Calvary Lutheran Church

Finding a Treasure

May the God of peace fill you with all joy in believing. Amen.

Matthew 13:44-46

My dear Christian friends:

It happened again just two weeks ago. A man lost his life in search of the Fenn treasure. Forrest Fenn, you may know, is a millionaire antiquities’ dealer from New Mexico who in 2010 hid a bronze treasure chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. He filled it with two million dollars in gold and jewels. He then wrote a cryptic poem describing where to find it. His purpose, he said, was to get people off the couch and into the wilderness. Well, it worked. Hundreds, if not thousands, have been looking for it ever since. But now three have died in the rugged terrain doing so. The latest, Paris Wallace, a pastor no less from Grand Junction, Colorado. I guess gold fever can afflict anyone.

From our text this morning, we might say that the search for the Fenn treasure is a modern-day example of what Jesus was talking about in his two parables of the hidden treasure and the costly pearl.

FINDING A TREASURE

Usually Jesus’ parables were stories which every Jew would have been familiar with in their everyday lives. For example, Jesus’ parable of the sower and seed was a picture of a farmer sowing seed in a field. Well, every Jew would have personally seen or maybe even sown seed themselves at one time or another. Or, the parable of pouring new wine into old wineskins was an action that every Jew knew from experience was not wise. But finding a great treasure in a field or purchasing a pearl of great value was not in the average Jews’ everyday experience. So why did Jesus choose these two stories?

The answer is obvious, isn’t it? While few may actually experience it, how many can say that they have never thought about it? Who here has never thought of coming into a great amount of money by winning the lottery or getting lucky in Vegas or making it big in the stock market or, yes, finding a treasure in the backyard or the Rocky Mountains? And having struck it rich, who here has not methodically thought about what you would do with your new found wealthy? These are not necessarily sinful thoughts as long as we do not dwell on them, but they are certainly a part of our human nature. 

So Jesus’ two parables are not so far-fetched either then or now. Rather he knows human nature, and he used it as a way to teach an important truth.  He began, “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”

A common practice in Jesus’ day was to hide treasures such as gold and jewels in the ground to keep them safe in times of frequent wars and changes in rulers. It has been said that in those days people of wealth often divided their wealth into three parts: one in currency for doing business, another converted into precious stones with which to flee, if necessary, and a third in gold and jewels buried in the ground. So it could have easily happened that someone died and his buried wealth was unknown and unclaimed until someone by accident uncovered it. But in Jesus’ parable that someone didn’t own the land. Maybe he was renting it. Maybe he was working on a special job for the owner, Jesus doesn’t say. But the point is he uncovered a treasure. And according to Jewish law, as would be the case in most countries, in order to claim legal ownership of the treasure, he would first need to own the field. And the man who finds the treasure knows this. So he covers the treasure up again to buy the field.

Now I suppose the honest thing to do would have been to go to the owner and tell him, “Look, I found this treasure in your field, here it is, it’s yours.” But he didn’t do that. Rather, he concealed the fact that he found it. We might say he was dishonest, and we would be right. But Jesus’ parables were not just stories of good people, but of actions that sometimes revealed the more corrupt side of human nature. The parable of the unjust steward is another such example. So Jesus was not encouraging the dishonesty of this man, but he was emphasizing his next action. For we read that with great joy he went out and sold all that he had in order that he might be the owner of that field and, as a result, the owner of the treasure. End of the first parable.

The second parable contains a similar thought, “Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”  Pearls to this day are precious stones found in the shells of oysters chiefly in the East Indies. They are valuable on account of their beauty and rarity. The bigger they are, of course, the more valuable. Pearls were the most prized jewel of the Eastern world in Jesus’ day. The King of Persia paid $800,000 for one pearl. Cleopatra had a pearl worth $400,000 only to dissolve it at a feast and drink it to the health of Marc Antony. Lollia Pauline, wife of the emperor Caligula, had pearls gleaming all over her head, hair, ears, neck, and fingers. So, you see, pearls were highly valued by all especially the nobility who coveted them not just for their high money value, but for their exquisite beauty and extreme rarity.

And this was the situation in Jesus’ parable. A merchant man is a pearl lover. He diligently looks for precious pearls. One day he is offered a pearl of great size and beauty. And he knows he must have that pearl. So he goes and sells all that he has in order that he might buy it for his very own.

So what is the point that Jesus is driving home with these two parables? That we should earnestly seek to gain treasures in this world? No! That pearls are nice to have, and we should think about buying some? No! The treasure and the pearl represent the gospel of Christ Jesus. That gospel is the good news that the sins we commit against a holy God are not counted against us, but are separated from us as far as the east is from the west in Christ Jesus. The gospel is the pronouncement of forgiveness and righteousness, of pardon and peace with God in Christ Jesus. The gospel is the promise of an eternal bliss with God in heaven through faith in Christ Jesus. Yes, the gospel in a nutshell is that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

Oh yes, Jesus’ comparison between the gospel and a hidden treasure or costly pearls is totally accurate for three reasons. First, the gospel like hidden treasure and costly pearls is beautiful. Isaiah wrote, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isaiah 52:7). Whether it is missionaries going out on the mission field or canvassers going door to door in the neighborhood, the message they have to share is beautiful. It is a message of love, joy, peace, and salvation.

