8.1.20 - Parable of the Pearl, the "Presence" of Catholicism, and Intro to God the Father

The OT reading is 1 Kings.

Overview: Where is the Book of 1 Kings?

After Exodus, Joshua takes over for Moses and leads the Israelites into the Promised Land. This is the Book of Joshua, which is mostly about the conquest of Canaan. The succeeding generations fail to remember God’s covenant, they become ungrateful, disobedient, and idolatrous, causing them to be oppressed by their enemies. They plead for help and God sends them “warrior judges” to deliver them from their oppressors. This period of roughly 150 years is in the Book of Judges (there were 11; best known: Gideon, Deborah, Samson, and Samuel).

Soon, the Israelites want a king like the other countries, so the last judge/prophet, Samuel, helped this transition. This is covered in the book of 1st Samuel, which also covers the rule of the first king, Saul. King Saul starts out good but turns bad. 2 Samuel begins the reign of King David, which lasts 40 years.

The book of 1st Kings begins the reign of David’s son, King Solomon, which also lasts 40 years. Today’s reading is after King David has died and the young King Solomon takes over.

1 Kings 3:5,7-12

The LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.” Solomon answered: “O LORD, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed my father David; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong. For who is able to govern this vast people of yours?”

The LORD was pleased that Solomon made this request. So God said to him: “Because you have asked for this— not for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies, but for understanding so that you may know what is right— I do as you requested. I give you a heart so wise and understanding that there has never been anyone like you up to now, and after you there will come no one to equal you.”

Q: What is wisdom?

A: Wisdom is knowing how to use knowledge for the good of others. It is to see with God’s perspective, which you can only do if you have God involved. Another description would be … Wisdom = knowledge + good/love + humility.

Psalm 119: 129-30

O LORD, I have said that my part is to keep your words. The law of your mouth is to me more precious than thousands of gold and silver pieces.

Wonderful are your decrees; therefore I observe them. The revelation of your word sheds light, giving understanding to the simple.

Gospel: This is the last of the Last Kingdom Parables in Matthew 13. They are quite short but they have great meaning.

Matthew 13:44-46,51-52

Jesus said to his disciples:

“The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.

“Do you understand all these things?”

They answered, “Yes.”

And he replied, “Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old.”

Q: What is the treasure?

A: The Kingdom. The Kingdom is also Jesus Christ, for Jesus is nothing less than the doorway to the Kingdom.

Q: Why did the person who discovered the treasure in the field bury it again? Wouldn't most people who found a treasure just take it?

A: The Kingdom cannot be stolen.

Q: Why did this person sell everything to buy the field?

A: The Kingdom must be worth more than whatever earth has to offer. Think of Solomon’s story. He was asked what he wanted and he chose the spiritual over the material. God rewarded him with both.

Q: Why did the merchant sell everything he had to buy the one pearl? Even if it was of great value, what can he do with a pearl? He can't eat or wear it.

A: It appears this “merchant” had been searching for this “pearl without price” for a long time. It is the same. Some happen upon the treasure seemingly by chance, and others find it after searching long and hard.

Either Scott Hahn or John Bergsma said this parable was a favorite of Protestants who had converted to Catholicism – the pearl was the Catholic Church. Both were protestant ministers and are outstanding teachers/ preachers.

Q: What is a "scribe who is instructed in the kingdom of heaven," and why does a wise scribe bring out the old and the new? Old and new what?

A: The scribes were the theologians of that time. The wisest scribes used everything at their disposal to understand and teach the word of God. Jesus compares them to the head of a household. In those days, such a household would refer to the father of a large household with land, servants, etc. For every project the head of the household would tackle over the years, he would look in his storeroom first and see what he could use (supplies, tools, etc.) and then purchase what was needed to complete the new project (…think of your workbench). Likewise, the wise scribe is to search the scriptures of old – from Moses and the prophets, and combine them with what Jesus was teaching, to understand what was happening. Wisdom was indeed taught in the old scriptures, but if they read them carefully they would see that Jesus was fulfilling the OT prophecies. In the two parables, “Thy Kingdom Come” - Jesus Christ in person - is the treasure and the pearl. As Augustine later said, “the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is unveiled in the New.”

Past, Present, Future

This has much to do with being Catholic. We spoke last week of how our minds can travel into the past and the future, but that the goal of this gift/capability is to serve us in the present, because the present is the only reality.

Q: Why is the present the only reality?

A: It is the only time and place that anything happens or can happen.

Q: Choose past, present, or future:

• When can you love someone (verb – to do something selfless for someone else)?

• When can you help someone in need?

• When can you build someone up?

• When can you forgive?

• When can you apologize?

• When can you try harder?

• When can you mend relations?

• When can you get even?

• When can you hurt someone?

• When can you tear someone down?

