Sermons from Moorpark Presbyterian Church

A Tale of Two Treasures

by Dave Wilkinson

Matthew 13:44-46

8-22-99

A pastor is having a cup of coffee in the restaurant across the street from the church. He is reading the paper when a man sitting next to him notices his clerical garb and asks what church he is with. He points across the street. The fellow says: "That's the church I go to myself." At this point the pastor perks up and says: "That's strange. I've been preaching there for five years and I don't believe I've ever seen you." The man responds: "Come on now, Preacher! I didn't say I was a fanatic!"

In the 13th chapter of Matthew, Jesus tells two parables which stress the virtue of, if not fanaticism -- at least decisive action. Listen to the word of God.

"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one of great value he went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matthew 13:44-46 NRSV).

Jesus came to inaugurate the reign of God on earth. Jesus said: "If by the power of God I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has truly come upon you." This is a decisive event that requires a decisive response! Life is being turned inside out! Get ready!

The Kingdom of God, Jesus said, is like a treasure hidden in a field.

When we think of buried treasure, we think of gold doubloons and pieces of eight buried by the pirates of the Spanish Main. Childhood images of Long John Silver crowd our minds and enrich our fantasies. But all treasure is not buried by pirates. People in trouble also bury their valuables as disaster approaches. The land of Israel had been fought over by many armies for many years. When armies approached, the people would take their valuables and hide them where they could be reclaimed when the turmoil had passed. Of course, sometimes they were unable to return. Sometimes the secret of the hidden treasure died with them -- just as the secret of the Dead Sea Scrolls died with the Essenes on Masada in 70 A.D. so that they were not recovered until 1948.

In Jesus’ parable, a man finds a forgotten treasure. Perhaps it was as valuable as the copper pots filled with gold that were found by workmen in Sidon in 1876. Those coins dated from the time of Alexander the Great. Perhaps it is an even greater treasure. It is great enough for the man who finds it to sell all he has to posses.

The man who finds the gold is not the owner of the field. He might have been gleaning in the field or picking grain. But the fact that he dug deeply enough to find a hidden treasure suggests that he was a workman who was employed by the owner, and that he discovers the treasure in the course of his daily labor.

Jesus says that this discoverer of the treasure reburies it. Under rabbinic law, if a person discovers a treasure and lifts it out of it's hiding place, it belongs to the owner of the field. So he is careful not to move the treasure until he has bought the field. He goes and sells all he has to buy the field. He gives up something in order to have something greater because he is sure of a great reward.

Note that this man isn't in the field because he is looking for something. But he finds it anyway and he recognizes the value of what he has found.

Now we might properly question if the man in the parable behaves in an ethical way. He seems to be trading with "insider information" which would certainly get the 1st century equivalent of the Securities Exchange Commission on his back. But the parable doesn't deal with the legality or morality of the situation. Its focus is the value of the treasure. When the man buys the field at such sacrifice, he possesses far more than the price he paid. Jesus tells us here that the Kingdom of God is worth far more than the costs of being a disciple and those who know where this treasure lies, abandon everything else to secure it. Jesus stresses that this is done with joy. And this ought to be the nature of our dedication to Christ -- not a painful exercise of "becoming religious" but a joyous relationship with our Savior.

Jesus then tells a second parable as a companion to the first. He speaks of a merchant who is seeking fine pearls. He finds one pearl of such great value that he sells all his other pearls in order to have the one.

This parable suggests that there are other pearls -- but only one pearl of great price. That is to say, there are many fine things in this world in which we may find loveliness. We may find it in knowledge, in the wonder of the human mind, in music, in art, in literature. We can find loveliness in human relationships. Each of these are lovely -- but compared to knowing God, they are each of lesser loveliness. This is not to insult these fine things. They are genuine pearls and valuable. But there is only one pearl of great price, which is the acceptance of the reign of God in our lives. This does not mean that we must forego art and literature and human relationships and knowledge. It's just that the one unique pearl of great price must come first. Jesus said. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and then these other 'pearls' will be added unto you."

Unlike the man who discovers the treasure, the merchant finds the pearl because he is actively seeking to find it. He has spent his life in the search.

Of course, there are some questions we practical people can ask. Is this merchant wise to put all of his eggs in one basket? What about liquidity? He's spent all he has on the one pearl. What if he needs cash fast? Hasn't he read Sylvia Porter's Money Book? And why would he buy the pearl in the first place? Does he plan to sell it? Or does he plan to keep it no matter what -- even if he doesn't have food to eat or a place to sleep? Maybe he's a fake merchant -- more in love with pearls than with money.

