A Treasure Worth Everything

Transcript

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[0:01] Well, as Victoria said, we're starting like a three-week sermon series on the kingdom of God, and it came to me because I was studying, I think in January I was reading a lot, and I was like, you know, this is a topic that kind of comes up every now and then, and we're like, what is it? What is the kingdom of God? The Bible keeps talking about it, but it's a bit cryptic, and even in our first reading we saw that, you know, Jesus explaining to the Pharisees, the kingdom of God is invisible. It's not something you can see and grab and say, here it is or here it is, and so we're going to get into all that. So it's kind of an interesting thing, but we're not looking at it just because it's kind of obscure and interesting. We're looking at it because it's actually vital and important. So we're going to look at what it means to be citizens of the kingdom of God, and I want to just kind of give you a little shorthand that sometimes in the scripture we read the kingdom of God, and other times it reads the kingdom of heaven, and those are different words in Greek, obviously, but they're both probably pointing to the same thing. The kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven are similar concepts in the New Testament, just so you know. But what I thought we could do, and this is fine, Brian

[1:07] already mentioned it to me, so he's welcome to do so again, but what do you think the kingdom of God is, or what have you been told the kingdom of God is? Like, what is it actually? Like, what is it? It's like when they were out in the wilderness and they had this stuff that gathered on the floor of the ground, the Israelites in the wilderness, and they picked it up and they could eat it, and they called it manna. Which means, what is it? That's what actually that word means. What is this stuff? So what is the kingdom of God? Anybody, raise your hand, you know, you don't have to come, there won't be a microphone to come to you, but what is the kingdom of God? Wendy's the theologian, so you have to answer.

[1:43] Just to get things rolling. Yeah, I like that. The realm where Jesus is in charge. The confirmands, if you remember this, have one of their memorization things. What is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the kingly rule of Christ. This is where Christ is ruling in the world. What else? What else is the kingdom of God? A little hint, you might be sitting in it right now. Somebody? That wasn't a big enough hint. Yes. There we go. You know, I started learning from my mother at a very young age. Tell us your name, by the way. I'm sorry. I'm Todd. Todd, welcome. I'm glad you're here. Okay, thank you.

[2:27] The kingdom of God, which is clean to me, is when we ascend to our envision of what we have prepared for ourselves through our faith in Jesus Christ. And when we get there, you know, Gabriel put on the horn, and we get our time and our families, and the lost pets that we had will be here. Won't that be nice? You know, the Rainbow Ridge.

[2:57] It's an experience of joy and happiness and peace. There you go. That's how this was explained to me. Yeah. Because we live in misery, can't hear it. The veil of tears. Fire and battles. Yeah. So maybe the kingdom is this future heavenly place. And the thinkers in the church were like, it is that, but it's also, it's not yet, but it's actually already here in some ways, which we're not going to get into that this week, but in the coming weeks, we'll talk about this sort of overlap. The kingdom of God is heaven. But it's heaven actually breaking into earth at some points where we'll see God is in charge. Thank you. Anyone else? Anyone else? Yes. Yuki. Oh, there's people who are submitted to Jesus' kingship. Yeah. The kingdom of God follows people around when they are submitted to the kingship of Jesus, which is sort of like this portable. So now I don't have to preach. I'm going to tear this one up. We got it all. I'm going to read to you some examples from scripture, and none of these are necessarily going to illuminate everything for you, but let's just get started because this is what scripture says. There's many places where scripture talks about the kingdom, but I'm just going to read you a few from the New Testament.

[4:09] Matthew 18.3. Jesus said, So what is the kingdom of heaven? Is it a place for children? Maybe. Matthew 19.14. But Jesus said, Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven. Okay. Well, we're getting somewhere. Luke 9.1. And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases and sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. So does the kingdom of God have something to do with proclaiming and healing? Well, maybe it does. John 18.36. Jesus answered, Pilate, my kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting that I might not be delivered over. But my kingdom is not from this world. Okay. That's helpful. 1 Corinthians 15. The Apostle Paul. I tell you this, brothers and sisters, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. So as usual with Paul, we have more questions at the end than at the beginning, because that was even more cryptic than all the rest, right?

