In our gospel for today, Jesus gives two short parables today—simple, vivid, and deeply challenging. They’re about people who find something so valuable that they are willing to give up everything else to possess it. One finds a treasure in a field. Another finds a pearl of great price. In both cases, the person sells all they have in order to gain the one thing that matters most.
The point is not hard to grasp: the kingdom of heaven is worth everything. Not just some things. Not just a Sunday here and there. Not just the parts of my life I’m comfortable letting go of. Everything.
If we’re honest, most of us are tempted to hold something back. A corner of our heart we don’t want God to touch. A grudge we don’t want to forgive. A comfort we don’t want to lose. A habit we don’t want to surrender. Maybe even a good thing—family, work, reputation—that we allow to crowd out the call to discipleship.
But the man who finds the treasure doesn’t hesitate. The merchant doesn’t stall or bargain. Why? Because they see the surpassing value of what they’ve found. Joy—not guilt, not duty—compels them. “Out of joy he goes and sells all that he has.” (v. 44)
That joy is the key. When we really discover the love of Christ, when we glimpse the beauty and mercy and holiness of life with God, we won’t be asking, “How much do I have to give up?” We’ll be saying, “What else can I give?” That’s what it means to be “all in.”
Think of the saints: Francis of Assisi stripping himself of his wealth; Teresa of Calcutta serving the poorest of the poor; modern martyrs who gave even their lives. They weren’t reckless or fanatical. They had simply seen the pearl. They had touched the treasure. They knew the Kingdom was worth more than anything they had.
That leaves us with the question: what am I holding back from God? Is it my time? My comfort? My control?
But it also leaves us with the ability to imagine: What would it look like to go “all in”? Not necessarily to sell everything literally, but to surrender my whole self to Christ with trust, freedom, and joy.
In the Eucharist, we meet the One who as Francis of Assisi said, “Hold back nothing of yourself for yourself so that He who gives himself totally to you may receive you totally.”
May the grace of this Eucharist lead us to do likewise. To let go of our half-measures. To be “all in” so that we encounter the One who is beyond earthly treasure or price.
Image credit: detail of Gleichnis von der köstlichen Perle (Parable of the Pearl of Great Price | Domenico Fetti, 17th century | Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna | PD-US