In this sermon, Pastor Tim explores what was Jesus main message, and what do we do when we find the Kingdom of Heaven?
Parables – The Hidden Treasure
- Great to see so many of us here today. I love our church community
- And this is the highlight of my week…
- Congratulations to all those school starters and High Schoolers…
- May they be blessed with a happy education!
- My main memory of school was the canteen… ah happy memories!
We are starting a new series…
- Parables of the Kingdom!
- It’s all about our new citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus came to inaugurate.
- And some of the parables are about the nature of the Kingdom…
- And some are about the ethics or how to live well in the Kingdom of Jesus.
- And they are these amazing, sometimes surprising stories that Jesus told that we find in the Gospels.
And I love stories… especially ones that pack a punch or change how we think…
- I actually don’t think I am a very good story teller.
- And I get a bit bored when people tell me long stories… haha!
- Got to keep it moving people… get to the point…
- But Jesus is a master story teller using everyday scenarios and settings that we can easily relate to.
- And he often says “anyone with ears to hear, let them hear!” Keep that in mind!
But just thinking about stories… they have a way of helping us remember things in a way that a bunch of facts are easily forgettable.
- Victoria and I had the pleasure 2 weeks ago of going to a dinner at a businessman’s house in the Shire for church leaders across denominations…
- We knew it was a bit of a big deal when Scott Morrison turned up! We had a good chin wag!
- I said ScoMo, I said mate, I said ScoMo… anyhow amazing night!
- And Darlene Czech led us in a spontaneous song.
- But we had the Bishops of the Catholic and Orthodox churches, and the heads of the Salvation Army and Pentecostal movements… and little old us!
- Anyhow, the guest of honour was Heidi Baker who some of you may know as a renowned missionary to Mozambique
- Where she and her husband have planted hundreds of churches, cared for the poorest of the poor and seen countless miracles of healing and provision.
Anyhow… when Heidi talks… you just listen!
- I remember hearing her speak in Toronto 10 years ago, and she spent 40 minutes speaking at this huge conference lying on her back just singing over and over…
- “get low… get on the feet of Jesus…”
- I don’t remember much else from the conference… but that stuck with me… because that was her… humbled… low…. Serving on the feet of Jesus!
Anyhow… I told you I am not a very good story teller…
- At this Unity dinner for Christian leaders… it’s pretty obvious that all of the churches haven’t always spoken as kindly as we could have about each other…
- You know, if Jesus prayed in John 17 “that we may be one”.
- And our unity is meant to be a sign to the world that they may believe.
- Well, if you know a bit of church history… we haven’t been very good at that!
So Heidi is speaking to a bunch of us church leaders and she starts sharing this story about this desperately poor woman who came to one of their meetings…
- So she comes from this village where they are all starving and fighting amongst each other. Absolute desperation…
- And this woman comes to faith powerfully in Jesus
- And she is in tears and she comes up to Heidi and says; “Now that I know Jesus, I am not going to eat my family.”
- And then Heidi, who is telling this story… she just sits down and there is silence in the room.
- “Now that I know Jesus, I am not going to eat my family.”
- For those with ears to hear, let them hear…
So us church leaders are now all sitting there over dinner in silence… thinking that was a weird story!
- Then it dawns on us… us who know Jesus, who represent Jesus, who lead his church here in Sydney
- That we know Jesus too… but all too often we end up eating our own family… Jesus family that he died for and rose again to bring to life!
- Do you see the power of a simple story… convicting… life changing…
- Who are we in the West with our privilege and freedom, who know Jesus to eat our family, rather than love and honour and work together with all of the parts of His church!
- So it was a good night… and that story will stick with me forever!
- That’s the power of stories… and Jesus knew that better than anyone!
So Matthew 13:44
Jesus is speaking, giving a series of short parables explaining what the Kingdom of Heaven is like.
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like 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.
The NT professor Gordon Fee used to ask his students what was Jesus main message…
- How would you answer that? Maybe I have just given it away…
- The majority of students would always answer… “love one another.”
- Or Jesus main message was “God loves you”
- And of course God does love you…. Don’t worry…
- But in the synoptic gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus only mentions love in 3 places…
- A bit about loving your enemies, a bit about the greatest commands being to love God and love your neighbour… and a bit warning us against loving money!
- But actually, what Gordon Fee would point out, was that Jesus main message was the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven…
- In Matthews gospel alone, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven 54 times!
So, what is the Kingdom of Heaven?
