(This sermon series is based on a book by Randy Alcorn entitled "The Treasure Principle)
OPEN: Several decades ago, there was something called the "Iron Curtain." It was an imaginary border between the Communist Soviet Union (and it's satellite nations) and the rest of the "Free World." It was an iron curtain in the respect that those on the Soviet side had extreme difficulty passing from their region into the Free World. Communism was a vicious and powerful force in the lives controlled by it. Back in 1955, a farmer in Romania (behind the Iron Curtain) had a problem. Communism had become so demanding that his Lanz Tractor would soon be taken away from him. What was he to do? Well, he took it apart, packed it in tar-coated cardboard, and buried it in his backyard. Thirty-five years later (in 1990), the laws changed and he dug it up and put it back together again. (Reader’s Digest 10/92, p.17)
APPLY: People have been burying their treasures for centuries. Now, granted, burying a tractor in your backyard is a bit unusual, but if something is precious to you… you do what you gotta do!
Back in Bible times, lots of people buried precious things in their backyards. Palestine was a land bridge between Egypt and the great empires of the north and the armies of those nations would often sweep through Israel - rampaging, robbing and pillaging everything in their path.
And, of course common thieves could be a problem too. And because there were no banks - people would bury their treasures in the ground, in walls, in tree trunks, or wherever they could.
Finding those buried treasures again… well… that could be difficult. There was the occasional earthquake. And sometimes the owners would have to leave home in a hurry and never come back. Or the owners might be captured by invading armies, or die suddenly for any number of reasons. As a result, family treasures could be buried and forgotten for centuries.
ILLUS: A missionary in Palestine told of workmen who were digging up a garden, and these workmen found several copper pots of gold which they stole and hid someplace else. But they just couldn’t keep their mouths shut and the governor of the city caught them. Two of the pots containing 8000 pure gold coins were recovered. That missionary said he’d seen hundreds of persons - all over the country - spending their last penny looking for buried treasure. (Pulpit Helps, 12/92 p. 8)
So (as you can imagine), many of those in Jesus’ crowd either knew of someone who’d found buried treasure, or maybe THEY had.
That (of course) brings us to our text today. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” If he buys the field now the treasure belongs to him (otherwise it would have been stealing).
A TREASURE? When you think of treasure, you think jewels, or precious stones… you think money. And what’s interesting is that Jesus talked a lot about money and possessions. According to Randy Alcorn Fifteen percent of everything Jesus said related to money and possessions. He spoke about money and possessions more than heaven and hell combined. John McArthur noted that nearly half of Jesus’ parables “16 out of 38 of Christ’s parables dealt with money.” Now… that’s a lot.
Why would Jesus put such an emphasis on money and possessions? Well, there’s a couple reasons I can think of. The first is that we need money. We need money to pay bills and supply for your family. That’s kind of obvious. But “there’s also a fundamental connection between our spiritual lives and how we think about and handle money.” (Randy Alcorn)
Just as an illustration, all you need to do is look back at John the Baptist’s ministry in Luke 3. The crowds came to him and they asked, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” (Luke 3:10-11) John’s answer to the crowds (about what they could do to please God) was that everyone should share their food and clothing with the poor, because the spiritual thing was to use their possessions is to help people.
Then the Tax collectors came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” (Luke 3:12-13) In other words: Don’t take money that doesn’t belong to you even if you can get away with it. The spiritual thing in business is not to cheat folks.
Then the Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.” (Luke 3:14) The spiritual thing to do at the job is not to complain about how much you’re paid, or to steal from people who trust you.
You see, each of these commands (John the Baptist gave) had to do with how people handled possessions and money. And here’s the point: How you handle your money and your possessions, and how you treat people with your money is a barometer of how close you are to God and how much you trust God.
So now here Jesus in telling a parable about a man who found treasure in a field. WHAT TREASURE? What’s in the treasure chest? Well, we KNOW that it has to be pretty valuable because the man was willing to sell everything he had to buy the field so that he could take possession of what had been hidden there.
Let me repeat… the man “goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”
So, what IS this treasure? Well, Jesus tells us there are basically two kinds of treasure that people would be willing to give everything they have to attain. The first is – treasures on earth. “Do not store up for yourselves TREASURES ON EARTH, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Matthew 6:19
This is the stuff in your bank account, your IRA, your Money Market accounts, etc. Now, we need to be clear that there’s nothing wrong with having money in the bank. Lots of bible characters were rich and God did not condemn for that! And… if you’re going to be responsible you should put money in savings to take care of emergencies.
