A fine merchant with a keen eye and discernment for opportunity, knows the value of things.
And yet it is hard to fathom the value the pearl-seeking merchant feels for a pearl, sparing nothing to own it, described in Matthew chapter 13, verses 45-46:
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
Is this a somewhat improbable utopian vision, you may think?! Could or would anyone truly give up all they have to own a single pearl?
However, before you are tempted to discard this parable as something of antiquity, irrelevant for today, we discover its chiastic, twin parable reinforces the idea. The parable prior was the overarching idea, is as Jesus states here:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then for joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Matthew chapter 13, verse 44.
Strange isn’t it, that this treasure hunter not only found treasure, but even bought the entire hallowed field where the treasure was found?!
Okay, having stated these kingdom truths, let me now share what the Holy Spirit is saying to my nation of Australia and for Indigenous peoples in this hour.
A man who found the pearl of great price
If there ever was a man who found the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price it was John B. Gribble. He emigrated with his parents, and possessing a devout faith, he chose early in life to be a minister back in 1876.
God moved his heart over the plight of the Indigenous. They would become his pearl great price.
His calling began as he observed the tragedy of young Indigenous women who cohabited with white men being abandoned when they became pregnant. He desired to set up a place of refuge for these women and their children, away from the degrading influences, and of alcohol.
He was also concerned about the highly disproportionate focus of churches and missions, with few Indigenous people in Victoria, compared to the north. So, later he took the opportunity to work as an Anglican minister and move with his family to WA, in Kennedy Range, Dalgetty Reserve where a large area was set aside for mission work.
The pearl demands a great price
Gribble wholeheartedly looked after and fed his Indigenous flock spiritually by ministering the word of God. He also spent himself tirelessly to defend Indigenous’ rights and against mistreatment.
He took to heart the scriptures in faith to live them out, as it is written:
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend yourselves on behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness…” Isaiah Chapter 58, verses 9b-10.
Paul put it this way, “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness but rather expose them,” because “…you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth).”
Trouble started for Gribble when he held a public lecture titled, ‘Only a black fellow’, in Perth, where he made his criticisms known about the treatment of Indigenous people in the north. Then, he launched another message titled “Dark deeds in a sunny land,” expressing how Indigenous mistreatment was an indictment to being authentic in faith.
Many settlers with religious roots, took offense and were outraged by this exposure and a key media outlet sided with them refusing to publish his views.
Gribble consistently saw the Aborigines being enslaved and shackled at the neck. He saw contracts being made with illiterate Indigenous, who were led to sign a contract for life to dive for pearls and then become a part of a degrading system of human trafficking.
Gribble eventually saw the systematic censorship and boycott of his mission and even others in his support, but God made a way for him. We do well to learn from him.
Importantly, despite the entrenched and systemic culture of racial and social abuse of Indigenous people, the genocidal history of the white settlement, and the extraordinary cost to himself in terms of his reputation and loss, Gribble loved others enough to make a stand.
He became a social conscience to the nation. However, it was not just a form of social activism, which did help catalyse legal reforms. However, ultimately Gribbles’ cause was about stirring the Australian nation to turn to Christ.
You need to find out…
I hope this is more than an interesting read for you. The bible says, “Find out what pleases the Lord.”
I sense God breathing on John Gribbin’s faith legacy for us today to stand for our kingdom cause. In this hour, I sense God is calling forth people and churches that stand for principle despite various forms of persecution, so they shine for him.
What is your cause and pearl of great price for me?
The Indigenous peoples are strongly one of my pearls of great price, a key part of my field. Is God calling you to stand with first people’s too?
We are to unlock the old holy spirit-wells that people like Gribble opened to restore his ‘broken remnant’ as he put it, while being a light to the world, Jesus spoke about.
The following video is short tribute to Australian Indigenous people. If you have an Indigenous friend do bless them with it.