The Tower

The next parable is about assessment and sufficiency. It may be found in Luke 14:28-33. Christ spoke to his disciples about the cost of discipleship. Do you want to be a disciple? Check first to see if you have what it takes. It is not a thing that one may take lightly. It is not a mere title that allows one to sit on imagined laurels, rather it is an undertaking, a task, an ongoing endeavor.

If you intend to build a tower, you sit down first to count the cost. Do you have the resources to finish what you begin? If you lay the foundation, but the tower sits unfinished, you will be mocked as someone who had no clue about the real work or financing that goes into such a matter.

If you are a king at war with another king, you sit down first with your counselors to see if your 10,000 soldiers even have a chance against those 20,000 enemy combatants. If not, you send an ambassador seeking terms of peace while the enemy is still a great way off. This is your ship, and if you must, you will go down with it. First, however, you must ensure the safety of your people. There is no place here for bluster or pride.

We must question the tower builder and the king. What must they have drawn on to accomplish each task at hand? What sacrifices would they have made to ensure the completion of their hopes and plans? If the tower builder had seen an insufficiency of funds, he might have borrowed from a lender, or sold some possessions. The fact that he wanted a tower suggests that he already had possessions: a farm with fields, and crops that required enhanced storage, or else a business that needed surveillance, else a means of communication with other towers.

The king is shown to have 10,000 troops. That number is indicative of the population from which the soldiers were drawn. A kingdom suggests powers and assets from which to draw further. There are businesses paying taxes – take some extra in time of need. There are citizens which may be drafted and trained to fight – do so.

Sacrifices are sometimes needful. The builder might not want to sell his possessions or place himself in debt, but if he is really committed to his hope, he will even give up all that he has. The king may not wish to strain the relationship he has with the citizenry, he may be having his reputation tested. He will have to make choices, even sacrifices. He will have to choose between his reputation and his kingship. He may be called upon to give, or to give up, all that he has. It was common knowledge that losing kings did not fare well.

Christ made a strong case: forsake all that you have or you cannot be a disciple.

Will you be found?

Speaking of treasure, the next parable describes a windfall. We find it in Matthew 13:44. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field.”
This is a small parable that paints a big picture. Let's take a moment to visualize the scenario.

Let's say you are out walking. You are in a field. It is not your usual place. It is a piece of land that is owned by another person. It is not currently in use, and, as a result, wander walk freely. You stub a toe or catch a glint of something out of place – like yourself. No one is around; you start to dig a little. You find something of interest, something of value, but you are uncertain how much is buried there. So you cover the item of interest and run home for your special investigation tools.

That night, when you are sure you will not be discovered, you return with a shovel and spade to dig until there is nothing left to discover. Your eyes are wide, you pant for air. Aside from your labors, you are unquestionably beside yourself with excitement. What you've uncovered is special. It is quite literally a treasure.

It is a banner day, but there is a problem with your windfall – it is on land that belongs to another. It is certain the owner is unaware of it, else he would have availed himself of it. It is probable that the previous owner knew nothing of it as well. Yet, by all rights, it belongs to the owner of the land. Then it dawns on you, you can be the owner. You hatch a mighty plan.

You go to great lengths to hide the treasure in the same field; you want no one else to stumble upon it. So you hide the treasure in a place, and in a manner, that is least likely to be found by another. You realize that the land is owned only by default. If the owner was well to do, the land would most certainly be worked. You feel confident the owner will respond to an offer of purchase.

Phase two of the plan is more difficult. You gather your resources, liquidate your assets. Nothing is spared, and you feel you can offer a price the owner will view favorably. To your great delight, the owner sells, and you become the rightful and lawful owner. You did not steal the treasure; it is truly yours.

The parable does not so much depict the one-up you might happily experience. Rather, it depicts the lengths to which the kingdom of heaven is willing to go. The world may own you, and there you sit, undeveloped, going to weed. The treasure hidden within you is wasted on the current owner.

Then, a price is paid. You lawfully belong to one who can make the most of us.

Another thought has occurred to me. What if the owner of the field knew about the treasure? I'm wondering if the owner saw that treasure as a treasure. We have a saying that goes like this: one man's rubbish is another man's treasure. He neither wanted it nor did he make any use of it. It was only a treasure for you. So when you hid it, it was not from the owner, but others like yourself. Others might have done the same thing, but you wanted the treasure alone. It was just that personal.

Are you a scribe?

This next parable is not only one of my personal favorites, but also seems to link several other parables into a cohesive synthesis. It may be found in Matthew 13:47-50. In it, heaven is compared to a net that is cast into the sea, which gathered of every kind of fish indiscriminately. The net is only the first part of a work, and may at once be seen to represent the many pearls of the merchant, or the seeds of the farmer which are sown broadcast into the field.

In all of the scenarios, we see a clear and unmistakable intent. It was always the goal of the merchant to trade up. It was the intent of the farmer, that while many situations were supplied equally, the best seeds in the best soil was always the hoped for combination. As for the fishermen, when their net was full, they drew it to shore and sat down to complete the final phase of their labor. Many are called, but few are chosen. Only what the fishermen deem most desirable is gathered into vessels for safe keeping. The good choice is their livelihood, it is their life – literally.

So what happens to the many? Are they thrown back into the sea? Are they used as fertilizer? No. They are thrown into the fire so they won't raise a stink. Remember here that fire and fuel goes together. But, the point here defines what is kept, and what is removed from the catch. The entire work, with attention given to phase two, is compared to the end of the world, a time foretold when heaven's catch will be sorted.

