesh to run
For the trophies of our souls,
Longer than this round earth rolls.
Amen.
Jesus Said, “Let anyone with ears listen! The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, 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.”
The Word of the Lord.
The text is a familiar bit of Jesus’ teaching about the kingdom of God, but perhaps we can again hear something new in it. “Let anyone with ears listen!”
The images are well known – the treasure hidden in a field, the pearl of great price – but the usual way we picture the scene is not the good news of the season.
Usually we picture ourselves as the central character in these scenes – the one who finds the treasure, the one who buys the priceless pearl. But how does that fit you, or me, when it comes to the kingdom of heaven? Yes, that’s what we need and want; but if it is hidden, how do you know where to look? You are searching, but where? And, if you were in the right field, would you know what this treasure is if you could find it? What is this “kingdom of heaven”? Worse still, even if you knew what you had found, would you give up all that you have for it? Would you sell everything for the one pearl?
If it all depends on us as the human star of this story, the prospects of a happy ending are not good. Worst of all, whenever we do have a glimpse of the kingdom and we grab on to it, we cannot seem to hold on, and it slips away again.
When we are honest about ourselves and our abilities, we can admit that we are not sure where to look or what to seek; we are not so confident that we would give up everything for one thing; and certainly not that we could hold on to it forever. No one could, not one.
Well, there was one. No, not St. Ambrose, but his creative flexibility in interpreting scripture can help us see this text anew.
When we cast ourselves at the center of the text, as the one who is supposed to do things right, the news is not good but bad. But there was one who did it right, thank God, and now we can welcome the coming of the redeemer.
There was one who gave up all that he had, to enter this world’s field, “who did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and took the form of a servant.” God’s own self has claimed this field, has given everything up, every heavenly joy and then every earthly comfort, for this one pearl of great price: finding us, claiming us, buying us, treasuring us, saving us. You see, from that point of view, when you give up the leading role and indeed repent of it, and give it over to Christ’s coming into the scene, then things turn out differently. Then, you’re the treasure, you are the pearl. The kingdom of heaven is that you’ve been lost but are being found, you’ve been tarnished but are being polished, you’ve been buried but are being treasured.
The full name of the season before Christmas is “The Advent of the Redeemer,” and the message this morning is that this redeemer has come to find you and buy you back, to cherish you and to treasure you with joy as the pearl of great price. That’s the good news of this text and all of our church seasons.
Further, it may not yet be clear even to you yourself where your value is, but know this: you are being found and treasured, not to be saved like a pearl in a vault but to be invested in the ongoing work of the redeemer for others. Indeed, perhaps you will feel spent and used up, but you are nevertheless to be preserved and treasured, forever.
St. Ambrose saw Christ in scriptural places we might not even think to look; and he captured this central role for the coming of the redeemer in his hymn, “Savior of the Nations, Come.” There is one verse not in this Presbyterian hymnal that we have here:
God the Father’s precious Son
Girds himself in flesh to run
For the trophies of our souls,
Longer than this round earth rolls.
Amen.
