Do you know where the most expensive piece of real estate on this planet is located? Cemeteries. 6 feet into the ground is buried all kinds of treasure. Dreams that were never pursued, books that were never written, songs that were never sung, inventions that were never pursued, churches that were never built, trips that were never taken, etc. Today I am starting a 5 week sermon series with you titled “Discovering the Hidden Treasure of Christian Living”. I have 3 objectives of this series - 1. I want you to discover that you are a treasure. Last month we did a series on Becoming People of Inspiration. Today you will notice that there is an outline of a person of inspiration. The outline represents you. When you recognize the treasure that you are you become an inspiration to others. 2. This is the 2nd objective I have in this series which is for you to appreciate that your responsibility is to inspire others to find their treasure. 3. I want you to become investors in the greatest treasure hunt our church has been involved with. At the end of this series I am going to ask you to make a financial and time commitment to our upcoming year of ministry.
So let’s take a closer look at these hidden treasure stories today because I want us to consider the possibility that if we choose not to look for our treasure, if we choose to allow our treasure to remain buried someone else is going to receive a blessing.
Can I confess that these stories are a little troubling for me? Do you remember that children’s statement, “Finders keepers, losers weepers!” That children’s statement suggests this person in today’s story is practicing that reality. A few years ago I had gone to a library and upon leaving the library and walking to my car I found a $100 bill in the parking lot. I picked it up and looked around to see if there was anyone that could claim it. There was no one around. Now you need to appreciate that I had been unemployed for about 3-5 months at this time, so $100 bucks would have been really useful and there was no one around to claim it. I wrestled with trying to figure out the right thing to do. I rationalized it must be a gift from God and then decided - nope it doesn’t belong to me. So I went into the library and gave it to the librarian in case someone came looking for it. Can I tell you that immediately after I walked out of the library I felt like an idiot - in fact I think the librarian thought I was an idiot. Can I also tell you that another $100 bill did not magically appear you know like a message from God that said, “Tim, I know you are going through difficult times, so here is $100 for you.” Nope none of that happened. My hunch is no one claimed that $100, the person would have probably realized that it fell out of their pocket somewhere and that it was gone for good. Nope that $100 ended up in the library treasure - it became a blessing to the library. And I was saddened because I knew I had found a treasure and lost it because I believed it was too good to be true. I did not believe I was worthy of that treasure, of that kind of attention, of that kind of “luck”. I can only imagine how much treasure I have missed out on through the years because of that kind of belief system.
How about you? Do you believe you are worthy of finding treasure? Was there a time that you discovered a treasure but out of fear of drawing attention to your treasure you chose to bury it and now someone else is living with that blessing? Have you ever heard yourself say - I thought about doing that once as you watched someone share how they were making millions of dollars now because they had invented Velcro. BTW do you now how Velcro was invented? A Swiss named George De Mestral was out walking his dog. Upon returning home he noticed his pant legs and dog were covered in these sticky burrs (we called them hitchhikers). He began playing with them wondering if the same principle could be applied to fabric and created Velcro. Perhaps you have said, “Hey that was my idea” to someone who was already putting your idea into motion, this is what I mean when I say, “Someone else is receiving a blessing if you choose to bury your treasure”.
Notice that the man in our story does not hesitate when he finds this treasure, he is not conflicted like I was about what to do, he does not question whether or not he is worthy of such a find, no he allows himself to be filled with joy at his find. This is the point of Jesus’ parable - When you discover treasure be joyful, not fearful. When you discover treasure be Free, not conflicted. When you discover treasure do everything you can to possess it, don’t walk away from it, don’t leave it buried and hidden, Own it, Believe it, Claim it.
What is the treasure that we should be owning, believing and claiming?
Matthew 6:21 tells us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
The treasure we should be owning, believing and claiming is the treasure that we would be willing to exchange everything we currently possess in order to purchase the treasure. The man sold all that he had so that he could purchase the field. The merchant sold all of his possessions so that he could purchase the pearl.
Have you found that treasure yet?
