Apart from the fertile coastal plains Palestine is a dry and arid land My brother – who is something of a global traveller and who calls himself “a citizen of the world” Having lived around Europe, the US, and now in Cuzco in the Andes mountains of Peru Once rang me long distance from Jerusalem A place I have dreamed of visiting but not yet had the opportunity of the good fortune to do so He had been out that day into the Dead Sea region to see the Jordan River and the site of Jesus’ baptism by John “What’s it like” I asked eagerly “Hot and dry and dusty” my brother moaned “Everything’s old and in ruins and falling to bits” It seemed unjust that he was actually there and I was stuck on the other end of the phone with a bible atlas and a few pictures But he was right about one thing The region around the Dead Sea is as some of the driest and most arid and inhospitable places on the face of the earth No one lives there and very few people even venture into the wilderness Other than the Bedouin tribes who have travelled through the region for generations Jum’a Mohammed was one such person A shepherd of the Ta’amireh tribe of Bedouin His family had guided herds of goats through the arid region for as long as anyone could remember On this cold morning in the winter of 1947 he and his cousin Ahmed were keeping watch on their nimble footed goats As they climbed the rocky cliffs that rose along the shores of the Dead Sea Drinking from one of the many freshwater springs that bubbled out of the rocks To pass the time, the two cousins were throwing rocks into the jagged mouths of the numerous caves that dotted the landscape above them Both of them clearly heard pottery shatter inside of the caves as a rock thrown by Ahmed passed through the narrow cave entrance he had been aiming for Both men knew that Bethlehem – the city they were headed for Was filled with dealers in artefacts and archaeologists Often they would pay several shekels for potsherds and even more of there were coins or other metallic objects The younger of the two, Ahmed, who was nicknamed ehd-Dhib “the wolf” Climbed the rock face and reached into the dark and narrow cave Feeling his way along a ledge in the earth he felt several clay jars and plunged his hand into each He emerged disappointed with no precious coins or artefacts but only some yellow scrolls wrapped in cloth He called to his cousin below, relaying the find in a disappointed voice In all seven packages were tossed beneath him to Muhammad’s feet For the new few months they should travel through the Dead Sea wilderness with the Bedouin Until finally reaching Bethlehem where the two cousins sought out a dealer in antiquities called Kando who just happened to be a Syrian Orthodox Christian A chain of coincidences followed, all taking place against the backdrop of the looming war of 1948 between Israel and the Arab neighbours Kando took the scrolls to his Archbishop, the Metropolitan Samuel Who showed them to his trusted chaplain, a monk named Butros Sowmy Fr. Butros knew the packages were extremely old He also recognised the writing on the parchment as Hebrew He did not know, however, what he held in his hand that day and he would never know For just a few days later he was killed by shrapnel as he stood in the courtyard of St Mark’s monastery It would be almost a year before the seven manuscripts found in a cave by Muhammad and Ahmed – or edh dhib - were analysed by experts form around the world And were famously declared to be the “greatest manuscript discovery of all time” By this time the two Bedouin had already spent the some $50 American dollars they were paid by Kando And were once again lost to the desert wilderness and to history Guiding their herd of goats along the rocky cliff face Oblivious to the fact that they had discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls A library of parchment so precious – they are today housed in their own museum and worth more to human history And specifically to the history of religion than any dollar figure that could be placed upon them Jesus teaches in the Gospel reading for today, that The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field It is like a pearl of great value A pearl of such enormous value and beauty, that When a merchant discovers it He sells everything else he has in order to own that own pearl of great price Some things – like the Dead Sea scrolls Like perhaps the Mona Lisa or other great works of beauty and art Are of such immense value to humanity That they could not be bought or sold at all And that is the point of the parables that Jesus tells about the treasure in the field and the pearl of great value You would give all you had to possess them Such is their tremendous worth So also is the Kingdom of God Even though many, many people Who have known or experienced or glimpsed Something of the Kingdom of God’ And known something of the reality and the reign of God In their own hearts and lives, or in that of others Or perhaps in the life of the Christian Church Have not known the true value of the treasure they held in their hands And let it slip from their lives… Or perhaps not even recognised a moment in which the kingdom of God has shone through into the theatre of the every day And of this world Those moments are in fact, often, plenteous … The joy of companionship, of relationships, of marriage The wonder and the thrill of love The privilege of children Or they might be rare and one off events The memory of the birth of a child and of the infants first sound as it came into the world The joy of seeing a thing of beauty for the first time Of hearing a full symphony orchestra perform Elgar’s Enigma Variations Reading a life changing book or piece of poetry Waking up in Paris for the first time … Maybe you recall the first time you really knew and felt the reality of God However and whenever that happened And maybe you are here today – perhaps years, decades, later Because of that moment I could go on and on… These are moments in which the Kingdom of God shines through and breaks into the theatre of our everyday lives Though we often don’t recognise them for what they are When God is very near to us and we to God And in these brief and sometimes fleeting moments life seems to be the way it ought to be And we rightly remember such times and treasure them For they are precious to us Such times, such memories Are more important than money or possessions There can be dollar figure placed upon them For this reason Jesus says, in the Sermon on the Mount “Where your treasure is, there you heart will be also” (Mt 6:21) the Scriptures warn constantly against the love of money and of possessions in fact the Bible and Jesus in particular say a lot more about the danger of materialism and of the love of money and possessions than they ever do about sex although you would think so given the way the Church carries on about the latter at every opportunity but the teaching of Jesus is clear the person who treasures above all the acquiring of money or who is driven by a burning ambition to “Get that job” to own that car or buy that house of anything else that this transitory life can offer might easily become devoured by this desire and driven by these goals it is not that they are bad or wrong in themselves but there is so much more to life so much more of infinitely greater value it is just that money and possessions and riches and wealth have the potential to so obscure and lead us humans beings away from the real treasures of life in front of our very eyes history is full of examples of it that need not be cited here … Perhaps you have held a pearl of great price in your hand But not recognised it as such Or walked across a buried treasure in a field And not known it was there …… Like the Bedouin tribesman Perhaps you have found and encountered something of great value And held it in your hand And been disappointed by it Perhaps you have journeyed with it for some time And not known or recognised its true value It looked quite ordinary – nothing special Or maybe what you thought was so valuable and so desirable Has lost its appeal – now that you have it Perhaps the Christian life of following Jesus And of attending Church week after week Has become a duty and a task and you have wondered why you keep doing it at all Maybe its time to take another look And to allow the Kingdom of God shine upon you And illuminate The true and real value of the treasure and the pearls that do now And have in the past Enriched the story of your life In the Name of the Father, and of the son ,and of the Holy spirit. Amen . |