"Our Supreme Treasure" Message #5 in the Life Cut Short Series based on St. Luke's Gospel

“Do not be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

INTRODUCTION

PERSPECTIVES ON TREASURES ARE NOT HARD TO FIND WHEN YOU LOOK FOR THEM IN OUR WORLD AND IN OUR

TIMES.......ONES WORTH REMEMBERING AND

CHERISHING ARE THESE:

“Infinite riches are all around you if you will open your mental eyes and behold the treasure house of infinity within you. There is a gold mine within

you from which you can extract everything you need to live life gloriously, joyously, and abundantly.”

Joseph Murphy

When you leave this world, will you be known as one who accumulated treasures on earth that you couldn't keep? Or will you be recognized as one

who invested treasures in heaven that you couldn't lose?

— Randy Alcorn

“Our relationships are precious, valuable treasures from heaven, and we should handle them carefully, always looking for ways to build bridges to

each other's hearts.”

— Victoria Osteen

THIS MORNING BELOVEDS WE GATHER TO BOTH EXAMINE AND ENCOURAGE OUR HEARTS WITH THE TRUE

TREASURES OF THIS FAITHFUL JOURNEY GOD LEADS US ON DAY BY DAY............MOSTLY, WHEN WE SPEAK OF

TREASURES OF GOD’S KINGDOM WE’RE SPEAKING OF RESOURCES DEFINED BY MONEY, CHA-CHING.....DINERO, OR

DOLLARS......

THIS MORNING OUR SEARCH IS FOR SOMETHING MORE EVEN IF WHAT WE GET IS MORE PERSPECTIVE, MORE

APPRECIATION FOR ALL THAT GOD IS DOING IN AND AMONG US.........

PETER AND JOHN GAVE A SUPREME GIFT OF MORE THAN MONEY

SOMETIMES WE ARE SURPRISED BY THE FORMS OF GOD’S GRACE AND MERCIES....... WHEN WE FLIP OVER IN OUR

BIBLES TO ACTS 3: 1-11

Acts 3:1–11 (ESV)

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God, and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s.

FOR THIS MAN, ON THAT DAY.....THE TREASURE HE RECEIVED WAS THE HEALING OF HIS LIMBS, THE ABILITY TO

WALK.....HIS ANKLES AND FEET MADE STRONG.....FOR HIM THIS MEANT MORE THAN MERELY MONEY.........IT WAS

THE ON TIME BLESSING HE NEEDED RIGHT THEN AND THAT’S THE KIND OF GOD WE SERVE, BELOVEDS.....

JESUS’ DESIRE TO SHIFT FROM MONEY ONLY TO THE WHOLE KINGDOM

IN OUR TEXT FOR THIS MORNING, JESUS IS PUSHING THE DISCIPLES TOWARDS A SHIFT IN THEIR THINKING.....ONE

FOR THEM & ONE FOR US.....

Jesus tells the disciples: “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom” (v.

32). The gift of the kingdom describes both God’s tenderness and his timing.

Jesus was speaking of God’s tenderness, because he has been pleased to give his kingdom to his children. God

wasn’t desperate or begrudging. It was God’s delight, God’s pleasure, God’s gift of love. The Lord God Almighty

brought followers of his Son into his kingdom. Now they live under his rulership, his lordship, and that is no burden

but a joyous release from the debt of sin and tyranny of Satan into the freedoms and joys of those who are citizens

of a new king in a new kingdom.

Jesus was also speaking of God’s timing because the gift of the kingdom has happened already. Jesus said “your

Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” This is past tense.[1] It’s a done deed. He doesn’t promise

membership of God’s kingdom someday. If they are already disciples they are already members of that kingdom.

How can we be already members of God’s kingdom? Haven’t we always thought of God’s kingdom as something

ahead, something we experience when we get to heaven? How can we have that kingdom now? And – another

THING PREACHER, – though every Christian experiences signs of God’s kingdom – perhaps a sense of his presence,

perhaps his grace in forgiving our sins, perhaps his strength during a time of deep trial – yet if we still fall short with

our obedience, or if we struggle to show God our deep faith and trust. That is all true. But none of it means

we are not already in his kingdom, for we have it while yet longing for the full experience of it.

The kingdom of God is already ours. Yes, there is much still to press on to learn better and live rightly, but our

citizenship is already there. The kingdom is ours now, and everything about that kingdom is already there for us to

enjoy. It is ahead, but it’s also here. Both are true. THIS IS THE GIFT OF GOD, GIVEN BY GRACE.....NOT BECAUSE WE

EARNED IT, BUT BECAUSE GOD IS SO GOOD, BELOVEDS.....

WHEN THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS OURS BY GRACE…JESUS GOES ON TO TEACH THERE ARE CHANGES WE MAKE AS

WE WALK OUR WALK, AND TALK OUR TALK AS CHRISTIANS......WE FIND A DESIRE TO HAVE A DIFFERENT

RELATIONSHIP WITH OUR MONEY, OUR POSSESSIONS AND OUR THINGS......JESUS SAYS:

“Sell your possessions, and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out, an unfailing treasure in

heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

ONE COMMENTATOR ON THE TEXT DESCRIBED THIS SHIFT IN PERSPECTIVE THIS WAY:

The point of almsgiving, I think, is not to elevate poverty – circumstantial or chosen – but rather to extol

generosity as a mark of the Christian life. Similarly, the watchfulness Jesus commands is not an anxious

anticipation of the end of the world but rather an eager expectation of God’s consummation of history.

