Delivered Sunday, May 15, 2011
Do kids read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson any longer? You know, with Jim Hawkins as the cabin boy and Long John Silver? When I was a kid there was something about buried pirate treasure that fascinated me. Growing up near the ocean I imagined stumbling across a treasure washed up on shore or buried by some pirate in my backyard – of all places. Such are the fantasies of childhood. I really thought that it was feasible that one day I will find a treasure map with an X that marks the spot. In a certain sense we never outgrow that. The whole Indiana Jones series of films feeds on this fascination, whether the treasure is the Lost Ark or the Holy Grail. Even Antique Road Show feeds this hope that you might find some valuable treasure in the attic, in the basement or at a yard sale. Even the lottery is driven by the dream that treasure will be found in a sequence of numbers. I never had that particular dream; I know too much about the odds of winning to throw my money away in that state sponsored scheme, but the lure of hidden treasure remains.
There is something about hidden treasure that fascinates people. The religion of Mormonism was invented by a treasure hunter named Joseph Smith who said he could find hidden treasure by looking into a crystal called a seer stone. Eventually he said he found treasure. He said he found some golden plates buried on a hill in upstate New York. He said that upon these golden plates was written the Book of Mormon. Unfortunately the golden plates were not seen by anyone else; he said they were taken up to heaven when he was finished translating them. That was convenient; so no one could confirm his story. But the story of this buried treasure gave birth to one of the fastest growing religions in America today. I guess it shows how much people love a story about buried treasure.
Jesus told a story about buried treasure. He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Then he tells another story about a treasure found in a marketplace. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” I want us to explore these stories this morning.
I. First, let’s explore the concept of treasure. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says these words: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Treasure has more to do with the heart than with the dollar value. You have heard the expression: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Some people see antiques as just old junk and they want new things; others see antiques as works of art of lasting value.
Jesus’ point in the verses I just quoted is that some people see earthly things – money, property, possessions – as of great value. But Jesus was forever trying to show people that spiritual treasure was of much greater value. If you can’t take it with you, of what real value is it? Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Treasure is what your heart values. I really believe that what all people are looking for in life is the fulfillment of their heart’s desire; that is their treasure. And they are looking for this treasure in all the wrong places, to paraphrase that old country song about love. What people are looking for in investments, property, and financial security is a deep emotional security in God, What people are looking for in relationships, in romance, in family, in friendships, in marriage is really a relationship with God. They are looking for the soul’s Beloved – our true “soul mate.” We are looking to be part of the family of God. What people are looking for in fame and celebrity is to be recognized, known, and loved by God. What people are looking for in religion, spiritual practice, theological beliefs and worship services is a deep connection with God. You don’t really care what I have to say. You just hope that maybe something I say might connect you with God or put you on the path to God or point toward God. Every man and woman’s treasure is really God.
II. According to Jesus this treasure is hidden. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field….” Jesus doesn’t go into detail in his short parable. We do not know anything about the treasure or how it came to be buried in the field or how the man came to find it. In that time people kept their wealth mainly in land and animals, but also in coins, precious metals, or jewels. In a time before banks people used to bury their valuables in the ground in earthen jars. If the owner died suddenly or was captured – for example by an invading army - then the location of the treasure was lost. It could remain in the ground for centuries until someone stumbled across it. A new owner might be plowing his field one day and suddenly this plow would unearth a jar of coins.
Something like this happened with the man in Jesus’ story. The man appears to be a sharecropper; he does not own the field. But he unearths the treasure, perhaps while he is plowing. It says he immediately reburies it and scrapes up the money to buy the field, knowing that the treasure is worth a thousand times the price he is paying for the land. There is no question here whether this is the ethical thing to do – to cheat the owner of the field out of the treasure. Jesus is not telling a moralistic fable. Jesus’ point is that the treasure was hidden, and the treasure was of great value, and that the man would do whatever it took to get it. The hiddenness of the treasure is an important element of the story. Treasure was hidden right beneath his feet and he didn’t know it.
There is a story of a pickpocket who worked a certain marketplace where jewelry and precious gems were sold. One day he watched as a man bought a valuable diamond and put it in his pocket. He thought to himself that this would be an easy score. He bumped into the man and carefully reached into his pocket so as not to be detected, but nothing was there. He followed the man throughout the city, onto buses, and through the streets, trying several times to snitch the diamond, but he could never find it. He tried every pocket and every trick he knew. This frustrated him because he considered himself one of the best pickpockets there was, yet he could not seem to steal this diamond. Finally at the end of the day he could take it no longer. He went up to the man and said, “Excuse me, sir. I am a pickpocket, and I have been trying to steal that large diamond that you bought in the marketplace this morning. But I have not been able to find it anywhere on you. It is driving me crazy. I don’t want it any more, I just need to know where you have hidden it.” The man replied, “I knew you were a pickpocket when I first saw you in the market, so I hid it in a place you would never think to look.” The man then reached into the pickpocket’s pocket and withdrew the gem, saying, “I hid it in your pocket.”
