11th Sunday after Pentecost ~ July 27, 2008

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Parables, parables, parables. These past few weeks we have been hearing a lot of parables from Jesus. This was a powerful way for Jesus to convey what the “kingdom of heaven” is like. Parables often took what was ordinary and changed it in a way to catch your attention. In the parable of the sower we see the normal task of farming but the unusual manner in which the sower scattered seed everywhere. In the parable of the weeds we see the task of caring for a farm but the unusual request of the master to not pull up the weeds.

Today we have a few short parables where we not only see a “treasure” but the radical idea that someone would give up everything for the treasure. But let’s begin with the last of these parables about the “net.” In this parable as well as others Jesus just shared in Matthew 13 we see the end reality of the Kingdom of Heaven as it plays out here on Earth. The end reality is there will be a separation of good and evil. Evil will not reign forever. For us in Christ who face the trials of this world that is a victory call to us. But it also raises the urgency of sharing Christ because it does matter if a person is following Christ or not. There will be a separating of good and evil and that reality should spur us on to be more missional in the world.

That’s the Law – good and evil will be separated. The Gospel – God paid the ultimate price for our salvation. Let’s look at the other parables here of a treasure and pearl. Sometimes when we look at these parables we talk about giving up all for Christ. We place ourselves in the role of the man and merchant. But I think there is a better way to look at this parable that fits with the extravagant grace God shows to us. Let’s put God in the role of the man and merchant. Now let’s see what happens – if God is the merchant and man who is the pearl and treasure? We are! And if God is the man and merchant, and we are the treasure and pearl then God “sold all” to buy us. Wow, that is powerful!!!

And that is the story of God’s love or us. Yes there will be a separation of good and evil – our God is a just God. But He is also a loving God. The wages of sin is death – that is really all one can give. Jesus, God’s Son, came into this world as a man, died on the cross to pay the price of our sin and rose again to buy us back. Why? Because He sees us as his hidden treasure or a fine pearl. God sees us as His treasured possession! And this isn’t anything new with Jesus. Did you hear what God said to the Israelites when they had been freed from slavery in Egypt?

6 “For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. 7 It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, 8 but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. 9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. Deuteronomy 7:6-9 (ESV)

Peter says similar words in his letter:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 1 Peter 2:9-10 (ESV)

You are God’s treasured possession. He loves you so much that He gave His all for you – His life, death and resurrection. That is the wonderful news of the Gospel. God bought you back, paid the price of sin, and has made you His treasured possession. We are dearly loved by God! What a joy that frees us from the grasp of sin, death and the power of the devil. We are God’s treasured possession.

And we are His “scribes.” Jesus tells His disciples that they are trained to be scribes in the Kingdom of Heaven. A scribe was someone whose task was to help preserve and tell the stories of God. Literally a scribe would copy Scripture over and over again so that there would always be a copy for others to read. A scribe’s task is to tell and retell the stories of God. That is the old and new treasure Jesus is talking about. We tell the stories from the Bible – old – and retell them as they have transformed our lives – new. Both of these stories are important for us as “scribes” to tell the world. We tell others about Jesus and about what He has done in our lives. We share of the treasures God has given to us.

You are God’s treasured possession! This is a firm promise and reality. Paul said it this way about God’s love for us His treasured possession:

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39 (ESV)