Parish Sermon - Matt 13

Matthew 13 - The Kingdom of God

I’m TJ, thanks for having me. Justin and I did a church planting residency together in 2019, and I am finally getting ready to launch into planting a church in Carrollton. I appreciate him asking me.

INTRODUCTION

I’m curious how you decide to join a club—or to become a member of something. What are the criteria you use. It probably depends on what it is, but usually, there’s some kind of evaluation to determine whether or not something is worth it. I think the fancy term is cost-benefit analysis. If I’m going to give my time, money, and energy to something, I probably want to get something out of it. Which is why companies spend so much on marketing and sales, because they want to convince you that whatever they’re selling you is worth the cost.

I remember a few years ago, Karly wanted to join a gym, so she set up an appointment to tour this gym, and she forced me to go with her for moral support. I tend to not want to spend money, and I hate working out, so I had no intention of getting a membership, but when I tell you this guy was selling me, he was SELLING me. He gave the tour and TBD

Why should I join Jesus?

Maybe you’re here today, and you’re considering Jesus—you are exploring what it means to follow him, to give your life to him, to be a part of the Christian church. Maybe you’ve been kind of halfway in, going to church, but not really sure if you’re ready to make the kind of changes Jesus is calling you to. Maybe are a Christian, but you’ve hit a few bumps in the road and you’re wondering...man, was this really worth it? (You know what I’m saying..

I want to look at a pair of really short parables that Jesus tells about the kingdom of God in Matthew 13.

Matthew 13:44–46 NLT

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field. “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!

PRAY

They're pretty self-explanatory, right?

I literally saw a story this week about someone who bought a storage unit at an auction, like Storage Wars or something like that, for $500, and inside, they found a safe with 7.5 million in cash. If you knew there was 7 and half million dollars in a storage unit, you would sell your house, your cars, you empty your 401K, you get rid of everything so you can buy the storage unit, because you know that it will be worth it. You know that, in the end, you will receive far more than you ever gave up.

What is the kingdom of God?

So, as we look at this passage today, the first thing we want to understand is what the kingdom of God is. In the Old Testament, the nation of Israel was supposed to be God’s perfect people, and in fact, they weren’t supposed to have a king because God was supposed to be their king. But they wanted a king, so God let them have a king, and that worked for like...a king and a half. If you read Kings and Chronicles, you find out that the kings of Old Testament Israel were not great. So, the prophets started talking about how God was going to send a new king—and sometimes that king would be God himself, and sometimes it would be God’s “messiah”—but either way, there was going to be a new kingdom, where not just Israel, but the whole world, would serve and worship God and things would be the way God intended. It would be a place of peace, of unity, of righteousness and justice.

Then Jesus shows up and begins his ministry, and the bible says that he preached the good news of the kingdom. He keeps talking about this kingdom. “Repent for the kingdom of God is near.”

The kingdom of God, as Jesus teaches about it, is not a physical place, with borders and signs. You can’t find it on Google Maps. Jesus says:

Luke 17:20–21 NLT

One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. You won’t be able to say, ‘Here it is!’ or ‘It’s over there!’ For the Kingdom of God is already among you.”

We might be able to say that the kingdom of God is wherever God is king in our hearts. Where people honor and worship and obey God—that’s the kingdom of God. And Jesus is the one who brings the kingdom of God to us, and makes a way for us to be part of his kingdom.

Jesus spends much of his ministry inviting people to join the kingdom of God. But, why join?

And that's why Jesus tells these parables, to remind us of the infinite value of the kingdom of God.

I. THE COST

The first thing I think we notice from these parables is that there is a cost involved. The man and the merchant, in order to get the kingdom of God, they both sell everything they have. It isn’t possible for them to get the kingdom of God for free; they have to give up something in order to get in. I want to be clear, because Jesus does love us freely and offer salvation for free, it’s not that we have to work our way into Jesus’ good graces, but it does mean that we have to choose which team we’re on.

When you enter the kingdom of God, you are leaving behind the kingdom of this world. In order to have new life, you have to leave behind your old life. This is what Jesus means when he says you can’t serve two masters. The love of God, the work of the cross, salvation, resurrection, knowing Jesus, the holy Spirit, all of those are gifts freely given by God, but in order to receive the gift, we have to put down what we’re holding.

This is what happens when the rich young ruler comes to Jesus and wants to enter the kingdom, but can’t because he won’t give up his money.

This is what Jesus was talking about in Mark 8, when he said:

Mark 8:34–37 NLT

Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?

So, the first point I have for us today is that following Jesus means denying yourself.

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS DENYING YOURSELF

So, I think the question we need to ask ourselves is “what am I willing to give up for Jesus?” What am I willing to give up to enter the kingdom of God?

Or maybe a better question is—what is the thing I’m having a hard time giving up for Jesus? Is it a struggle for me to give up money or status or security or comfort or control (that’s me) or pride or freedom? What is it that you are holding onto today, and are you willing to give it up to get the kingdom of God?

