Cast the net wide

XVII Sunday “A” Matthew 13:44-52 Jesus said to his disciples: "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure buried in a field, which a person finds and hides again, and out of joy goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant searching for fine pearls. When he finds a pearl of great price, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net thrown into the sea, which collects fish of every kind. When it is full they haul it ashore and sit down to put what is good into buckets. What is bad they throw away. Thus, it will be at the end of the age. The angels will go out and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be wailing and grinding of teeth. "Do you understand all these things?" They answered, "Yes." And he replied, "Then every scribe who has been instructed in the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings from his storeroom both the new and the old."

What is the kingdom of heaven going to be like? Wouldn’t we all like to know what heaven is going to be like? You talk to people and it seems that everyone has some kind of idea in their heads about the pearly gates, about what it will be like when we get there, who we will see, what we will do? Jesus offers us three examples of what the kingdom of heaven will be like in today’s gospel. The kingdom of heaven will be like a treasure buried in a field, a pearl of great price, or a net used for fishing. When I was a kid, we would go on treasure hunts. Usually, we didn’t have treasures that had great monetary value it was the fun of the hunt. Knowing that you found the treasure first. Clues would be given and you had to figure out where the treasure was and when you found it, you rejoiced, you won. The kingdom of heaven isn’t something that you just stumble upon, but it is something that you search for something that you are willing to sacrifice everything in order to get it. The pearl of great price. I don’t know much about pearls, but my sisters are thrifters. They love to go to St. Vincent’s or Goodwill and search through stuff until they find something for a $.25 that is worth a couple of hundred dollars. I used to wear these fancy Donald Pliner dress shoes that one of my sisters had found for a couple of bucks. Just this week I read a story about a kid in Oregon who found a Laker’s Jersey that had been Wilt Chamberlain’s. He bought it for $3.07 and was able to $89,600 a few weeks later. He knew the value of the jersey. That is what the kingdom of heaven is like, only you wouldn’t sell it, you’d keep it and share it. The kingdom of heaven is like a fishing net. Throw out into the water and the hauled in with the catch: the good and the bad. The good are kept and the bad are throw away. When I lived in Brazil along the Amazon River, we would go fishing all the time. We had the big nets called tarrafa’s. There were wide nets that you would throw into the water, and they would open up wide. They were weighted so they would slowly sink down into the water and when you would pull them up anything and everything would be caught in the net. In the Amazon there are a lot of fish so the net would always bring up something. Some good fish and some that you would throw back. Good fish like tambaqui or pirarucu that were like eating steak and lousy fish like Piranha or Bodo that we would usually just throw back. The good fish made for good eating, they were useful, the lousy fish were too bony, that were too hard to eat. I like this image of the big net catching everything, because it fits my image of the kingdom. Everyone is included; the net is like the arms of God. No one is left out. There isn’t a net yet that can do the separation. The kingdom of God isn’t just for the good and worthy, but it is for everyone. Such is our God. God is inclusive, he wants to include everyone. Everyone has a chance. Like the parable of the Sower a few weeks ago. The seed of good is spread everywhere. All our included. Everyone has the opportunity. Jesus fishes with a wide net, Jesus fishes filled with hope. Jesus’ first disciples were fisherman. Jesus therefore uses this analogy of fishing again and again, Peter, James and John would have understood what Jesus was talking about. To fish is to evangelize, and to evangelize is not to propagate a doctrine. It is not to be assured that the faith will grow. No, evangelizing is about being in the midst of society and in the heart of all. The very holy and the ones that don't seem so holy. Between the ones that society deems useful and among the ones that society is ready to throw in the trash. Our quote for today is about mission: The mission of the disciples and the Church is to continue the mission of Christ in the Holy Spirit: a mission born of love, lived in love, and leading to love. We are called to continue this mission of Christ, to spread the kingdom far and wide and call everyone in. We have found the buried treasure, we have the pearl of great price, as missionaries we go out to share it. We don’t have to worry about the results; we don’t have to separate the good from the bad. Jesus will do that. We follow Jesus' example. We continue to cast our nets wide with confidence inviting everyone into the Kingdom.