Great Worth of the Kingdom

The central message of Jesus was the arrival of the kingdom of God. The Gospel that Jesus embodied, proclaimed, and demonstrated, was the Gospel of the Kingdom. His arrival was a declaration that a new King was in town. As followers of the King of kings, it makes sense that we would be rooted in a kingdom dynamic. It also is important for us as his church to see how the kingdom God was meant to be the natural cultural and overflow of our lives.

The word “kingdom” occurs 120 times in the gospels (53 in Matthew and 45 in Luke). We are going to walk with Jesus into a rich and practical theology of the kingdom for the next 7 weeks.

Transcript

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Thank you for listening to an audio resource from Stanwich Church, located in Greenwich in Stanford, Connecticut. The vision of Stanwich Church is to know Christ and make him known.

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This brief parable reveals the kingdom of God as the source of great joy and immeasurable worth. A reading from Matthew chapter 13, beginning with the 44th verse. 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. May God add his blessing to the reading of his holy word.

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Ever since I was little, I had a dream of being used by God in healing. So after I graduated college, I did an internship with a doctor while preparing for medical school. And during that time, I was serving in my local church. I was singing on the worship team and leading a young adult ministry, mostly made up of college graduates like myself. And on the outside, everything looked like it was lining up. My career goals were on track. Spiritually, I was actively involved in the church. But beneath the surface, there was a quiet, growing sense of longing. Something that I couldn't quite name or explain. But I remember recognizing it one Sunday morning during worship. I was in the worship team singing, and we were singing this joyful, exuberant, upbeat song, and I felt completely disconnected. I felt no joy, no excitement. Like I had a spiritual plateau. I was still singing, still praying, still reading my Bible, still showing up to church, but I felt like I was just going through the motions. Like I had hit a wall. And I remember thinking to myself, is this all there is? Is life just about checking boxes? Career goals, relational goals, even faith goals? Or is there something deeper, something more than what I can see and accomplish? Maybe you felt that same longing. A lot of us can end up in that place, even if it looks different on the outside. We pursue the things that the world has taught us to value: success, stability, relationships, achievements, these earthly treasures that promise fulfillment, but somehow leave us still wanting. So as we continue in our Kingdom of God series this morning, Jesus invites us to consider one of the longings of the human heart. What do we truly treasure? And today we're gonna see that the kingdom of God is worth far more than the lesser things we chase after in life. And when the value is truly seen, everything changes. We're gonna be looking at two short parables in Matthew chapter 13, the treasure hidden in a field, and a pearl of great price. And though there are subtle differences between them, their core message is the same. So let's begin with the first parable in Matthew chapter 13, verse 44. This is what Jesus says about the kingdom. He 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. So in Jesus' day, people often hid valuables underground because there were no safes or banks. We even see this in the parable of the talents, where the feel for fearful servant hides his master's money buried in the ground instead of putting it to work. And here in this parable, a man discovers treasure buried in a field. But what's interesting is that instead of just taking the treasure for himself, he covers it back up with dirt, sells everything he has, and then comes back to buy that whole field. Why does he do that? I mean, hasn't he ever heard of finders-keepers? Well, the reason is simple. If he simply took the treasure, it would not legally belong to him. My guess is that he didn't want the whole field. He just wanted the treasure. But in order to rightfully possess the treasure, he had to buy the field that contained it. He recognized the surpassing worth of that treasure. And in his joy, he gladly gives up everything to possess it. Now, in some ways, marriage can feel like this. When two people are dating, their partner can seem like pure treasure. They're shiny, they sparkle, and all you can see is the good. But when you get married, you don't just get the treasure, you get the whole field. Those of you that are laughing know what I'm talking about. You don't just get your partner's strengths, but you get their quirks, you get their weaknesses, you get their history, and you get their family dynamics, for better or for worse. Marriage means counting the cost, asking, am I willing to embrace the whole field because I truly treasure this person? And that's the point of the parable. It's that the kingdom of God is so valuable that when you truly see it for what it's worth, you will count the cost and gladly give up everything to have it. Jesus reinforces this idea in the next parable in verse 45. He says, 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. Now the Greek word for merchant here refers to a seasoned traveler, a wholesale dealer, someone who has spent his whole life searching for things of value. He knows the market. He's seen a lot of pearls. But when he finds this one, something is different. He's never seen anything quite like it. And without hesitation, he liquidates everything to make it his. Two different people, two different paths to the same discovery. One stumbles onto treasure by surprise, the other finds it after a lifelong search, but both respond in the same way. Once the treasure is found, everything else becomes secondary. You see, throughout scripture, Jesus connects treasure not with money, but with what a person values most, pursues most deeply, and trusts most fully. That's why he says in Matthew 6, 21, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So our treasure reveals our allegiance. Whatever we treasure will shape our desires, our attention, our time, and ultimately our purpose and identity. So it's worth asking ourselves a few honest questions. Like, what occupies my thought when I wake up first thing in the morning? What am I pursuing with the greatest energy? What do I fear losing the most? What gives me my sense of worth and security? Is it rooted in Christ? Or is it in something else? Now hear me, it's not wrong to have dreams, desires, and goals, but our priorities must be rightly ordered. To follow Jesus means that our greatest treasure is Christ Himself. Above every ambition, success, relationship, or possession. When Jesus is first, everything else finds its proper place. But when something else takes its place, even good things can become modern-day idols. Something that our comformance explained so well last week. And here is where the parable takes a turn that changes everything. Yes, we are called to treasure the kingdom of God above all else. But the only way that happens is when we first discover the good news of the gospel. And it's that Jesus first treasured us. You