PARABLES OF CHRIST
TREASURE HIDDEN IN A FIELD
DR. JIM DIXON
MATTHEW 13:44
MAY 3, 1998
In the early 1800s, churches grew throughout New England and throughout the northeastern portion of the United States. There was revival after revival and hundreds and thousands of women and men came to faith in Jesus Christ. Most of them had little knowledge of the Bible and most of them had no knowledge of theology but these new converts to Christ had a fascination with the whole subject of eschatology, the end times, the last things. They were fascinated by the whole subject of the second coming of Jesus Christ and the end of the age and the dawning of the kingdom of heaven.
One of those new converts in the early 1800s was a man named William Miller, who was from New York State. William Miller began to read the prophetic passages of the Bible. He began to read the book of Revelation. He began to read 1 Thessalonians, chapters 4 and 5 and 2 Thessalonians, chapter 1 and 2. He began to read the Olivet Discourse given by our Lord as recorded in Matthew, chapter 24 and 25 and Mark, chapter 13. He began to read the Old Testament prophetic passages. The book of Ezekiel and most of all the book of Daniel and the whole prophecy of the 70 weeks.
Somehow, through these biblical prophecies, William Miller came to the conclusion that Jesus Christ was going to come again on October 22, 1844. William Miller made this announcement in 1818 as he began to preach sermons throughout America. Hundreds and later thousands of people began to respond to William Miller’s messages. With the great financial crisis of 1839, thousands more began to follow him as indeed the world seemed to be moving towards apocalypse.
As the date of October 22, 1844 drew near, thousands of Millerites quit their jobs to await the second coming of Christ. On the evening of October 21, the evening before, thousands of Millerites gathered on mountaintops and in churches to await the rending of the skies, the end of the world, the second corning of Jesus Christ and the dawning of the kingdom of heaven. But, of course, October 22 arrived and Jesus Christ did not. That following day, thousands of Millerites were embarrassed. Many Millerites kept the faith and ultimately founded the Seventh Day Adventist movement and the Seventh Day Adventist Church.
Today, we approach the dawning of the millennium as we approach the year 2000. There are many Christians in the world today who are fascinated by the subject of eschatology and the end times and the second corning of Jesus Christ and the dawning of the kingdom of heaven. And, of course, there are many signs biblically which must attend the season of Christ coming. Many of those signs are being fulfilled in our time. Certainly, Jesus Christ will come again but we have two words of caution from Christ. First of all, He tells us, “No one knows the day or the hour.” Secondly, Christ would remind us that the kingdom of heaven has already dawned. The kingdom of heaven does not await the second coming of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of heaven has already invaded this world.
Now, it is true that the kingdom of heaven will not reach fruition until the second coming of Jesus Christ but, you see, the kingdom of heaven has already invaded this earth and most of the teaching of Jesus Christ centers on the subject of the kingdom of heaven. Most of the parables of Christ center on the subject of the kingdom of heaven and that is true of our little parable today. From this little parable we have two teachings concerning the kingdom of heaven. First of all, the kingdom of heaven is a treasure. Jesus tells us that the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field.
Last week Barb and I were in California visiting Barb’s parents and visiting my mom. While we were out there, I picked up a book which had in it the story of a guy named Bob. The story is allegedly true although Bob’s last name was never given. It seems that a few years ago Bob was at a garage sale. He was kind of rummaging through things looking for something that he might want to buy. There in the back of the garage, behind an old worn-out mattress, Bob found a motorcycle. It was beat up and it was kind of grimy, greasy, and old, rusty. Bob went to the owner of the house who was putting on the garage sale and said, “Is that motorcycle for sale?” The owner said, “Everything in the garage is for sale but I’ve got to warn you. That motorcycle is so old it doesn’t work. It’s got so many things wrong with it. It would cost you more to buy the parts to fix it than it would just to buy another motorcycle.” Bob said, “Well, the bike looks interesting to me. How much do you want for it?” The man said, “You can have it for $35.”
Bob took this old motorcycle, put it in the back of his pickup truck and took it home. His wife was less than pleased as she saw Bob bring the motorcycle into the garage. She said, “What are you going to do with that?” Bob said, “Well, you know, it looks fascinating to me. I think it’s an old Harley Davidson and I thought maybe I would tinker with it and maybe I can get it working.”