This is the Kingdom of Heaven. It is hidden in our pocket. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will people say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘There it is!’ For truly, the kingdom of God is within you.” That same verse can be translated “the kingdom of God is in your midst,” meaning all around you. It is both. The Kingdom is Spirit. Spirit is not in a place somewhere. Spirit is omnipresent; it is here now. It is hidden in plain sight. That is the lesson of the other story that Jesus tells. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
I am going to tell you a true story that happened to my son Ernie. At the time he was working at the Squam Lakes Association in Holderness teaching kayaking lessons. A woman lost a valuable gold and diamond bracelet when kayaking a year and a half earlier. She had called up immediately asking if anyone had found it but she was told “No.” But she was in the area again and decided to come by for one last try. She asked at the front desk, who told her that nothing like that had been found but to go ask Ernie down at the waterfront. So she came down and talked to my son. He said, “No,” he had not seen anything like that. But then he remembered a box of junk – the Lost and Found box in the shed were sunglasses and hair clips and things like that were kept. He looked in it and “lo and behold” (as they say) he found it there. He brought it out to the woman, who she saw it broke into tears at seeing her lost treasure. True story. That is the story of how we find the Kingdom of God. It is hidden in plain sight, and only those with eyes will see.
III. Another element of Jesus’ stories of hidden treasure is that this treasure is found. In the first story it is found by a man who was not looking for it. The man was just plowing his field and uncovered it. But when he saw it, he recognized it value. That is the important thing. The man in the other story was a merchant who was a professional seeker of fine pearls. He made his living looking for, buying and reselling pearls. One day he found a “pearl of great price.” It was a pearl like none other he had ever seen. He had been looking for such a pearl all his life and when he saw it, he knew exactly what it was, and had to have it.
In both cases the treasure – which symbolizes the Kingdom of God – is hidden and is found – either intentionally or unintentionally. There is a spiritual truth here. Some people are looking for spiritual truth and some aren’t. Some people are looking for God. They are religious or spiritually minded. We call them seekers. They do a search in Christianity, other religions, philosophies, and spiritual practices – looking for spiritual Truth. Some look for years and never find it, and yet others do. Some people could care less about spiritual matters. They are content with work, family, friends, and recreation – and they go through life and that’s it. They do not care about church or religion or spiritual things. They are not necessarily against it; they are just not interested. Many live all their lives like this and die like this. But some people stumble across the treasure they are not looking for – like the man in Jesus’ parable of the hidden treasure. They hear somebody talking about the Kingdom of God, and they immediately recognize it as of supreme value, and they embrace it. In both cases the treasure is found.
IV. In both stories, when the treasure is recognized, then it is purchased. Both the man who found the treasure in the field and the man who found the pearl of great price recognized immediately what they had found. In both cases they sold all that they had and bought it. This is the common feature in both stories. It illustrates the truth that to accept the Kingdom of God there is a price to pay, and that price is everything. This is not cheap grace; this is a costly salvation.
Jesus said it plainly and often. He said, “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” He said, “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” That was the lesson Jesus taught to a rich young man who wanted eternal life. Jesus told him he could have it; all he had to do was to give up everything he had. The man wouldn’t do it, and it says he went away sorrowful.
Jesus’ teaching about the treasure of the kingdom comes down to a couple of things. First, whether you are looking for spiritual truth or not, when you come across it, you need to do something about it. You don’t just leave the treasure in the field or the pearl in the marketplace. You get it whatever the price. Otherwise you will be kicking yourself for the rest of your life. Both men in Jesus’ stories had to act right then and there.
You probably have heard the news account last month of the man who missed out on winning a jackpot. Last month Michael Kosko missed out on a share of a $319 million Mega Millions jackpot because that particular day he did not put in his two dollars to buy a ticket. Seven of his co-workers at the Division of Housing and Community Renewal in Albany NY won $28.9 million each when their lucky numbers came up on the Mega Millions. Mr Kosko usually joined in the workplace lottery pool but he didn't have two singles in his pocket on that particular day. A colleague even offered to lend him the money, but he refused. He has been kicking himself in the pants ever since.
Now don’t go home today and say the preacher is telling you to play the lottery. I’m not. I don’t play it, and I do not advocate it. My point is that the Kingdom of God is bigger than any lottery. And we will kick ourselves if we pass it up. When we recognize the truth of the Kingdom of God, then we need to be willing to act – to pay the price – to give up anything and everything if necessary to inherit eternal life. And when we give up everything we realize we actually gain everything. Jesus taught that: “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life.” “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” The Kingdom of God is a precious treasure, and it is ours if we have eyes to see it and faith accept it, whatever the cost.
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