But the question is NOT do you have money? The question is – does the money have you? Is the money that you have your “TREASURE?”
Jesus tells the parable of a rich man: “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ Luke 12:16-20
You see, the problem with that rich man was – his money was his treasure. He had stored up EARTHLY TREASURE and his first thought was about his possessions and what they could buy him. His possessions made it so that he had ample goods for many years to eat, drink and be merry, and he could give no thought to tomorrow.
But you know what he really didn’t give any thought to? He gave no thought at all to God. Jesus ended that parable with these words: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21
You see, that rich man’s money had him… but God didn’t.
(PAUSE) So Jesus talked about EARTHLY TREASURE and then He compared that earthly treasure with HEAVENLY TREASURE. “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matthew 6:20
What does that mean? How can I store up my treasure in heaven? It means that I should bank my treasure in heaven. I should give my money to God. My money should belong to God. All of “my” money should be His!
ILLUS: When someone asks to be baptized, I’ll go through the basics. Do they believe? Have they repented. Are they ready to confess Jesus as LORD. When I get to the “Confess” part of this I pull out my wallet and explain that, in the days of Jesus, when you called someone your Lord, that person owned you. You were the slave, he was the master. Everything you owned was his. Then I open my wallet and say “when I became a Christians, whatever money I had in my wallet, savings accounts or sock drawer belonged to Him. In fact, everything I have (including my car, my house and the shirt on my back). I own NOTHING. It all belongs to God. Thus, when I spend money… whose money am I spending? God’s, right? That’s what it means to confess Jesus as Lord, it means turning all your money and possessions over to Him. He doesn’t really need my money or possessions, but whenever I use them, I’m using something that belongs to God.”
ILLUS: I saw this meme on FB a week ago. IT SHOWS 2 DOORS. The Blue Door has this statement beside it: “You go back in time and fix all your mistakes.” And the Red Door simply says: $10 million in cash. Choose a door to open. It’s a mental exercise… and so I played the game. And I chose the RED door = 10 million! But now, what would I do with $10 million? Well… I’m probably going to have to pay taxes on it (that’s gonna whittle it down a bit). Then I’m gonna give God His 10%... of the $10 million. That’s $1 million to the church, and they can use that for more evangelism, and more missions support, and more help for the poor in the community. I know I can trust my gift to this church because these Elders would never just sit on its bank account. They believe the money given to the church each Sunday is a sacred trust, and they take that seriously.
Then I’m going to pay off some bills and maybe get a newer car… and I’d give some to my son and daughter. That’s still going to leave me a pretty hefty nest-egg. What am I going to do with that money? Remember… this is God’s money. So what do you think I should do? Well, use your imagination! (I’m not gonna to fill in gaps for you).
But now, that $10 million is IMAGINARY – it doesn’t exist! But think about this cute little poem I read years ago: “It’s not what you’d do with a million if a million were your lot. It’s what you are doing at present with the dollar and a quarter you’ve got.” (from “Nuts and Nuggets” 1942)
How are YOU using God’s money you’ve got in your wallet, your bank account, your IRA… etc.?
But wait… what was the treasure the man found in the field? Well, Jesus actually tells us: “The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” Matthew 13:44
The Kingdom of Heaven? What’s the Kingdom of Heaven? Well… the Kingdom of heaven is salvation; it’s the promise of forgiveness; it’s the promise of eternity in heaven itself. And heaven is just on “the other side.” What would you give to get to the other side (to get to heaven)?
ILLUS: I’ve read that, if you were sitting in your car at the toll booth of the Golden Gate Bridge, and there were motorists lining up behind you, but you didn’t have any money to pay the toll. Well, if you wish, you can pay with an object (other than cash) as long as the value of that object exceeds the price of the toll. And drivers have left all kinds of items: motor oil, a frying pan, a set of silverware, cassettes and CDs. One elderly gentleman left his dentures… and returned the next day to redeem them. Another driver left a diamond wristwatch valued at $7000… and never returned to claim it. (Tom Ellsworth, The Lookout 3/23/03)
What would you give to get to the other side?
What’s interesting is that Jesus tells us the PRICE to get to the other side. He tells us about a treasure buried in field, and the only way to get that treasure… is to buy that field. And the only way to but that field is to sell everything that you have. It will cost you everything to get into heaven.
But what do you have that God would want? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills… so He doesn’t need your money. In fact, He owns the all the hills and the valleys… so He doesn’t need your possessions. So what do you have that he’d want? What He wants is YOU! He wants ALL of you. Why? Because you are so precious to Him that He gave His only begotten Son…
INVITATION