Months passed and finally Bob decided to go out and work on that old motorcycle. He went out there and began to kind of putter around. He could see that it needed all kinds of parts if ever it was going to run. He didn’t know whether those parts were still available so he called Harley Davidson. The man from Harley Davidson said, “Well, what year and what model of motorcycle do you have?” Bob didn’t know. So the man from Harley Davidson said, “Can you get the serial number off the bike?” Bob did that. He went and got the serial number, told the guy from Harley Davidson on the phone. He gave him the serial number and the guy said, “Well, let me go check that out.”
When the guy came back, his voice was different. Bob could tell that his voice was totally different. The guy said, “Bob, we need to take a little time with this. Could I call you back? Could you give me your phone number? Give me your complete name, your phone number, your address?” Bob didn’t want to give that stuff out but he did it. He began to be kind of worried that maybe this bike had been involved in something criminal and he was going to somehow be tied with this.
Well, the next day Bob got a phone call from an executive at Harley Davidson. The executive said, “Bob, I would like you to get a screwdriver and take the seat off your motorcycle and see if there’s an inscription under it.” Bob did that. He came back to the phone and he said, “There is an inscription. It says ‘The King.’” The executive from Harley Davidson said, “Well, I’ve been authorized to offer you $300,000 for that motorcycle.
Bob was just stunned. He said, “You know, I need a little time to deal with this. Could I talk to you maybe tomorrow?” Well, the next day Bob got a phone call from Jay Leno who apparently has connections with the higher ups at Harley Davidson. Jay said, “Bob, I’d like to offer you $500,000 for that motorcycle.” Of course, Bob gradually came to understand that that motorcycle had once belonged to Elvis Presley. And of course Elvis Presley was called “The King” because of his preeminence in the establishment of rock and roll.
We live in a crazy world, don’t we? We live in a crazy world that creates it’s own treasures, a world where an old beat-up motorcycle that doesn’t even work anymore can be worth more than a half million dollars. A crazy world where a postage stamp, an old postage stamp, just a piece of paper one inch square can be worth more than $100,000 just because it contains some unique flaw. A world where old baseball trading cards can sell for tens of thousands of dollars even though they are just made out of cardboard. A world where a painting by Vincent van Gogh can sell for millions of dollars and the value of the painting enhanced by Vincent van Gogh’s struggle with insanity. What a crazy world we live in, a world creating its own treasures.
The Bible tells us that there is one treasure greater than all and that one treasure is the kingdom of heaven. The word that Jesus uses to describe the kingdom of heaven is the word “thesaurus.” This word is the Greek word and also the Latin word for treasure. Of course, this word thesaurus has been transliterated into the English and gives us our word thesaurus and we use that word to describe an encyclopedia or a dictionary of words and synonyms. But the idea behind the Greek word thesaurus is the idea of that which gives you everything you need, everything you need. That’s the concept behind this Greek word for treasure. A thesaurus in the English is to give you everything you need regarding words and synonyms. A treasure is that which provides you with everything you need.
Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is the greatest treasure. Really only the kingdom of heaven can give you everything you need. That’s why Jesus said, “Seek first the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness and all of these things will be added unto you.” All of your needs will be met. The kingdom of heaven is a treasure. In the treasure chest of the kingdom of heaven you find forgiveness of sins. In the treasure chest of the kingdom of heaven we find the community of believers, the fellowship of brothers and sisters the world over, the church, the body of Christ. In the treasure chest of the kingdom of heaven we find a purpose in living and in that treasure chest we find hope in dying. In that treasure chest we find eternal life itself. This is the greatest treasure of all.
You know, the ancient Greeks sought the Elysian Fields, a mythological land of sun and light with green meadows laden with flowers. But, you see, the kingdom of heaven offers the creation itself. One day, the Bible tells us, the kingdom of heaven will envelope and encompass the new heavens and the new earth. It will all be part of the kingdom of heaven.
Francisco Coronado sought the Seven Cities of Cibola, said to be seven cities of gold. He never found them. The kingdom of heaven offers the heavenly city, the new Jerusalem. The Bible tells us fifteen hundred miles across with streets of gold, gates of pearl, foundations adorned with every precious stone. Ponce de Leon sought the fountain of youth and never found it. Only the kingdom of heaven offers eternal life. This is the treasure, the greatest treasure of all.
But there’s a second teaching from this little parable and the second teaching is this. The kingdom of heaven is worth everything you have. Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a treasure hidden in the field which a man found and covered up and in his joy went and sold all that he had and bought that field.” How much is the kingdom of heaven worth? How much is this treasure worth? It’s worth everything we have.
