Please turn with me to Matthew 13 - starting at verse 44.  Today we’re continuing our look at Jesus’ teaching about the Kingdom of God - looking at what it means for us to live subject to the reign and the movement of the sovereign God within His universe.

We’ve been seeing Jesus teaching in parables - illustrations that involved things familiar to the crowd - but illustrations that didn’t have an immediate obvious meaning - illustrations that Jesus used to grab the attention of this crowd - a crowd that was following Him for all kinds of reasons.  A crowd that - as Jesus is speaking - only a few in the crowd are really listening - seeking to understand - His teaching about the Kingdom of God.

Coming to Matthew 13 - starting at verse 44 - we’ve come to the fifth and sixth of these parables - The Hidden Treasure and The Pearl.  If you have your sermon notes open or you can look at the screen up here - we’re going to read these out loud together.

Let’s read verse 44 together:  The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from the joy over it goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

The treasure is what?  The kingdom of heaven.

The field is what?  The world.

The man represents?  Us.

During the genocide of the Armenians - in 1915 and in the years after - under the guise of relocation - the Turkish government would round up Armenians - women and children - take them out of their villages and march them off into the deserts of Syria - where government sanctioned bands of released criminals - Kurds - villagers - would rob - pillage - and do whatever they wanted to these Armenians.

It was rumored - and in some cases true - that before the Armenians were herded out of their homes - they would bury what gold they had - in the hopes that one day they would return.  Hide it in fields - in the floors of their homes - in the walls.  After the Armenians were driven out the Turks would come in and be digging all over their homes looking for gold.

The same thing goes on today in the Middle East.  The banks and the government can’t be trusted.  Who knows what band of marauders will come through.  So people hide their money.

What Jesus is saying was very real to these people.  Many of them probably had money hidden someplace.  Peasants dreamed of stumbling across one of these hidden treasures.

What an incredible stroke of luck for this man to run across someone else’s hidden treasure.  What joy!  Especially if the person who buried it is long gone - driven off - dead maybe - and the owner of the field has no clue that the treasure is there.

Legally - to have the right to that treasure - all one would have to do is buy the field.  So this man - finding the treasure - his whole value system changes.  Everything he has is worthless compared to the value of owning the treasure.  He longs for the treasure - finds joy in it.  So, he re-buries the treasure - scrapes together whatever assets he has - buys the field - for a fraction of the value of the treasure - and lives happily ever after.

Often people really aren’t looking for the Kingdom of God.  They’re going through life just trying to get by with what they’ve got.  Maybe they run across a Bible - or wander into a church - their paths cross with a Christian - a set circumstances take place - and they come face to face with the reality of the kingdom.  The joy of knowing that God loves them - offers forgiveness - healing - restoration - purpose for their lives - invites them to walk through life with Him - opens up eternity to them.   Their values - their priorities - get rearranged.  There is nothing more valuable than the kingdom.  Maybe you’ve been there.

Paul writes, “Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as - what?  loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.” (Philippians 3:7,8)  

The point here is the unsurpassed value of the kingdom - kingdom life offered to us by God through Jesus Christ - and importance of our giving everything - our lives - to live in it.

Parable number two - verses 45 and 46 - let’s read this out loud together:  Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.

The kingdom of heaven is like a what?  A merchant.

Searching for what?  Pearls.

The pearl is who?  Jesus Christ.

The Hebrews never really valued pearls.  If you look through the Old Testament - there are a  lot of jewels and gems mentioned - diamonds - rubies - and so on.  No pearls.  But Gentiles loved them.  Gentile traders would come to Galilee looking for valuable pearls and pay huge sums of money for these pearls.

The disciples would have been tracking with Jesus on this.  This is a business opportunity.  A merchant comes into town looking for pearls.

Humanity is continually looking for answers - to unlock the mysteries of life.  There are many pearls in this world.  Pearls of wisdom.  Pearls of knowledge.  A scientist will come along and put in a piece of the puzzle.  Then a psychologist will put in another piece.  A philosopher will put in another part.  Mankind is continually working away at putting together this complex puzzle - trying to understand life.

The merchant is different than the man in the first parable.  The merchant is searching - seeking after pearls - looking for the one pearl to order his life around.  There’s something out there that he’s missing.  So he’s searching.  Maybe that’s you.

The Lord tells His people, “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13)  Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7)  Paul writes that if we seek God - even grope for Him - He is not far from each one of us. (Acts 17:27).

Many search for the answer that makes sense out of life.  Then they come across God’s kingdom.  The truth of who God is and what He offers to us in Jesus Christ.  That reality rearranges their lives.  Nothing is more valuable.

