Parables - The Pearl
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace from our loving God.
Let us pray …
O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: Increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that, with you as our ruler and guide, we may so pass through things temporal, that we lose not the things eternal; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Book of Common Prayer - Lectionary Page
I would ask you to read the Pearl parable from Matthew 13:45-46 (Refer to Snodgrass and Kendall).
I am always fascinated by how Jesus uses so few words to describe a concept about faith. In the God’s Word translation, Jesus uses 31 words to describe what the Kingdom of God is like and how we could respond.
We have a jeweler who finds the most perfect pearl, did not react to anyone but went and sold all that he had and bought the pearl.
The Kingdom of God is:
The most perfect thing that can happen to us
So great that we want to own it ourselves
Worth all that we have to get it
Faith and a relationship with God (the Trinity) is the most precious thing in our lives. Faith continually grows and with others grows into a place that transforms the individual and the world.
Further, according to Kendall, it is not only us who are seeking the Kingdom but also God seeking us. We are beloved by God who will “spend” the universe to seek us out and take us as God’s own.
We have to let others know the Kingdom. Snodgrass explains it as “Christians have the task of showing the new age in the midst of the old. That same Holy Spirit active with Jesus must be evident showing the compassion, the acceptance, the forgiveness, the justice, and the joy that marked Jesus’ own ministry. Without that we have no right to speak of the presence of the kingdom.” (p. 253)
May we be blessed as we journey with the Holy Spirit.
May God be with you.
Sincerely,
Dave Eitland
Photo Credit - istockphoto.com
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