see, earlier in Matthew 13, Jesus says this in the parable of the weeds. He says, the field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. So based on this previous parable, if the field is the world, then that means that we are the treasure hidden within it. And Jesus is the man, the true merchant who came searching for us, who saw our worth even before we could see it for ourselves, and gave up everything he had, even his own life, to make us his own. You see, it says in 1 Peter 2 9, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light. Before the foundation of the world, God chose you. Before you were formed in your mother's womb, and he wanted you. And it doesn't matter whatever you've gone through in this life, how many times you've stumbled, God still wants you. John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in one will not perish, but will have eternal life. For God did not send his son to condemn the world, but to save it. You are the treasure that he seeks. And he bought the whole field. All of your sin, all of your mess, all of your brokenness, Jesus bored on his own body and carried it to the cross so that you might be made new, holy and righteous before God. But the story doesn't end there. It just keeps getting better. Once we have been found as God's treasured possession, we are then sent by the power of the Holy Spirit to seek out other hidden treasures still buried in the world. So today is Pentecost Sunday. It's a day where we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which marked the birth of the church, when God came to dwell within his people and clothe them with power from on high so they could be his witnesses in the world. Paul captures this reality in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. He says, But we have this treasure and jars of clay to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. In and of ourselves, we are weak, imperfect, ordinary vessels. Yet God has chosen to place his Holy Spirit, his presence, and his eternal kingdom within us, so that his power might be revealed to the world. So years ago, when I hit that spiritual plateau, and I was asking myself, is this all there is? I became hungry for more of God. I cried out to God daily in prayer, asking him to touch me. And one day he did. The Holy Spirit suddenly came upon me so powerfully, it was like waves of electricity were surging throughout my body, and I was filled with immense joy. Shortly after that encounter, I had a dream. One night, I dreamt that I was in a dark house, and I heard the sound of a young woman who was crying. And so I followed the sound, and it led me to a room, and there was a young woman from my church who was sitting alone in the darkness. Now, she was someone that I barely knew in person. She had a mental illness that made her somewhat of an outcast, and she had stopped coming to church. But in the dream, she was in there in the dark crying, and so I asked her, Why are you crying? And she said, Nobody loves me, nobody cares about me. And I held her in my arms and I said, That's not true, because Jesus loves you. And suddenly this dark figure appeared and began to attack me. And so I ran out of that house in fear. When I woke up, I dismissed the dream. But exactly three days later, I was visiting another church where the pastor said to me, I was praying and I felt like God wants you to do something. And he says, Don't be afraid because I'll be with you. And immediately I knew who he was talking about. And initially I resisted it because I was afraid. But eventually I followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and I began to call her. This went on for days, where I would call her and there was no answer, so I'd leave a message. And then it went on for weeks, and then it went on for months. But during that time, the Holy Spirit gave me such love and compassion for this person I barely knew. I knew it was from God. So I continued to pray for her. Well, three months later, she walks into church like nothing happened. And so I went up to her and I said, Where have you been? God put you on my heart to pray for you this whole time. And she shared that during that time she was in the hospital because her condition had gotten so severe. And during that time, there wasn't a single family member or a friend that came to visit her. The only person that came to see her was a Christian nurse who happened to work on that floor. And she would come by her bedside every night to pray for her until she was well enough to leave. Well, as we began talking, she shared her story. It was a story full of abuse, abandonment, rejection, trauma, addiction. She was so broken and hurting. I remember every time we would meet, she would tell me a dark secret from her past, and my response to her would always be the same. It doesn't matter because Jesus loves you. And at first there was no reaction. But after months of sharing the love of Christ, one day tears filled her eyes as I said to her, Jesus loves you. And she gave her life to Jesus. She was God's treasure hidden in the field. And at one point, so were we. But Christ pursued us, found us, and redeemed us by his blood. And it's now by the power of the Holy Spirit we are sent to go do the same. If it weren't for the Spirit's guidance, the dream, the pastor's words, the prayer of that nurse, that woman might still be lost in the dark. This is why we need to know the person and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. So this morning, I want to leave you with two invitations. First, if you feel like you've been chasing other treasures in this life, things that promised fulfillment, but left you feeling empty, broken, or forgotten, I want you to know that Jesus sees you. He gave his life for you. You are the treasure that he's seeking out today. So come be found by him. Come speak to one of the pastors or to the prayer team after the service and tell us that you want to be found by Jesus. The second invitation is this if you are hungry for more of God like I was, you need the presence and the power of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost was never meant to be a one-time event. We are called to continually be filled with the Holy Spirit. So no matter where you are on your journey, there is always more of God to discover, more of his power and his love to experience, and more of his kingdom to reveal. You know, it's been years since I've had that powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit, but I'm still hungry and crying out for more. I want to see God touch bodies, heal hearts and minds, break bondages, transform lives the same way Jesus did when he walked on the earth. But the only way that happens is when we fully give ourselves to the Holy Spirit again and again. So if you're hungry for God and you want his kingdom to flow through your life, I invite you to come forward for prayer, either during communion or after the service, because we're gonna have prayer teams here up front to pray with you. So on this Pentecost Sunday, let us be people that seek Jesus, the greatest treasure, because he first treasured us. And now we are being sent by the power of the Holy Spirit to go find the hidden treasures in this world. Amen.

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To learn more about the mission and vision of Stanwich Church and how you can get involved, please visit Stanwichchurch.org.