I don't know the answers to those questions. But I do know that these parables have something important to teach each one of us.

These parables tell us that you have to have something in order to get something. Now you can't buy salvation. But you do need the eyes to see what God is doing and the ears to hear what God is saying to you.

The man who discovers the hidden treasure is apparently not looking for it. His discovery is accidental. But in the case of the merchant, the finding of the pearl is the result of a long and faithful quest. To those outside the field, a cultured pearl is scarcely distinguishable from one created by an oyster in the wild state. And to my untutored eye, a necklace of pearls of the KMart bargain table may be as attractive as the real thing. But the merchant of pearls knows the difference at a glance. Anyone can recognize a pot of gold but only the merchant of pearls knows the pearl of supreme value when he sees it.

This contrast between the finder of the treasure and the seeker of the pearl describes the past experiences of people who find salvation. Some are not particularly anxious to find Jesus. They aren't very interested in religion. They are going on their way when suddenly an unexpected thing confronted them -- the Gospel. They have not really seen it before. They have not known they were seeking it. But there it is and with the insight granted them by the Holy Spirit, they recognize it as something of far greater value than anything that has come into their lives before. They see themselves in need of a Savior. They recognize that if they have Jesus, they have everything else as well. So they turn to Him and believe. They are an illustration of God’s words in Isaiah: "I revealed myself to those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me." (Isa. 65:1)

Others like the seeker of the pearl are truly fascinated by spiritual things. They seek, they look, and they feel their need. They move up one blind alley after another. Finally they come to Jesus and they see the truth of his words: "I am the gate; whoever enters by me will be saved." (John 10:9). Their seeking is initiated by God. They move because of the calling of His Holy Spirit. When they finally stand face-to-face with Jesus they recognize him as the answer to their long-felt longing and the purpose of their long-experienced lack of ease in spiritual things.

Two different backgrounds. But no matter how the discovery is made, the reaction must be the same. This is where the parables come together. Everything has to be sold and sacrificed to gain the precious thing. No matter how a man or woman discovers the truth of Jesus Christ -- whether it be in a lightening flash of illumination or at the end of a long and conscious search, it is worth absolutely everything to accept. One commentator says: "When people are made over again, they come running irresistibly because they will not have it any other way. When they find the pearl, they are going to sell everything they have and get it. The hidden treasure is going to be theirs. They are going to thump on that door until it is opened. They are going to have it because they hunger and thirst after righteousness."

This parable says that to have the Kingdom of God, we need to take decisive action. Moderation just won't do it.

Several years ago, Eugene Ormandy dislocated a shoulder while leading the Philadelphia Orchestra. (I don't know what they were playing but it probably wasn't Mozart. Perhaps Beethoven.) In any case, he was giving all of himself to the music! We need to ask ourselves if we have ever dislocated anything, even a necktie, for God.

That was the illustration for the highbrows. The illustration for us low brows comes from a number of years ago when a newsman visited the Oakland Raider football camp -- back in the Raider glory days before they visited L.A. He had just come from the Jack London historical monument in the Valley of the Moon near Sonoma and he read a sample of London’s prose to Raider quarterback Kenny Stabler.

"I would rather be ashes than dust! I would rather that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze than it be stifled by dry rot. I would rather be a superb meteor, every atom of me in magnificent glow, than a sleepy and permanent planet. The proper function of man is to live, not to exist. I shall not waste my days in trying to prolong them. I will use my time."

After reading this to Stabler, the reporter asked" "What does that mean to you?"

Stabler replied: "Throw deep."

Highbrow or lowbrow, the point is the same. These parables call us to dislocate ourselves for the Kingdom. They call us to throw deep for the Kingdom. We must let ourselves go for God. It's the only safe way. Half of the failures in life arise from pulling in a horse just as he is leaping.

A man named Dr. Charles McCoy was the Pastor of a Baptist church in Oyster Bay, New York. At age seventy-two his denomination insisted he take retirement. He was a tall (6'4") man with white hair. He had lived a bachelor's life, had spent a number of years caring for his mother and had some seven college degrees including two PH.D’s. (Columbia and Dartmouth). He dreaded the thought of retirement. As he put it: "I just lay on my bed thinking that my life's over, and I haven't really done anything yet. I've been Pastor of this church for so many years and nobody really wants me much -- and what have I done for Christ? I've spent an awful lot of time working for degrees, but what does that count for? I haven't won very many people to the Lord."

