The treasure

This morning's scripture reading is going to come from Matthew 13—just a few verses today, Matthew 13:44–46. Jesus is telling us a parable once again about what the kingdom is like. Hear the word of the Lord:

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

This is God's word.

Introduction

What do you treasure in life? What's your treasure? Is it your family, your home, your career? Maybe it's a car, a baseball card collection, or any variety of different things. What's your treasure? What occupies your thoughts, your attentions, your affections? What can consume you at times in life? Because what Jesus told us is that where your treasure is, there your heart will also be. And so we see over the course of our life that so much of our heart begins to reveal what we truly treasure.

Jesus has here talked once again in a parable about treasure. We're going to be looking at this great treasure that these two individuals are willing to give everything up in order to have, and how the kingdom is somehow wrapped in this understanding of what exchange is happening right here in this parable.

It seems like a no-brainer of a deal. It's a treasure, after all. Aren't all treasures worth giving up everything for? It's the treasure of all treasures—it's worth everything to find and to gain. It seems easy, but like all things in life, sometimes we don't know that it's a treasure. We don't necessarily see the value or feel the need for something greater or better.

C.S. Lewis used to talk about it like this: he said we are often like children playing in the mud, making mud pies with dirt—nothing wrong with that, but we could be offered a holiday at the sea. Now, Lewis lived a long time ago. Maybe the way that we would say it today is we're like children playing in the dirt when we could go to Disney World. What's your treasure?

Jesus wants to invigorate and help us to see that the treasure, as he's talked about over and over in his different parables of the kingdom, is worth giving up everything for. Because when you see the value of the treasure and understand what is offered to you, it will change everything about your life. But do you know and recognize the value of the treasure?

We're going to look at three aspects of this story that we see right here from the pages: finding, selling, and buying.

1. Finding

The first thing that we look at here is finding. The two individuals in this story both find the treasure in different ways. One is not looking for the treasure—he's just probably working for a landowner plowing a field and stumbles upon this treasure. The other individual is a dealer of pearls and is always in search of some sort of treasure.

It's like that oftentimes in life when we talk about discovering the gospel, discovering Christ, discovering the riches of the kingdom. Some of us were not looking for it in any way—completely disinterested, unaware, or unneeding of anything better in life. And then others of us are spiritual people—we were spiritually hungry for some sort of meaning, and we had journeyed through different philosophies or different religions, testing these things out, trying to find the formula that would make it work.

Sometimes, like the first individual, we can go through life and begin to discover and see the treasure in other people, or maybe the treasure that's in the scriptures as they talk about it. Whatever it is, it begins to tell us and show us there is something better. And then we look at our current lot in life, maybe like this individual, and we begin to say, "I want better, and this offers better, and I will sell and give up everything so I may have the field that holds that treasure within it."

Or there's the individual searching for pearls, looking for spiritual value. Yet, the thing about every religion, philosophy, and way of life is they kind of become like a diet: you do it for a little while, find out what secret formula works, and then you get whatever you want—you serve it so that it might meet your end needs. But the treasure of all treasures, the treasure of the kingdom, calls us not to find a formula; it's something that calls for all of our life when we find it.

So what do they find? What we see from scripture, and what Jesus over the course of Matthew has unpacked and will continue to unpack, is this very valuable thing: it's salvation, life, adoption, healing, forgiveness, and grace. Jesus is constantly calling people to lay down the ways of life that are not working, to drop these things and embrace life in him—to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near; to come to him, all who are weary and heavy laden, and he will give rest. Ultimate rest, final rest—not a striving to measure up in life to find affirmation, meaning, or purpose, but to find it by just receiving what is offered. It's a rich thing.

Think about the message of grace and forgiveness in our own lives. There are things in all of our lives—and I know this is all of us—where we've done things, we've said things, and you don't get a do-over. You can't take it back, and there is no amount of penance, good works, or anything that's going to reverse or change that. Maybe there are even people who would never forgive you, or maybe you can't forgive yourself. Yet there is this message that says: you're forgiven. Not because of anything that you have done, but because of what Christ has done and accomplished for you, and you can have it. It's available to you.

That is a life-giving, life-changing message. When you go from thinking, "I don't deserve it, I've got to figure out how to measure up, I've got to do all the inputs to gain it," and Christ says, "No, come to me, receive from me"—that is the treasure that changes everything about life. It's not just going to heaven; it's deeper and more meaningful. Over the course of life, we will plumb the depths of the meaning and implications of the gospel. Is it forgiveness of sins? Yes. Is it salvation and entrance into the kingdom of God—a world where there is no evil, where every tear is wiped away? Absolutely. Is it identity and adoption as a child, a son, or a daughter of God? Absolutely. It's all of these things: meaning, purpose, and identity, all bound into the riches of it.

