A Sermon by Pastor Tom Lacey . . .

Slice of Jesus’ Life

Matthew 13:31-33, 44-52

Preached at Congregational Church of Boca Raton, July 27, 2008

A young man excitedly tells his mother he's fallen in love and that he is going to get married. He says, “Just for fun, mom, I'm going to bring over three women and you try to guess which one I'm going to marry.” The mother agrees. The next day he brings three women into the house and sits them down on the couch and they chat for a while. Then he says, “Okay mom, guess which one I'm going to marry.” She immediately replies, “The one on the right.” “That's amazing. You're right. How did you know?” “Because,” she says, “I don't like her.” Now that’s a slice of life.

Our text is about another slice of life, life in the kingdom. The kingdom of God is not something we enter someday when we die. It is not even something we have to strive for. The kingdom of God is here. It’s now. It is a present reality just waiting for us to stumble upon. It’s already within our grasp. It is there waiting to be discovered. God is waiting to be discovered, like a treasure in a field, like the pearl of great value. The wonders of God and faith are lying hidden from normal sight, and waiting for us, just like fresh water was for a group of a people on a raft off the coast of Brazil. They were perishing from thirst. What they didn’t know was that the water they were floating on wasn’t salt water. The Amazon River comes out into the Atlantic with such force that it’s the water that everything floats on for a couple of miles. They had all the fresh water they needed. You are surrounded by joy, love, and strength. Reach for it and drink it in. Take a chance and test the waters of God’s care and kindness. As scripture says, “Everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters.” Is.55:1 And Jesus tells us, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty.” Jn.4:13-14 The greatest joy is to know God personally, to live in the center of that will, to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, to be secure in this love, and to be busy in the Lord’s service. To win an Olympic gold medal causes profound joy for even such a veteran as Carl Lewis. For a few months you are feted and celebrated. You appear on talk shows and endorse some athletic shoes. The gold medal is framed and displayed over the mantle. But after a while, life returns to normal, and things return to pre-gold medal level. Suppose however there is a kind of gold you can win, a treasure you can claim, that keeps on producing joy. In fact, it gets better, all through the years. Wouldn't that be the best discovery one could make? That kind of joy is just what Jesus promised. Even on the night before his execution, he was thinking of it. He said, "I have told you these things that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy may be full." Jn 15:11 Believe Jesus when he tells you about real happiness. Don’t listen to commercials that are trying to sell you something, but buy from the one who for you died.

What we want to see this morning is that we should live as citizens in God’s country, in the Lord’s realm.

Jesus says we don't have to chase the Kingdom. It's already here. It's already available. We have already won the prize. All we have to do is claim it. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven (the two terms are interchangeable), he was talking about the reign of God in human hearts. Just imagine for a moment that with a wave of a magic wand you could have all of the following: a conscience utterly free of guilt, an absolute assurance that you will live with God forever, an attitude of good will toward all people, and a confident conviction that God has a wonderful plan for your life and will reveal it as you go along. And, as frosting on the cake, you have a sense of peace and joy in the depths of your soul. What would you pay for that kind of treasure? $10,000? More than that. People pay $10,000 to get free of back pain. What God is offering is not for sale, not to be bought with money.  

It is a true story—no matter how much like a fairy tale it may sound. A totally unsuspecting man literally stumbled upon the world's largest diamond—all 3,106 carats of it. It happened in Premier Mine #2, near Pretoria, South Africa, in early 1905. This amazing stone was then sent in an ordinary cardboard box to England. One hundred and five stones were cut from this diamond, known as the Cullinan diamond. Two of the largest stones which it produced, the 530-carat Star of Africa and the 317-carat Cullinan II, are part of the British crown jewels. Nowadays people dream of winning the Publishers Clearing House or the lottery. But in Jesus' time people dreamed of finding treasure buried in a field. Commerce and banking were not as sophisticated as they are today. There were no offshore banks in the Grand Caymans; no unnumbered accounts in Switzerland. Before banks and safety deposit boxes it was common practice to bury valuables in the ground. In times of crisis, in times of insurrection, persons would bury their valuables to keep them from the forces taking over their towns and villages. Even during the American Civil War when southern cities were being burned, persons buried their valuables in the ground for safekeeping. It gained no interest, but at least it was secure. Unfortunately, some of these people died before reclaiming their wealth. So there it lay just waiting for someone to discover it. If someone found that treasure, in order to secure his new found wealth, the lucky finder hid the treasure all over again in that same field. In the parable someone, quite unexpectedly, comes upon this buried treasure. The interesting thing is he wasn't even on a treasure hunt. He just stumbled upon incredible good fortune. It was the find of a lifetime. He was so happy he could not contain himself. In fact he was so excited that he went and sold all his belongings so he could buy that field.

