The Treasure

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/111925.cfm

We all treasure something, don't we? There are things that we truly love and are truly devoted to in our lives. We act and react intuitively to seek, gain and protect these things (or people). Family, friends, job, our home, possessions, hobbies - the list is lengthy. It's good for us to take the time to ponder what we, without any provocation, seek and do and protect.

There was one realization that really changed how I looked at this parable. The King, who was despised by the people, was a lover of money. He would do ANYTHING for it, and the people knew it. If we try to plunk God into this role in the parable, it creates some real difficulties for us. Why is going to get a kingship, why does he value money so much, why do the people despise him? The only way we can put God into this parable is by seeing that God loves US like this nobleman loves His money.

Allow me to talk through this. Jesus is the nobleman. He loves us (money) and entrusts us to His servants (the Apostles). He will return one day with the Kingship (second coming). When He returns, will He find that the Apostles have gathered more followers? Or will they have just sheltered the ones He gave them, keeping them from the rest of the world? They should at least have invested in them, helping them to gather 'interest' from others. The King will gain followers, even where He did not sow (because some will be drawn to Him on their own). But make no mistake, we are the treasure, and He wants us all.

This is where the story turns to the Church. And when I say this, I mean all of the baptized. We CANNOT simply hold on to what we have. If we do that, we are losing. We are meant to gather others to Him, and the reality is that once we start to do this well, He will pile on and grant success to the work of our hands. It is easy to point our fingers and say The Church should do that. It can't. No matter what Church leaders do, they need us to be the ones who make the connections, who make Jesus real to people, who testify to God's goodness and forgiveness.

As we can see from the parable, there are rewards. One of them is this: our joy is complete when we bring others to the Lord and see how their lives are changed by it. It is this that will automatically increase our ability to do this again. People will sense our joy and run from the places where they are being 'maintained' to the place where they are being invested in, and grown and raised up to be servants who will also invest in others.

Like the nobleman who loves His money, like the King who gives more to the one who 'has', God will shower our efforts and multiply the work of our hands. Treasure what He treasures, love what He loves.