[5:22] So, but let's try it a different way. And this is our reading today. This is the shortest. This is the shortest sermon text that we've ever done. It's one verse. Let's see if we can get it up there. No, there it is. This is the whole text. This is going to be like a super short sermon, because sometimes like a third of the sermon is the, no, like an eighth of the sermon is the reading, but this one's faster. Matthew 13.44 is our sermon text from the New Living Translation. Jesus says, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field.

[5:58] In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. And since it's so short, I'm going to actually read it again, because parables are good to read a second time so that they can kind of work on us. Parables work on us. Jesus said, The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field.

[6:25] In his excitement, He hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word, and we ask that you would add your blessing to it. In Jesus' name, amen.

[6:44] So I want you to remember that this is a parable, but what I want you to do now is enter parable mind space with me, okay? Enter parable mind space, which means enter the world of the parable, so that what the parable says, can kind of work on you, work in you, okay?

[7:01] And remember that parables have limitations. Sometimes they're only teaching one thing, so don't build an entire theology about everything from one parable, because it doesn't work. But a parable works really well at one thing, okay? So let's get what we can from it. Now, I want you to enter this world where the parable creates, so maybe put yourself back 2,000 years, walking through, walking down a road in the Middle East, walking in between the fields of barley, on one side maybe is a grove of olive trees that are ready for harvest. Further off on another hill is a flock of sheep and goats and their shepherd, and way in the distance down the road is a small village that's your destination, okay? And you're walking in a sunny, warm place, and you see a field, and on your left you look, and you're curious about something, because a little bit of a golden glint catches your eye, and you want to stop, and maybe investigate what's in that. You know it's not your field, it belongs to somebody else, clearly, because you're just passing through. So let's ask ourselves some questions, right?

[8:06] In this world that the parable creates, it seems like the kingdom is something that can be found, right? But it's not immediately visible, it's hidden, at least it's hidden from this man, right? So we can ask ourselves, how did he find it, right? How did he find this treasure? Was he looking for treasure that day? Was that a day he woke up and said, I think I'm going to look for treasure, I'm going to be kind of on the prowl for something valuable that I can get? Maybe he was going to, if it was buried under the earth, in what way was it hidden? We don't know, but if it was buried under the earth, did he bring a shovel with him that day? He's like, I'm going to go digging today for something that's lost. To me that seems like a total waste of time, because the amount of earth that I'd have to uncover to find any kind of treasure hidden in any random place, it's not worth the effort, is it? But if you know something, like you have a, you know like the pirate treasure map with the X on it, if you have something like that, you might be inclined to go looking in that field. So was there something about that field that was important that he thought, oh, I can go look in that field and dig around there?

[9:05] Or maybe the treasure was just there in the field, sort of on the surface, but it's hiding in its own way, right? Maybe there's all sorts of other things on the ground right next to it, like rocks or branches, or were the crops in the field so high that he couldn't quite see it, but he only got a slight glimpse of it?

[9:24] Was he just walking through? And something caught his eye? And then where was he going that day? What was his destination? What brought him to walk just past that field on that particular day, right? Was this something he was looking for, or was this a distraction? And we're talking about the kingdom of heaven and him finding it. Isn't it interesting when we ask ourselves all sorts of questions? Because then we could ask ourselves, how did we find the kingdom of heaven? How did we find the kingdom of God? Were we looking for it? Was it given to us? Did we have to search for it, right? Or was it just there in plain view? Did we have to look somewhere else first? Okay? So parables are so great because that's how this one works. And it's so simple. It's so short, right? The kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. And in his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. So think about people, especially believers, how did they come to find the kingdom of God? Some people are searchers or seekers. Have you noticed that? Some people really are seeking all their life. That's just how I think God made them, right?

[10:36] And maybe some of them had looked somewhere else first and found a different treasure in a different field. And then they came across this field and they realized this treasure is better. And they got rid of the other treasure that they found in the other field. And they realized this is the true one, right? For some people, the treasure was in plain view all their life. It was just so easy to see. There it was. I mean, I would put myself in that category because it was my parents that brought me to faith. And this was this treasure that they put before me every day. And eventually it looked so attractive, I had to have it for myself. I didn't have to go seeking for it. It was given to me. And I guess that gives me a privilege in a certain way. But when you hear the stories of the people who didn't have that, but then they found it, it's somehow dearer to them. Have you noticed that? The people who find it having looked harder for it? Hold on to it more dearly. Praise God for that, right? So the stories of conversion from the people who have been way elsewhere out in life and have come into faith, they're always just a little more entertaining. Just to be honest. It's kind of like our desire for drama is there.