- Well it was what Jesus came to announce, demonstrated and inaugurate here on earth!
- Mark 1:14 “Jesus went in Galilee proclaiming the good news of God. The time has come, the Kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news.”
- Or Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every sickness among the people.”
Now all of this is in fulfilment of numerous OT passages that speak about a time when God himself would intervene in history and save and renew his creation…
- The nation of Israel had, had Kings, but ones who for the main part failed to bring the blessings of God through being faithful
- But they knew promises like Zechariah 14:9 which says; “The Lord will be king over the whole earth.”
- And if you remember our Isaiah series… all of the promises about a Son who will come and establish a government that will know no end…
Now there is this great scene in Luke 7 where after Jesus has been doing this – right? Inaugurating this kingdom of healing and good news…
- John the Baptist, almost a bit incredulously sends some people to ask Jesus “are you the one to come, or should we expect someone else?”
- So Jesus responds…
- “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.”
- In other words… it’s happening!
Now there is so much more you can say about the Kingdom of heaven that Jesus comes to inaugurate on earth…
- The sermon on the mount is Jesus teaching the ethics of the Kingdom.
- His healing and casting out evil is the restoration that comes in the Kingdom
- And even when we think about the cross, which is mainly to do with our reconciliation with God and sin being dealt with…
- But even the cross and resurrection is about Jesus enthronement as King… or Lord of all!
- So by the time you get to Paul preaching this good news and planting churches… he will say in Colossians 1:13
- “For he (that is Jesus) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.”
So when we confess Jesus as our Lord… that is about becoming citizens in the Kingdom… or children of the King.
- In life you can belong to a few nations…
- Who was it telling me this week they have 3 different passports…
- But when it comes to God and the Kingdom that Jesus has inaugurated…
- There is only two options… we stay in the dominion of darkness…
- Or we reside in the Kingdom of the Son he loves!
- That is why following Jesus is more than ticking a census box…
- It is about living under the realm and reign and rule of the life giving God, we meet through his Son!
This week Todd sent me a picture of his son Jude with the Manly Sea eagles latest recruit… Luke Brooks…
- Don’t get me wrong… I am happy for the Sea Eagles to have recruited from the Tigers our star playmaker who has led us to two consecutive wooden spoons…
- But Brooksy no longer belongs to the Tigers, he is now a Sea Eagle.
- So if Tigers coach Benji Marshall calls him up and asks why he isn’t at pre-season training…
- He’d say, I don’t belong to your team anymore… I have been purchased by a new team!
Now that analogy falls down a bit…
- Because the Sea Eagles is certainly not the Kingdom of light…
- But you get the idea…
- In becoming a Christian you are rescued out of the dominion of darkness by Jesus and you become a citizen of his Kingdom!
- You change teams…
- You enter a Kingdom with new priorities and ethics and love and power!
So that then brings us to the parables…
- These vivid and memorable stories that Jesus gave often to the question
- “What then should we say the Kingdom of Heaven is like?”
- So this term we are going to look at a bunch of them…
- And they will teach us about the nature of the Kingdom and expectations for those who are citizens of the Kingdom…
- Think the Parable of the prodigal son where we learn that we enter into the Kingdom of heaven because we have a father who loves and forgives us.
- Or the parable of the unmerciful servant which is about how wrong it would be to be shown extravagant mercy and then in turn be a merciless, unforgiving people!
- But let’s finish today with this very short parable in Matthew 13…
Let me read it again – Matthew 13:44
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
So todays parable is about what we do when we find the Kingdom of Heaven…
- Now for those with ears to hear, I see three things…
- The incredible value of the Kingdom of Heaven
- The joy that comes at finding the Kingdom of Heaven
- And finally, the cost involved in having the Kingdom of Heaven
- Sound good?
Firstly, Value. So the Kingdom of heaven is described as like finding treasure hidden in a field.
- In the next parable we are told the Kingdom of Heaven is like a pearl of great price.
- So as Jesus goes about announcing the Kingdom of heaven has come…
- As he goes around healing and casting out evil
- As he goes around showing mercy and sweeping the lost and sick into his Kingdom
- He describes it as being of incredible value… like a treasure one might find in a field…
Now I guess the illusion is that a previous land owner has hidden this treasure in a field and then I imagine died, and the field is now for sale.
- So along comes this unsuspecting man who in inspecting the field, finds this treasure
- And he cant believe his fortune.
