What Would You Pay for Heaven?

What is the value of a bag of groceries? How much is a gallon of gas? These are questions that plague our modern society. These are questions that establish our priorities. The more important something is, the more we are willing to pay. What are you willing to pay for heaven?

The value of anything is whatever someone is willing to pay. Just a couple of years ago homes were selling in a matter of minutes at prices never seen before. There was a ‘feeding frenzy’ in the housing market. Now that the market is ‘back to normal’ housing prices are stable. Things change. Priorities change.

The Lord said this parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net which was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind; when it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into vessels but threw away the bad. So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.” Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all this?” They said to him, “Yes.” And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” And when Jesus had finished these parables, he went away from there, and coming to his own country he taught them in their synagogue.

Matthew 13.44-54

In today’s Gospel lesson, Christ compares heaven to rare and costly items. He goes a step further and explains the lengths someone might go to secure such rare and costly items. We don’t have to imagine much to ask ourselves, “What are we willing to pay for heaven?”

On the one hand we cannot buy our way into heaven. It is not for sale. So, why compare heaven to costly treasure? God knows that we assign value to things, and then make decisions based upon that value. The higher the value, the more we are willing to sacrifice.

God wants us to think of heaven with the same value and same desire as the greatest treasure on earth. He then invites us to ‘do what it takes’ to secure the treasure. In the case of heaven, that doesn’t mean money, but it does mean sacrifice.

When was the last time we ‘went out of our way’ to even find heaven, let alone go there? Go there? That’s right. We can go to heaven now while we are alive. When we go to the Church, we go to heaven. When was the last time we ‘went out of our way’ to go to Church?

Even if we attend Church every Sunday, the question of value still plagues us. What value do we assign to attending Church? What value do we assign to funding the Church? What value do we assign to growing the Church?

Heaven is a place for everyone. The Church is a place for everyone. If we find something of great value, we share it with our closest friends and family. “Look at this beautiful painting I found!” We invite others to experience the beauty and value we found.

Here is the challenge of the Gospel. Do we value heaven and the Church? Do we value them enough to ‘do what it takes’ to secure them and to keep them? If not, the time has come to change our priorities.