Selling Out to Buy the One Thing Most Valuable

From today's Gospel, Matthew 13: 44 - 46:

“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."

I don't remember if it was Tony Campolo or someone else but I remember hearing about "sold-out Christians." They are the ones who have paid attention to some of Jesus' teachings. You know the ones. They are the ones where the rich young ruler was told to sell everything he had, give the proceeds to the poor and follow Jesus. We have tried to explain these away. We don't want to sell everything we have and give it away.

But then there are these verses from today's Gospel. Here is why we should want to sell-out. Here is why we should be willing, no- excited and ready- to get rid of all that we have to follow Him. Because there is a treasure waiting for us. There is a pearl of great value just sitting there for us to buy in our poverty.

No, I'm not giving in to the gospel of prosperity (sorry, no capital letters for that gospel). We're not selling everything to get rich- we're selling everything that keeps us from being rich in and of ourselves and our own power. We are letting go of the stuff that clings to us and keeps us from even seeing the kernel, the pearl, the mustard seed that is far greater than anything we can earn on our own.

But I'm not willing to do that and live like that. I confess that I like to know where my next meal us coming from. I want the security of that bed in a permanent room in a nice apartment building. I hope Jesus wants me to have those things, too. But, how tight do I cling to them- or do they cling to me?

This gets confusing. This gets to sound like gibberish. It begins to sound like my rationalizations about life and how I don't give it all away and follow Jesus. I don't know if I can even reach the point of doing that.

So I continue to travel on this journey, this pilgrimage and do the best I can. I listen and pray and search. I do the best I can each day. I hope that is acceptable to Jesus. If not, I have a hunch grace will play a big part.