The hidden treasure and the pearl Mt 13:44-46 WBC 24/2//2pm
Intro
Parables!: A quote from Keith Allam:
"I initially thought how on earth am I going to get any meat out of this (study on parables) as we had already covered this in the previous study. Time was moving on and by Monday night I still hadn’t a clue, enter Tuesday lunch-time at work.
I had a late lunch (due to finishing outstanding work) hence I was taking my break as others were due their afternoon tea break. I was sitting there eating sandwiches reading Bible, study notes, cross references, anything just to get inspired.
When I decided that I would ask the others who would come shortly what they thought.
Na can’t do that, what would they think, trying to convert us are you, I came here for a break not a bible bashing!
Minutes ticked by...... shall I, ......shan’t i.
Others enter the canteen get coffees, teas and sit down.
So I tell about my situation with study content and ask if they would mind helping me, no hidden agenda promise--
’You know what regular church goers would say ... ’ been there, done that many times, got the T-shirt’ .
Well given agreement I read the passage and asked the question - Why did Jesus speak in parables ?
At first nothing, then one said ’ It’s about us.. seeds weather we listen ’, then another ’ Yeah its like the weeds and thorns are all the bad things that happen to you ’, ’ Cor I did that at Sunday school, yeh I remember .............. ’, ’Really now you say that it must be ah hum thirtyish years since I did that ’, ’ The good soil that’s like, well, when you do something about it, ’ ’ My nephew James he goes to the Welcome on Sundays, comes home with his little work sheet asking us all sorts of questions.’
There it was staring me right in the face, the reason He told parables was people would remember them. Duuurr !!
Even though these people hadn’t been to church other than weddings, christenings or funerals in 20 -30 even 40 years they could all recall the story. All the details, reasons and facts of theology didn’t mean a thing, but this parable did.
I left the canteen with a lively discussion about ’old Sunday school days’,’ how parables make it easier to understand’ and’ how I sign for the deaf at churches on ........’ .
Also we are just like the disciples, hearing, reading and sometimes seeing, things that others may never see but still missing the point.
We need to think ’ outside of the box ’ , we’re so wrapped up in self and what it means to me, that we miss everyone else."
they’re blooming marvellous, aren’t they?!
- 2 verses… and so much to get out of it
These parables:
- so much to say: about hidden treasure/searching for treasure… fields etc
… but one dominant theme: the joy of finding the treasure/pearl… and the giving up of everything to have it
so I want to work up to that one point: the treasure, pearl… and leave you with that. With Jesus ringing in your ears.
But first:
The field
Now notice: the field is not the focus… the source of joy… main point, here
- yes, he sells everything to buy the field (and that’s important in itself)- but it’s the treasure/pearl he wants
What is the field?
- it’s what you find the KOG… ie experience Jesus & His rule in
simplifying: it’s what… whatever you find Jesus in
what did you find Jesus in?
well- it’s
- the people around you… who you saw Jesus in. Your Xian friends… the community of believers
- the word of God that you saw Him in and thought ‘I’ve gotta have this’
- and when you got it you were willing to give up everything to keep Him
- the church that introduced you to Jesus. Where you first saw Him
-
Well- this is a sermon in itself!
Note; these things are not the treasure/pearl… object
- the Bible is not the object. We are not Bibliolaters. We don’t worship the Bible
- some actually come close to it! Many of us are searching for ‘certainty’, security, dogma
- so, if ‘reason’ is your greatest dogma, you become a ‘liberal’.
- Reason can become your ‘idol’, ‘object’, focus, dogma
- There is a place for reason. I believe in it (= why I relate to liberals)
- If “the Bible” is your greatest dogma, you become a certain kind of evangelical
- “The Bible! The Bible” becomes you focus and your chant, dogma, certainty. You mention “TRUTH!” a lot
- But in fact- we (I) love the Bible because it leads me to… shows me the pearl… treasure. JESUS
- But we don’t worship it. We worship Jesus
- We don’t worship the ‘word’, we worship the ‘Word’
- There’s a difference!
- I don’t read the Bible because it has all the answers (90% of them, but not all!)… but because it reveals the one who has all the answers
- HE is ‘the truth’… the way. He’s the one I love and want to follow. The one worth selling all for
Similarly- the ‘church’ (the gathering of God’s people) is not the object
- it’s the field in which we find the treasure
- THIS part of the field is called WBC
- But there are other fields (but no other treasures)
-
- wow! It’s a revelation, isn’t it?