What Jesus is commending is faith – faith that frees one to be generous; faith that enables one to leave

anxiety behind; faith that creates in one confidence about a future secured not by human endeavor or

achievement but by God alone.

THE SHIFT IS IN OUR THANKSGIVING & OUR ‘THANKS-LIVING’

IN HER OUTSTANDING CHAPTER ON THANKS, ANNE LAMOTT WROTE THAT:

GRATITUDE BEGINS IN OUR HEARTS AND THEN DOVETAILS INTO BEHAVIOR. IT ALMOST ALWAYS MAKES YOU

WILLING TO BE OF SERVICE, WHICH IS WHERE THE JOY RESIDES. IT MEANS YOU ARE WILLING TO STOP

BEING SUCH A JERK. WHEN YOU ARE AWARE OF ALL THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN TO YOU, IN YOUR LIFETIME AND

IN THE PAST FEW DAYS, IT IS HARD NOT TO BE HUMBLED AND PLEASED TO GIVE BACK.......

THE SHIFT IS FROM GOD’S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM TO THE JOY YOU FIND IN SERVICE AND

GIVING AND SHARING...........IT FEELING THAT FEELING OF WHAT IT MEANS TO BE PLEASED TO GIVE BACK.....

IT’S NOT BROWBEATING YOU FOR MORE NICKELS, DIMES & DOLLARS TO FALL OUT OF YOUR POCKETS....

IT’S FINDING RADICAL GRATITUDE YOUR NATURE NO MATTER WHAT LIFE THROWS AT YOU.......

LAMOTT WENT ON TO WRITE:

MOST OF US FIGURE OUT BY A CERTAIN AGE — SOME OF US LATER THAN OTHERS -- THAT LIFE UNSPOOLS IN

CYCLES, SOME LOVELY, SOME PAINFUL, BUT IN NO PREDICTABLE ORDER. SO YOU COULD HAVE LOVELY,

PAINFUL, AND PAINFUL AGAIN, WHICH I AGREE IS NOT AT ALL FAIR. YOU DON’T HAVE TO LIKE IT, AND YOU

ARE ALWAYS WELCOME TO FILE A BRIEF WITH THE COMPLAINTS DEPARTMENT. BUT, IF YOU’VE BEEN

AROUND FOR A WHILE, YOU KNOW THAT MUCH OF THE TIME, IF YOU ARE PATIENT AND ARE PAYING

ATTENTION, YOU WILL SEE THAT GOD WILL RESTORE WHAT THE LOCUSTS HAVE TAKEN AWAY.

PERHAPS WHAT JESUS WAS POINTING OUT IS ONE WAY OUT OF THE RUT OF ANXIETY AND WORRY......HE’S

TEACHING THE DISCIPLES OF EVERY AGE THAT “RENUNCIATION OF GREED LIBERATES ONE FROM FIXATED ANXIETY

ABOUT THE ABUNDANCE OF POSSESSIONS AND FREES ONE FOR BENEVOLENT COMPASSION AND DEVOTION.”

DR. DANIEL AMEN SAID IT THIS WAY, “RESEARCH SHOWS THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE ARE OUTWARD FACING, FOCUSING

MORE ON THE PEOPLE THEY SERVE THAN ON THEMSELVES.........THE NEXT TIME YOU FEEL STRESSED, CONSIDER

REPEATING ST. FRANCIS’ PEACE PRAYER....TO RESTORE THAT OUTWARD FOCUS......”

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace: where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

CONCLUSION

EARLY IN THE WEEK GOD REVEALED IN A MOMENT OF DEVOTION THE SUPREME TREASURE WE AS CHRISTIANS ARE BLESSED TO BEAR, GIVEN TO SHARE AND ENCOURAGE TO WEAR.....

COULD IT BE THE FULL ARMOR OF GOD OR A MEMORIZATION OF THE OUR SAVIOR’S BLESSED BEATITUDES?

COULD IT BE THE FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT IN GALATIANS OR THE ASSURANCE OF PAUL TO THE ROMANS THAT

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING CAN SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST?

ALL THESE ARE IMPORTANT, AND HELPFUL IN OUR HARDEST TIMES.....BUT EVEN MORE BELOVEDS IS THE

TREASURE THE SAVIOR IS AND IS BECOMING IN EACH OF OUR LIVES......IT IS THE GRACE WE ARE AFFORDED IN HIM,

IT IS THE MERCY THAT IS NEW EVERY MORNING......IT IS THE INTERCEDING CHRIST DOES FOR US IN PRAYER.....IT IS

ALL THIS AND THE THE KNOWLEDGE THAT I CLOSE WITH THIS MORNING.......

GOD’S PROMISE IS LIMITLESS: GOD IS ABLE TO MAKE ALL GRACE ABOUND TOWARD US. GOD’S GRACE IS

RELEVANT IN ALL THINGS AND AT ALL TIMES. GOD WILL PROVIDE ALL THAT WE NEED. GOD WILL ENABLE US

TO ABOUND IN EVERY GOOD WORK. THERE IS NO REASON UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES FOR US AS

BELIEVERS TO EVER FEEL SPIRITUALLY LIMITED.....

NO LIMITS…WHAT A WONDERFUL TREASURE THAT IS ALL OURS, BELOVEDS.......NEXT SUNDAY, AS WE CLOSE OUT

THIS SERIES ON ST. LUKE WE’LL CONSIDER THE ENCOURAGEMENT MEANT TO SEND US ON OUR WAY TOWARDS

TOTAL FULFILLMENT IN CHRIST JESUS.....A WAY TO GET THEIR AND NOT GET DERAILED IN THE PROCESS.....