Think about that for just a second: that treasure and what that means. If the God of heaven, who is full of all resources and all power, loves you unconditionally and gave his own Son for you, what does that mean for life? If I am worried about living and surviving—"How am I going to make it in life?"—and I'm always consumed with money, my job, keeping this house, and all the different things in life... if the God of infinite resources, who loves me, promised to care for me, doesn't that free me in some way to not be anxious? Didn't Jesus himself in Matthew 6 remind us: don't take up thoughts about what we will be clothed with, what we will wear, or what we will eat, for the Gentiles think about these sorts of things? The gospel frees you of anxieties and fears.

You may live a life where you feel that you are always trying to measure up—"I've done so much wrong in my life, and I need to make up for all the wrong that I've done." Yet the gospel says no—the grace, forgiveness, and healing come through Christ because he had the power to achieve it, loves you unconditionally, and showers it upon your life. So we can stop spending our lives trying to measure up, trying to make something of our lives, or trying to develop our identity, meaning, or purpose in a way that makes God and people around us say, "Yes, aren't you great? You measure up, you're validated, you're accepted."

We can always be grinding at that achievement, yet the gospel says, "No, you are already loved, you already belong." It frees you from performance. Think about how many of us have been living our lives—I've seen individuals who spend their lives trying to make their mom or dad proud. Even at 50 years old, with parents passed away, people can still be living trying to achieve. I know an individual in my life right now who is doing that. Your heavenly Father says: "Number one, I'm your Father. You look to me. Find the validation, love, and acceptance that you so crave in me. I give it to you." As much as we want to make our parents proud, that can become an idol that drives us in life instead of freeing us.

The treasure frees us from fear, anxiety, performance, and a life that feels like we always need to measure up. It graces us. The God of all power and resources, who loves us, frees us to receive from him.

2. Selling

One of the ways we see in this story is that the treasure is received through selling. I know sometimes you look at it and go, "Oh, see, there's the cost. That's the trick—you've got to do all these things in order to get the treasure." But that's not what Jesus is communicating in this parable. It's the exchange of life.

The treasure means that he is the Lord of all of your life. It's receiving him and his life; it's letting go of all the old, broken ways of life that were not working, that were not life-giving, that were performance-driven and condemnational, and releasing those things. Giving them up because when you find something that's truly valuable and life-giving like the message of the gospel, wouldn't you give anything for it? Wouldn't you give anything in exchange for something so free and beautiful? That's what Jesus invites us to do. It's not a works-based thing—it's letting go of those things and dropping them, because they are not necessary anymore.

When you see something of great value, you'll do anything to possess it. Imagine a musician on vacation who sees a flea market. They go to the flea market and find a 1963 Fender Vibroverb amp—the first year they put reverb inside the amp itself. It's listed for $25. As a musician, you would see incredible value in that historic piece of music equipment. If you didn't have any money or your card on you, you might say, "I've got these $100 Ray-Ban sunglasses or this $50 watch—I'll trade you for it." You would try to barter something so that you could have it, because when you see something of that value, you'll do anything to have it.

That is the message Christ is showing us: when we see something as rich and beautiful as the gospel, you will release so many of the things that you deem of lesser value. You will have a new Lord. Jesus reminds us to take up our cross and follow him. He also reminds us in Matthew 10:39 that whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

When you see the true riches of the kingdom, you are willing to lay aside things of lesser value. You will reorient your whole life because you can't have two treasures—you can't have two things that occupy your heart, affections, and attentions in life. Something has to reign there; something has to own that space in your heart. Jesus reminds us a man can't have two masters: you're going to serve one or the other.

So life involves the exchange of letting go and laying aside. That's what the individuals in this text do: it says they sold all that they had (or in the Greek, as much as they had, which is everything). They're willing to lay all of these things down because they see the immense value of the treasure itself.

True faith will cost you your idols, your self-righteousness, and your autonomy. It will call you away from trying to work your way to be acceptable to God. It will call you away from seeking validation, meaning, and purpose in things that only God alone can give—not your marriage, not your kids. None of these things should occupy the ultimate, highest place in our heart.

St. Augustine, who lived in the 4th century, reminds us that part of the problem of life is that our loves get disordered. Whenever your treasure is not God and his kingdom, and something else occupies that number one spot, it's an idol that trickles down and distorts everything. If you take a marriage and say, "You need to fulfill all my deepest longings and spiritual desires for meaning and purpose in life"—first, that's an incredible pressure to put on a person. They're never going to fulfill it; it's impossible. Only God can ultimately fulfill those things, never fail you, and call you to something better in himself.

True faith costs you your self-righteousness, your idols, and your autonomy. You can't truly have the treasure unless you're willing to surrender other things.

There's an illustration about how in parts of Africa, people catch monkeys by putting pumpkin seeds or nuts inside a container with a small hole. A monkey can slip its open hand inside to grab the food, but once its fist is balled up holding the seeds, it can't pull its hand back out. The monkey will not let go of the nuts—even as someone approaches to capture it, it won't release them. There's no impulse that says, "Let go and you'll find freedom." In life, we can hold onto other things, thinking they are more valuable or life-giving, serving those idols and refusing to let go. You'll never find freedom or the treasure itself until you are willing to lay those things aside.

