Word of Salvation – Vol. 53 No.17 – May 2008

 

Jesus Priceless Treasure

 

A Sermon by Rev Gerald Vanderkolk

on Matthew 13:44-46

Scripture Reading:  Philippians 3:1-14

Suggested Singing:  BoW 445

 

Brothers and Sisters in Christ.

Introduction:

At the end of the year 2005, the case of Michelle Leslie was in the news. When she was released from Indonesia and returned to Australia, she attended a news conference with her father. Her father said the following.

“MICHELLE LESLIE’S father says her family has been through a nightmare’” during her court case, which had forced them to move house, take out a new mortgage, borrow from friends and spend “every cent we’ve ever saved for our retirement”. But he would do it all again for his daughter if he had to.

When it comes to certain things in life, human beings might be tempted to do almost anything to achieve their objective. I think that is often the case with health. We often talk about how precious our health is, and if it is threatened in some way, people will spend amazing amounts of money in an attempt to get healthy again. They will do so for the sake of themselves or their spouse or their children.

We know the story in the Bible of the woman with a blood disorder who said to Jesus that she had spent all that she had on doctors but had only become worse.

Many of us know the story of Jairus, the synagogue ruler , who asked Jesus to come to his village and save his precious daughter. It is an amazing story because we know that the Jewish religious establishment had no love for Jesus. But Jairus, in his desperation, swallowed his pride and went to the only person who could save her.

In the course of history, in the course of life, people will make the most amazing sacrifices to achieve something they believe is worth the cost. September is a time in Australia full of finals fever. Every footballer wants to be in the grand final in September and they will do all in their power to be there. It isn’t just the money that drives them, but the prestige and honour of playing in a final. They are driven by glory. For them it is a quest for the “Holy Grail”. For that grail they will train and sacrifice.

The whole concept of giving up something less for something of greater value lies behind the parables we are looking at today. This is part of the mystery of the Kingdom of God.

Point One: The meaning of the two twin parables and the one difference

The whole idea of discovering treasure hidden in a field is something that we should all be familiar with. Often we read about those who are doing their work and discover something of archaeological significance. Miners sometimes find an important fossil or sometimes someone stumbles on a mummified body of someone that lived thousands of years ago. It isn’t like they were looking for the object in question; they just stumbled across it somehow.

The famous Dead Sea Scrolls were found be accident. Two Bedouin boys were looking after some sheep and goats at Qumran, by the North West cliffs of the Dead Sea. One of the boys threw a rock into a cave hoping to scare out any animal that was lurking in there and instead of a sheep or goat scurrying out he heard pottery breaking. The two boys crept into the cave and there on the floor, stuffed in pottery jars were scrolls made out of leather, many of them crumbling away.

Palestine has always been the door through which invading armies came and went, and in days without banks and security of any kind, people could only ever bury their valuables in secret locations, hoping, when the crisis had ended, to re-discover their treasures. Thus, Jesus’ parable of a man working in a field and discovering some sort of treasure was nothing unusual.

I don’t want you to think about the ethics or otherwise of this parable. The ethics of the parable are not important! We must get the point of the parable.

The man, knowing that he had stumbled on the treasure, hides it again and then sells all he has and purchases that field. The treasure is worth far more to him than whatever he had to sell to get it. The man does it with joy. The man does it with a big smile on his face. All of us from time to time have surely had that smile written on our own faces. We have made some unbelievable bargain where the person who sold us the item didn’t realise its value and we never questioned the price. How much sweeter still when a friend of yours has paid twice what you paid for the same thing!

I sometimes think that is how it is when a boy finds a girl that he can love. He looks at her and knows that he has found a wonderful treasure and, at least in the old days, he wanted to get his ring on her finger as fast as he could. He wasn’t going to let this one get away.

The Parable of the Pearl of Great price is a very similar parable to the Treasure hidden in the field. In the parable of the Pearl of Great price the merchant is constantly looking for fine pearls and selling them. One day in his searching he comes across one that just does not compare to any pearl he has ever seen before. Perhaps it is the size of it? Perhaps it is the shape of it? Perhaps it is the quality of it? He is a man that knows his pearls and when he sees this particular one he knows it is by far the most valuable pearl that he has ever come across.

These two parables read as twins . There is only one significant difference between the two parables and that is this: In the first parable the man finds the treasure quite by accident and in the second parable the man finds it after searching long and hard. The actions of both men are similar; the way of discovery is different.

Both these parables talk about discovering God’s Kingdom in different ways. In reality, God’s Kingdom is where Christ reigns. When you discover Christ, you discover God’s Kingdom. One discovers Jesus almost by accident and the next person discovers him after a long search. It is like the difference between the Shepherds at Bethlehem and the Wise men from the East . The Shepherds were told by the angels that a Saviour had been born to them and he was just down the road in a stable for animals. They were not looking but they discovered the truth. The wise men, Magi from the East however studied the stars and after a long search finally found their way to Bethlehem where they too worshipped him. In a sense it doesn’t matter how you get there as long as you get there and worship Jesus.

