OPEN: Back in 1905, there was baseball game at Salt Lake City, Utah. The Rhyolites were playing the Beattys and the Beattys were up to bat. The pitcher threw the ball, the batter swung - and the ball rocketed toward 1st base.
The 1st baseman was a man named William Giffiths, and as he saw the ball coming his way, he was amazed to see it ricochet off a small stone and landing in his glove. He beat the runner to first easily.
The little stone had given Griffiths a luck break, but he decided it had no business on the playing field, so he walked over and picked it up. He started to raise his hand to throw it off the field when something caught his eye. He took a careful look at the stone and recognized free gold in it. Then he quietly slipped it into his pocket and went on with the game.
That evening, he returned to the ball park with a lantern and spent an hour scratching around in the soil until had accumulated a bucketful of rocks. By morning he knew that those rocks assayed at more than $900 a ton.
He called in two friends and with them quietly bought the ball park.
The mine was called First Base, and the first shaft entered paying ore at a depth of 33 feet. And Infielder Griffiths soon found himself a very wealthy man. (The Saturday Evening Post July/Aug 2000 H. Allen Smith and Ira L. Smith)
APPLY: That would be nice, wouldn’t it?
In my files I have an anonymous quote:
“Lord, give me the strength to change the things I can,
the grace to accept the things I cannot,
and a great big bag of money.”
Now, I personally have nothing against money… making money, having money, rolling in money. But I do get a little itchy about people who make obtaining wealth - the goal of their lives.
ILLUS: This past week USA Today told of a Pew Research Center poll that asked people what their life goals were. According to this poll 81% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 said that getting rich was their most important (or 2nd most important) goal in life. (Sharon Jayson, USA Today, 1/10/07)
Now, that makes me uncomfortable, because Scripture tells me that “… the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
So making wealth a life goal isn’t really all it’s cracked up to be.
But now, here we have Jesus telling us about a man who does make wealth a life-goal. This guy finds a treasure hidden in a field and he goes out and sells all that he has so he can buy that field.
ILLUS: One of my sources tells me that such a find wouldn’t have been unusual in Israel. Palestine was a land bridge between Egypt and the great empires of the north and a result they were often repeatedly invaded. Because of this constant danger of invading armies, and even the activities of common thieves – and because there were no banks - people would bury their treasure in the ground, in walls, in tree trunks, or wherever they could.
But circumstances could make their buried treasures become difficult to find again.
There were occasional earthquakes.
Sometimes the owners of the cache would have to leave home in a hurry and never return.
Or the owners might be captured by invading armies, or die suddenly for any number of reasons. As a result, family treasures could be forgotten or lost for centuries.
A missionary in Syria and Palestine for 30 years by the name of W.M. Thompson told of workmen digging up a garden in Sidon. These workmen found several copper pots of gold, and they did exactly what the man in the parable did – they concealed their find with care. But then, wild with joy, they could not keep their mouths shut. The governor of the city caught them, and recovered 2 of the pots, and it was found that they contained 8000 pure gold coins of Alexander and his father Philip. Thompson said that he saw hundreds of persons all over the country spending their last penny looking for such treasures. Pulpit Helps, 12/92 p. 8
So, my point is this: Amongst the people who gathered to listen to Jesus there were those who knew this was not imaginary story… this had actually happened to someone they knew of. Or it might have even happened to them.
But Jesus’ point was not that they ought to be digging up their back yards looking for treasure.
NOR was His point that they needed to seek wealth as a life goal for their future.
What Jesus was saying that wealth (the value of our possessions) is sometimes… in the eyes of the beholder.
Notice the theme of Jesus’ parable
A man finds a treasure in a field
And so he sells all that he has to get the field – so he can get the treasure
And he does this joyfully.
He surrenders everything - because the value of ALL of his possessions pales in comparison to what he has found.
Now to the mortal mind that makes sense.
