 |
| Queen Victoria in her official Diamond Jubilee, W. & D. Downey |
Matthew 13:44-52
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like..."When Art is defined primarily by its value then the line between art and craft becomes its blurriest. For every Rothko painting that sells for millions there is a Hope Diamond that is not for sale due to its pricelessness. Even though jewelry is not always considered art (unless it is from an ancient culture) it acts as the art that the majority of people interact with, possess and desire to possess. It is also the art that holds the most meaning for us personally. It carries the value of currency that can one day be cashed in, thereby carrying the meaning for our future liquidity. It also carries meaning for our past. Jewelry celebrates our solemn commitments (wedding rings) and great achievements (medals). It is carried around on our person (unlike paintings and sculptures) and identifies to the world who we are, whose we are and what we have done. Even after we die we pass on our jewelry to our children as an inheritance. The emblems of our identity becomes a symbol of their greater identity: identifying their heritage. Increasingly in recent times the jewelry piece that has come to symbolize a person's collection of experiences and collective heritage is the charm bracelet. Though the charm has a history that stretches back to the ancients it was popularized in the West by Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. She was fond of not only wearing charm bracelets but also giving them as gifts. In photographs and painted portraits you can see her draped in fine fabrics and laces, ornamented in crowns and bejeweled necklaces, pendants and rings... yet no outfit of hers is complete without her signature charm bracelets. This is because the charm bracelets told not only one story but several stories...and they were all her story, her family's story and her kingdom's story. In Matthew 13:44-52 Jesus continues to string along charming parables like he has already done in the earlier parts of chapter 13. These treasures have value as independently but they have been placed together for a reason. When they are strung together we can understand them as one piece with several independent elements that increase the value of the collective work of art. This is because these parables tell not only one story but several stories...and they are all Jesus' story, his Father's story and his kingdom's story.
 |
Victorian Charm Bracelet by Extasia, Victoriana Magazine
|
Hidden Treasure
“...Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field..."In researching charm bracelet images in the hidden field of treasures known as the Internet I came upon curious finds on Etsy and other craft websites. When I searched for Queen Victoria's charm bracelets on Google, I came up with several pieces of jewelry that were made two months ago rather than two centuries ago. These were not vintage charm bracelets but rather faux vintage. The popularity of vintage charm bracelets and faux vintage jewelry is that even a person without a personal connection to the jewelry or era can appropriate the value of the heritage it symbolizes. On top of that treasure is not just valuable because of the story behind it but because of the substance that it is made of. Gold and diamonds are valuable even when they are used to make a Bart Simpson medallion. Whatever form they may be fashioned into, gold and diamonds are gold and diamonds.
When Jesus starts of this round of what could be described as "Jesus' greatest one liners" he begins with the parable of the hidden treasure. By likening the Kingdom of Heaven to a hidden treasure Jesus reveals a few key truths about it. The first is the Kingdom of Heaven is hidden to some. The second is that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be pursued. The third is that the Kingdom of Heaven is valuable and worth giving up everything. The subtle truth of the last point is that pursuing the Kingdom of Heaven may entail great personal sacrifice. Even though we were estranged from God and find ourselves as spiritual orphans we pursue the kingdom of God for what it is made of. The substance of the kingdom of God are things that we all value: love, peace, forgiveness. Yet in pursuing those universally revered treasures in Jesus we also appropriate his heritage. We are adopted as God's dear children.
Pearl Merchants
“...Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it..."In addition to my finds on Etsy I found this "Victoria Retro Queen Portrait Watch Clock" for only $1.85! Wow! Think of it: for less than two bucks I can have one of the greatest British monarch's family treasures! Now you know that I know that this is not Queen Victoria's actual jewelry. It is not even her real costume jewelry. The only value that it holds is for the purposes of a buyer who is going to a costume party. That is the idea behind Jesus' next parable of the pearl. The subject of the parable is not the pearl but rather the merchant who seeks fine pearls. The Kingdom of Heaven in this metaphor is the merchant and the pearl is you. But I don't know about you but I am honestly not that fine of a pearl. I am probably at best a $1.85 piece of costume jewelry. But it is not my perception of value that matters here. Value is created in the mind of the buyer. So the question of this parable (and Jesus' entire ministry) is "How valuable are you to God?" This parable teaches us that the Kingdom of Heaven sees you as of great value. The Kingdom of Heaven in the person of Jesus gave up everything to get you. The moral of the story for the first parable was that the Kingdom of Heaven is to be pursued but the moral of this second parable is that the Kingdom of Heaven pursues you. We may be worthless to some but God has decided that he can use us.
