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Posted: October 10th, 2007 at 12:52am By: Rev. Rebecca Schlatter
When I gather with young adults in their early 20s, we often talk about how life is like a treasure hunt. We follow clues along the way, trying to take the next step faithfully — only we're not actually sure what we're seeking, or what the treasure is. Some of us are looking for our calling, or a place we belong. Others are looking for God. Still others just want to find themselves.
So I resonate with the first words of Jesus in the gospel of John: "What are you looking for?" He asks this of John the Baptist and two of John's disciples. Apparently they don't have an answer, because they respond with a question of their own: "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Perhaps they hope that Jesus the teacher can tell them what they are seeking, and how to find it.
On this treasure hunt, some of us are skeptics: we aren't even sure there is a treasure, or that it will be so wonderful after all. How do we know it's worth looking for? Jesus never answered such a question directly. Instead, he stirred people's imaginations with stories. In Matthew, one "treasure" was the kingdom of heaven.
"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.
"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" (Matthew 13:44-45).
We're left not knowing exactly what it is, but we know what it's like: something of great value, worth everything. We also learn that our searches are different; one person might just stumble upon it in a field somewhere, and another may travel the whole world in search of something she is convinced is out there.
From the experience of myself and others, it seems that the search for one of those things — calling, belonging, God, or self — usually brings us into the presence of the others.
So maybe we don't have to know what we're looking for. Maybe it's more important to know how to look. I remember back to my family's Christmas morning tradition: a treasure hunt each for my sister and me. I never knew exactly what I was searching for, but I did eventually get the hang of my dad's clues, which became more sophisticated as I got older.
Occasionally on those hunts, I would think I had stumbled upon the treasure: I would open a closet and find something I didn't recognize there, and I would ask my parents with either excitement or disappointment, "Is that it?" I didn't know what I was seeking — how was I supposed to know when I found it?
There was only one thing I knew for sure about the end of the Christmas treasure hunt: It would be a gift. Perhaps that's all we need to know for now about the treasure hunt of our lives, too. And perhaps that's why Jesus' answer to John and his disciples was "Come and see." The clues will unfold along the way.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Schlatter.
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When I gather with young adults in their early 20s, we often talk about how life is like a treasure hunt. We follow clues along the way, trying to take the next step faithfully — only we're not actually sure what we're seeking, or what the treasure is. Some of us are looking for our calling, or a place we belong. Others are looking for God. Still others just want to find themselves.
So I resonate with the first words of Jesus in the gospel of John: "What are you looking for?" He asks this of John the Baptist and two of John's disciples. Apparently they don't have an answer, because they respond with a question of their own: "Rabbi, where are you staying?" Perhaps they hope that Jesus the teacher can tell them what they are seeking, and how to find it.
On this treasure hunt, some of us are skeptics: we aren't even sure there is a treasure, or that it will be so wonderful after all. How do we know it's worth looking for? Jesus never answered such a question directly. Instead, he stirred people's imaginations with stories. In Matthew, one "treasure" was the kingdom of heaven.
"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.
"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" (Matthew 13:44-45).
We're left not knowing exactly what it is, but we know what it's like: something of great value, worth everything. We also learn that our searches are different; one person might just stumble upon it in a field somewhere, and another may travel the whole world in search of something she is convinced is out there.
From the experience of myself and others, it seems that the search for one of those things — calling, belonging, God, or self — usually brings us into the presence of the others.
So maybe we don't have to know what we're looking for. Maybe it's more important to know how to look. I remember back to my family's Christmas morning tradition: a treasure hunt each for my sister and me. I never knew exactly what I was searching for, but I did eventually get the hang of my dad's clues, which became more sophisticated as I got older.
Occasionally on those hunts, I would think I had stumbled upon the treasure: I would open a closet and find something I didn't recognize there, and I would ask my parents with either excitement or disappointment, "Is that it?" I didn't know what I was seeking — how was I supposed to know when I found it?
There was only one thing I knew for sure about the end of the Christmas treasure hunt: It would be a gift. Perhaps that's all we need to know for now about the treasure hunt of our lives, too. And perhaps that's why Jesus' answer to John and his disciples was "Come and see." The clues will unfold along the way.
— — —
Rev. Rebecca Schlatter is an ordained minister in the Lutheran Church (ELCA) in Reno, Nevada. You can contact her at {email newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com}newhousesfromoldbricks@hotmail.com{/email}. © Copyright 2007 by Rebecca Schlatter.
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