the parable of the Great Pearl

Warning: spoilers ahead. If you haven't had the Parable of the Great Pearl presented to you by a Godly Play storyteller, and you think you might get that chance - stop reading.

photo, used by permission, from Explore and Express

If you already know the lesson, and would like to read about my experiences with it, carry on. 

I think the Parable of the Great Pearl is one of the loveliest and most surprising of the Godly Play lessons. The Montessori principle is to Show rather than Tell, and this is a lesson of few words (Matthew 13:45-46) and many silent actions. First, the merchant searches for the Great Pearl. He enters even the empty houses in hopes of finding a pearl. He examines closely and carefully every pearl he finds, usually discovering, regretfully, that it is not the one he seeks.

Upon finally discovering the Great Pearl, he sets about negotiating and bartering for it. He carries money (several bags of coins) across, but clearly his savings are not enough. He begins to add other bits and pieces to the pile - his rug, his oil lamp... Eventually he resorts to trading his furniture - his chair, his table, and even his bed. In the end the only way he can afford the pearl is to sell his house as well.

It is shocking to witness this.

photo, used by permission, from Explore and Express (cropped by me)

Normally I think we understand the merchant to have sold "everything he could spare". The version of this parable found in the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas has him selling all his merchandise for the pearl. But in Matthew 13 the words are "everything he had", and the Godly Play presentation encourages us to wonder about that wording.

My friend stf and I still talk about the time I presented the lesson to children in Finland (aged 3-6). The children had learned to keep quiet during my presentations, so it was striking that one child couldn't help but murmer "What!?!" as the merchant realized that even his table and chair were not enough and began to drag his bed across.

Then when the merchant started to dismantle (fold up) his house, the child cried aloud, "WHAT!?!"

Shocking! 

A couple of weeks ago I presented this lesson to a group from my churches in England. Some of us at these churches live comfortably, but some do not. Just last week one young man interrupted the Sunday evening sermon to ask a question about relating his faith and his homelessness.

I'm embarrassed to say that it did not occur to me that this might affect the way the Parable of the Great Pearl would be received. But during the Wondering at our session it became clear that one person was simply furious about this story. She thought it was madness for the merchant to have sold everything - to have made himself homeless - for this pearl. Another member of the circle tried to tell her that the pearl was Jesus, but her horror and fury were too strong for her to be able to take in those words.

photo, used by permission, from Explore and Express (cropped by me)

I regret that I didn't think to Wonder aloud with this woman and the others in our circle, Why did Jesus tell this story? What could he have meant by comparing the kingdom of heaven to this?!?

What I did do, at least, was to accept this person's responses as valid. I agreed with her that it could be immoral to accept too high a price for something. I wondered, since she was still in a very literal interpretation of the story, whether the original owner of the pearl ought to have stopped the sale when it became clear that the only way the merchant could afford it was to trade not only every stick of furniture but even the roof over his head.

I wonder if anyone got angry when Jesus himself told this story?