“A Hidden Treasure”

(Matthew 13:31-32; 44-52)

Reverend Paula Behrens-Lopez 

A young man went to an old desert monk and asked: Why is it that so many people come out to the desert to seek God and yet most of them give up after a short time and return to their lives in the city?

The old monk told him, ‘Yesterday evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. 

Soon other dogs joined in the chase, barking and running.  They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs.  Soon the wilderness was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night.

After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out.  A few chased the rabbit until the night was almost over.  But by morning, only my dog continued the hunt.  Do you know why,’ asked the monk.

‘No,’ replied the young man, ‘please tell me.’ 

‘It is simple,’ said the desert father.  ‘My dog was the only one who had caught a glimpse of the rabbit in the first place.’ (Brett Blair, July 2005).

Jesus told a parable about a man who one day “caught a glimpse of” a great treasure in a field.  And because he understood the value of the treasure, he sacrificed everything to receive it.  Jesus said:

‘The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Matt 13:44).

The treasure that this man had found meant so much to him that he sold everything he had to receive it.  That’s what the kingdom of heaven is like. 

When Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven (God), He was talking about the rule of God in the lives of people and in the world. 

And we learn that it is not only a future event, but also, a present event.  As it can be already be found deep within a persons’ heart and among the community of believers.

Let me share with you a few truths about this great treasure.

First, the treasure of God’s kingdom creates life’s greatest joy.   

For the man who “caught a glimpse” of that hidden treasure… it was the greatest discovery he had ever made.  And it filled his life with joy.  That’s what the kingdom of heaven is like… life’s greatest joy.

Everybody wants to find joy.  Not everybody is finding it, though. 

A while back there was a song called, “Looking for love in all the wrong places.” 

Many people are looking for happiness and joy and love in all the wrong places, still.  They would like to be happy, but they cannot define it.  They would love to find joy, but they don’t know where it is.  They long to find Love, but they don’t know how to go about it.  So they wander through life like “sheep without a shepherd” in a wilderness.  

This is not anything new… it goes all the way back to Jesus’ time (He talked about people being “like sheep without a shepherd.”)  

Now… sometimes these things (happiness, joy and love) are seen as tangible things… things we can get, or buy, or purchase somehow. 

But what we don’t realize is that these things are byproducts (they are the results) of something else.  Happiness, joy and love are not found in the things we possess, but in What possesses us.  Happiness, joy and love are not found in what we can own, but in Who owns us.  They are not found in what we create for ourselves, but in what we discover has been there all along… like a treasure hidden in a field.

C. S. Lewis wrote a book called Surprised By Joy.  Joy is always a great discovery, a great surprise.

I know first hand about that.  For years, I thought I could find happiness in tangible things (work, family, cars, a home, computers). 

But, finally, when I least expected it God surprised me with His divine joy… like a treasure buried in a field.   But, it wasn’t visible to me until I begin to feel this emptiness inside… until I realized that I had shut the door on God in my life. 

The treasure of His kingdom wasn’t visible to me until I realized that I needed to open that door from the inside of my heart.  You see… Christ had been knocking for a long time, but I had been ignoring Him. 

It was sort of like a game show to me.  Maybe… the things I needed could be found behind door #1 or 2 or 3.  Surly… it wasn’t behind the door marked Jesus Christ. 

But, I was wrong.  For many years I was wrong.  It wasn’t until I opened the door marked Jesus Christ that I realized that the Ultimate joy is only found in our citizenship in God’s kingdom rule.  It is only there that we find our sense of well-being, purpose and fulfillment. 

Only in God’s kingdom rule do we find the answers for life’s questions.  When we make that discovery… God’s Kingdom rule begins to fill our lives with joy… that can’t help but spill over into all areas of our life.

First, the treasure of God’s kingdom creates life’s greatest joy.  And second, it costs life’s highest price.  The greatest joy is not free.  It requires something. 

We hear that the man in the parable “sold all that he had.”  And he did it willingly.  He sold all that he had in order to raise enough money to receive the field in which the treasure was hidden.

The kingdom of Heaven is like that.  It costs life’s highest price.  Now… that might sound bad to you.  But think about this. 

There are many things, many bad things that will cost you everything.  And when those things are through with you they will leave you broken and in need of God’s healing grace.

For example… alcohol, in and of itself is not a bad thing.  Jesus once changed water into wine at a wedding feast.  And the apostle Paul told Timothy to take a little wine with his water for his health.  In and of itself, wine is not a bad thing… but for a person who abuses it… seeking to numb the pain of life instead of dealing with their problems… Well… alcohol can be deadly. 

And then there are drugs.  Through the grace of God, modern science is constantly discovering new drugs that can help us to live long and quality lives.  But when drugs are abused, lives are destroyed. 

Then there is something that we see all around us (on billboards, in advertisements, at the movies, on Television)… human sexuality.  It’s a healthy part of what it means to be human.  Without it our race would become extinct pretty quickly. 

It’s about procreation.  And it’s also a gift from God given to a man and a woman… to be shared only within the bond of marriage. 

