When I was a kid I remember our family taking a trip to Mammoth Cave. We went on one of the guided tours deep down below the earth’s surface, pausing in one of the big spacious rooms to gather around the guide. I was pretty young and can remember being awestruck by the surroundings. Everything was lit up revealing the features of the cave. Then the guide told us he was going to turn off all the lights. I grabbed my mother’s hand just as the lights went out, now being awestruck (and more than a little afraid) by the total darkness. After a moment or two our tour guide lit a single lantern and held it up. It was amazing the difference just one elevated light made in that dark space.
I often think of that experience when I read Jesus’ parable of the lamp in Luke 8:16-18 (and told a bit differently in Luke 11:33-36). Continue reading
In Matthew 13:44-46 Jesus shares twin word pictures to describe the value of the Kingdom of God (Kingdom of Heaven). We might call these particular parables “value images” as Jesus tells us that living “a kingdom of God way of life” is like a tenet farmer finding a treasure hidden in a field, or a merchant discovering a pearl of great price. In each situation the finder of these objects is so overtaken by them that he sells all he owns in order to have them. It’s this “all in” behavior that gives me pause with the parables, causing me to ask, “What do we so value in life that makes us willing to cash in everything else?” 
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