It is good to be back after my midtour leave. I had a wonderful time with Monica and the girls. We gave the girls their first birthday party, it was a blessing to be home for that.
Most of the midtour was spent at home with them, I did go fishing one day with my Dad, but most of the two weeks was spent spending time with the girls.
I was able, however, to take some time to visit the local comic book shop.
After being here for six months, I was able to update my comic book collection.
I started collecting last summer, as a way to pass the time away from Monica, and started to really enjoy it.
So, last Thursday, I picked up all of the Superman, Super Girl, and Green Lantern books that I had missed, along with some odds and ends of series that I have already ordered.
There was one book that I wasn’t able to find. It was the latest Action Comics: Superman Book. It was sold out for the last two weeks.
The price is sure to go up—I’ll probably buy it for twice the price when I get home.
To me these books are a treasure.
We all have things that are valuable to us. For some of us its comics, others, its jewelry, others it’s the latest gadgets or games. All of us have things that we consider valuable.
In Matthew 13, Jesus uses this understanding of valuable things to explain the Kingdom of God.
Jesus is teaching the twelve disciples about the price that is required of the followers of Christ.
In this passage, he teaches them and us some very important principles for following Christ.
Jesus says in 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. (Mt. 13:44, NKJV)
I find it a little easier to understand in the New Living Translation:
44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field—and to get the treasure, too! (Mt. 3:44, NLT)
The first thing we see here, is that the man:
1. Understands the price of the treasure.
The man finds a treasure and hides it again so he can buy the field.
We have forgotten what our treasures really cost.
Some of you may have seen the PBS TV show; “Antique Roadshow”.
On this show, people find things in their attic drag them down to the appraiser and he gives the price one would expect for these antiques.
I watched one a man who brought out a picture with frame.”
He said that he found it at a yard sale and bought it because he liked the frame.
But when the appraiser looked at, it he saw the painting.
The appraiser told the history of the painting—and how it was an original of an English painter.
What the man bought at around $30 turned out to be worth over $1,000.
We live in a society that does not understand the value of things—we don’t understand cost.
Too many times we look at the frame and miss the painting.
As Christians, we tend to look at the packaging of worship, of church, and of Bible Study. We try to find the latest hot items, and do the Bible Studies that “everyone” is doing.
I received a catalog from Christian Book Distributors the other day that had 13 pages of different Bibles: I’m not knocking CBD, I buy lots of books from them—their job is to sell, but they had 13 pages of different Bibles; different translations, different covers, they have the One year Bible, the Children’s Bible, the Leadership Bible, The Life Principles Bible, and on and on.
We miss the value of the scriptures, when focus so much on the wrapper.
We miss the painting for the frame.
In addition, we have forgotten what things may cost because we can get nearly anything we want on credit.
Visa uses the slogan, “We are everywhere you want to be.”
American Express says don’t even leave home without it.
You can use Master Card at McDonalds and just about everywhere else. In fact, the only cash I have spent out here is for my $3 haircuts.
We don’t understand what things cost because we just “charge it”.
We buy things, but don’t pay until later.
My dear wife handles all our money—she’s the commander on the ground in South Carolina, so what she needs for the family she gets—we talk about it, but she knows what is needed. I don’t have a clue what we have in the bank account—I leave that to her. If I want something, I ask her for approval.
When I spend the credit card, especially out here—I don’t see the cost. Yeah, I see the numbers—but I’ll still eat tonight.
We get so many things through credit or because of marketing that we forget the actual value of the items received.
What you and I can’t miss is the value of the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God, which you have been invited to be apart of.
Every year in the Kentucky Derby, there are hundreds of thousands that attend. But there are only a few that have seats in the stands, and even fewer are allowed in a place called millionaires row.
On Millionaires Row the seats are sold at $800 a piece and you must buy them 6 at a time.
People spend a lot to get there—to spend time with other millionaires, or to simply spend one afternoon looking like one.
But how much does it cost to have the opportunity to spend eternity with the God of the Universe?
The first response is that it is free.
By grace, we are saved. Jesus died on a cross in our place because of our sin. We accept his payment, freely—we don’t have to die and be separated from God because Jesus paid the price for us.
Jesus is explaining in Matthew 13 that the kingdom of God does come with a price.