 |
| Ichthys charm |
Parable of the Net
“...Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come forth, separate the wicked from among the just, and cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth...”Charms have a history in Church history that predates Queen Victoria's fashion interest. Specifically fish charms. Some of you readers may be familiar with the Ichthys fish image. Back in the days of Christan persecution in the Roman Empire, Christians held secret gatherings that were advertised through secret symbols. One of these was a fish, which in Greek is called an Ichthys ΙΧΘΥΣ. Nobody really notices if you leave of a sign or sketch of a fish. But the meaning lied in the spelling of the word. Ichthys was an acronym for a message about Jesus. According to Wikipedia:
ΙΧΘΥΣ (Ichthus) is an acronym/acrostic[4] for "Ίησοῦς Χριστός, Θεοῦ Υἱός, Σωτήρ", (Iēsous Christos, Theou Yios, Sōtēr), which translates into English as "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Saviour".
- Iota (i) is the first letter of Iēsous (Ἰησοῦς), Greek for "Jesus".
- Chi (ch) is the first letter of Christos (Χριστός), Greek for "anointed".
- Theta (th) is the first letter of Theou (Θεου), Greek for "God's", the genitive case of Θεóς, Theos, Greek for "God".
- Upsilon (y) is the first letter of (h)uios[5] (Υἱός), Greek for "Son".
- Sigma (s) is the first letter of sōtēr (Σωτήρ), Greek for "Savior".
 |
| Queen Elizabeth II's fifth anniversary charm bracelet from Prince Philip |
Old & New: Rhythm, rhyme and reason
"...Jesus said to them, “Have you understood all these things?”They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He said to them, “Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old.”
On their fifth wedding anniversary Prince Philip gave Queen Elizabeth II a gift that continued the tradition set in place by her ancestor Queen Victoria. He gave her a charm bracelet. But this wasn't a simple charm bracelet or one that had been passed down. This was a charm bracelet on steroids. Philip took the idea and tradition of the charm bracelet and made it current and applicable to Elizabeth II's style and time. It combined elements of both the old and the new; becoming what we call "timeless." Philip showed that he both understood and valued her identity. Jesus turned to his disciples and asked if they had come to a similar place. Did they both understand his parables of the Kingdom and did they value what the parables revealed about his identity. The disciples affirmed that they understood the parables and appreciated their meaning. When they said this they were not just affirming and understanding the significance of the last three, but rather the rhythm of all if the parables in chapter 13. Like a charm bracelet, the beauty and meaning of the parables is found in the rhythm of their placement. To the untrained eye a charm bracelet seems like a hoarder's jewelry: a collection of treasures for the sake of collecting. To the untrained eye the parables of chapter 13 seem like they are revered by the gospel writer just because they are sayings if Jesus. But to the eye of the trained they both find more meaning when they are placed together. The rhythm of precious gems and charms placed together and parables with rhyming ideas placed near each other signify a unified message. It is the story of the kingdom... of a family... of an induvidual identity that is forged from a collective identity. So since the disciples understood the parables of the kingdom he gave them a parable about themselves. They were scribes of the Kingdom, students of a prophet or biographers of a King. They were the keepers if a great household's greatest treasure: its story. But they were not charged with maintaining the household's wealth but rather divesting the household if it's wealth. And that is what these Disciples turned Apostles did. In writing the New Testament and founding the Church they share with us God's treasures of grace, mercy and love. Treasures that are both old and new. Treasures that are timeless.
No comments:
Post a Comment