July 24, 2011
Grace Church
Rev. Robert E. Hensley

Genesis 29:15-28; Psalm 105:1-11; Romans 8:12-25; Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Let us pray.  Spirit of the Living Christ, we thirst for your presence; the searching of our minds and the longings of our heart, truly, our souls are restless.  Yet you bring us wholeness; new sight to our eyes, new sounds to our ears, new hope to our hearts, O Christ, you are the world’s true healer.  Amen.

Some of you may know this fable from India about a rich man who is traveling far from home.  A poor man notices his fine clothes and bulging money-bag.  He decides to travel with him and look out for a way to steal his treasure.

Every night, in the humble inns along the roadside, the poor man unrolls his bedroll early and pretends to sleep. Then, as the rich man leaves the room to get washed up, the thief rummages through his belongings in search of the treasure-sack.

He never can find it.  As soon as he hears the rich man's footsteps, he leaps back into his bedroll, always certain he's just moments away from finding the treasure.

Every morning, the poor man once again pretends to sleep, until the rich man goes down for breakfast.  Yet, morning is the same as evening: The thief never can find the money-bag.

Day after day this goes on, until the two men finally reach their destination.  As they are parting ways, the thief's curiosity gets the better of him.  He admits to the rich man what he's been up to.  "How have you eluded me for so long?" he asks.  "Did you guess that I was out to rob you?"

"Yes," says the rich man.  "I guessed that the very first night."

"Then where did you hide the treasure?"

"It was very simple.  Every night, while you went to get cleaned up before bed, I slipped into the room and put my treasure in your pillow.  Every morning, after you had rifled through my belongings, I got it back."

Sometimes we miss the treasure close at hand.

I think that Jesus would love eBay.  You know, that grand-daddy of all online garage sale where you can bid on and buy virtually anything you can think of?  Yes, Jesus loves it.  Now, to be clear, Jesus is not an avid collector of Star Wars memorabilia or a seller of knock-off Gucci purses.  No, Jesus would love eBay because Jesus loves a good deal. He's all about the joy that comes from discovering something valuable – possibly priceless – while perusing piles of seemingly ordinary items.

It's the joy that Morace Park, a British antiques dealer, felt after paying $5 for an old film container.  Inside he found a never-released seven-minute movie featuring Charlie Chaplin.  It was later valued at $60,000.

A former parishioner of mine in D.C. would spend hours on his computer every day buying and selling stuff on eBay.  His apartment looked like a hoarder’s paradise!  You could barely move.  But he made a decent living at it.  And I never questioned whether or not he paid any taxes on his earnings.  Not my job really.

And there is the story of Maria Ariz, a nurse from New Jersey, who paid $16 on eBay for a pair of jeans.  When she wrote the seller to ask about other items, the two fell in love, and have been married for seven years.  Now that's a good deal – and I am willing to bet that Jesus loves it!

How do we know?  Well, Matthew chapter 13, with its parables about hidden treasures and pearls of great price, tells us so.  A man stumbles across a pile of treasure buried in a field.  He's so thrilled with his discovery, so overwhelmed at its value, that he sells off every other item in his possession to purchase the land and make the treasure his own. You might call it overkill, but Jesus says, "Nope.  That was one heck of a deal."

A merchant who makes his living pushing pearls spends his days scouring the markets for the best of the best. Upon finally finding it, the man mortgages his home and sells his cars on Craigslist all to purchase a single, sparkling pearl.  You might think it a waste, but not at all in the eyes of Jesus.  For him, such sacrifice, for such treasure, is well worth the investment.

Jesus is all about the joy that comes from discovering something priceless while pursuing the ordinary.  In fact, for Jesus, the greatest of such joys, the most magnificent of flea market finds, and unexpected eBay treasures, is none other than the kingdom of heaven.  In the parables of Matthew 13, Jesus tells us that the very reign and rule of God, the loving and life-changing activity of God in heaven, has broken into our world and is available now.  It's here to be discovered and embraced.  Yet, like a Honus Wagner baseball card sitting in a shoebox at some grandmother's garage sale, the kingdom of heaven is found in unassuming places and encountered in unlikely ways.  And whatever it costs you to "get" it is well worth it.

So the big question then is this: In what unlikely places do we find God's power and presence?  Some think the key to discovering God is in getting all mystical and otherworldly.  They might promote some process of escaping the trappings of flesh and world and ascending to some higher plane where God abides.  Yet, that doesn't seem to be in synch with Jesus' idea of the kingdom's being uncovered and available in the everyday and the ordinary, does it?

Others might argue that the key to connecting with the kingdom is being good enough to gain admittance. You know, help enough old ladies across the street, donate enough money to charity, make a lot of people smile, make very few people cry and when your days are done boom-you're automatically in the kingdom.  But that seems at odds with Jesus' own description of the kingdom as treasure being stumbled upon in a field as if it's something freely given.  Doesn't it?

No, encountering God, experiencing God's power and being caught up in God's love must be things we can encounter in the ordinary, and access easily.

