But the final success of the seed consists in an ordinary harvest, not the superabundant and grandiose harvest that would go with the popular idea of the kingdom of God as triumphant. The gospel reminds us that what takes us out of everyday life is hazardous. The grandiose appeals to our worldly programs for happiness. But the kingdom is not there. It is not in the lottery, even if we win.
People love miracles and the extraordinary.
The real response to this treasure is to discover the God of everyday, the God of the ordinary, the God who manifests the kingdom in the unclean and what may seem in our judgment to be scandalous. When the spiritual journey becomes an inner treasure, we want to give more time to prayer, silence and solitude. We do not want to be disturbed by the cares of the world. There is nothing wrong with this desire in due proportion, but to try to maintain our own peace of mind for selfish reasons, such as avoiding the problems of others, is to fail to understand the chief responsibility of the kingdom. The parable of the hidden treasure reminds us of what can happen if we treat the free gift of the kingdom as something that dispenses us from the duties of ordinary daily life and the labor of finding God's kingdom in it.