[11:39] We love it, right? And you wonder if some other people weren't really looking and weren't all much seeking either. And they were just on their way doing something else. But a little glimmer of gold came into the corner of the world. And they were just staring over their eyes. And maybe that was like a friend that they barely knew. But that friend was acting like gold. Acting like treasure. And they're like, I keep getting pulled over into this, off my track into this field. What is that? Like their curiosity finally gets peaked, right? And they kind of get pulled into the field. Do we all see how this parable just, parables work sometimes. They just work really well. And this one works so well because it's so short. You know, so short and so straight to the point. So now what happens, right?

[12:25] You're like, how is he going to turn one verse into like a one-hour sermon? It's not going to be one hour, by the way. It's going to be short. This is shorter. It's only eight pages, alright? I promise. So the man's so excited and he realized he must have it. And this is what I like. He's honest enough not to take it. Did you get that? He could have just been like, yank, doot, doot, doot, doot, right? He's like, no, I've got to get this the right way. I've got to buy this field because then I'll own what the field contains. This is the thinking of the time, right? And so we had an experience of this. We went to Goodwill. Kiah was looking for purses. And we found a purse that cost like $10. But inside the purse, in a little pocket, I'm not kidding, was a very nice crisp $50 bill. Or was it $100? A $100 bill was in this $10 purse. And we were like, we could just buy the purse.

[13:18] This was just like a month ago. Isn't that weird? But like, no. No. Because our child is watching. No. Because we know what the right thing to do is. So we took the $100 bill to the front and said, this was in a donated purse. You better take this. And then I just, and the lady at the front was like, oh. Now, she didn't put it in her pocket. But I was trying to wait until there were two of them together so that they could kind of be honest with each other about it. But I didn't want to wait that long. So I just finally just gave it to them. Because it's like, not my business how you do with it what comes next. But we gave them the thing. And then I don't think we bought the purse because it wasn't worth it. But it would have been. So we could have bought the $10 purse for the $100 bill. It's just like this. Right? But it didn't feel honest. So anyways, we'll move on. Move on. But you get the idea. This can happen. So the only way he can honestly possess it is to hide it again and go home and sell everything he owns, including his home and his field. He may have had some fields. Right? And whatever treasure he may have found in his field or anyone else's field. That he may have collected all his life. So you see how the parable is working here.

[14:24] And he takes that money. And then he finds the owner of that field. This is Middle East thinking here. And he offers him money. And people don't sell fields lightly then. Because that's like a family inheritance. You don't want to sell a field. So he really needed all this money. This is sort of the cultural world of the ancient Middle East. You really needed a lot of money. Because you had to keep putting cash on the table until the offer was so good. That the owner of the field would be able to sell it. And the owner of that field would break some family bonds. And some family obligations to keep it in the family. And finally sell it to you. So he knew he needed his entire fortune to get just this one field. But what was in it was so valuable to him. Now this is where parables break down. Okay. So here's where two ways where the parable breaks down. And that's why parables only do one thing. Is if I was the owner of that field. And somebody came to me and kept putting more and more money on the table. I'd be like, let me go look around my own field first before I sell it to you. Because it's like, oh you found oil on my land? You know, like, why are you so interested in this? I don't know you. So let's set that aside.

[15:31] Because that's not what's happening today. The other way this parable doesn't work is. If this is the kingdom of God. That he found as a treasure. He buried it again. But we don't bury the kingdom of God. We display the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God isn't just one treasure. In one place that only one person can possess. It's for everybody. But again, like I said. When you push a parable too far. It doesn't work. The parable is only telling us one thing. And that's that this thing that he found was of such great value. That he sold everything he had. So that he could get this one thing. By whatever normal. And it's just a feature of Middle Eastern world at that time. How he went and did it. Okay. So that, we don't need to get hung up on that. So.

