The Rev. Mark Hargreaves July 30, 2017 Page 1 of 3

The Rev. Mark Hargreaves July 30, 2017 Page 1 of 3 St. James by-the Sea, La Jolla, CA 8th Sunday after Pentecost May I speak for the name of God the Father, the David. Although I am only a child. I do not know Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen. how to go out and how to come in." And God says to him, "Ask what I should give you." What's the One of the most memorable services that I had in one thing you think you need, Solomon, to be a London when I was there was a service of good king? thanksgiving. It's quite a common thing in England, you have a thanksgiving after the birth of a child. What an offer. God's saying, what's the most It's like a baptism, but without the water. And on valuable thing I can give you? That's our question. this particular occasion, there was about 20 friends What's the one thing we want? What's the one and family of the baby gathered in a circle. And thing we wish for Dillon Rose? How would we they'd been asked to come to the service, written answer that question? on a piece something that was to go in a book to be collected for the child at the end of the service. There's a famous story about a husband and wife in their early sixties. They were celebrating their And what they'd been asked to write on the piece fortieth wedding anniversary. The husband knew of paper was the one wish or hope they had for the that the wife liked antiques, so he bought her a child for whom we were giving thanks to God. And brass lamp. And as she took lamp out of the box, it was very touching as we went round the circle sure enough, the proverbial genie appeared. The and people offered their hopes and their wishes genie said, "Thank you for releasing me. You can and I was amazed the variety that there was. They have a wish. You can both have a wish." So he said hadn't been primed, but there was a wide variety to wife, "What is it that you would wish for?" She of things that had been suggested that people said, "I'd like to go on a 'round the world cruise wanted for this child. with my husband." Boom! She had in her hand, two tickets, a 'round the world cruise, meals thrown in. And I mentioned that as this morning ... in this All the spa treatments you want. The lot. baptism service, we'll soon be baptizing Dillon Rose. And we might, as we think about that, think Genie turned to the husband, "What would you to ourselves, what's the one thing we'd wish for wish for?" He said, "I'd like to have a female Dillon Rose, on this, her special day? companion thirty years younger than me." Boom! In an instant, he was 93. I Googled the question, The one thing we don't need to wish is a great pair what is the most valuable thing in the world? And I of lungs, because we already know she's got those. was interested to see that Google equated that And we have signed her up for the choir, if that's question with what is the most expensive thing in okay. So this question of what it is, the one thing the world. that we'd want is actually posted in the Old Testament reading that we've just heard. It's there So, top of the Google's list were a 1963 Ferrari at through all the readings, but it's asked explicitly in $52 million, a 201-carat watch at $25 million, a the Old Testament reading from the Book of Kings, Cezanne "Card Players," $275 million, and a pink so I'll start there, as we look and pursue this theme diamond at $46 million. Don't you think we'd have in our readings. missed ... we'd have thought ill of Solomon, we'd have thought he missed a trick, if when God says to So the Old Testament lesson from Kings is King him, "Solomon, ask what it is that you want," and Solomon's encounter with God. Solomon was the Solomon had said, "Ooh, I'd like a 201 carat son of David, who was the first and the greatest diamond ring," or a watch. That would have king of Israel. David was a very hard act for the been ... a stupid answer to the question. young Solomon to follow. And Solomon was feeling a little nervous in this reading. It's early on in his If he'd said that, we'd have thought his horizons reign. And God comes to him. And Solomon says, were too small. He'd lost sight of the spiritual sight "You've made me a king in place of my father, of life. He was one of those people who knew the The Rev. Mark Hargreaves July 30, 2017 Page 2 of 3 St. James by-the Sea, La Jolla, CA 8th Sunday after Pentecost cost of everything and the value of nothing. Or as incredible value, how do we respond? When God the collect for today puts it, "May we so press on comes to us, how do we respond? Do we pursue through things temporal that we lose not sight of him? Or are we prepared to give up everything to things eternal." Solomon didn't make that mistake. have that thing of the most value?

In response to God's question, he says, "Give me an In our final reading today from Romans, is written understanding mind to govern your people, an by someone, St. Paul, who was definitely someone ability to discern between good and evil." When who was found by God and when God had found asked the question, Solomon answered wisdom. him, St. Paul knew that everything paled in That was the one thing he wanted. That's what he significance now that he'd been found by God. And most valued. he spent the rest of his life following God with a certain reckless abandon. He wrote this, and this is And this theme is picked up in our Gospel readings. how he described his experience: "I count In some ways, it's a slightly odd reading, because everything as loss because of the surpassing worth it's made up of five, very short parables ... the only of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for His sake, I thing they seem to have in common is that they're have suffered the loss of all things, and count them short. They're sort of randomly thrown together, as refuse in order that I might gain Christ." Knowing apart maybe, from the parable about the treasure Christ Jesus. That was everything to him. That was in the field and the parable about the pearl. And the treasure. That was the pearl. those two do seem to work as a pair. Paul recognized it when he found it. And what Paul In both stories, somebody finds something which discovered or encountered wasn't just the they prize so highly that they give up everything to knowledge of God. It was the knowledge of a God get it. In the first parable, Jesus says the kingdom of who loved him. Paul discovered he was loved by heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which God. And Paul's something of a misunderstood if someone finds. And after finding it, they hide it not controversial figure, and he does things again, sell everything, and go and buy the field with occasionally which jar with our modern ears. But the treasure in it. The story about the pearl is we should remember that at the heart of Paul's similar, but different. In this parable, Jesus says the message is this wonder that he found, that he was kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant, in search of loved by God. He was gripped by the wonder of fine pearls. He finds one pearl of great value and he divine love. decides he has to have it, so he sells everything he has to get the one superb pearl. And he writes powerfully about that in the epistle that we had read, which ends like this: "In all these In the first story, the person who finds the first things, we are more than conquerors through him treasure appears to be somebody working in the who loved us. For I am convinced that neither field. They weren't looking for treasure. This is death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things before we invented metal detectors. They were in present nor things to come, nor powers nor height the field and they found it by chance. They were nor depths, nor anything else in all creation will be caught by surprise. Whereas the pearl merchant, able to separate us from the love of God in Jesus by contrast, his job was looking for valuable pearls. Christ our Lord." He didn't stumble across the valuable pearl. He spent his life looking for it. That's what's motivating Paul. That's the pearl that he found. He came to find God's love as the most And there's something there about how people valuable thing in the world, the one thing he come to faith. Some people are looking for God, treasured above everything else. The one thing he and others, it just seems to be that God finds them. wanted to pass on to those who crossed his path. God surprises them. What's important is the And the love he found was giving kind of love. He response. When presented with something of says, "What then are we to say about these things? The Rev. Mark Hargreaves July 30, 2017 Page 3 of 3 St. James by-the Sea, La Jolla, CA 8th Sunday after Pentecost If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?" And I don't think the everything else here refers to watches, cars, or diamonds. It's all that we need to find peace, joy, and happiness and salvation.

It's this giving kind of love that we celebrate each week in our communion service. We invite everyone to come to the front to receive the bread and the wine which we eat as we remember that God in Christ gave up everything for us. He spared nothing in His pursuit of us. God loves us with a giving kind of love that knows no limits. This was the treasure, the pearl that Paul found.

So if I was one of those 20 people, gathered in that service I mentioned in London, and when it came to my turn, the one thing I'd pray for that baby, for Dillon Rose, for my own children, for anybody, the one thing I'd pray for is that they come to knowing Christ Jesus, the wonderful….