The point of the parable is the value of the kingdom and our giving everything to be a part of it.  “Seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things - everything else we need - will be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:33)  The priority of the Kingdom.  

These two parables come at the same point - but from slightly different perspectives.  Some stumble across the Kingdom.  Some are searching for it.  The Kingdom of God is a whole lot more valuable than any of us realize.    We need to marvel at that - to ponder it - to be awestruck by it - to value it - even to find joy in it.  Bottom line:  the superlative value of the kingdom is worth giving up everything else that we value for.

Having said all that - in the words of the great Monty Python, “And now for something completely different.”

The interpretation of these parables that we’ve just looked at is sound Biblically.  Its accurate to Jesus’ intent.  Correct doctrinally.  Applicable to our lives and powerful in its implications.  However, there is another way to understand these parables which is equally sound Biblically  -equally accurate - equally correct - and just as applicable to our lives and powerful in its implications.

Way too often we make Jesus out to be a lightweight.  We read what He taught - think we’ve got it - and too often miss the depths of what He’s teaching.  Jesus is the greatest teacher that ever walked the planet.

Jesus takes these two parables - each coming from a different perspective of the same point - each teaching the importance of our giving everything to be a part of God’s Kingdom - and yet at the same time Jesus is using the very same parables to teach something completely different but integral to the same truth.

Is that confusing?  Two parables - four perspectives - two understandings - one truth.  Hang on.

To Jesus’ listeners - God’s Kingdom meant sacrifices - regulations - traditions - impossible standards of holiness - condemnation and ostracism for failure - hundreds of laws imposed by the Pharisees and Sadducees.  That’s the tradition they’d been taught.  To view the Kingdom as a hidden treasure - a pearl - something that required effort on our parts to purchase - to secure - is a perspective that made sense to them.

But without taking away from the truth that the value of the Kingdom compels all of who we are to be given to be a part of that Kingdom - we need to be reminded that salvation is by grace through faith - and that nothing we can ever do will ever earn us a place in God’s Kingdom.  We cannot purchase our salvation - the field and so the kingdom - or the pearl.

The Kingdom of God is not about rules and regulations and a God who’s going to “get us” - sitting on His throne - just waiting for us to mess up so He can pour down His wrath on us.  The Kingdom of God is about struggling people who have an intimate relationship with the God who so deeply cares about us that He died to establish that relationship.

In every parable we’ve looked at so far - its Jesus who sows - Jesus who plants - the Kingdom comes to us.   Following that pattern - seen from that perspective - looking at these parables - the man who finds the treasure is who?  Jesus Christ.  The treasure is what?  God’s people in the world - the field.

“For God so loved the - what?  the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)  The field - the world - is purchased through the blood of Jesus Christ.  In the world are those who will come by faith to accept that purchase of their lives and enter into the Kingdom.

The merchant is who?  Jesus.  Jesus - who gives everything to purchase the pearl - which is what?  The Church.

How does a pearl get formed?  The pearl is the only jewel that’s produced by living matter.  A little particle of sand or some other irritating thing gets inside the shell of the oyster - like having a rock in your shoe - constantly irritating.  There’s pain here - agony for the living oyster.  And there’s no way for the oyster to get this thing out.  So it transforms the thing that’s wounding it into a pearl - an item of great beauty and value.

Valueless sand - causing pain to the oyster - that transforms the sand into a valuable pearl.  That’s the Church.  That’s Jesus.  Taking each of us - who have wounded Him - and making us into His Church.

The bottom line awesome truth of these two parables - two parables - four perspectives - two understandings - one truth - the bottom line awesome truth is the greatness of God’s love that compels our giving everything in response.

Two thoughts of application.

First:  The pearl has value.  Say that together, “The pearl has value. “

How did the merchant purchase the pearl?  “He sold all that he had and bought it.”

Sometimes we get hung up on salvation as a financial transaction - “Jesus paid it all.”  Redemption.  Blue chip stamps and the check out line at Target.  Sometimes we dwell on the agony of the crucifixion - the scourgings - the crown of thorns - the nails - the thirst - the pain.  Sometimes we think about Jesus’ humanity - His entrance into our human experience.  We may even wonder at the words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46)  Jesus taking the sins of the world - our sins - on Himself.

What does it mean that He took upon Himself the sins of the whole world?  What do we really know about what it cost Jesus - the setting aside of His divine prerogatives to endure the cross on our behalf? (Philippians 2:1-8)

This phrase, “He sold all” goes so much deeper than we can even begin to imagine.  It extends to the hurt in God’s heart as He fully identifies with us - in all our agony - and it extends to the fullness of His forgiveness.  Can anyone even begin to find a frame of reference to begin to grasp that?