- Finding the Kingdom of heaven is like winning lotto
- It kind of reminds me of the story of Zaccheus the tax collector…
- He is materially rich but spiritually bankrupt…
- And he finds Jesus and can’t believe that he gets included into his Kingdom.
- Jesus says to him “I have come to seek and save the lost.”
- And Zaccheus can’t believe his luck!
- When you find Jesus, when you find his Kingdom… its like finding what you’ve always been searching for, but never knew was possible!
So secondly, Joy
- We are told he hides the treasure again… and then “for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
- I find that so interesting… but not surprising…
- Finding Jesus and his Kingdom is so valuable and exciting, that of course our reaction and ongoing state is going to be joy filled!
- What do you mean my sins can be forgiven?
- What do you mean that God cares for me more the lilies of the field that he clothes in splendor?
- What do you mean Jesus rose from the dead and poured out power on his children?
- What do you mean that I can be called a child of God and have a new family?
- What do you mean that God is renewing all things and we will have eternal life?
- That’s a source of joy!
I love that Zaccheus, in finding Jesus and his Kingdom gets to throw a dinner party.
- That’s joy.
- I love that when Jesus disciples are sent out to preach and demonstrate the kingdom… it says they came back with joy!
- I love that in John’s gospel Jesus says our grief will turn to joy!
- I love that in Acts 8 when Philip preaches and heals in Samaria it says “there was great joy in that city.”
- I love that joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit that God is growing within us!
- And I love that in the face of really hard stuff, the Apostle Paul says things like “my joy knows no bounds.”
- “my joy was greater than ever.”
- “In all my prayers for you, I always pray with joy.”
It is no wonder to me, that one of the signs of the Holy Spirit filling a person is often uncontrollable laughter…
- It happened to me just a few months ago at Haberfield.
- Our response to finding the Kingdom is one of joy!
- Now very serious religious people often aren’t known for their bountiful joy…
- But Jesus followers… people swept up in grace and new life… they exhibit the joy of the Kingdom!
- Beware… you may even find yourself laughing uncontrollably!
And then finally in this parable of finding the Kingdom, is the cost.
- So our friend in Jesus story who finds a treasure in a field, re-hides it…
- And then we are told “he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
- When you find the kingdom, you are willing to sell up, in order to fully grasp all of the value and joy of Jesus.
- The cost to obtaining the Kingdom is.. well is everything…
- But what you then possess is worth infinitely more!
- That’s the mystery of the Kingdom…
Of course that is what happens in the real life story of Zaccheus the tax collector.
- In the act of becoming a follower of Jesus he offers to repay all the people that he has cheated out of money and gives away half of all he owns…
- In one sense he sells all that he has and buys that field.
- Now of course the Kingdom is a free gift.
- The forgiveness of sins is a free gift.
- You are saved by grace, through faith… and not by what you do!
But here is the point… when you find the Kingdom… this is what happens.
- There is a reshaping of your priorities and what you think is valuable
- And what you do with your money
- And what you do with your time
- And what you think your purposes and priorities are get radically reshaped around the most valuable thing!
- Living as a citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Now I don’t want to be overly prescriptive here…
- And I am cautious of conflating the Kingdom and the church
- But the church is the visible manifestation of the Kingdom here on earth…
- Particularly, or maybe I should say only when it is aligned and doing the things of the Kingdom here on earth!
- But clearly when we find the Kingdom, our other allegiances and priorities are either swept away or become subservient to our following of Jesus together.
Let me finish with this today…
- Because there are so many ways we can respond to finding the Kingdom here at Manly Life…
- I mean you can study theology right here at Manly Life on Monday nights
- You can join a Life Group and learn together and love one another by doing life together
- You can serve on a team and use the gifts God has given you to build his church
- You can send your kids to youth or be a helper on Friday nights.
- You can serve the poor down at the Manly Salvation Army
- You can go on a mission trip to India or Kenya and see God’s Kingdom come, often amongst the poorest people in the world.
- You can give sacrificially as a way of killing greed and supporting the ministry
- You could teach kids about the Kingdom at scripture mid week at our local Primary school.
- You can simply get to church so that you can encourage other people and pray for healing and the power of the Holy Spirit…
Right? But here is the thing…
- When you find Jesus and his Kingdom there is a response… and it will normally involve a cost.
- What we receive and what we discover and what we enter into is far greater!
- But it comes at a cost!
- Jesus says “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
- Let me encourage you. Don’t find the Kingdom and rebury it in the field and wander off…
- Let this be the year that you seek first the Kingdom with all of your heart, mind and soul!