What about here at Grace Church?  Is this the place where we encounter the kingdom? Think about it for a moment. Jesus' ultimate point in the parable is that he was the means by which the kingdom had come to Earth.  It was in him that the love of God, the power of God and a reconciled, right relationship with God could all be received. Christ and his work on the cross are the treasure in the field and the pearl of great price.  And this is the place where that very same Jesus is to be encountered today.  Do you believe that?

* Do you believe that when we gather here, in this unassuming place, that the greatest treasure in the history of God's universe is right here for the taking?

* Do you believe that when God's Word is read here, preached here or sung here, that it is in fact Jesus that is speaking here?

* Do you believe that when you hear, "You are forgiven of that sin," "You're forever a member of God's family" or "Take and eat this bread that is body, take and drink this wine that is blood" that the power and promises of Christ are taking hold in you and doing something miraculous in you?

To be sure, by sight and sound alone this might seem to be like the last "field" in which you'd find something so special.  This place is filled with imperfect people and we preach a message of forgiveness and hope that to an unbelieving world sounds like absolute lunacy.  The apostle Paul said as much himself. "...the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Here's another one to wrestle with:  What if the work of the kingdom is not only found here but if it is also found in you?  Have you thought about that one?  If you're a baptized, believing follower of Jesus Christ, then the Scriptures tell us that you are now a living, breathing "field," filled with the priceless treasures of Jesus.

Yes, you and me with all of our past mistakes and present problems.  We are filled with the truth of Christ that can change someone else's eternity.  You're filled with the Holy Spirit who's given you the same compassion as Christ and a desire, like Christ, to bless others in need.  Yes, you're now part of a royal priesthood whose very presence has the power to "...proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light" (1 Peter 2:9).

Yes, we as a community and each of us individually as believers are the unlikely, ordinary and easily accessible places where the greatest treasure in the world can be found and encountered.  But with that realization there comes an incredible responsibility.  We – you – are the field for the lost and wandering to stumble upon salvation.  We are the marketplace of pearls for the seeker to finally find what he or she is looking for.  We are the online auction where a hurting world can bid on trash and receive untold treasure in the form of forgiveness that is unlimited and life-giving.

Knowing such things, what is your attitude toward such things?  Do you come to this place each week expecting to hear from God himself and have an encounter with the kingdom?  Or have you been blinded by the ordinary facade of the same people in the same pews and the same person standing up here in front of you?  Are you inviting others to this field to find the treasure in this field?  Are you offering others the undeserved compassion of Christ?  Are you ready and willing to answer the seeking or bear witness to the wandering the life-changing truth of Christ?

Perhaps you are here as the seeker or the wanderer yourself?

One of the more popular shows on cable television is A&E's Storage Wars.  It follows a group of men and women who make their living bidding on the opportunity to take ownership of unopened, repossessed storage units, in the hopes of finding hidden treasure.  Yes, this is a television show.  They've discovered everything from coffins and artwork to the world's most valuable comic book collection, all while paying as little as $10 to take it all home.

If you are here as the seeker or the wanderer, then what you need to know is that you have a lot in common with such modern day treasure hunters.  Today you are sitting in a place and among people that may not seem like much, but if you will in fact open yourself up, untold treasure awaits you.  The kind of treasure that only God himself can offer.  Yes, it does come at a cost.  Taking ownership of all that God has in store for you through Jesus Christ will come at the cost of confessing your brokenness and your need for a savior.  It means saying goodbye to a life of wandering, and living a life of worshiping Jesus.  It will mean that your days of searching are done and finding peace in the fact that you've arrived in God's family.

That might sound to you like chump change.  It may be asking the world.  But what you will realize one day is that such sacrifice for such treasure is well worth the investment.  In fact, you will learn that it's such a lop-sided steal that it can only be called a gift.  It can only be described as grace.

Some years ago, Pastor Mike Ernst of Hales Corners, Wisconsin stumbled across an old Corvette.  As a car aficionado he knew that he had found something unique in this early 1960s', rusted and worn-out Chevrolet. Buying it from the college student who was tooling around in it, Ernst took it to his barn and began the slow work of restoration.  It soon became clear that this was no ordinary, old Corvette.  Some searching on the Internet revealed that Pastor Mike's old clunker was in fact the world famous 1962 Gulf Oil Corvette – a car that won first place 12 times in races at Daytona, Sebring and beyond.  When Ernst found the car, he paid $3,000 for it.  It was later sold at auction for $1.485 million.

Jesus loves eBay.  Our Lord loves a steal of a deal and the joy that comes from discovering something valuable – possibly priceless – while perusing piles of ordinary items.  Why?  Because he's offering the most incredible item around: himself.  Free of charge.

It is my constant prayer that this may be a place where the treasure of a Christ is easily encountered.  May the treasure of Christ be accessible for the world, in you.  May you, wanderer as well as seeker, find this treasure. Use what you've learned.  It's not to be found in expected places; and no matter what the price tag seems to be, it is definitely, undeniably worth the cost.  Amen.

Sources:

Cornett, K. "1962 Gulf Oil Corvette sells for $1.485 million at Pebble Beach". August 21, 2008. corvetteblogger.com.

Larsen, Ashley. "5 hidden treasures on eBay". mental_floss, November-December, 2010, 20.