Who wouldn’t sell his home, his car, his business and go out to buy a “sure thing”
ILLUS: Last week, Steve Jobs (with Apple Computer – Apple Inc.) came out with the most amazing new toy. It’s called the IPhone. It’s a cell phone, an IPod, a Blackberry, and miniature video player all rolled into one. This gadget’s screen is touch sensitive so that all you have to do is run your finger over and the contents will scroll down like magic. It was such a wondrous invention that when Steve Jobs held his press conference… the media went absolutely nuts – and so did the stock market. Apple stocks shot up dramatically… and everybody else’s phone stock dropped like a stone.
Now, let’s suppose that Steve Jobs went to a personal friend a week before he went public and he showed his friend this marvelous new toy. He tells his friend that he needs to invest everything he can in Apple stock.
Now, of course, that’s illegal. They call it ‘insider trading’ (apparently they think the stock market should never be about investing a sure thing… it ought to be about gambling. Think about it).
But let’s assume for a minute that this wasn’t illegal. Knowing who Steve Jobs is, and knowing how powerful an impact this new invention is, would you blame that friend for selling all that he can to buy every single stock he can get his hands on???
Of course not… that makes sense to us!
Now, here we have Jesus giving us a hot stock tip. Here we have Jesus telling us that there is something more valuable than anything you own. It is so valuable that – if we sold all that we had to obtain it, we wouldn’t regret it because we would be richer than ever thought possible.
What is this marvelous investment? What is it that is more valuable than anything we own?
It’s called the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s the offer of salvation and promise of forgiveness of sins. The removal of all our guilt and shame. But it’s even more than that: It’s a relationship with an almighty God who loves us so much that Paul says…
“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave Him up for us all— how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Romans 8:32
Paul believed in this concept so strongly that (in his letter to the Philippian church) he tells of all the advantages he had BEFORE he became a Christian.
· He was a man of Power
· Righteousness
· And influence
· He had a lot of friends in high places.
But then Paul wrote: “… whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
What is more, I consider EVERYTHING a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” Philippians 3:7-8
A missionary named Jim Elliott once said
“He is no fool - who gives up what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.”
It’s a repeated theme throughout Scripture: the greatest treasure you and I can ever have is our relationship with Jesus Christ.
Everything else in this world will pass away… but not that!
That’s why Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21
So, the question is… where is our treasure?
Well, in that passage in Matthew 6, Jesus identifies our “treasure” with our possessions and our physical wealth. It’s what we have in our wallets and our bank accounts. It’s the cars and homes and other items of physical worth.
ILLUS: John McArthur once observed that "16 out of 38 of Christ’s parables dealt with money.”
“More is said in the New Testament about money than Heaven and hell combined; five times more is said about money than prayer; AND WHERE there are over 500 verses on both prayer and faith, there are over 2000 verses dealing with money and possessions."
Now, why is that? Why is there such a heavy emphasis in Scripture about our finances?
Because, where our treasures are – that’s where our heart’s at.
ILLUS: This is how it works:
I have two children.
I read somewhere that it takes about $160,000 dollars to raise one child from infancy until they graduate. You do the math. If I’ve got two kids, that means I can expect shell out somewhere around 320,000 dollars over their life in my home.
Now, you could ask me if I begrudge that investment (…go ahead ask me) NOT ONE BIT.
I don’t even think about how much they may cost me BECAUSE they are precious to me and their value is beyond measure.
They have my treasure, because they have my heart. I love them.
Now, by contrast, a couple of years ago when my son was in Boy Scouts, there was a man there who worked real hard to help the troop. But he was down on his luck and needed a place to stay for a week or so. I talked it over with Diana (my wife) and we took him in. We let him sleep on the couch, because frankly we didn’t expect him to stay that long. But he did. His week on the couch stretched into a couple of months… and it didn’t look like he had any intention of finding another place to go
Now he wasn’t a bad guy.
