July 24, 2005: Buried Treasure

+THE SEVENTEETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME


When I was growing up, I remember my mother had a set of very fancy dishes that she called her “good china.” The plates and saucers and tea cups had kind of a scalloped edge with delicate flowers painted on them and an edge of gold leaf.

If memory serves, I think my mother said she got these as a wedding gift. It must have been some kind of tradition at the time, since evidently many couples had their own sets of “good china” tucked away on high shelves, dining room cupboards or in closets.

My mother’s dishes were beautiful, but I can’t recall too many times that I ever saw them used. They certainly weren’t our everyday, family dishes. I guess my mom must have figured that if she used these plates all the time, there was a good chance that they could get chipped or broken. So they stayed safely stowed away.

In fact, that’s where they were when my mother died in 2002.

I find it kind of sad that she had a collection of pretty china for 50 years and didn’t allow herself to enjoy it for fear that a piece or two might get damaged. So what happens to it all? What’s her priest-son want with it? I could put it in a yard sale or on eBay and let some perfect stranger wind up with my mother’s treasures.

I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better if she just used and enjoyed her beautiful things. So what if a plate got chipped or broken? It’s not the end of the world. But instead she decided that worry and safety were better than taking a risk and living with a little more gusto. In the end, though, she wound up losing it all. That’s how death works. Bad choice, I guess.

Maybe this is the kind of situation Jesus is referring to today when he talks about treasure buried in a field. He says that if you knew that treasure was there, you’d be so eager to get the property that you’d sell everything you had and you’d pay any price.

It’s interesting that the Lord makes a point of saying that the treasure is buried. Why would someone bury their treasure? One reason is that the person is afraid of losing it. They bury it to safeguard it…so it won’t get stolen or lost or destroyed. Kind of like hiding away the good china.

Another reason why there might be buried treasure is because the person may not even know it’s there in the first place. I told a story a couple of months ago about the poor Texan who didn’t know he was sitting on a major oil field. Sometimes you hear about someone who picks up some junky-looking trinket at a flea market that turns out to be extremely valuable. Maybe the old Lotto ticket that you’re using as a bookmark is a big winner after all. Perhaps a person discovers some hidden talent they didn’t know they had.

Those are all situations where you might say that our treasure is buried.

Jesus is always encouraging us to open our eyes and look at the world around us. He says that we should be like you farmers who look up in the sky and can tell whether it’s going to rain. In other words, look around and see if you’ve got treasure under your very feet.

I met a woman once who laughed and told me, “I’m not saving my good perfume just for special parties any more. Don’t grocery store clerks and bank tellers have noses that work just as well as my party friends?” I like that attitude—and Jesus does, too.

What kind of buried treasure do you have in your life these days?

Some of us are blessed with good relationships—family members and friends. That’s a treasure for sure. We had that very sad funeral for young Derek Deany just a week and a half ago. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support for his family. Hundreds and hundreds of you packed this church, prayed, cried, hugged the family, called, visited, cooked food, and helped anyway you could. I’m originally from New York City. I love New York, but truthfully, the person who lives in the next apartment could die and you might not know it for months.

Some people, for their treasure, are blessed with decent health and energy, talent, brains. Isn’t it a blessing when you’re willing to unearth those treasures and use them for the common good? And so many here do that! I go around each week and visit parishioners who are confined to their homes. They never fail to tell me how good you folks are to them: bringing them food, picking up mail or running other errands, driving them places, stopping in for a social visit, checking on them in the heat, doing little chores around the house for them, and so on.

But I suppose there’s one form of buried treasure that we all have, no matter how old or young we are… no matter how healthy or sick… no matter how rich or poor. And that is the treasure of our faith. God is with us day and night, watching over us and guiding us in his divine providence. Every good thing—every success, every bit of good luck or coincidence, every dollar earned or morsel of food on the table—comes directly from his hand. And he’s also working to take every bad thing or setback and to twist it around to make it a source of grace and blessing, too. All he asks of us is that we try to recognize this treasure… that we don’t fight him but let him love us and nudge us in the right direction.

My dear friends, you’ve got all these treasures in your life whether you realize it or not. But it’s good to realize it. Don’t keep your blessings locked away like my mom’s good china. Take it all out and use it! Enjoy it. Spread it around… because the greatest thing about God’s treasure is that the more you use it, the more it grows and multiplies. And the Lord doesn’t want anything more for you than that.



Today’s Readings:
1 Kings 3: 5–12
Psalm 119
Romans 8: 28–30
Matthew 13: 44–46