First reading: 1 Kings 3:5,7-12
Psalm: Ps 119:57,72,76-77,127-130
Epistle: Romans 8:28-30
Gospel: Matthew 13:44-52

God said, “Ask something of me and I will give it to you.”

Treasure:

The overwhelming theme from today’s Gospel is that of treasure. Where is our treasure? What is it worth? Placing ourselves in God’s hands and following His Son Jesus results in attainment of the Kingdom, something none of us could afford to enter if it were not for Jesus.

This is a great theme for clergy. It’s one of the easier things to preach on, the value of God’s Kingdom, the requirement of laying aside everything to obtain this treasure.

So today, I’m going to talk about … stupidity.

Stupidity:

Our first reading, from the Third Chapter of First Kings, has God talking to Solomon. God lets Solomon make a request, anything he wants, and God will give it to him. What did Solomon ask for?

Yes, wisdom. Solomon said:

Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart

to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong.


Solomon certainly received that treasure. We are the richer for it. He left us psalms and proverbs, wisdom, insight. Under his reign the united kingdom of Israel reached its pinnacle and the temple was built. But for all the wisdom he was granted, Solomon turned out to be little more than a very clever idiot. He was a prime example of knowledge and wisdom gone to waste.

God’s plan:

God had a plan for Solomon and his father David. In Chapter 9 of First Kings, just after the completion of the temple, God appears to Solomon again. God tells him:

I have heard the prayer of petition which you offered in my presence. I have consecrated this temple which you have built; I confer my name upon it forever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there always. As for you, if you live in my presence as your father David lived, sincerely and uprightly, doing just as I have commanded you, keeping my statutes and decrees, I will establish your throne of sovereignty over Israel forever, as I promised your father David when I said, ‘You shall always have someone from your line on the throne of Israel.’ But if you and your descendants ever withdraw from me, fail to keep the commandments and statutes which I set before you, and proceed to venerate and worship strange gods, I will cut off Israel from the land I gave them and repudiate the temple I have consecrated to my honor. Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all nations, and this temple shall become a heap of ruins.

God wanted more than just a man with wisdom. He wanted Solomon to live in His presence, to be sincere, just and upright, and to do as He had asked in His commandments.

God was asking Solomon to focus on real treasure, the treasure found only in the kind of relationships God wants us to have. A treasure found only in living with God and each other as God asks.

But Solomon… that wasn’t for him. He chose stupid.

Big mistakes:

Solomon decided that faithfulness to the treasure God offered wasn’t for him. He wasted that away. Not only, he treated the people in half of his kingdom as slaves. Doing that led to eventual rebellion and the fall of the unified kingdom of Israel. Solomon married over 1,000 wives, which directly contradicted God’s warning about rulers taking too many wives (Deuteronomy 17:17). While many of these marriages were diplomatic, some led Solomon to set God aside for the worship of false gods.

Solomon frittered away his loyalty to God and the promises of God are lost. Solomon chose the wrong treasure. He treasured his desires over God’s desires for Him.

Finding your treasure:

We have a lesson in Solomon, who chose wisdom and then walked away from it, choosing stupid instead.

When Jesus talks about finding true treasure He is talking about a treasure that redeems. That treasure is allegiance to God and the requirements of God’s kingdom. Certainly we see from Solomon that false treasure can corrupt, so it comes down to choice. It always does.

We are here, in church week after week. We choose to get up and go, to hear the lessons contained in Holy Scripture, and we walk away filled with the inspiration and the light of the Holy Spirit. As the week progresses we may make bad choices, we all do from time-to-time. But our allegiance is to the kingdom. We know where forgiveness is, and where our treasure is. We have decided that with God as our ruler, and the help of His grace, we can resist stupid.

Choosing the Kingdom:

Stupid continues, and as we reflect on the past week’s events, the terrible evil that befell our brothers and sisters in Norway, at the hand of a person claiming to be “Christian,” we think of the corrupted notions of God’s kingdom that are out there.

God’s kingdom is not a worldly kingdom, or a kingdom only for white folks, or rich folks, or the handsome or pretty, or those with a big house on the hill. It is not just for priests, bishops and deacons. It is for everyone. The kingdom is exactly this: How our lives are ruled by God. The kingdom is for those whose hearts are aligned with God’s heart, who give God their allegiance, who allow Him to rule their lives. It doesn’t matter what the members of the kingdom look like or have, their color or bank book are of no account. All that matters is that they have chosen the way Jesus has shown.

When we give ourselves over to God, and the Holy Spirit dwells within us, we are strengthened to resist the stupidity that is out there, and that awful urge to be stupid. We are given the motivation and the desire to chose right; to chose life, not death; good, not evil; peace, not war; justice, not degradation; humanity, not inhumanity.

Choosing how we live:

Living in the kingdom means choosing the treasure God offers over stupid. We are called to live a certain way, to deny every one-off urge, instead choosing what is right. We are called to say no to the prejudices, the big and little evils, to the creeping anger, the wandering eye. We are called to live rightly and justly.

God’s promises are still valid today. If we chose the kingdom, if we reject stupid, He remains with us, He blesses us, and He reassures us, He gives us everlasting life.

St. Paul reminds us that the world is filled with stupid choices. Those whose hope and trust is in God are receivers of this promise:

all things work for good for those who love God

Loving God means loyalty to His kingdom, living life His way, the way humanity was designed to live, to truly live. Jesus told us that we would have life and life to the fullest because of Him (John 10:10). That is the promise for those who follow Him, who choose the kingdom over stupid, who live rightly.

What is it worth, to live in the kingdom? It is worth our lives. It is worth giving up the stupid. The Kingdom is filled with those who have rejected and fight against stupid everyday, who have found their true treasure, and who accept God’s help in getting there. You who are here have chosen. Enjoy God’s promise and your treasure found in the Kingdom — enjoy it for all eternity. Amen.