- There are other valid fields (ie churches)
- Sadness over folks who ‘move on’… but have moved on from this field, not from the pearl… Jesus… the Kingdom)
- There are different ways of being ‘fields’
- Roy and Hills- gonna try it in a different way… in a different field
- We’re gonna try it with a different field
- Youth cell/church. See what grows
- The field could be different church cultures
… but the Key… Object…One is Jesus
So: let’s imagine the field is ‘the Bible’, “the church”. There’s a few interesting things we can glean from it
1) The treasure can be hidden in it!
- a) Not looking: primarily this says something about the fact that the bloke doesn’t know… has no idea… what great thing is waiting for him in this gem-box
- 1 Cor 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him" –
- he’s not even looking! The treasure.. Jesus.. find him!
- How true is that! True for you! Weren’t even looking
- "I never wanted a God or felt a need to invent one, but I came to the conclusion that God wanted me." Malcolm Muggeridge
- CS Lewis: surprised by joy
- I can see why people become Calvinists
- Sovereign predestination. Trying to explain the fact that:
- You need God to work ON you… IN you… initiate the transaction
- “No one can come to me unless the Father draws Him”
- “You did not choose me, but I chose you”
- in fact: that’s one side of the story presented here. The other side of the coin is the man searching for the pearl
- the true balance is ‘if you’re searching, He’ll find you if you’re looking He’ll show you”
-
- b) not easily seen?
- Sometimes church does a pretty good job of hiding the treasure
- “your love was in the last place that I looked”
- “made of mud but this treasure is within”
- mud! Church can be a bit muddy, messy, eh?!
- Actually, doesn’t say ‘buried’. We assume that. Treasure could have been hidden in
- Buildings .. rubble, trash, junk
- Busyness of a fruitful field, even
- (mustn’t forget it’s about Jesus… even when there’s a field of wheat with its hands/ears in the air)
- Can be hidden in the Bible, too
- Not everyone is like me. Switched on in that way. (POW)
- Some versions of the Bible seem deliberately obscurist
- Try the message! Ask God to speak!
- c) Need to dig
- you need to did, sometimes, to find Jesus in: word, church , His people… the field. If you don’t easily ‘stumble across’ the treasure
- it’s not an excuse to give up! Slob out! He’s in there
- you get out what you put in. If you’re a consumer: you may be in for a fall. If you’re committed… you’ll be in for some fruit
Here’s what spoke to me:
2) You must buy the whole field!
Notice here: the treasure’s his aim… so He buys the field. Wow!
To get the treasure, He buys the WHOLE field
- the whole package!… to have Jesus
- buys into the whole Bible thing
- the whole church thing. Wholeheartedly
- this is fascinating!
- I would have just bought the bit of the filed I liked. The bit where the treasure was. That plot. The bit where I find Jesus
- Just the NT. Or just the gospels
- Just the bits of church… the field I like
- I won’t come to… buy into… the rest (like prayer meetings, responsibility… doing anything)
- Or just the ‘churches’ I like (“Baptist” or “NFI”)
But you can’t! To get… go for Jesus… you gotta buy into the whole
- Bible thing (?I’m not talking about ‘conformity, but honouring/using the Bible. I’m not ‘bounded set’, ‘I’m centred set’: Jesus, Bible, Church. Parables are ‘centred set’)
- The whole catholic church (the whole field)
- The whole local church
- The whole package. Warts and all. Can’t be selective. If this is where you’re throwing in your lot- get on board wholesale!)
So: the Bible, church is NOT the treasure- but this buying of the field (the WHOLE field) shows the respect and value we should place on the field 9Bible, church)
- because it’s where we find the treasure. Jesus.
- You can’t find the treasure without the field
willing to buy the field? How much does the pearl mean to you?
He sells all that he has
This fella sells everything he has to buy the field… have Jesus
How much does this treasure… pearl… Jesus mean to you
Illustr/parable: Tim constantly expressed his love for Julie. She was the apple of his eye, he said. He proposed, she accepted. Ah, the fervour of love! He bought her a ring. It was small, and though he was wealthy, Julie said ‘he’s saving so we can have a good standard of living, together’. Then a promotion came along. He accepted the promotion- though it meant him going to Nottingham when she was tied to London. “he’s preparing for our future, she told herself. I mean more to him than this job”. He could still see her Saturday late afternoon, after the sport was over. Then he got a new car. He’d come down after he washed that late Saturdays.