I read sometime ago the story of a man who got on an airplane. Seated right next to him was a woman who had a beautiful diamond pendant. This man turned to her and said, “Wow! That’s the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever seen.” She said, “Well, it’s the Klopman diamond.” He said, “The Klopman diamond? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of that.” She said, “Well, have you heard of the Hope Diamond?” He said, “Well, of course I’ve heard of the Hope Diamond.” She said, “The Klopman diamond is not quite as big as the Hope Diamond but in clarity and beauty it is every bit its equal. Just like the Hope Diamond, the Klopman diamond comes with a curse.” The man said, “Really. What kind of curse?” The woman said, “Mr. Klopman!”
Now, is it not true that everything of value has a price? Everything of value has a price. I was looking at the March 30 issue of U.S. News and World Report. The cover story deals with the cost of raising children. They’re counting food and housing and transportation. They’re counting health care, child care, education and college and what they call foregone wages for those who stay home and take care of the child, wages they would have had. They claim that the cost, if you’re in an upper income family, is $2,700,000 million per child. Hard to believe. I’m not sure I do believe it. But I do know this, children are costly.
Heather is a treasure to us and Drew is a treasure to us. Our children are treasures to us and they’re costly. I don’t know how much money we’ve spent on Heather and I don’t know how much money we’ve spent on Drew but I know through the years it’s a lot of money. Now, Heather is not only a treasure to us, Heather is now a treasure to her fiancé, Chris, who is sitting with Heather here in this service. Chris and Heather became engaged in January, and they will be married this month on Sunday, May 24, at 4:00 in the afternoon right here in this sanctuary. All of you, any of you who want to come are honest and truly welcome to come to that wedding. It’s going to be my joy to perform the ceremony.
But, you know, Heather now is not only a treasure to us but she’s a treasure to Chris and Chris is going to find out that she is expensive. And, of course, Chris is also a treasure to Heather and Heather will find that Chris is expensive. Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Of course, is it not true that we give ourselves to that which we treasure. Is that not true? And do we not do it with joy if it’s really a treasure to us? Do we not do it with joy?
And, you see, Jesus is telling us that our greatest joy and our greatest treasure should be the kingdom of heaven. That kingdom is worthy of everything we have. That means that our time our talents, our very life blood, our energy, our treasure is all offered to him because of the incredible value of His kingdom. When we offer Christ and His kingdom everything we have, we’re never sorry for that because the return is unbelievable.
I love the story of Ida Fuller. She died in 1975 at the age of 100. Ida Fuller’s Social Security number was 000-00-0001. She was, of course, the first woman to receive social security. In her life she paid $22 in income tax but she received back $22,000 in social security payments. She received back more than $1,000 for every dollar she put in. I think we all know that social security doesn’t often work like that. It doesn’t work like that today and it doesn’t look like it’s going to work like that in the future but the kingdom of heaven works like that. You give yourself to Jesus and He gives Himself to you, then you get a lot better deal than He gets because His life is immortal. His life is eternal. His life is filled with joy and purpose and meaning. As we offer ourselves to Him, He gives Himself to us and all of His inheritance is ours.
Now, as we come to the communion table this morning, I’m mindful of the fact that communion is called a sacrament. The word sacrament comes from the Latin word sacramentum. The early Christian church throughout the Roman world called communion the sacramentum but curiously enough, the sacramentum was also the title given to the oath or the vow that Roman citizens made when they joined the Roman legions. They made an oath called the sacramentum. In fact the word sacramentum, that Latin word, means “sacred oath.” When Roman citizens took the sacramentum, when they took that sacred oath as they joined the Roman legions, they were committing themselves, offering themselves, unto death in service of the Emperor and the Empire.
Christians understood when they called communion the sacramentum that it was a sacred oath. I’m sure most of you, as you come to this table, have some sense in which you view communion as sacred but do you understand that communion is a time of an oath and a vow? Do you understand that as you take the bread and the cup, that you are pledging yourself anew to King and kingdom, to Christ and His kingdom? You’ll never be sorry because His kingdom is the greatest treasure of all and it will give you everything you need.
So as we come to this table this morning, we don’t want to simply remember the forgiveness of sins and the grace and the mercy that we’ve found through Christ and His shed blood on the cross, but we also want to offer ourselves anew in consecration and commitment to Christ and His kingdom. Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.