Some men are invited by Jesus to follow him and others volunteer . It doesn’t really matter how you come to be following him, but following him is what should happen. Some people end up following Jesus after a long struggle and some follow him without much struggle at all. Some follow Jesus after they have eaten in the pigsties of life , after they have been ground down to despair. Other follow Jesus without going through all those terrible struggles. Some follow Jesus having been brought up in a Christian home and some follow Jesus after being brought up in the home of a non-believer. The point that Jesus is making here is that it doesn’t matter how you come to be following him, as long as you are following. The point is really that you see the unsurpassed worth of the one you are following.

Point Two: Some lessons from the parable

Let us look at some truths here.

First of all, the Kingdom is priceless . The Apostle Paul writes to the Philippians and says that he “considers everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things” (Philippians 3:8). Paul literally lost everything. He lost his standing in the Jewish community. He lost his health . He was persecuted unmercifully. He writes that he suffered more for the gospel than any of the other disciples. He never married and he never had a place to call home. In his old age he writes that his life was being poured out like a drink offering.

Yet he did it, because to him what he gained was of far greater value. Why would so many people become martyrs for the faith? Why would so many people go to the grave willingly singing the praises of Jesus? Isn’t it because they find in Jesus a person of far greater value? Isn’t it because they find in Jesus someone who can satisfy their very souls ?

Despite what people say, mankind has a religious heart and that heart longs to be satisfied. Augustine, the famous Church Father, writes that “our hearts find no rest until they find their rest in Him.” There is something absolutely disappointing about life . Most of the joys that we have are just temporary. There is the joy of a wedding followed by the sadness of a funeral. There is the joy of birth followed by the disappointment of death. There is the thrill of the new which is followed by something becoming older and worn out. Paul talks about his body in terms of an earthly tent being destroyed and yet being swallowed up by a heavenly dwelling.

It is only in Christ that we are assured that our sins are forgiven and that we can be acceptable to God. It is only in Jesus Christ that we know that God is with us, to the very end of the age, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. It is only in Jesus Christ that we know that our guilt has been done away with. It is only in Jesus Christ that we can have a new beginning once again. It is only in Jesus Christ that we can belong to an eternal kingdom that is invincible and eternal. It is only in Jesus Christ that we are rescued from the humdrum of life and can participate in something truly significant. It is only in Jesus Christ that we can live purposeful lives.

One Scottish preacher described the treasure of Christ’s blood. He writes,

“ In the blood of Christ to wash out sin’s darkest stains, in the grace of God to purify the foulest heart, in peace to calm life’s roughest storms, in hopes to cheer guilt’s darkest hour, in a courage that defies death and descends calmly to the tomb, in that which makes the poorest rich and without which the rich are poor indeed…”

The Apostle Peter describes it as an inheritance that cannot perish, spoil or fade.

Secondly, the man happily sold all that he had to gain the treasure . He did it with joy. He did it knowing that he was getting something of far greater value back. To gain the prize requires all that you have.

I want to look at a number of Scriptures here.

Matthew 10:37-39:

“Anyone who loves his father and mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Matthew 16:24:

“Then Jesus said to his disciples “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”

Part of being a Christian is to consider the cost of following Jesus. For some people the cost will be too great and we can easily think of the rich young ruler who went away sad.

I think one of the most frustrating things in life is to come across something valuable but you don’t recognise it. Imagine that your aged mother has died and you go through the house and toss out everything you don’t consider valuable. In the process you toss out a painting that turns out to be from a significant 17 ^th Century artist. You think it is junk, but a person rummaging through your rubbish discovers the painting and walks off with it. It wouldn’t feel great to discover your loss! Something far worse will be to die and then realise that you rejected Christ. You heard about him at Scripture in School, at Youth Group, at Church, through a Christian friend, but you didn’t realise his worth!

The mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven is that what one has now does not compare to a relationship with Christ. As you sit here today in this church building, have you come to a stage in your life where you realise that Jesus is your greatest treasure? If you are a young person here today , do you realise that your car or girlfriend or boyfriend is not your greatest treasure? Do you know that Jesus is your greatest treasure? Are you willing to take up your cross and follow Jesus?

If you are a family person in this church , do you realise that your children are not your greatest treasure? Do you realise that your relationship with Christ is by far the greatest treasure that you have?

If you are nearing retirement, a trip around Australia does not compare to a relationship with Jesus. Only Christ can fulfil our greatest need which is to experience forgiveness and acceptance in God’s family. Only Christ can bring about true peace between us and his Father.

God valued us so much that he was willing to be separated from his Son, to crucify him even, so that we might have life to the full. God was willing to be separated from his own Son, to pour out his wrath upon him so that we might be restored into a relationship with him. A lot of people have their treasures today and yet these treasures are all destined for destruction. The only treasure that will stand till eternity is a relationship with God through Christ.

Conclusion

Have you found this treasure yet ? Have you found Jesus? Are you holding on to your own treasures and thinking to yourself that these treasures are all that really matter? To be a Christian means you lose everything to gain everything. That is the mystery of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Amen.