Yet, all that is what He gave for the pearl.  For you and me.

Think carefully.  How valuable is the pearl?

In one of Charles Schulz’s Peanuts cartoons, Lucy is philosophizing and Charlie is listening.  Lucy says,  “Charlie Brown, life is a lot like a deck chair.  Some place it to see where they’ve been.  And some so they can see where they are at the present.”  Charlie sighs, “I can’t even get mine unfolded.” (1)  

The great philosopher Flip Wilson - remember Flip?  Flip Wilson once said, “If I had my entire life to live over again, I don’t think I’d have the strength.” (2)

Henry David Thoreau  “Most men in this world live out their lives in quiet - what?  desperation.” (3)

It almost seems arrogant to think this way.  God so loves me - so highly values me - that He gave His Son for me.  How can we think like that?  Think of ourselves as that valuable?

From before the time we’re really cognizant of things we start getting these messages planted in our hearts:  “You don’t measure up.  You don’t have what it takes.  You’re not really beautiful.  People only tell you good stuff because they want something from you.”

All along the way - Satan gears life to reinforce those messages.  Abuse - abandonment - divorce - insincere love - the people we grew up with - went to school with - work with.  Words and actions that cut through us to the depth of our hearts.  We learn never to really open our lives to others.  Not to trust others.  Because eventually they’ll wound us.  We’re beaten down and bruised.  Lonely.

James Dobson writes, “We are not what we are.  We are not what others think we are.  We are what we think others think we are.” (4)

Most of us carry around so much pain.  But we learn.  Life is a learning process.  Right?  We cover the pain and learn to keep going.  To move through life and make something of ourselves.  To find hope and answers that make some sense to us.  We find the kingdom in a field - a pearl among pearls.  We can come to Christ - even salvation - life in the Kingdom.

Then we excuse sin because we know that we’re not perfect.  We tolerate abuse because we know we are less than others.  We settle for mediocrity because it is a fearful thing to excel.

This second understanding is much harder.  It touches deeper.  We can live in the Kingdom.  But do we really realize how valuable we are?  The depth of what God offers to us?  Are you tracking with this?    

Satan would love to keep us from realizing this truth deep down in our hearts - at the place where we most need to know it - to know God’s healing - to know we are so much more valuable than we have been led to believe.  Satan fears that we would ever see ourselves as God sees us.

Dare to answer the question.  How valuable is the pearl?  Priceless.  Worth the shed blood and broken body of the Almighty God of creation.

Turn to the person next to you and encourage them with this:  “You are priceless.”

You are created in the image of God - made to be a child of God - an heir of His Kingdom - through Jesus Christ - invaluable to God.  Each of us should repeat that truth every single day of our lives so that it sinks into our hearts.

Second thought of application:  The value of the pearl.  Say that together, “The value of the pearl.”    Do we really value what God has given us?

C.S. Lewis, in his essay “The Weight of Glory” writes this, “If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak.  We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea.  We are far too easily pleased.” (5)

The man sells everything to buy the field because of the joy of what he’s found.  If the possibility exists to know real joy - if its possible to experience the fullness of living as God intends for us to live - the joy of all that - if we really are the ransomed of the Lord - purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ - why are we fooling around - so easily pleased - giving greater value to cheap imitations of what God offers freely to us?

Years ago The Wittenberg Door had a cartoon.  Anyone old enough to remember The Wittenberg Door?  The cartoon showed a singer about to perform.  He addressed the audience, “I’d like to share a song with you that the Lord gave me a year ago...and even though He did give it to me, any reproduction of this song in any form without my written consent will constitute infringement of copyright laws which grants me the right to sue you… Praise God!”

Seen a contract these days?  Bring a magnifying glass and read the fine print.  Used to be a hand shake was good enough.  Now we need a team of lawyers to buy lemonade from a kid on the corner.  I saw a statistic recently that 67% of Americans believe that files are being kept on them for unknown reasons.

Suspicion and fear rule.  Especially when you’ve been burned - wounded.  Can God be trusted?  Satan would rather have us focus on our fears.  God’s desire is for us to live within His joy.

When Isaiah predicted Israel’s return from exile - a prediction that is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus Christ - Isaiah wrote, “The ransomed of the Lord will return and come with joyful shouting to Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads, they will find gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.” (Isaiah 35:10)

What keeps you back from His joy?  What are you hanging on to?  Is it really of greater value than what God offers you?  At some point we all need to make the choice of trusting Him - even with the depths of who we are.

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