God asks each of us to make an investment of our lives and our possessions. God asks us to take who we are and what we have and lay these on the altar of faith. That’s because where we have no investment, we have no heart. If we acknowledge that it all belongs to God, then God gives us a treasure greater than the Cullinan diamond. It is a gift that money can't buy. It is life with God and it only comes through heart and faith, and it’s waiting for any who would receive it.

In Hawaii tourists sometimes are interested in hunting semi-precious gems known as olivines. Occasionally they change their travel plans, stopping at the Big Island where they can find these in the volcano crater area near Kilauea. Sometimes while there, they also search for Pele’s tears, green sand, black sand, and other crystalline rarities. But there is one precious gem that they never find in that region nor in any land area within the mid-Pacific. In fact this gem is not to be found on land at all but is found only under water. It is the pearl, the precious jewel of which our text speaks. In our day pearls have lost much of their value. Firms have learned to culture them in vast pearl beds and even to make them artificially. In biblical times, the pearl was probably the costliest and most sought-after gem. The ancient Palestinians did not have diamonds. Consequently, when Jesus wished to compare the Kingdom of Heaven with the most valuable earthly object of which people were familiar, he chose the pearl. Simply put, the Kingdom of Heaven means salvation, acknowledgement of Christ, having his rule in our hearts, accepting the blessings of Christ’s redeeming love, having the assurance of eternity with God in glory—having the pearl of great price.

An 80-year old Italian man goes to the doctor for a check-up. The doctor is amazed at what good shape the guy is in and asks, "How do you stay in such great physical condition?" "I'm Italian and I am a golfer," says the old guy. "I'm up well before daylight and out golfing up and down the fairways. Have a glass of vino and all is well." "Well," says the doctor, "I'm sure that helps, but there's got to be more to it. How old was your Dad when he died?" "Who said my Dad's dead?" The doctor is amazed. "You mean you're 80 years old and your Dad's still alive. How old is he?" "He's 100 years old," says the Old Italian golfer. "In fact he golfed with me this morning and then we went to the beach for a walk, that's why he's still alive - he's Italian and he's a golfer, too." "Well," the doctor says, "that's great, but I'm sure there's more to it than that. How about your Dad's Dad? How old was he when he died?" "Who said my grandpa's dead?" Stunned, the doctor asks, "You mean you're 80 years old and your grandfather's still living! Incredible! How old is he?" "He's 118 years old," says the Old Italian golfer. The doctor is getting frustrated at this point, "So, I guess he went golfing with you this morning too?" "No. Grandpa couldn't go this morning because he's getting married today." At this point the doctor is close to losing it. "Getting married!! Why would a 118 year-old guy want to get married?" "Who said he wanted to?" Some things never change, huh. Golfing is important for some, and it may lengthen the number of theirdays, but no matter how many days we get, the most important question is whether God is in them.

Besides using the pearl to point out the ultimate importance of life in God’s way, Jesus also used the pearl to teach us something else. While the talented lapidary has to saw, grind, and polish other stones to bring out their hues and to make them sparkle and shine, the pearl cannot be touched. Any attempt to improve upon it is like trying to add color to the rainbow or beauty to the rose. It simply can’t be done because the pearl is already complete and finished. A Christian had a friend who was an unusually gifted artist. His paintings were wonderful. But the artist was not a Christian, and his friend talked to him about Christ’s work of salvation. The artist believed it couldn’t be that easy and that he had to do something to find God and receive Jesus Christ. But because he could never figure out what that was, he let the whole thing drop. One Christmas, the artist presented his Christian friend with a beautiful painting. But instead of being grateful, he criticized the picture. He said, "I think you should add a tree here and another bush there. Put some more rocks in the foreground and an old stump in the center." Somewhat angered, the artist friend replied, "If I do that, it would spoil the picture. Anything added to that picture will not improve it but ruin it. Why don’t you accept the picture just as it is?" Then his friend seized the opportunity. He replied, "It’s the same with God’s love for you. Jesus Christ has done it all. His life, his love, shown in his passion on the cross, remove all sins and open the way for God’s gracious love for you. The doors are open. You cannot improve on his work. Why don’t you take it as it is? Christ is perfect."

Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” Find the life of greatest value. Trust the Lord with your days and nights. Enter the kingdom and know the overflowing grace of God. The Lord watches over all those who love him.

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