Seeking God’s Hidden Treasure

Speaker: Archbishop Loren Thomas Hines

July 30, 2023

in Spritual Growth

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July 30, 2023
9th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Readings: 1 Kings 3:5-12
Romans 8:26-34
Matthew 13:31-33, 44-49a

We call this time, “Ordinary Time.” In the eyes of God, “ordinary” has a different meaning because it is Christ Himself who is teaching us. He brought us back to God’s Kingdom. We are today, living in that very Kingdom Christ has restored. The Gospel this day teaches us that even the smallest things done in God’s name become the greatest. We were sanctified through Jesus Christ. God from the very beginning has always been in the business of restoration and reconciliation. It is rightful for us to proclaim Christ as Lord, because all things pertaining to life and godliness has been restored to us. However, we live in a system that is contrary to God, and the enemy wants us to lose. We have been given the choice to choose whether we want to follow God’s ways or the enemy’s ways. The enemy uses deception to make us choose him, and if we allow ourselves to be deceived, then we are choosing the wrong decision.

Faith is a mustard seed. Scripture says if we have faith even as small as a mustard seed, we can literally move mountains. Faith in its simplicity is like a mustard seed – So tiny that it cannot be seen, but when used properly, it can grow into something big. Great things come from small things. In our lives, when we see something small, we don’t realize its importance and do not pay attention to it.

A true story goes that a man named Telemachus, a hermit, was sent to Rome. Rome was supposed to be a Christian nation because the Vatican, among other things, is there. But at the same time, the Colosseum, a place famous for bloodshed because of the battles between the gladiators is also there. One day, Telemachus went inside the amphitheatre where an actual game was taking plce. Because of His love for God and human life, he was so disturbed by what he saw that he jumped from where he was, over to the arena and stood between the gladiators who were fighting to the death. He tried to stop them, but a sword killed him instead. Silence fell amongst the 80 thousand spectators, and one by one left the Colosseum. Because of what happened, Emperor Honorius issued a decree to end all gladiatorial fights from then on. One tiny hermit. One insignificant and unknown human being, was responsible for ending a grand but cruel sport. Take the example of leaven, which is just an ordinary substance. But the parable of the leaven tells us that when mixed into a large amount of flour, it is capable of producing bread to eat. The Gospel also tells us about a man who buried a precious pearl in the ground. In olden times, priceless items were buried for safekeeping. Symbolically, Christ has “buried treasure” meant for us to dig up. These treasures represent the scriptures, where all the secrets to living a life that God wants is to live are written. We must seek and dig up these treasures for us to learn what life is all about. In many references of the scriptures, it says that the evil ones will be taken out first, while the righteous will stay like the sun. God gives us assurance and a hope. He gives us peace. Romans 8:28 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” In the Old Testament, Solomon did not ask for riches. He asked for wisdom and understanding to rule his people. And God not only granted that but made him the richest man in the world at that time.

In the world, we think we deserve the best of things quickly and immediately. But we need to work for it. We need to earn it. We have to seek the pearl as spoken in the parable. Many of God’s truths in Scripture are symbolic and God often uses “agriculture” to explain matters in a way that people can understand it clearly. Christ is giving us hope through His Word because it is the foundation. Not despair but hope. God can and will turn things around and turn them into blessings. He will never leave us nor forsake us.