In the end of the world, God's angels, Christ's mighty army, will be sent into the world. At that point, the many will have been called, the net will have been dragged to shore; the work of phase two will begin. Here, we recall what Christ said about two men in one bed: one is taken, one remains. A common interpretation, here, is that of the Rapture, in which God's elect are taken, and the undesirable are left behind. However, that is not the case.

The work of the angels is to sever the wicked from among the just. It is not the just that are taken, for they are preserved in vessels. It is the wicked that are taken out from among the just. Throwing them back into the sea is not an option. Christ makes it quite plain that the wicked will be thrown into a furnace of fire, which must be viewed in spiritual terms rather than a destruction of carcasses. Yes, there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth, but that is not the point of the parable.

When Christ finished the parable, he asked his disciples if they understood what he was trying to get across. When they answered in the affirmative, Christ then tied the parable to his summation. It was more like a mini-parable, no more than a rudimentary comparison, a simple statement, but that final statement was intended to be the point of the previous parable.

What was that statement, and what was that point? We look in Matthew 13:52, “Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old.”

Christ is literally telling his disciples, 'this is what I want you to get from the net parable.' If the seeker of truth wishes to get the same thing from the parable, he or she must dissect the summation into its various parts, and define them.

Those parts are: 'every scribe', 'instructed unto', 'kingdom of heaven', 'householder', 'bring forth', 'his treasure', 'things new and old.' All of the definitions that we will derive have a direct link to the parable of the net. Before we can tie a scribe to a fisherman, we must be able to see what a scribe and a householder have in common. Our first definition will be scribe/householder and fisherman/net user(possible angel).

A scribe is defined by his or her calling. The fact that Christ referenced 'every scribe', places the individual in question into a less than specific realm, somewhere between the absolute commonplace and the absolute unconventional. The calling would include secretarial and administrative duties, and the impetus would be one of acquisition and building. A data analyst would build his database. A farmer would build barns and silos. A fisherman would build his stockpile. A scribe would build upon a wealth of discovery and revelation. A householder will build a unique and defensible domain.

A modern twist on scribe is the seeker: curious, earnest, and focused. He is like the householder in that both live in their acquisitions. All that they seek and acquire becomes their personal domain and private treasure. These two are like the fisherman in that they must pick and choose the thing that will sustain them.

The fisherman fishes to live. The householder adds to and maintains what is his apart. The scribe, the seeker, is the 'prepared soil' of the farmer. He or she has the heavenly inclination. Christ made the point that we are instructed 'unto' the kingdom of heaven. We are prepared and trained. Our eyes and ears are geared toward, or 'unto', the truth. The kingdom of heaven, therefore, must be defined as that which a scribe or a seeker may see, hear, understand and record. We might alternatively call the kingdom of heaven the kingdom of the message. Heaven, being spiritual, must always be viewed as the reception and transmission of the Word.

For a fisherman to earn a living, he must be able to produce a catch. That is his treasure. For a farmer to have a harvest, he must transmit to his fields the seeds of a previous harvest. That is his treasure. Likewise, the householder and scribe must also be able to bring forth from their treasures, neither of which can be insubstantial or illusory. The scribe and householder use their respective treasures just like the merchant of pearls. They must use them to trade up, to bring forth more of the same. Like the merchant, the householder will use old treasures to obtain new treasures.

The fisherman may find a strange new fish in his net some day. If it meets the criteria of what he wants, he will not discard it. The common link in all these scenarios is the scribe, the disciple, the seeker of and maintainer of the message. The work of the scribe is not unlike the work of heaven, for heaven is the householder/fisherman/scribe/pearl merchant who takes of his old treasure to bring forth treasure that is new. Heaven trades up to itself. Heaven gathers itself into vessels. Heaven is the seeker seeking the truth of itself, and, as the householder knows, it takes treasure to make treasure.

One-up

Next up: Matthew 13:45-46 – Heaven is like a merchant man seeking goodly pearls. Most of us have more than a passing familiarity with this parable, as it is used both by the church, and by the secular sector. We recall that the merchant found one pearl of great price, and when he had, he sold all that he had to obtain it.

Most people view this as an allegory that loosely defines an individual's quest toward spirituality. The common understanding places the individual as central, and in an upward transition where he or she does, finds, achieves, or becomes more.

However, it is not the merchant, but heaven, that is the true subject of the parable. Heaven owns, seeks, sorts through many 'pearls' – all of which hold qualities of value, and unique beauty. The substance of heaven is spent in the acquisition of such notable treasure. The focus of heaven is bent toward these alone.

And yet, when a pearl is found to be more than notable – when one is found to be exceptional, uncommon, extraordinary – that pearly treasure is sought at the expense of the rest. Heaven trades in all the notable pearls for this one pearl of great price. How great is the value of this one pearl? That should be plain in the fact that all other pearls are sold, and using not just the price of the pearls, but all that he possesses to purchase it. That, of course, would include possessions beyond the pearls.

We are the pearls that heaven deals in. Most of us possess a unique beauty, and value. But for most of us, our highest value consists in our being traded up to obtain the uncommon individual of great price. Heaven stands ready to surrender all it possesses to acquire it, moreover, heaven places in that object all of its desire, and attention. Heaven's full focus turns to the one.

That alone should give us a new perspective on the expression “many are called, but few are chosen.” We should, therefore, be thoroughly impressed with the difficulty of reaching the strait gate. The way is actually so narrow that only the one may pass through it. If we, as individuals, are attempting to one-up, especially those of us with spiritual inclinations, we must derive a definition for the one, and with full focus, seek what that is.

For Christians, that will be one of two things: either you busy yourselves saving others, or you busy yourselves becoming the one. If any of you are willing to look it up, a hint toward the latter goal may be found in John 17.