Just a week after he had been mandated retirement by his denomination he met a missionary from India and on impulse asked him to come and preach for him. After the service the missionary asked him why didn't he come to India and preach for him? Dr. McCoy explained that he was old, and he was about to be forced into retirement. He had never even traveled across the United States, never crossed an ocean by boat or even flown in a plane. Going to India was beyond his imagination. But the missionary explained that in India they would respect his age, especially his white hair.

He tried to put the idea out of his mind but he felt the Lord urging him to go to India. He gave the Lord all of his arguments. He didn't have any money. But the Lord simply said to sell his car and go to India. He decided to go.

The people in his church thought he was in need of protection from himself. They shook their heads and made dire predictions. The chairman of the church asked him, "What if you should die in India?" and he simply responded, "It's just as close to Heaven from there as it is from here."

And so he left the parsonage, sold his few possessions and bought a one-way ticket by boat to Bombay. En route, his trunk was lost. When he landed he only had the clothes on his back, his wallet with a little money in it and his passport. And clutched in his hand he had the address of some missionaries in Bombay that he had clipped from a magazine before he left. The man who had invited him to India was still in the States and was probably going to stay there. He asked for directions and was pointed to a bus and told where to get off. By the time he got off the bus, he discovered that his wallet and his passport were gone -- his pocket had been picked. Now all he had was the address of these missionaries who didn't know he was coming. But the missionaries were gracious and took him in although they didn't know quite what to do with this tall, old white-haired man.

After a day or so, Dr. McCoy announced that he was going to call on the mayor. The missionaries said that even after several years they had never been able to get in to see the mayor. But he figured he had nothing to lose so he presented himself at the mayor's office. He had prayed about it and then he set out for city hall.

He presented his calling card to the mayor's secretary and explained who he was and why he had come to India and she disappeared into the mayor's office. A few minutes later the secretary reappeared and said that though the mayor couldn't see him right then, if he came back at 3:00 he would be happy to receive him.

Meanwhile, the mayor, having seen all the degrees on McCoy’s card, and hearing how tall and impressively white-haired he was, had come to the conclusion that this must be some pretty important person. Perhaps even a representative of the President of the United States. He wasn't going to take any chances, so he hurriedly called together all his important official-type friends in Bombay for a tea in Dr. McCoy’s honor. When McCoy came back for tea he was invited to speak to the assembled officials and he spoke for about a half-an-hour giving his testimony of what Jesus meant to him and at the end was politely applauded by the cultured and university-educated people at the gathering. Afterwards he was approached by a man in an impressive military uniform who invited him to come and address the students at his school on the following Thursday. McCoy agreed and then learned that the school was the "West Point" of India. He went, and was invited back to speak four times in a row --- presenting the gospel of Christ.

Soon, Dr. McCoy was being invited to speak in all kinds of places. And he began an itinerant ministry of preaching the gospel of Christ for sixteen years until he was eighty-eight years old.

In Calcutta, he started a Chinese church. So also in Hong Kong. He had sixteen years of adventure in faith as he spoke for Christ around the world from India to Egypt to the Middle East. Dr. McCoy never had any more money than to get him from place to place. He would let his friends know where he was heading and they would send some funds to keep him going.

It was a few years later, when he was eighty-eight years old that Dr. McCoy was again in Calcutta. He'd been preaching on a weekday afternoon some place and a friend drove him to his hotel. As he got out of the car he said: "You know I’m speaking tonight at the Y.M.C.A. That's 7 o'clock. It's 4:30 now so I'll have time for a cup of tea and a bit of rest. I don't want to be late for that meeting.

He didn't make the meeting. Dr. McCoy walked into the hotel, took the elevator to his floor -- and no one knows exactly what happened after that. But the Lord took him home. No one saw it happen. No one saw the homecoming of that eighty- eight year old man who had just finished preaching and wanted a little rest before he got ready to preach again.

Before his death, however, Dr. McCoy told friends the reason he was able to give himself so freely. He said, "I started when I had nothing to lose." Isn't that the same for all of us? Jesus tells us in these parables we have nothing to lose and everything to gain. We give what we cannot keep in order to gain a life we can never lose.