Treasure, Part 1

The Kingdom of Heaven

7^th May 2011

Matthew 13v44
"The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

This parable is so simple, so straightforward, and so short, that we all understand it. But although we understand what Jesus is saying, we find it difficult to apply it to our lives.

When we find the salvation that comes though faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the forgiveness or our sins, the fulness of the Holy Spirit, eternal life, a clear conscience, confidence in our future, right relationship with God, adoption into God's family and the many day-by-day blessings we receive from Him, it is a joyful experience - if we've understood it at all.

And if we have understood the Gospel, and accepted it, then in our joy, we gladly give up everything we have in order to receive Jesus as our King and Saviour.

Jesus's next parable teaches us exactly the same lesson:

Matthew 13v45-46
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it".

The Kingdom of God is of such great value that it's worth everything we have. And it costs everything we have.

It even costs us ourselves:

1 Corinthians 6v19b-20a
You are not your own; you were bought at a price.

Jesus gave everything he had for us, and we can only enter His Kingdom by giving everything we have for him. We've been redeemed at the cost of His life, and we now belong to Him.

But what does that mean for how we actually live?

In the story of the rich young ruler, found in Matthew 19v16-22, Mark 10v17-22 and Luke 18v18-23, the young man asked Jesus "what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said (Mark 10v21) "One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." This makes us ask, does God require all of us to sell all of our possessions in order to be Christians? If not, why did he say this to the rich young ruler?

Passages like Acts 5v3-4 show us that Christians can choose not to sell all we have (but we should be honest about it and not pretend to have sacrificed more than we have). Ephesians 4v28 says that a Christian should "work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need". This implies having something left for ourselves. And, of course, the Good Samaritan would not have been able to do much for the injured man if he hadn't had any money. On the other hand, passages like Matthew 10v9-10, "Do not take along any gold or silver or copper in your belts; take no bag for the journey, or extra tunic, or sandals or a staff; for the worker is worth his keep." suggest that we should make no provision for our own welfare, but should trust God to "give us each day our daily bread".

Here's what I think the Bible teaches about this:

• To become a Christian, we must acknowledge Jesus as our absolute Lord, who owns us and all we have;
• Jesus wants most of us to have jobs and homes, so we can give to the poor and provide hospitality to others, and so we can enjoy our lives;
• For some Christians, at some times, Jesus wants us to have nothing;
• Since all the money and possessions and even the life we enjoy are now God's, not ours, He can take them away whenever He pleases;
• If God calls us to give something away, and we refuse, he may allow us to resist Him for a time, but this is sin.

The best way I can find to summarise this is:

To become a Christian, we must give our lives to Christ. We must choose to live in dependence on Him and obedience to Him, handing over to Him the title deeds to all we are and all we have. He may permit us to enjoy money and possessions, and he may not. Either way, all the money and possessions that we seem to have belong to Him, not to us.

To put it even more simply:

To become a Christian is to accept gladly that Jesus is God and I am not.

And the rich young man? I think Jesus knew he was unwilling to sign over all his possessions, and so was unable to become a disciple.

Mark 10v22-23
At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"

What about us?