Do you like rummaging around in charity shops or spending time at car boot sales? – Hopefully not Sunday mornings, of course.
My family, the Chapman family, always love a bargain. This might be to do with the origin of the name Chapman which means tinker or merchant. Lincoln itself and greater Lincolnshire are great places to rummage around for bargains in charity shops or car boots, I have noticed. However, I have recently got better in my rummaging ability. Although I used to have a wardrobe and house full of bargains, I have become more discerning with regard to sandwich toasters, copper kettles and compilation CDs. I am now better able to search longer and further afield for something and buy it because it is just right, interesting or even beautiful.
Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but on this occasion I will settle for pearls. Pearls are what Jesus uses to describe the longing of the human heart for God and for heaven, that dimension where we live in creative and joyful peace together. Jesus also describes desire for God as being like someone with a metal detector, listening for the beeps, and doing everything he can to unearth and claim the treasure. He searches with care to make sure it’s treasure he claims and not some old junk. Do we settle for second best as human beings and Christians? Are we are aware of the gift of Christ for us as individuals and as Christian communities? Can we reengage with a desire for God and for living together in a way that transforms lives, ours and that of others?
This new season of discipleship in the life of the church and of this diocese provides a framework for us to reengage with our desire for God.
Renewing the life of our churches and the Diocese will involve searching, seeking and praying. It will involve unearthing hidden treasure, rummaging to find the thing that is just right for us. And as we discover afresh the treasure that is God at work in us, our desire for the sense of completeness and healing and joy will cause us to change, to leave behind things we don’t need and invest in what truly matters.
For the pearl we find has always come from some grit, or difficulty in our own life or that of someone else. The treasure always needs cleaning and polishing.
Many of us have a deep sense of what God has done in Christ and in our lives, in small and in life changing ways. In the past and at times of vulnerability, we have found the pearl or the treasure. I don’t know if anyone has ever given you a pearl – on it’s own it’s not that useful and it needs to be shown off. You have to choose a setting – for a broach or a ring, or gather more pearls for a necklace. Treasure also needs to be displayed, and not in private collections but in museums and galleries, as is more common these days, for all to see.
God is calling us to be Confident Disciples – we must wear our pearls, display our treasure, witness to our desire for God to become more real in our lives.
Justine Allain-Chapman
Image: “Akoya pearls” by Mauro Cateb – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Year of Discipleship 2015 