16th Sunday of Ordinary Time, A July 26, 2026
Fr. Alexander Albert St. Mary Magadalen, Abbeville, LA
“Worth it!” That’s what I said when I got off the record-breaking roller coaster Steel Vengeance. Despite the annoyance of traveling to Ohio, despite the cost of the tickets, and despite the hours of waiting in line, it was “worth it.”
That’s a fairly insignificant example the fact that the good things in life often cost us something. Jesus is tapping into that common human experience to make his point about the kingdom of heaven. The pearl of great price, the treasure buried in a field – these things are awesome, but in order to get them, you have to pay for it. And, in his examples, it doesn’t just cost a lot, it costs everything.
When I was considering the trip to Cedar Point, there were several factors in the decision. First was my experience of other roller coasters – I knew they could be fun. Second was the stories I had heard from people who had been to that park and how good it was. You can add to that the reviews I read online. Third, it was the friends who invited me along, which ensured I would at least be in good company. All of that gave me enough reason to trust that this trade might be worth it after all.
The treasure of the gospel is like that. You can perhaps see it, hear about it, and recognize that other people have it. But, until you pay the price, you don’t yet own it. That’s why the man reburies the treasure in the field. Had he just run off, he would have been guilty of stealing. But like mineral rights today, buying the field first meant he could own the field and everything in it without risk of losing it to a lawsuit.
When someone first encounters God, when they first come to think “oh, this whole Jesus thing might be real,” there is usually joy – like first finding the treasure or seeing the pearl. But it cannot stop at that joy, it must translate to making the purchase. Notice that Jesus does not say the person simply buys the field or the pearl. He first has to sell “all that he has.” A person who lives without Jesus Christ who then discovers Jesus Christ will soon realize that keeping Jesus in their lives requires them to change how they live. It might mean giving up certain bad habits or social groups. It could mean changing jobs or moving. It could radically alter your marriage or destabilize your connections to family. I just saw the story of a man who gave away millions of dollars to become a priest and that’s not even the hardest example we could use.
So why do it? Because it’s worth it! How do we know that it’s worth it? You don’t. That’s the crux of the entire Christian life: you’re expected to make the greatest of sacrifices based not on knowledge or certainty, but on trust. I say it’s not knowledge, but in a certain sense, faith is a kind of knowledge – just not the kind the world is used to. When St. Paul says “we know that all things work for good for those who love God,” does he mean we have scientific proof of it? No, he means the conviction of faith is so strong that it acts like knowledge.
But that’s a pretty extreme kind of trust… and an almost absurd claim. “All things?” You mean everything can benefit those who love God? Stuff like sickness and suffering, wars and corruption and hatred? There’s a lot of evil in this world. Does Paul really mean that, if you love God, even the evil stuff can benefit us?
Yes. That is really what he means. That’s a major part of why the pearl of the gospel is worth selling everything to get. Nothing else in the universe can promise to make your own death into something that benefits you. But the gospel can. Sell everything to get it – learn to love God above all else – and literally everything suddenly becomes beneficial. Worth it!
But how can we trust that? How can anyone bring themselves to make that kind of trade based entirely on trust? Well, remember the three reasons I gave for my willingness to pay the price of going to that roller coaster. Previous experiences, the witness of others, and the company of friends. Though nothing can replace the actual act of faith, these things help make that final “purchase” – that ultimate leap of faith – seem reasonable and doable.
Every time you’ve experienced God – a sense of his presence, an answered prayer, witnessing his grace work in your life – it’s a foretaste of heaven and of divine love. We can reflect on those experiences, draw on the confidence they instill in us, and leverage them to trust God for things we have not seen work out… yet. Previous experiences of God’s goodness and of his providence are fuel for greater faith… for a more complete purchase of the buried treasure of total surrender to him. So, give God the credit for what he’s already done. Strive to trust the goodness of God you’ve already seen so you can extend it to the goodness you do not yet see.
There is also the witness of others. Chief among these are the saints. In every generation, there are men and women of extraordinary love, people whose lives seem impossible in a broken world and yet are real. And when you ask these saints, when you investigate their lives, what you find is that they credit their supernatural love and joy to a supernatural trust in God. They could love freely, risk everything, and sometimes even die fearlessly because they trusted in a God who could make everything work for their benefit. Consider well their testimony and witness so it can stir up your own faith to imitate them.
Finally, there is the company of friends. Though following the gospel will almost certainly cost you friendships, it will also provide you with even greater ones. The communion of saints isn’t just about dead people who used to be holy; it is also about unity with the body of Christ on earth now. It’s one thing to find comfort in a fellow sports fan or companionship through a shared hobby, but it’s quite another to discover a friend who would die for you. Christianity literally trains us to lay down our lives for others… which means that there is no better place to find friends of the highest quality and loyalty. If you’re going to risk everything, then do it with people who will at least go down with you.
Really, this last one is also a challenge to us. If I’m up here telling people to risk everything for the gospel and I’m saying that Christian friendship is part of what makes that exchange possible, then what does it mean if we fail to be that kind of friend? In other words, some people are unwilling to pay the price for the gospel because we fail to be the kinds of friends who make the purchase look worthwhile.
Be that kind of friend, then! A friend of Christ, a brother or sister of Jesus who is “all in” for that buried treasure that is heaven. Remember what God has done for you and renew your trust in the one who works all things for the good of those who love him. Look again at the witness of tens of thousands of men and women who already paid the price and found it worthwhile. Listen to the invitation of your brothers and sisters in this church and in every church in the world who want to pay the price with you.
You are known to God. You have been called by him, predestined to be conformed to the image of his son. That is the treasure you seek, the pearl placed before you. What do you still refuse to sell to gain it? What is worth more than the offer to be not only justified but glorified by the love of God? God sees you lost in your sin, considers you so great a treasure that he came to earth and gave away everything just to gain you. And as he paid that ultimate price on the cross, Jesus looked at you in even your darkest moments and do you know what he said? Worth it.