Jesus explains the price, by explaining that
2. The man sells everything to purchase the field and with it –the treasure.
Jesus points out that there is a price and that price is everything we own.
We have such a hard time giving up what is ours.
I am always amazed at the marriages that continue to justify having two bank accounts on the premise that the man has his money and the woman has hers.
The Bible teaches that when we marry we are to become one—that means that everything that is ours individually becomes ours toghether. One reason why we have problems with finances in our marriages is because we don’t fully understand this. When we get married, we give everything away to our spouse.
It is amazing, how many problems in the marriage are solved by understanding this principle.
The decisions are easier to be made, because we look at the total picture rather than just our individual self.
We have trouble with letting go of our possessions, but Jesus says that the man sold everything he had to buy the field.
When we come to Christ, we give everything to him. Everything is turned over in submission to him.
Do I still buy my comic books? I asked Monica before buying those books last week—it was about $100 total, but yes, I did.
But there are comics that are immoral, I don’t buy them because of my relationship with Christ. My purchases are not my own.
When you accepted Jesus you committed your life to him.
You sold everything in order to accept him.
And everything in our life needs to be turned over to him.
We need to turn over our relationships to him.
We need to turn over our belongings to him.
We need to turn over our jobs to him.
We need to turn over our futures to him.
We as Christians forget that when we become a Christian—
We cease to be slaves to the world and slaves to sin, and we become slaves to Christ.
But for what reason? For freedom.
To have freedom in Christ we have the freedom to live as God designed us to live—to fulfill the purposes that God has given to us.
What are you holding back from the Lord this morning?
In you house, in your CHU, in your Wall Locker; do you have those things that the Lord can’t touch?
What about in your mind? Do you hold some of you thoughts as just your own?
What about your speech? Do you have some stories you like to tell that are not pleasing to the Lord?
The kingdom demands our all…not just part of it—but all of it.
After this man understood the price, he sold everything he owned;
3. He possessed the treasure.
Last month some of you watched the Super Bowl, here at the Chapel.
One interesting play happened when the Seattle Seahawks scored a touchdown. The official called it back and said the touchdown pass was incomplete.
The question came down to the issue of possession, whether the player had possession of the ball or not.
Possession occurs when the player has legitimate control over the ball.
The player holds it close and makes it his own.
The man who found the treasure bought the land so that he may possess the treasure.
When you become a Christian, you sell everything so that you may possess the kingdom.
The kingdom becomes a part of you and a part of your identity.
You begin to live your life by kingdom principles. You begin to choose different words; chose different music, different movies.
What was once pleasurable, begins to become undesirable…the kingdom will impact every area of your life.
The man understood the price, sold everything to buy the field, and then he possessed the treasure.
Jesus was once watching the people give at the temple. He watched as the rich and powerful gladly gave their money into the collection plate. Then he saw a humble widow walk up.
I can see her hunched over, all alone; with passion in her eyes and faith in heart. Her clothes worn out and old. People staying away because she was not one of the “cool” people.
She reaches out and drops two pennies into the box. Jesus
…called his disciples to him and said, “I assure you, this poor widow has given more than all the others have given. 44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she has.” (Mk 12:43-44, NLT)
What will you give to kingdom? Are you satisfied by just giving in the collection plate? Are you satisfied by giving Him an Hour a week to go to chapel? Or are you going to give Him your all…turning it over to him—your possessions, your successes, your problems—
“All to Jesus I surrender, All to Him I feel give.”
Tonight, you have the opportunity to possess the kingdom of God. We can give all to Him because He gave his all for us. Jesus died to pay the penalty for our sin.
All of us are sinners. That is we have all done things, said things, thought things that make God unhappy. The price for that sin is punishable by death—which is eternal separation for God in hell.
Jesus died in our place to take our punishment, so that we can have the opportunity to take possession of the kingdom.
You can have this opportunity tonight. I will be down at the front after the service. Don’t hesitate to take this opportunity to accept his payment.
—–
This sermon was preached at Camp Speicher, Iraq in March 2006
All Scripture marked NKJV: The New King James Version. 1996, c1982. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
All Scripture marked NLT: Holy Bible : New Living Translation. 1997. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House.