The Pearl of Great Price

(Adapted from a sermon I wrote for today.)

Have you heard? Action Comics #1 will be auctioned on eBay from August 14 to 24. Why is this a big deal? Well, this specific comic – issue #1 is considered the beginning of superhero comics. Which has lead to superhero toys, movies, and even backpacks and lunch kits. This is the comic that introduced Superman to the world. Guess how much it cost when it was released in 1938..... 10 Cents. Guess how much they expect this one to go for? Well, how about I tell you that the last issue of this same comic that was auctioned off and was in near perfect condition went for $2.16 million in 2011. Since this one is in even better condition – still has all white pages – the 2.16 million one had some yellowing pages... well, some think it will go for even more than that! Imagine spending 2 or 2.5 or 3 million dollars on a comic?!

Is Action Comics #1 – the comic where Superman first appeared - The pearl of great price? Is it worth selling everything else you have – home, car, boat, furniture, jewellery, ... everything for in order to obtain it?

Is anything worth that?

Tucked in the middle of the Gospel reading from Matthew 13 today are these two parables:

vs 44: “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."

vs 45:  "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 doubt that the person who ends up buying this comic on eBay next month will have sold everything they have to buy that one comic. But who knows? This is about Superman after all. People can be motivated to give up everything for the one thing they think is worth it. If they value it enough. If they love it wholeheartedly.

Jesus wants us to be those kinds of people. In these parables, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is so valuable that that it is like - “treasure hidden in the field and the one pearl of great value” - that when people found them, they sold everything to buy. And God's kingdom is so valuable that it's worth giving everything we have for it.

But what is God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, like? In trying to understand the kingdom of heaven, I've come up this definition. It is concise yet comprehensive. The kingdom of heaven is where God reigns both now and forever.

We think of the kingdom of heaven as eternal life with God beyond death (that is the "not yet" of the kingdom of God") but how can we have the kingdom of heaven here and now... before death? Well, if the kingdom of God is where God reigns, then this can be in our lives right now if we submit to Jesus as our Lord. There is an “already” sense of the kingdom of God. We don't have to wait until heaven to experience living in God's kingdom. As the Lord's Prayer says – Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Living in God's will, under His authority – that is the kingdom of heaven now.

So, what do you think – Action Comics #1 or the kingdom of heaven. Which is the pearl of great price?

One you get a superhero you may love and a seventy-six year old comic in mint condition. The other life with God, now and forever.

One could cost you up to 3 millions dollars. The other costs you submitting to God, trusting Him, relying on Him, believing in Him.  I go with the kingdom... the true pearl of great price.