He picked up after himself, did the dishes, swept the carpet. He was as nice as he could be.
But I only meant to give him a place to stay for awhile… I didn’t take him to raise.
I liked him well enough… but I didn’t really “love” him all that much.
I didn’t want to invest any long term treasure in him because he didn’t belong to me.
He didn’t have my heart… so he was only going to get a little bit of my treasure.
One person wisely observed: “You can give without loving, but you can’t love without giving.”
I didn’t really LOVE that guy, but I still gave some of my resources to help him out.
But I really LOVE kids, and I am willing to give a great deal of my treasure to them because I love them.
That’s what our tithes and offerings ought to be all about.
A lot of Christians put their offerings in the offering plate because they feel they HAVE to. It’s an obligation to them. They lack joy in their giving because they don’t give with their heart. They don’t look at it as an act of love.
When Jesus told of the man selling all that he had to buy that field… do you remember how the man acted when he sold everything? He was JOYFUL!
2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us that “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a CHEERFUL giver.”
In my files I have I have a quote from someone who said “One of the best tests of religion is to find yourself in church with nothing less than a 20 dollar bill in your wallet.”
But that’s not true.
The test of our religion is whether or not we’ve planned our giving ahead of time. The person who regards their offering as an investment of cheerfulness and joy is one who has already decided what to give before they even get inside the church building.
Thus my gift to God should be based in cheerfulness and joy based on my love for Jesus and my understanding and appreciation for what He has done, and what He means to me.
But there is one more reason why we should be filled with Joy in our giving. That reason is that we have given the opportunity to PARTNER with God in ministry.
ILLUS: I got to thinking about this:
When the Israelites left the slavery of Egypt and wandered in the desert for 40 yrs, there were times when they had specific needs.
· They were hungry… so God supplied them with bread from heaven called manna. And He also sent a strong wind from the East that blew quail in from the seacoast to supply them with meat.
· Then they were thirsty… so, at a place called Rephidim, God ordered Moses to strike a rock with his staff - and enough water came out to supply the needs for over a million or more people.
So God supplied for them when they were thirsty.
And God supplied for them when they were hungry.
But when the Tabernacle was built…
When the Tabernacle was built God asked THE PEOPLE to SUPPLY the materials.
And when priests were selected to minister at that tabernacle, God asked THE PEOPLE to SUPPORT them in their ministry.
What’s the matter… did God run out of resources?
Couldn’t God have built the tabernacle with a wave of His hand?
And couldn’t he have supplied support for the priests by simply saying the word?
Of course He could have. God can supply and create anything He jolly well pleases… He’s God.
So then – why does He ask the Israelites to supply those materials and that support?
Because Israelites were being given the opportunity to partner with Him in building the tabernacle and supporting the ministry of the priests. He wanted them to be able to invest in their religion. He wanted them to be involved in what was important to Him.
And because the Israelites realized how important their part in this ministry was – Scripture tells us that people gave so much to the building of the tabernacle that Moses had to ask them to stop.
CLOSE: Our giving to God and His ministry should be a matter of joy
1st because of our love for Him
2ndly because God has honored us by allowing us to be His partners in this by giving to Him
And lastly, it should be a matter of joy because we’re giving this gift TO Him.
Years ago, it was the custom for people to bring their gifts to the front of the church. A well known preacher was making an appeal to the people to give to a good cause. Many came to present their offerings of love. Among them was a young girl who marched right along at the end of the line. She pull a ring from her finger that had been given her by her grandmother. She placed it on the table and made her way back up the aisle.
After the service, an usher was sent to bring her to the preacher’s study.
The preacher said, "Honey, I saw what you did. It was beautiful. But the rest of the offering was so generous that we have enough to take care of the need. We don’t feel right about keeping your treasured ring, so we have decided to give it back to you."
To his surprise, the little girl vigorously shook her head in refusal. "You do not understand," she said. "I did not give my ring to you, I gave it to God!"
