Buyer's Remorse

Walking in the Reign #5

Treasure and Pearl - Matthew 13:44-46

SLIDE 1

A city boy, Kenny, moved to the country and bought a donkey from an old farmer for $100.00. The farmer agreed to deliver the donkey the next day. The next day the farmer

drove up and said, "Sorry son, but I have some bad news, the donkey died." Kenny replied, "Well then, just give me my

money back." The farmer said, "Can’t do that. I went and spent it already.

"Kenny said, "OK then, just unload the donkey." The farmer asked, "What ya gonna do with him?" Kenny replied, "I’m going to raffle him off."

Farmer, "You can’t raffle off a dead donkey!" Kenny, "Sure I can. Watch me." A

month later the farmer met up with Kenny and asked, "What happened with that dead donkey?"

Kenny, "I raffled him off. I sold 500 tickets at two dollars a piece and made a profit of $898.00.

"Farmer, "Didn’t anyone complain?" Kenny, "Just the guy who won. So I gave him his two dollars back."

No one likes to be scammed

When we buy something, especially something of any worth we often come down with something called buyer’s remorse.

Ever have buyer’s remorse

SLIDE 2

Buyer’s remorse is an emotional condition whereby a person feels remorse or regret after a purchase. It is frequently associated with the purchase of higher value items which could be considered "bad" although it may also stem from a sense of not wishing to be "wrong".

The anxiety may be rooted by various factors: the person’s concern they purchased the wrong product, purchased for a bad price, purchased instead of waiting for a newer model, purchased in an ethically unsound way, purchased on credit, or purchased something that would not be acceptable to others.

Buyer’s remorse can be caused or increased by the knowledge that other people will later question the purchase or claim to know better alternatives.

Car, House, Computer – any item over $25 for me

The underlying question is, “Was it worth it?” No one wants to be ripped off. No one wants to be scammed.

Today we look at the Parable of the Treasure and the Pearl – Matthew 13:44-46

SLIDE 3

Summary

Man finds a treasure in a field, sells all he has, buys the field an in turn now owns the valuable treasure

A merchant searches the world for the ultimate pearl. Finally finds it but has to sell all he has to purchase the pearl of great price. He does that joyfully and becomes the owner of this ultimately precious gem.

Little background:

Treasure

Sounds odd to us but could happen in ancient times

No bank, at least only for rich

Ground was a safe place to keep belongings, like a mattress

Imminent violence – if house taken I can come back for the treasure

Is this unethical?

Finders keepers world

People could have moved

Family may have been deceased

Let’s not get caught up in the ethical implications

This could happen, perhaps not often, but to the 1st century mind this is a plausible story. Something people could relate to.

Pearl

In the ancient world the pearl was the loveliest of all possessions

In Revelation – gates of pearl

There were indeed merchants who would travel the world looking for the pearl fo great price

The simple message of this parable is that the kingdom is that treasure and that pearl. That the kingdom is well worth the investment of a person’s life. No matter what you have given up, it pales in comparison to the kingdom.

I wonder if the apostles ever had buyer’s remorse

You know they gave up quite a bit to follow this new rabbi, but ever since then there has really been nothing but trouble. They had given a lot and this guys asks for a lot – I mean a lot!!

SLIDE 4

Matthew 4: 18-22

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

SLIDE 5

Matthew 9: 9-11

As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with him and his disciples. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and ‘sinners’?”