[16:19] What about our larger topic? Did this help us at all? Figure out what the kingdom of God is? You're like no. It didn't. Thank you very much. You're lying. You're not going to tell us what the kingdom of God is. Right? And actually in the Bible. Sometimes we never really fully get a satisfying answer about what the kingdom of God is. But we can compare it to a lot of things. So comparing it is one way of kind of getting some value. And some meaning in it. And so one way we could say is. The kingdom of God is like a treasure in the field. The kingdom of God is like a precious treasure. And so we can say that the kingdom of God is like a pearl of great price. It's almost the same parable. And the merchant, you know, goes and sells everything he has. So he can have that one pearl. Basically the same parable. Just in a different kind of realm of Middle Eastern life.

[16:59] And we know who possesses. We know who possesses the kingdom. So Jesus says. The kingdom, blessed are the poor in spirit. For theirs is the kingdom of God. Remember the Beatitudes? The poor in spirit is us.

[17:17] Who knows that they are not rich enough in their own spirit to be self sufficient. The poor in the spirit are the people who need God. Those who need God shall receive the kingdom of God. The kingdom of him. Because they realize where the lordship is. They realize who they depend on. Right? So we know what it's like. And we know who possesses it. And we know who brings the kingdom of God about. And that's Jesus. Jesus brings the kingdom of God with him into the world. There's no questions about that. Now you could also say that God brings the kingdom of God with him. It would be different. with himself into the world. And those are two ways of saying basically the same thing.

[17:53] So, and the other thing that we heard from our first reading and the parable from today is right about is that the kingdom of God is not always visible. Like Jesus said to the Pharisees, you can't say it's here or it's here, but the kingdom of God, if you are paying attention, this is the part he doesn't say out loud, but really the thing he means is if you're actually paying attention and you're in tune with what God is doing in the world, then the kingdom of God is actually among you right now. You just can't see it. You're walking around in it day and night, but you don't even notice it. The kingdom of God is in your midst or is among you. It's not always visible. So now I'm not going to play around forever because you're like, how many more riddles is he going to tell us today? But I'm going to tell you this. So this is what I know. Okay. And this is some of the answers that you guys give. Because otherwise you're going to like start crumpling up your bulletins and throwing them at me like, well, will they ever just tell us? Okay. So then the simplest way, here it is. Here it is. Just pay attention now. Write this out. No, don't write it out. The kingdom of God is that place which is both spiritual and physical where God reigns and rules. Simple,

[18:52] right? And that's not the only definition, but that's a good, strong, solid definition. And I'll say it again. The kingdom of God is that place which is both spiritual and physical, right? Where God reigns and God rules. And that just makes sense. It's almost a tautology. It's almost like a self-evident saying. The kingdom of God is where God is the king. But that actually answers a lot right there. That answers a lot. So you could say that the kingdom of God is actually in this particular space and time and in this building, right? Because God is the king here in this building, in this place, in this time. We hope. Now the reality is you and me and some other, everyone else have brought a few other kings. And let's be even, let's be, you know, kings and queens, but that's a bad thing. We've brought our own kings and queens with us into this place. So how much can we truly say that God is the only king in this building in this moment? We can't 100% say that. But that's generally the idea though. Here we are worshiping God together. God is not, maybe not just in control here, but God owns all of this. God rules and reigns in this place when we, especially when we proclaim the gospel, especially when we're in fellowship with each other, especially when we

[20:09] confess our belief in Jesus Christ. So the kingdom of God, if you want a really simple answer, is just right where you're sitting. Look at the chair you're on. The kingdom of God is here. Look at the floor. Look at the ceiling. The kingdom of God is right here. It's right now. So that's one simpler, kind of more apparent answer. It is right here, it's visible, okay? But the kingdom of God is also wherever the believer is. So it's like a private little kingdom that follows you around. If you've seen the movie Frozen, at the end, the little snowman gets a tiny snow flurry and it's always snowing. And it's always snowing. It's always snowing on him so he can stay cool, so he doesn't melt. So it's kind of like that. But I, you know, if you haven't seen Frozen, it's okay. You haven't missed all that much. But that's the idea. It's just this little, it's a very small kingdom, but it follows you everywhere it goes. So it follows you to work. It follows you to the store. It's where you are. The kingdom of God is where the believers are. That's what Yuki said. So this is kind of a portable kingdom. And so the kingdom of God can actually be in all sorts of places. In this world, all sorts of forsaken and broken places, like a prison, right? Or on skid row.

