This weeks sermon is about the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great value. We may think that these things have nothing for us, after all, who actually believes in hidden treasures these days? I mean, really? Stories of gold coins and jewels in shipwrecks, or hidden by someone that didn’t trust a bank? Well as it turns out, after a bit of research, hidden treasures are closer than you think, and they are being found a lot more these days. Let me give you a few examples.
In 2007 just off the coast of the Dominican Republic, in 10 feet of crystal clear water, one of Captain Kidd’s ships was found. It was 300 years old and full of gold, silver and jewels.
Also in 2007, off the coast of Spain, the Black Swan shipwreck was discovered by a company from Florida. It held 17 tons of silver and gold coins. Estimated value, about half a billion dollars.
In 2009, 350 lbs of roman coins were found on a farm in England, by two men. Each will share the value of the coins and should get at least 1 million dollars each. Now you may be thinking, these might be true, but they are so far away from here. Here we are in California, no shipwrecks, no gold coins… well you would be mistaken. As it turns out, there are treasures buried around California that haven’t been found yet. Even shipwrecks, near here, near the desert.
I bet you didn’t know there were gold coins hidden near the town of Isabella in Kern County? That’s about 60 miles away.
Somewhere on Owens Lake, in 1882 the S.S. Mollie Stevens sank. It was a ship filled with Gold and silver Bullion. That Lake has since dried up, but the gold and silver are buried in the mud somewhere and have never been found.
Somewhere on the Santo Theresa Ranch near San Jose, lies the hidden treasure of a French Saddle Maker. It was his life’s fortune. He buried it and it too has never been found.
And that brings up a great point. What is with the idea of burying your fortune? Well it turns out, in Biblical times, it was the smartest thing to do.
Armies moved back and forth, cities were taken and taken again. Each time, the houses were searched by soldiers for loot that they could use to pay their armies. So it wasn’t such a good idea to keep your money, your gold or silver or anything of value, lying around your house. So instead, people would just bury their money in their field. Of course you couldn’t tell anyone where you buried it. They could steal it, or a soldier could interrogate them and they would tell where it was, sooner or later. SO do you know what happened in many cases? People would be killed in a war, or die suddenly from natural causes, and their treasure, would be forgotten, there in a field. If the family needed money, the field would be sold, not knowing what was lying beneath it.
It happened so often in fact that rules were made about whoever found that treasure. So in this parable, at first we might think, why did the person keep the treasure? Wouldn’t that be dishonest? Why not give it back to the land owner? Well, it turns out, usually the land owner didn’t know it was there at all. So today we still know the rule they used in Biblical times concerning found treasure. It’s called… Finders keepers. No kidding, that is where it came from. As it turns out the man who found the treasure was even being more than honest, because he could have just taken it with him. But instead, he realizes, it could be stolen from me, I could be robbed along the way. So he doesn’t even take a little of the money. He sells everything he has, and buys that field. This solves everything. He is a very honest man, and he now knows where his treasure is buried, in his own field.
He has realized that he found it honestly, he has taken care of it, and kept it safe and he realizes how valuable it really is. All of these reasons are perfect examples of how you and I should feel about the greatest gift of all, Eternal Life.
What exactly is Eternal Life worth to you? A million dollars? 50 million dollars? Be honest with yourself for just a minute and we begin to see where our thinking going wrong. If you could buy it, which you can’t, but if you could, would you give up that sort of treasure for Eternal Life? The men in the parable that Jesus tells, they know. They know the value of what they found. A treasure that is much more valuable than anything else the man owns. And a pearl that is more valuable than any other pearl the man has ever seen.
Let’s read that verse again, Matthew 13:44 to 46 says, ““The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.” Let me tell you about that Pearl. In the days that Christ walked this Earth, Pearls were a recent find. They were very valuable and hard to find. As a matter of fact they weren’t easy to find at all in this part of the world. The nearest place they could be found was the Red Sea, but these pearls were of poor value. The best pearls came from India. And that was not only a very long distance away, but dangerous as well. So if a person, found such a valuable pearl, it was truly worth a lot of money. Once again, we see in this time, only the richest people had pearls. It was sign of the times for very rich women to wear pearls in their hair. This showed others that they were very wealthy. Or even worse, very rich men would dissolve them in vinegar, and pour them into their wine and drink them. It does sound stupid, but just like a rich man lights his cigar with a hundred dollar bill, back then drinking your pearl dust, was a sign that you had money to burn.
Can you imagine? Well can you imagine finding something like this? It would be like you went walking in the field and found a gold nugget the size of your hand. It was very rare.
In Hebrews 11:24-26 it says, “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward”
We do realize Moses had never even heard of Christ, but only the promise of a Savior, only the promise of God. He was richer than rich. He was already the man with the treasure or the man with 10 pearls of great value. He gave them up, for Eternal Life. Do you really want to know what the lesson is for us in this parable? It is this. Money can rent you happiness, but not love. It can rent you expensive things, that break and rust, and rot. And when you are all done, you have nothing, and I mean nothing. You don’t have wife or a husband who loves you, you don’t have kids you listen to you, and the only family you have are the ones that want your money.
And make the comparison again, between heaven, between eternal life and a gold chain, or a nice car. Does it really compare at all? Jesus gives us just a glimpse of our own future here. A little lesson to see if we are paying attention. He is showing you and I what really has value in our life.
We think that money has value. We are actually taught that money has value. Granted it is a tool we can use, to help people, to pay our bills maybe even to have some fun along the way. But in fact money is only another metal or another paper with some ink on it. Value means that something is important to you. Value means that an object, a place or an experience is important to you. The higher the value, the more important it is. So what is it that you value? Is it a treasure buried in the ground? Is it the perception of security? They say that money provides security, I find that pretty funny. I could have a heart attack and die before I ever finish this sermon. You could be hit by lightning or die of another medical problem before you even walk out that door. So money doesn’t really provide security, but only a false sense of security. Real security is found in eternity. Real security is found in heaven. And heaven is worth more than any amount of money that you can carry. More than a great treasure, more than a beautiful pearl. Heaven is a place where God is waiting for you. It is up to you to place value on that. I pray that when you do, you place the value higher than anything else in your life. If you do, you will truly know what is valuable.
Would you pray with me.