Secondly, the gospel is like hidden treasure and costly pearls because it is so rare. Isaiah wrote, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1). The “arm of the Lord” is a symbol of his power to save. Isaiah went on to describe how Jesus was despised and rejected by his own people. Jesus himself describes how the road to heaven is narrow and only a few find it, not because the gospel is hard to find but because so few look for it. It is so rare.

But thirdly, the gospel is like hidden treasure and costly pearls because it makes one rich. The person who finds an earthly treasure and who can afford costly pearls is obviously rich. He has privileges that others don’t have. He is able to enjoy the good things in life. He lacks nothing.

So also the person who knows and believes the gospel is rich. Paul wrote to the Ephesians of the “unsearchable riches of Christ” (Ephesians 3:8). But rich in a different way. The believer in the gospel is rich, for example, in fellowship with God. Jesus said to the Laodicean, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20). In Jesus’ day to sit down and eat with someone was the highest expression of a close relationship with that person. Jesus sits down and eats supper with us everyday. He makes his home in us. That’s a treasure. That is costly pearls. Most in the world don’t have that fellowship with God.

The believer in the gospel is rich in the assurance of God’s love. John wrote in his first epistle, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1). How important is it for you to know that you are loved—loved by your spouse, loved by your parents, loved by your children, loved by your friends? Psychologist tell us that the need for being loved is perhaps the most important ingredient for human contentment and happiness from little on. In the gospel, we are told that we are loved by God, and not with just a little loved, but lavished with love. That’s a treasure. That is costly pearls. Most in the world don’t know that God loves them.

The believer in the gospel is rich in Christian fellowship. John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). How poor would we be if we didn’t have the fellowship of our church family? We care about one another. We share our joys and carry our burdens with one another. And what binds us together so closely is the blood of Jesus. His shed blood on the cross cleanses us from our sins against God and against one another. Yes, God forgives us, and we forgive one another. So we are rich in our freedom from guilt. That’s a treasure. That is costly pearls. That fellowship isn’t enjoyed by many out there in the world.

A believer in the gospel is rich in guidance in life. The psalmist wrote, “Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” (Psalm 119:105). William Williams was a hymn writer in the 18^th century who wrote over 800 hymns. But his best known was an autobiographical prayer that he applied to his everyday life. You are familiar with it. The first verse reads,

  Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah

  Pilgrim through this barren land;

  I am weak, but Thou art mighty;

  Hold me with Thy powerful hand

  Bread of heaven

  Feed me till I want no more.

That’s a treasure. That is a costly pearl. Most in the world don’t have that guidance.

The believer in the gospel is rich in answer to prayer. Jesus said, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened for you” (Luke 11:9). Imagine having an open door directly to God the Father in heaven. Some may question whether God answers every prayer. A little outline that I once read describes God’s four answers to prayer.

  If the request is wrong, God says: No

  If the timing is wrong, God says: Slow

  If you are wrong, God says: Grow

  But if the request is right, the timing is right, and you are right, God says: Go!

Go with it, your prayer has been answered. That’s a treasure. That is a costly pearl. Most in the world don’t have that answer to prayer.

These are just some ways that the gospel makes us rich. But notice that the reaction in both parables was to sell all they had to make that treasure, make that pearl, their own. To make the gospel our own is to love it enough to want to hear it, read it, study it, spread it, celebrate it, and live it. To live it means to live in love, because we know he first loved us. And that means giving up something, something valuable to us.

Every Bible character who embraced the gospel had to give up something. For Noah it meant giving up his respect and honor among the wicked world around him. For Abraham it meant giving up his homeland and living as an alien in a foreign land. For David it meant admitting his sins. For Jonah it meant giving up his national pride. For Job it meant loosing everything—his children, his wealth, his health, but then gaining it all back again. For Peter it meant giving up his pride. For the widow it meant offering her last two mites.

For Paul, it meant giving up everything he had previously believed in, worked for, and achieved as a Pharisee of the Pharisee. But Paul later wrote to the Philippians, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ” (Philippians 3:8). What have you given up to possess this great treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ? Whatever it takes do it with all eagerness, with all joy, because it will be well worth the price.

I don’t know if you have plans in the future to search for the Fenn treasure yourself. But if you don’t, I can remind you that you already have a treasure. It is the treasure of the gospel which makes you rich beyond on compare. Amen.

May we pray:

Dear Lord Jesus, you said in your Sermon on the Mount, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” May our treasure always be to know you as you have revealed yourself in the gospel. Help us recognize just how rich we are because you left your throne in heaven to make your dwelling among us. In the gospel, we have seen your glory, the glory of the One and only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. And yet, though you were rich in heaven yet for our sakes you became poor through your suffering and death, so we in your poverty might become rich. May the gospel become our joy, our hope, our lives, and someday our salvation. In your name we pray. Amen.