Because that’s where the rubber meets the road, right? It’s easy to say that we love Jesus and we want to follow him and want to be part of his kingdom as long as it doesn’t cost us anything. But if we really believe in the value of the kingdom, then we’re willing to pay the cost.

A couple years ago, I was trying to get a new watch, and I was looking at going analog and buying a nice, automatic watch. So I was searching like, best, highest quality watch I could find. TBD

What we’re willing to trade for the kingdom of God reveals what we believe about how valuable it is. And it IS valuable!

Soul

II. The Value of the Kingdom

So, why is the kingdom so valuable? Of course, there are many reasons, but the one in particular I want to focus on is its eternal implications. This chapter, Matthew 13, is all focused on parables about the kingdom of God, but they all have a long-term focus: how does what happens now impact what happens in the future, at the end of all things. So, I want to look at another passage of scripture quickly that talks about this idea:

1 Corinthians 15:50–57 NLT

What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. Then, when our dying bodies have been transformed into bodies that will never die, this Scripture will be fulfilled: “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ.

You've probably seen a sci-fi movie about this: the quest for immortality. Usually in these movies, there is a mega rich person who is financing the effort to scientifically or mystically discover or create eternal life. And that's the thing--it's common because it makes sense. You might think that it's impossible, but I think all of us can understand the impulse to stave off death and the immense value of such a possibility.

1 Corinthians 15 is all about the resurrection of Jesus. As a Christian, I believe that Jesus literally rose from the dead, and that joining him in the kingdom of heaven means joining his resurrection. It’s about the transformation that occurs inside of us, and the end of death. Because Jesus rose from the dead, death is defeated and we can have new life in Jesus.

So, why is the kingdom so valuable? Because following Jesus means access to eternal life.

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS ACCESS TO ETERNAL LIFE

When we come to Jesus, we are transformed, spiritually speaking. His resurrection makes us new, like him, and gives us access to the kingdom of God--an eternal life where death has no power, no sting, no victory.

In Revelation, when the kingdom of God is fully and finally realized, and God truly is king of both heaven and earth, the bible says that there will be no more death, no more pain, and he will wipe away every tear from our eyes. That’s the kind of life that comes with the kingdom of God.

Can you imagine? It’s kind of hard, honestly, to think about a world without death, without sin, without pain. Everything that we do is tainted by sin & brokenness. Wouldn’t it be amazing to live in perfect relationship with God and others? Wouldn’t it be amazing to turn on the news and not hear about another war or another tragedy? Wouldn’t you love to not experience grief, anxiety, and stress?

That’s why it’s so valuable—it’s a totally transformed life where sin and death and evil have no place.

But it’s a hidden value, because it hasn’t been realized yet.

Imagine what people might think about these people in this parable. Think about if I really did sell my house and my car and emptied my savings to buy a storage unit. Even if, in the end, I’m vindicated, there’s a little bit of time in the middle where people are gonna say, that dude is crazy or stupid or both.

It’s like those home makeover shows where they buy an old, nasty house.. TBD

When we join the kingdom, we do so knowing and believing that it is infinitely valuable, even if not everyone can see it yet. But that doesn’t mean that we have to wait until heaven to experience the value of the kingdom. At the end of the day, what makes heaven so amazing is the presence of God, and we can experience that even now. When you follow Jesus, when you enter the kingdom of God, you get the Spirit of God living in you. You begin to experience the peace, the comfort, the fruit of the Spirit.

Which brings us to the the final point:

If we think that the kingdom is so valuable, then we should want to share it with others!

III. Sharing the Good News

The last point I want us to see is that following Jesus means sharing the good news.

FOLLOWING JESUS MEANS SHARING THE GOOD NEWS

I want to look at one more scripture.

2 Corinthians 5:18–21 NLT

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

If you’re here today and you haven’t yet experienced the incredible value of the kingdom, then I have good news, you can have the treasure in the field. God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. You do have to leave behind some things, but man, what is it to give up a few gods who don’t love you anyway for the One True God of the Universe and his perfect kingdom of God without death and evil? Come back to God, he wants to give you the treasure of the kingdom. He wants to give you the priceless pearl. He wants to show you how to make things right with him.

If you have already entered the kingdom, then God has made you an ambassador. That’s the beautiful thing about this treasure—there’s not just one; we don’t have to hide it from everyone else. Everyone can join the kingdom if they want it. If we really believe in the value of the kingdom, if we really believe in this wonderful message of reconciliation, then we should want to speak for Christ.

When I find something really valuable, something that really works for me, I share it with others. I have been a Christian 20 years, and it’s not been easy, I’ve had to give up some stuff I didn’t want to give up, I’ve had to pay some costs I didn’t want to pay, but I still believe it’s worth it.

So, I really just have a simple question to ask: who are you inviting into the kingdom?

CONCLUSION

As we close, following Jesus means denying ourselves, but it also means access to eternal life, so we should share the good news.

I want to invite you to listen to God.

There’s this simple, beautiful song...give me Jesus. You can have all this world, but give me Jesus. Because he’s worth it. Amen.