What A Find

Scripture

Matthew 13:44–46 The Message

“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field for years and then accidentally found by a trespasser. The finder is ecstatic—what a find!—and proceeds to sell everything he owns to raise money and buy that field. “Or, God’s kingdom is like a jewel merchant on the hunt for excellent pearls. Finding one that is flawless, he immediately sells everything and buys it.

Introduction

When I started my company back in the nineties I was advised to offer what was called and “executive briefing” at no charge. This briefing would introduce executives to my company and the services we offered as some training that was designed to help wiht some problem the executive was experiencing with their sales efforts.

I would fax hundreds of invitations and could not get folks to show up. I decide to charge $99 for the session and included a free book. Once I did this I was able to fill my training facility up? Why do you suppose this was the case? People know there is nothing for free. Everything has a perceived value. When i was trying to give it away no one wanted it, yet when they had to pay for it, it gave the session some worth.

This is what we are dealing with today in these two parables. Perceived value. The Kingdom of Heaven is worth giving up everything for!

Jesus is still teaching on the Kingdom of Heaven. However, he has left the boat and the crowds behind (probably the end of the day) and returned to the house. It is just him and the 12. He is still teaching in parables, but unlike the crowds the disciples get it.

Exegesis and Application

The first parable is about a man who finds a treasure hidden in a field, sells everything he has to buy the field so he can have the treasure. This would not have been an unusual occurrence to the disciples. Since there were no banks folks had to protect their wealth in all types of ways. The wealthy usually had hidden areas in their homes. If there was a war just about everyone would remove their wealth from their homes and bury it ahead of leaving. When they returned they would dig it up. If they didn’t come back then that treasure whose for whoever found it. In fact in Jewish law, the rabbis said it was up for grabs.

This parable doesn’t have a whole lot of detail and found treasure stories were common among the poor. It is obvious that the person that finds this treasure does not own the field. This situation is a little different than what the Rabbis refer to in the Talmud. (Explain Talmud ‘What finds belong to the finder, and what finds must one cause to be proclaimed? These finds belong to the finder—if a man finds scattered fruit, scattered money … these belong to the finder.’ ). Most likely the person that finds the treasure was a tenant farmer who discovers this treasure while plowing. He would have bought the field from the owner hiding the fact of the found treasure, for in this case the treasure would have been the owner of the field’s! However, Jesus is not concerned wiht that, although this thought had to run through the disciples minds!

No what we see here is a person that stumbles accross this treasure by complete surprise! So, the Kingdom of Heaven can be discovered as a complete surprise when one is least expecting it! This treasure is the greatest treasure for one to possess. The finder is ecstatic what a find!

I was not prepared for my discovery of the Kingdom of God, were you? Although brought up in the church I rejected it all as a set of fairy tells about a fictional god. Sure Jesus was a good teacher, but that’s about all. The teaching, the commandments all relative and optional for the most part. Now, here is the part of this parable that some folks have issue with. Jesus the treasure finds us, we do not find him. In my case it was both and. I was looking for something, something to give me some kind of meaning in life and I kept coming up empty. Drugs didn’t work, rock and roll didn’t work, friends didn’t work. But when jesus and met each other. That worked! I had found the treasure of the Kingdom of God! It was worth giving my life up for, everything I had. And really at 15 all I had was me. I was ecstatic! What a find!

We have a contrast in the next parable about the pearl. This is a professional merchant in search of pearls. You know kinda like Tom Shane going to Antwerp to buy diamonds. In that day pearls were of greater value than anything including gold. People wanted to possess them not just for wealth, but also for beauty. Pearls were objects of contemplation. Folks would hold them and stare into them. Pearls in that day came from the Red Sea and Britain. Merchants would scour the world looking for quality pearls.

This merchant is prepared and is seeking. The person that finds the treasure in the field is not prepared nor is seeking for their find. The merchant knows exactly what they’re looking for. And it is found! The perfect pearl! A pearl so beautiful that it is worth the entire wealth of the merchant to posses it. The merchant is not going to sell this folks and she gives up everything just to have it. It is flawless.

Years ago I had a friend who approached me after church and said to me, “I want to know Jesus like you know Jesus.” This person was a life long Methodist growing up in the church. He went to church, attended Sunday School, studied his Bible. He was prepared and he was seeking. He was seeking the pearl. After several lunches and phone calls with him I got a phone call from him one morning. He said, “Rob I Did it.” “Did what?” I asked. He said, “I got down on my knees last night and told God I couldn’t handle all of this myself, I was tired and I wanted to give Him everything I had. All of me.” My friend had found the pearl .

When you come down to the foundation of these parables, what we are really talking about here is being pure of heart. Each of the folks in the parables had a single minded response. They had to have the treasure and pearl no matter the cost. The treasure and the pearl just did not have a perceived value, but were of supreme value, more valuable than anything else. Let’s take a look at

Matthew 5:8 NRSV

“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Being pure in heart does not mean the absence of impure thoughts. It means a single minded devotion to the one God and requires that there be something big and good enough to merit one’s devotion. In other words, as I started out, perceived value! Nothing worth having is free. Our problem is we have too many competing values and we are not pure in heart. if we put anything before God and God’s kingdom then we are not pure in heart. We have to be willing to give up all those other things up for the treasure and the pearl. What ever you value most in life will be where your heart is. The Kingdom treasure is the one thing needed of Luke, the undivided heart of James, Paul’s the one thing I do.

Take a look at where you spend most of your time and most of your money. This is the best indication of where you perceive value in your life. What is of supreme value to you is it God’s Kingdom or another kingdom. Is your heart divided our pure?

Jesus reminds us in Luke that we must understand their is a cost to discipleship to being single minded or pure in heart. These parables teach us that. No I do not not mean we can pur chase our salvation. However, once we find the treasure or the pearl we must give up everything else.

Luke 14:25–30 The Message

One day when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple. “Is there anyone here who, planning to build a new house, doesn’t first sit down and figure the cost so you’ll know if you can complete it? If you only get the foundation laid and then run out of money, you’re going to look pretty foolish. Everyone passing by will poke fun at you: ‘He started something he couldn’t finish.’

May we be single minded. may we be pure in heart. May we finish what we start. Dear God let it be so.