A rich young man had found a treasure - a hidden treasure, an unrealized treasure, so when the treasure said to him, “If you want to claim me as your treasure you will need to sale everything you own and give that money to the poor” the man was conflicted because he had a lot of wealth. He did not know if he could trust Jesus to deliver the promised treasure. Ultimately the man left sad because he was unwilling to take the risk, he was unable to make the sacrifice because his heart was in what he could see - his own wealth, his own strength, his own power, his own ability to solve problems, his own ability to create... The young man was unable and unwilling to make the short term sacrifices asked of him in order to experience the treasure of eternity that Jesus was offering him.
I look back at my life and I can see a lot of times that I have walked away sad and conflicted because I was not willing to make the short term sacrifices that were being asked of me. I walked away because I was afraid. I could not believe the promise - it sounded to good to be true. It sounded to good to be true because I did not believe I was worthy of such extravagance, such attention, such care.
Do you know what the short term sacrifices have always been for me? Trust me. Let me love you. Let me in. Let me get close to you. I have never heard God say, “Sale all your possessions. Abandon your family. Go to a foreign country.” Nope God has only said, “Trust me. Let me get close to you.”
My false treasure has always been in the area of survival, of self-preservation. I would spend my time, energy and resources going after things that would help me to survive, that would preserve my ideal of a satisfying life. One day Jesus asked me, “Would you like to have a life that is beyond survival? Would you like to do more than just survive?” I answered, “yes” and Jesus said, “Then trust me, let me get close to you.”
And guess what real treasures I have received so far. I have a beautiful marriage and partnership with Jackie. I have two phenomenal children. I have been engaged in a ministry that allows me to equip others to become treasure hunters for over 25 years. Each morning I wake up and I know that I am doing more than surviving I am living with purpose and meaning. Each day I am given the privilege of helping people to discover that they are a walking treasure map. There are no boring days in my life. My life is filled with joy, with awe and wonder. Each day I get to hear the God of the Universe ask me - “So what are we going to do together today?” Each day I get to remember that the God of the Universe wants to hang out with me. How cool is that!
Why? Because like the man in the field and the merchant at the market I discovered a real treasure and I was willing to make a short term sacrifice in order to receive a life time of returns.
Some of you here today and listening on the radio are still looking for that treasure. Can I tell you today is the day when all of that seeking pays off. Today you have found that treasure. Jesus says to you, “Seek and you shall find. Ask and it shall be given to you. Knock and the door shall be opened to you.” Now the question you must answer - What will you exchange in order to own, believe and claim the treasure? Jesus asked me to exchange my need for self-preservation. Jesus asked the rich young man to exchange his monetary possessions. Jesus asks something different of each person. There is a treasure that you must be willing to exchange. The treasure Jesus is asking you to exchange is where your heart currently rests.
There are others of you that discovered this treasure awhile ago. And for some time you rejoiced with your treasure, but overtime you have become complacent with the treasure. You have allowed it to sit and gather dust. It is time for you to return that treasure to the refiner’s fire. It’s time you allow the refiner to add a new glow to the treasure so that others will be attracted to your treasure. Others will gaze upon your treasure and ask how you came by it. They will ask how they might find treasure like the treasure you have. What a great day that will be because people who were once lost will have been found, who were once dead will now be alive, all because you chose to allow me to bring a new glow to your treasure.
Friends our church has a mission. That mission is to invite people to a meal to learn how to become fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ. Everyone is invited to this meal but we are intentionally seeking those who have the hardest time believing that they are God’s beloved sons and daughters, we are intentionally seeking those who have been beaten up and left for dead by the cruelties of this world, we are intentionally seeking those who believe they are not even worthy to gather up the crumbs from the Lord’s table, because we are a people who are sick and tired of watching unrealized treasure get buried in our cemeteries. We are sick and tired of people submitting to the lie of “I am a victim and therefore I am entitled to not be responsible for anything”. No we are intentionally seeking these people because our mission is to watch God change people from victims to victors. We are intentionally seeking these people because we are treasure hunters. I hope and pray that in the coming weeks you will prayerfully consider how you will support this ministry for the coming year with your finances and with your time.