Those idols can manifest in a variety of ways. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a medical doctor in the 1920s in England and a rising star. He was the assistant doctor to the royal physician, moving in elite medical circles as a surgeon. Yet in the midst of that success, having grown up with legalistic religion, God began to work in his heart. He heard the gospel, and it changed everything. Being a doctor wasn't bad, but he sensed God calling him to something different—calling him away from seeking achievement and purpose in that career, to go serve as a pastor.

For Martyn Lloyd-Jones, grabbing hold of what God wanted meant laying aside those career idols to embrace what God had for him. He went to a very small chapel in an impoverished rural community in England to pastor. People thought he had lost his mind and thrown away a brilliant career. Yet God used him amazingly—that analytical, surgical mind was brilliant at dissecting the scriptures, leading to a long ministry as one of the great preachers in England.

The point isn't that we all need to quit our jobs and enter vocational ministry. The point is that he understood part of embracing the values of the kingdom: "I'm not autonomous, and I'm not going to seek the idols of life for validation—I want that treasure." There are times when walking up the mountain of God where he says, "Lay that aside." Is it bad? No, but it's not necessary, and I'm calling you up the mountain. With selling, we are called to lay these things aside.

3. Buying

Finally, we see buying. Both individuals in this story are described in parallel: they sold as much as they had, and then they went and bought the field or bought the pearl of great price. They both bought something.

You can find the treasure and begin to reorient your life and value system toward it, yet still stop short of it. You could still not actually possess and take hold. You sold everything and reoriented, but haven't actually made it your own. You can clean up your life, see the treasure, and reorient your values, but at the end not really get it—not actually purchase and receive it in the fullest sense. You wind up turning it into a works-based righteousness where you say, "I'm going to clean up my life and act like one who has the treasure," but you don't actually have the joy, life, or worship that comes when we truly understand the measure of this offer. We can easily lose our way.

Solutions in the world often do that: they offer a better way of living—like freedom from alcoholism through a 12-step process—but ultimately we need to be filled with something. It's not just letting go of things in life, getting rid of alcohol, or discarding an idol; it's also receiving what God has for us—receiving his salvation, grace, and life.

Otherwise, we are like the man in Jesus' parable where an unclean spirit is driven out. The spirit returns and finds the man's house swept and put in order, but empty—not filled with anything. It's clean and tidy, but doesn't have the Spirit of the living God dwelling within it. Jesus says the spirit goes and finds seven other demons, they fill the man, and his final state is worse than at the beginning.

In our lives, we can stop short. We can orient our lives yet not actually take hold of the treasure in all its fullness or understand its beauty. We can spend our lives like the elder son in the parable of the prodigal son—working for the father's appreciation and trying to earn his love and affection. When the father freely gives grace to the younger brother who squandered his wealth, the father goes out to talk to the older son and says, "Son, all I have is already yours. You've been trying to earn it your whole life, trying to measure up to have this treasure—it's yours." He had cleaned his house and ordered his life, but he never actually received it.

Here we see that these individuals are called to receive what God has for them: the treasure of all treasures.

You Are the Treasure

As the worship team comes up to close: one of the beautiful things about this story is that while Jesus tells this and invites us to receive the treasure, do you know who else is the treasure? You are. You're the treasure. You are God's treasure.

Christ came and saw you, loved you from the foundations of the earth, and the God of all the heavens sent his Son. What did he do? He sold—he gave up his life, his glory, his throne, and his divinity, took on human form, and paid for each of you. He purchased something: he purchased you, your forgiveness, and your grace.

Remember today that both are true: in one sense, we are called to the treasure of the kingdom—the gospel, God, and Christ himself being that treasure. Yet also, God made you his treasure first. He sought after you.

In just a second, we're going to stand and respond with a song. As I prayed over this text this week, I realized that sometimes we can understand that treasure and its value, but we set it on the shelf. Life gets hard, time goes by, and that treasure gathers dust and grows old. We don't turn from God or become apostates, but the treasure begins to lose its perceived value in our daily lives. We focus on just trying to survive instead of thrive, trying to get through today, and the truths of the gospel don't ring as brightly or loudly anymore.

Jesus reminds us: return to your first love. A word I had for this morning as I prayed over this text was that some of you—including myself—need to be renewed. You need to be renewed and reminded of the value of the treasure that you have. You need to be renewed and refreshed because life can get hard, and you can feel disappointed, worried, or anxious. We can grind at life to keep everything going, but lose our joy.

As we sing, I want to open up this time to respond. If that's you, I'm going to invite you to come up to the front, and I'm going to pray over you at the end of our song. We don't normally do this, but I want to give an opportunity for us to meet with God right here.

There's also a power in being transparent and honest before God and your brothers and sisters. It humbles the pride that says, "I've got it all figured out, and my life is clean and tidy." Instead, you say, "No, I need renewal. I need the Lord to refresh my spirit." That humbling allows the Lord to meet you in those spaces, and it tells your brothers and sisters that it's okay to not be okay so we can be honest with one another.

If that's you, I invite you to come forward. Let's stand and sing as we respond.