• When can you gossip? Or participate in rumors?

• What’s another name for gossip? (murder, via character assassination)

• When can you hate someone?

• When can you reflect on what kind of person you are?

• When can you change directions in your life?

• When can you make a difference? In your relationships? In your job? In the world?

• When can you communicate with God or pray for guidance?

So you see, the debate between good and bad that plays out in our consciences must then play out in the world. The incarnation of love and wisdom from God into our spirits is just the first step; the next step is the key: the incarnation from our spirit into our lives.

I say this is more of a Catholic thing because Christian denominations (not Catholic) tend to have more of a one-and-done-faith thing going on. But what Jesus did was not only open up heaven for us, he opened up a relationship with the Trinity here and now through the HS. And that relationship must now play out in our relationships with everyone in our lives. That’s how we change and learn and grow. It’s not an easy journey – one-and-done-faith would be easier – but easier is not what Jesus came for and it’s not what Jesus taught. It’s what we do with our spiritual gifts that matters. We incarnate our beliefs into our lives, and my point tonight is that can only happen in the present; not later, not next week, not in the past. It needs to become part of us, and who we are is what we are in the present. This is our developmental link to eternity. The great news is that it’s a one-way journey with a Godward trajectory. You can’t fall off as long as you’re trying to stay on.

Q: What does it mean to stop and smell the roses?

A1: How much do we really pay attention to the present? How much are we missing?

A2: Speaking of paying attention (which can only be done in the present), some have equated love to attention. They say that the quality of one’s love (or friendship or whatever) is directly proportional to the quality of the attention we give to them. How powerful is that?

Q: What is the proverbial response to mid-life crises, and why is it the definition of insanity?

A: To leave your current life behind to go find a better one. The insanity is that you take the same problems with you. They’re internal. The insanity is trying to find meaning in this world instead of putting meaning into this world.

Q: If you were Satan, what would you attempt to convince humans to believe about the past, present, and future?

A: I came up with five things, but feel free to jump in to argue… or add.

1. To avoid the present at all costs. Then God will never be in their lives.

2. Over time, people will not know what to do in the present so they will forever be looking to do something else.

3. Create as many fascinating distractions as possible that appeal to human ego.

4. Make procrastination a beautiful habit. Every “good” idea is tomorrow, or just later. For now, I will just do this _______ (distracting, gratifying, you-name-it).

5. Make them think that apathy is intellectually acceptable. Acting like you could care less about what’s going on around you is easy.

Q: So then, what about the “Kingdom Parables”? Aren’t they all about the end of time, about Heaven and the next life? Or about the present?

A: We tend to think that God’s only agenda is to get humans to the finish line so we can go live with Him, which has the danger of becoming a kind of escapism. In fact, God’s #1 priority is not about us coming to live with Him, but about Him coming to live with us. Developing a relationship with Him here, now, in this life, is what this life is for; and that is what prepares us for what comes next.

In the Lord’s Prayer, this is also what is meant by, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On Earth as it is in Heaven.”

God the Father I

Side note: when God is referred to as He, that is simply customary biblical language, and similar to how Man refers to mankind. God is not any gender because God is spiritual; nor is the Son/Logos or the Holy Spirit; nor are the angels. Gender is a human, physical necessity for the continuance of the human race and for populating heaven.

We have discussed who Jesus Christ the Son is: the Logos-Mind-Word of God, through whom the seen and unseen universe was made.

We have discussed who the Holy Spirit is: the Will and Love of the Father who imparts (breathes) Life and Grace.

Now it's time to discuss the Father, Yahweh (the "I AM"), the Author of existence.

EXISTENCE

As God said to Moses in Exodus, “I AM.” He is. That’s why we say that, even though God is the origin and source of Love, what we are really saying is God IS love. When we say the very idea of justice comes from God, we are really saying God IS justice. When we say all truth comes from God, it is because God IS truth.

Since all existence or being come from him, then, in some way, He IS existence or being. But not like we are beings. The very nature of “being” comes from Him.

TIME

God is not limited by time. He knows the past, present, and future as one reality. In time, we know a story (from a movie, book, or about our own lives) from the beginning, to the middle, to the end; in logical sequence. God sees it all at the same time.

Q: Does the fact that God knows the future affect our free will?

A: Not at all. If you choose do something, He will have seen that. But then if you decide NOT to do that thing, then He will have seen that. It doesn't change your free will.

Speaking of learning about God, one of the ways to better understand something unknowable is to look at behaviors and attributes. Just like we can best judge people by their actions, that’s what we will try and do next with God.

Q: What are some of God’s attributes?

A: Justice, love, and truth, to name several.

These attributes can also be thought of as universal spiritual principles - or spiritual laws of nature.

Next week, we will expand this list and start defining them. It is part of getting to know God.

Ron