His new friends in Nottingham begged him to come down the pub Saturday nights. “I love you, Julie…and there’s no one more important to me… you know! We’ll still meet Sundays”
They did meet Sundays- Tim was a bit too tired to be of much fun. But he still loved her ever so much. He told her so all the time.
What are you prepared to do for this pearl?
- does it affect everything you have. Is it the centre of your choices… that we all have to make… or is the pearl/treasure… or FIELD (where it’s found) the first thing to be dropped when something else comes along
- what’s the basis of your choices. What’s the value of the treasure… field
- what are you prepared to do to have it?
- Sure, you want to go deeper… see fruit… have treasure
- But… without even considering selling the house… are you prepared to do the little things… like: be obedient to the challenge of baptism? Dig in the field of his word?
- If not: are you deceiving yourself? These things hardly cost at all
The pearl of great price. The treasure beyond value”
He’s worth it! I want you to be so in love with Him that you realise it
Remember the joy of finding Jesus? Want the joy of finding Jesus… the KOG… His rule in your life?
sell everything that you have (metaphorically)
be sold out to Him, for Him. Buy the field
“I will serve no foreign God, not any other treasure… you are my hearts desire”
he’s the “absolutely lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me”. “My beautiful Jesus”.
“isn’t He wonderful?”
There simply are not enough songs written or testimonies given to describe how wonderful… valuable this pearl is. He’s the
- living word
- son of God
- Son of man
- Sacrifice for our sins
Oh wow!
black man’s prayer (from tape and OHP)
Black Man’s Prayer (copy of tape in cabinet)
The Bible says my King is a seven - way King:
He’s the King of the Jews - that’s a racial King.
He’s the King of Israel - that’s a national King.
He’s the King of Righteousness.
He’s the King of the Ages.
He’s the King of Heaven.
He’s the King of Glory.
He’s the King of Kings and He’s the Lord of Lords.
That’s my King.
Well I wonder, do you know Him?
David said, ’The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth His handiwork.’
My King is a sovereign King - no means of measure can define His limitless love.
No farseeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies.
No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.
He’s enduringly strong.
He’s entirely sincere.
He’s eternally steadfast.
He’s immortally graceful.
He’s imperially powerful.
He’s impartially merciful.
Do you know Him?
He’s the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He’s God’s Son.
He’s the sinner’s Saviour.
He’s the centrepiece of civilisation.
He stands in the solitude of himself.
He’s august and He’s unique.
He’s unparalleled; He’s unprecedented.
He’s the loftiest idea in literature.
He’s the highest personality in philosophy.
He’s the supreme problem in higher criticism.
He’s the fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He’s the core and necessity for spiritual religion.
He’s the miracle of the age, yes, He is.
He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.
He’s the only one qualified to be an all - sufficient Saviour.
I wonder if you know Him today?
He supplies strength to the weak.
He’s available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathises and He saves.
He guards and He guides.
He heals the sick.
He cleansed the lepers.
He forgives sinners.
He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives.
He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young.
He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent and
He beautifies the meek.
I wonder if you know Him?
Well, this is my king.
He is the King!
He’s the key to knowledge.
He’s the wellspring of wisdom.
He’s the doorway of deliverance.
He’s the pathway of peace.
He’s the roadway of righteousness.
He’s the highway of holiness.
He’s the gateway of glory.
Do you know Him?
Well, His office is manifold.
His promise is sure.
His life is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous and
His yoke is easy and
His burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you.
But he’s indescribable - Yea! Yea! Yea!
He’s indescribable - Yes He is! He’s God.
He’s indescribable.
He’s incomprehensible.
He’s invincible.
He’s irresistible!
Well, you can’t get Him out of your mind.
You can’t get Him off of your hand.
You can’t outlive Him and
You can’t live without Him.
Well, the Pharisees couldn’t stand Him,
but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.
Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him.
The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree.
Herod couldn’t kill Him.
Death couldn’t handle Him and
The grave couldn’t hold Him. Yea!
That’s my King!
That’s my King! Yea!
(The tape actually fades out here)
And Thine is the Kingdom the power and the glory forever and ever and ever and ever.
How long is that?
And ever and ever.
And when you get through all the forevers, then Amen!
GOOD GOD ALMIGHTY! AMEN! AMEN!
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