[21:18] If there's a believer there, the kingdom is there bringing light, bringing God's presence to the world. And hopefully God is reaching those places through the believer, right? That's how God reaches into the world with his spirit, enabling believers to go and spread the kingdom, okay?

[21:33] So another way to look at it, and we'll do this more in the next weeks, is to say that it's the contrast or the opposite of the kingdom of the world. The idea of the kingdom of the world is another spiritual or scriptural idea that gets developed, but not as much as the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, but it's also an idea. And the kingdom of the world is also both spiritual and physical, but it's in a bad way. And it's not hidden at all. You can find it all the time. You don't have to look very hard. The kingdom of the world is not a treasure. It's more like a blight. And it's always and everywhere evident. And you're always in the midst of it.

[22:11] It's the brokenness of the world. It's the sin that came into the world. It's the consequences of the sin that came into the world. It's the breaking down of all cultures and societies. And it's lawlessness and sin. And so that's where humans have a different king.

[22:31] The king of this world. The kingdom of this world is where the king of this world reigns. And who is that king of this world? The other king has all sorts of names, but in the end it all points to the same thing. It's ourselves. It's our own needs, our own agendas, our own power, our own pride, our own sin. That's what drives the kingdom of this world. You could say, yeah, maybe it's Satan or the Antichrist, but that's a cop-out sometimes. Really, we have to start with ourselves and our own brokenness. It's where we do what we want to do because it benefits us. That's the kingdom of this world. And that's in contrast to the kingdom of God, which looks entirely differently. And the man who found the kingdom of God in the field of the world, he found the kingdom of God in the field. In his wisdom, in that great moment of wisdom, he said, I'm going to take all the kingdom of the world stuff that I own and I'm going to get rid of it. And even sell it so that I can get enough to get this other thing. But you don't actually have to buy the kingdom of God. It's actually given out for free. Again, that's how the parable breaks down a little bit, if you push it too hard.

[23:32] So today especially, I want to live in the beauty of this parable. And live in the beauty of this parable in the way that it works. Okay? So we found this thing. If you're a believer, you found the thing. And it's a new kingdom and that means that you're taking on a new king. You have a new king. And the new king tells us we have to set aside the old kings and queens. And imagine this. We're so excited about the new king that we gladly get to say goodbye to all the old ones. And even sell them in a way so that we have enough to keep the new one forever.

[24:05] And parables don't cover every aspect like we said. But... Imagine this. The kingdom, whatever it is, is of such great value that it's better than anything else that we have. Okay? So I find that really comforting. I want you to find this comfort today. Because I could sit around and worry about all sorts of things. And there are some things I need to worry about. I need to worry about my kids. Right? I need to worry about my relationships. I need to worry about you. Because I'm your pastor. Right? That's part of my job is to worry. And those are good worries. Those are good worries. And I take them on gladly. But there's all sorts of other things that I choose to worry about that I don't really need to worry about. Like my own goals, my own agenda, my own program for how I think the world should go. And things like this make me remember that I can give all those up. And just enjoy the treasure that I already have. Because this treasure is bigger than this treasure.

[25:01] This kingdom is bigger than this kingdom. And this kingdom I should give away. Or sell even. So that I can have all the room in my life. For this kingdom. So we're going to see more. But today I want you to have that treasure. And hold that treasure. And I want you to maybe put your arms just like this. Not like this like you're receiving. But you actually already have it. And not like you're containing it. But you're sort of holding it loosely. Can you do this? Put your hand like this. Not entirely receptive. Not entirely trapping. But kind of halfway. Does that make sense? You're holding on tightly to this treasure that you already have.

[25:36] And it's better than all these other treasures. You already have it. You have this thing already. And I want you to spend this week counting how valuable it actually is. Like it normally is bad to sit around and count your money. Like it's bad if you do it too much. Because it's inward. It's not great. It's like the other kings. But this is good treasure. So you should be counting this one. Should be going. You should be turning over every coin. Every and shining them. And going this is a good treasure. Hold on to this treasure this week. Set aside that treasure as much as you can. Next week we'll ask ourselves. What does this treasure do? Right? What difference does it make in the world? So that's for next week. Let's pray.

[26:16] Father, thank you again for your word. Thank you for the kingdom of heaven that's in our midst. Thank you for the kingdom of heaven which we can't always see. Thank you for the treasure so great that we gave everything else up for it. In Jesus name. Amen.