The marriage covenant is sort of like a well-built fireplace, I think.  You see… a fire can be enjoyed as long as it stays within the walls of the fireplace. 

But if it gets outside of the fireplace (if it spreads to the middle of the living room)… well, it will more than likely destroy the whole house. 

Like that, sexuality outside the safe confines of the marriage covenant (which has been established by God) outside of that covenant… sexuality brings devastation into every life it touches, as well.   

You see… anything we commit our lives to can wind up costing us everything.  What we choose can ultimately cost us everything.  And the kingdom of heaven is no different.  Jesus did say:

“…Those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for My sake will find it. 

And then He reasoned:

For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life?” (Matt 16:25-26a).

Yes… the kingdom of heaven will cost us everything (if we think of everything in a worldly way).  But as we loosen our grip on the things of this world… we discover an amazing thing:  We discover that the kingdom begins to take root in our soul and grow.  We discover that it creates within us the very best we can be.  And… we discover that it calls forth from us the very best we could ever say or do or think. 

We discover that the kingdom of heaven is Life… it is True LIFE that grows from within.  And that is what God intends for each of us.   

A little boy once came home from Sunday school and told his mother that he had learned about inheriting God’s kingdom.  They had studied what it meant to inherit something. 

And so he said to his mother, “I’d like my inheritance now, please.”  And his mother responded: “That’s too bad, because, I’m not through with it yet.”

In the kingdom of heaven, however, we can have a part of our inheritance now.  The apostle Paul writes:

The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, [now] and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. (Rom 8:16-17)

The treasure of God’s kingdom will be given to those who make a decision for Christ… turning control of our lives over to Him.

First, the treasure of God’s kingdom creates life’s greatest joy.  Second the treasure of Gods kingdom will cost us our life.  And third, the treasure of God’s kingdom calls for a deep commitment. 

Because the kingdom of Heaven offers us the greatest joy at the highest cost, it calls for the deepest commitment, as well. 

Jesus said that the man sold “all he had” in order to raise enough money to receive “the field where the treasure was hidden.”  

In other words… this man made the commitment.  He bought it.  He followed through with it all the way.

Now… why did Jesus tell this parable?  Well, I think He told this parable so as to train His disciples about the sacrifice that would be required of them.

The greatest treasure… God’s kingdom rule, calls for sacrifice.  It calls for taking a chance.  It calls for living on the edge for God… which may include many things… like the way you raise your children… like the way you sacrificially serve your spouse… like the way you take care of an aging parent… or the way you reach out to a stranger with the love of Christ… just to name a few.

All of these things are signs that a person has the treasure of God’s Kingdom in his or her heart.

There was a man in Florida who used to wrestle with alligators.  And one time after one of his performances a lady noticed he was wearing a string of alligator teeth around his neck. 

She said, “Oh, that is sort of like wearing a string of pearls.”  And he replied, “Not quite, lady. Anyone can open an oyster.”

Likewise, anyone can be religious on the outside.  But having the treasure of God’s kingdom in your heart is something else, altogether.

Being religious on the outside means thinking that Jesus was merely a good teacher and that the Bible… well, is just like any other book.  Written for our enjoyment.

But, if Jesus Christ is only a teacher… and if the Bible is just like any other book… then we are going to be pretty frustrated when we try to reach the standard that is found there for us…

Think about this: Why would God present us with such a lofty ideal if we can’t possibly come close to reaching it?  For example… why would God tell us to be what we can never be… like being “pure in heart” (Matt 5:8)…  And there are so many more (that I am not going to name right now).  Why would God tell us to follow an example… which (in our own human strength) can never be met? 

Well… you see… Jesus Christ came to do much more than just teach… He came to make of us what we were created to be. 

The greatest treasure of God’s kingdom is that Jesus Christ can place within anyone the same nature that ruled His own life.

That’s what having the treasure of God’s kingdom within our heart is about.  And… it requires commitment.  Because the kingdom of heaven offers us the greatest joy at the highest cost, it calls for the deepest commitment, as well.

It calls us to give our lives to Christ.  It calls us to be among the people of God who have been faithful to Him across the centuries.  It re-orders our priorities, it re-orders the things we live for.  It leads us to dedicate our lives (who we are, what we can do, our abilities, our hopes, and our dreams), to God. 

And the good news is… that in the midst of this kind of commitment we make the most marvelous discovery.  We find that even though we thought the cost was high, we discover suddenly that we have riches untold… that we have riches beyond measure as we are overwhelmed by the value of the treasure we have discovered.

The greatest good news for us is that we can have all we want of God’s treasure; we can have all we are willing to receive.  And when we do receive God’s treasure… my goodness… we find that it is the Discovery of a lifetime.

Have you “caught a glimpse” of God’s kingdom?  I hope so…

Because if you have caught a glimpse… then I know that you will never want to give up until you receive it in all of it’s fullness. 

Let commit to do that today… let us all receive His gift more fully… today and everyday.  Amen.

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