Freebies for Voters and the Kingdom of Heaven

"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field."

- Matthew 13:44

So hopefully you heard the news that Starbucks (as well as Ben and Jerry's, Krispy Kreme, and even Chik-fil-A) is giving out a freebie to anyone who voted in this election. Now I've had mixed results with trying to get freebies (though I certainly love finding good deals). Sometimes you go and the employee behind the counter has no idea what you're talking about. Sometimes you find out that the promotion was only for a certain time period (Ben and Jerry's, by the way, is only giving out cones from 5 PM to 8 PM). In other words, the hope does not always seem to equal the reality. 

I'll be honest, as I was waiting in line this morning I had a few conflicting thoughts/emotions. For sure, I was excited to be getting a free cup of coffee. But I also felt like asking the person in front of me if they knew anything about it, just to make sure I didn't get a dirty look at the counter. On top of that, I started wondering if I should be telling the people I was in line with about the deal, you know, to share the good news with them. But then I went back to wondering if I might be mistaken about the whole thing, in which case I would look like twice the fool than if I just asked when I got to the counter. 

I ended up just asking when I got to the counter. 

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells a number of stories about the kingdom of heaven to his followers. In a few of those stories he describes it in terms of treasure, and, in this passage, he uses the image of someone who finds it hidden in a field. This happy discoverer is sure enough of the worth of this treasure that he joyfully sells all he has to secure it. If he wasn't sure, he most definitely would have held back. 

I held back on spreading the good news regarding voting freebies this morning because I wasn't sure if I had all the information. I think, sometimes, this is not unlike our relationship to the good news of the kingdom of heaven. Sure it sounds good on Sunday when we're all proclaiming it together. But what about on Tuesday at school or in the workplace? How sure are we then? If our assurance is low, then there is little chance we will share it with others, much less put our all into it. 

The bad news is, you don't get more sure of something just by willing it. 

The good news can be found in what Jesus tells his disciples a few verses later: "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasures what is new and what is old." We might not feel sure all the time, but that's why we have one another. That's why we train ourselves in the art of reading and studying the bible, then teaching it to others. That's why it's so important for us to continue to worship and meet together. 

When we do this together, the kingdom of heaven is not hard to see.