The I Ching, the Book of Changes, is an ancient book of
Chinese wisdom dating back to the time of Confucius. One tosses coins or yarrow
stalks, and depending how they fall you create a hexagram: a stack of six solid
or broken lines that correspond to a similar picture in the book. You then
consult that hexagram that has a name like Fire on the Mountain for advice.
Often the advice includes the words, “Perseverance Furthers.”
That is certainly the story of Jacob in his quest for a
wife. He has stolen his older brother Esau’s birthright by tricking his father,
Isaac. Jacob’s mother suggests he run away to lay low with a kinsman, Uncle Laban,
and while there find himself a wife. Jacob falls in love with Laban’s younger
daughter, Rachel. He offers to work for Laban for seven years so he can marry
her. Laban agrees, Jacob works for seven years, which the narrative tells us, “they
seemed to him but a few days because of the love he had for her.”
He goes to claim his wife. Laban makes all the wedding arrangements,
when lo and behold the Trickster Jacob is tricked! Laban gives away his
firstborn daughter Leah, she of the lovely eyes to Jacob, which Jacob does not
discover until the next morning. After confronting Laban, he is told that since
he has already consummated the marriage, and besides local custom does not
allow giving away the younger daughter before the firstborn. Complete this week
of wedding celebrations, however, and work another seven years for me, then you
may marry Rachel as well! Jacob agrees, and seven years later, marries Rachel
whom he loves. Perseverance furthers!
And that’s not all! Over time he also marries Leah’s servant
Zipah, and Rachel’s servant Hilpah, and as we all know among these four wives
he fathers twelve sons who become the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel,
Jacob’s new name given to him by a stranger with whom he wrestles all night
long beside the river Jabbok. Israel means ‘he who wrestles with God.’ Despite
what this foundational story might tell us about the Biblical view of marriage,
one can easily say that Jacob, son of Isaac, grandson of father Abraham,
persevered in his quest for the woman he loved, persevered in wrestling with
God, and as such became the father of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Jacob
persevered for The Pearl of Great Value Jesus talks about in Matthew chapter
13!
“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.” Years ago, long before Tom Shaw SSJE, became the Bishop
of the Diocese of Massachusetts, he gave a meditation to the clergy of the
Diocese of Connecticut during a Quiet Day in Holy Week. He spoke about this
parable of The Pearl of Great Value. He began by saying that our God is a very
frugal God and does not waste one iota of our life experience. Each moment we
live and breathe on this earth, God values and savors who we are and what we
are doing.
One of the hidden truths of the kingdom, and this parable
among these several that speak of hiddenness, is that we, each of us, and all
of us together as God’s people, are the pearl of great value. That is how much
our God loves each and every one of us! So much so that God would send His only
son to walk among us as one of us to show us the way of the Lord. So much so
that he did not let us get away with killing his only son, but returned him to
us, so that wherever two or three are gathered in his name, Jesus himself is in
the midst of us, calling us to return to the God from whence we come. We come
from love. We return to love. And love is all around. God is love, and loves us
even more than the merchant who gave everything for the Pearl of Great Value.
This is all meant to be an example of God’s Perseverance to
love us. Even God’s wrath is an extension of God’s love for us. As Maggie Ross
writes in her book The Fire of Your Life, “The wrath of God is his relentless
compassion, pursuing us even when we are at our worst.”
Recognizing that we are precious in the eyes of our God,
said Bishop Shaw, we need to take time each day in our prayers to be silent and
allow God to thank us for what we have done for God today. Every day we are to
leave some silence in our prayers and to allow ourselves to feel God thanking
us for all that we do for God in this His world. It sounds so easy. But are we
really capable of believing and knowing that God loves us that much? Do we feel
like pearls of great value? Bishop Shaw assured us that we can. And more
importantly, that we must. It is central to the life of faith to accept and
receive God’s love. To know how much our God values us and everything that we
do.
This is why all these kingdom parables are so very important
to understand. They each point to the hiddenness of God’s reign, God’s Kingdom,
in our midst. They each suggest that the life of faith begins with something as
small as a little bit of yeast or a single grain of mustard seed. We do not
need to do big and heroic things. Though in truth, as God’s own pearls of great
value, every little thing we do for others brings a smile to the face of
God.
And the more we let God thank us for what we can do for God,
the more confident and empowered we become as God’s own people. And soon the
people around us and the people we meet begin to feel like pearls of great
value as well. All we really need is faith as small as a mustard seed to make
the whole creation new! To give new life to our own tired bodies. To put a
smile on the face of a stranger. To plant seeds of God’s love throughout the
neighborhood which God has called us to make our home.
Take time today, to be silent and to let God thank you for
what you have done for God today. Don’t worry about tomorrow. Just feel God’s
thanks and love for today. Imagine God washing your feet at the end of a long
day. Imagine God offering you a piece of his bread and a sip of his wine.
Imagine God making you an integral part of His body, that sacred mystery the
Church. Beginning today make time every day for God to thank for what you are
doing for God. Persevere in accepting that you are God’s Pearl of Great Value.
As we luxuriate in God’s thanks, mercy, compassion and love,
we will become a new people. We will come to accept that we are God’s pearls of
great value. As that new understanding takes root and grows within us, others will
come and make their home among us, take rest among our branches, and discover
their value as God’s own pearls as well. Such a life of love and thanksgiving
is all ours. If only we will have faith as small as a mustard seed. Amen
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