Well, are you into art? I wonder if some of you are. I have to confess I'm not particularly
! into art, especially abstract art. We had a friend staying with us a couple of weeks
! ago who told me how he and his wife have a poster of a Jackson Pollock painting in their
living room somewhere and they'd like to talk about it and discuss it. Now, I looked up a Jackson
Pollock painting this morning on the internet and to me Jackson Pollock number five was a
brown mess with lots of yellow and white lines through it. It means nothing to me. There's
a sort of beauty to it. So if you love it, good on you, that's great. It doesn't mean much
to me. It's not to my taste. It's obviously someone's taste because back in 2006 someone
spent £140 million, or a million dollars rather, buying it. So it's obviously someone's taste.
They found value even where I didn't see any. Now, I don't know if you're into art,
but a lot of people treat Christianity like art. You can be into it or not. You might find
it interesting, you might not. It might be to your taste, it might not. I have a neighbour,
I think I mentioned him a couple of weeks ago, he said, you know, why should I bother with
religion, Stuart? I gave up on religion when I was 18 and I didn't have to go to church
anymore, so I started doing sport more. Instead, I was more interested in sport. So that's how
people often think, isn't it? We can be into art, into sport, into Christianity, into whatever
you like. It doesn't harm anyone. And perhaps in the crowds that Jesus had been speaking to,
perhaps amongst even the disciples he was now speaking to by this stage, there were people
who had the same kind of, well, I can take it or leave it attitude. The crowds were starting
to drift away from Jesus. There'd started to be opposition. Back in chapter 12, we saw
that. The religious leaders rejecting Jesus, being hostile to him. And so perhaps some were
thinking, oh, this isn't that important. It was interesting seeing the miracles, but I
don't want to know any more. I'm not really into this. It's not my cup of tea, or whatever
the equivalent first century Palestinian expression would have been. Well, look at what Jesus is
saying here. He rounds up his teaching to his disciples, and it is just the disciples
he's speaking to here. If you look back to verse 36, you'll see Jesus leaves the crowds
by the lakes, moves into a house. He's now talking to his disciples. And he wants them to understand
that his kingdom, his message, the good news of Jesus, is not just something to take or leave
depending on whether you're interested. He wants them and us to see that it's priceless
and of fundamental importance. You see what he's talking about if you look at verse 44.
He says, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Now, you have to pause there,
don't we, and say, what is the kingdom of heaven? We know what the United Kingdom is. That's
an island of various other islands that we're standing on at the moment. But what's the kingdom
of heaven? Well, it's not heaven itself. But the kingdom of heaven is not a place, physically,
right now. Rather, the kingdom of heaven is everywhere and everyone who accepts the king
of heaven as their king. In other words, the kingdom of heaven is wherever Jesus rules, whoever
Jesus rules over. That's what the kingdom of heaven is about. And so far in Matthew chapter
13, Jesus has told a number of stories to explain what the kingdom of heaven is like. He's described
it as being something that's currently small but will grow huge, like a mustard seed that
grows into a great tree. It's like yeast, it's hidden at the moment, and yet has a big transformative
effect. It is opposed, like the weeds in the field, like the wheat in the field which has
got weeds planted through it by an enemy. It is currently opposed but will one day triumph.
And he said the message of it is something that will bear fruit in some people's lives but
is ignored by others. Now he gets to these last few parables. And the first two parables
here have very similar messages. Look at verses 45 to 46. So the kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field which a man found and covered it 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.
Now we see the big message there if we look at the similarity between those two stories,
those two parables. The similarity is this, isn't it? These two people both find something
that is incredibly valuable. And so they're prepared to get rid of everything else they have so they
can possess this thing that is so valuable. See it's not so much a story about the cost of being
part of the kingdom, although that is true and that is there. Rather it's just sort of the value
of the kingdom. Judges, neither of these men in these stories resented giving up what they had
to possess this treasure or this pearl. Look at verse 44. When the man finds the treasure,
he covers it up and in his joy he goes and sells all that he has. It's what he wanted. It was the
thing of most value. Similarly this merchant who finds the pearl he's been looking for all his life
and he'll sell all the others to be able to have this one thing. He does it happily. I guess a bit
like the guy who bought Jackson Pollock number five. He parsed with that $140 million
joyfully, apparently, to have this painting that he's so wanted. And actually all human beings
are all like that, aren't we? We all do what we think will make us happy. We all do what we think
will make us happy. That was Blaise Pascal's observation back in the 17th century, the great
French polymath, that every man does work for his own happiness. For some it leads them going
to war, for others it leads them to commit suicide. But with each one it's the same motive,
it is to be happy. And so it is with these people in Jesus' story. They're prepared to sell
all they have to get the thing that is most treasured, that will make them most happy to
be part of the kingdom. As I think about the people I've met in my life, I know people who
have given up a huge amount because they found the treasure of knowing Jesus as their Lord
the Savior, the treasure of being part of his kingdom. I think of a friend of mine who
had worked hard all his life to become a professor of psychology at a decent university in the
States where he was from. And he just got to the point where having laboured to get his
PhD, having laboured in postdoctoral studies, having laboured in teaching, he finally got to
the point where he had a secure job. But in those years of teaching, he'd become a Christian.
And so he left the secure job behind, pretty much sold everything they had, to move to
start studying at a seminary, to become a minister, and is now trying to start a little church in
Boston in the US. Given up everything. Why? Because of the treasure of knowing Jesus as being
part of his kingdom. Think of a friend of my old church who had become a Christian while
outside her native country of Iran. And she could not go back. She had to leave behind
family and friends and seek asylum in this country. Why? Well, ultimately because of the value
of being part of Jesus' kingdom. And that's the point Jesus is making here. To be part of his
kingdom, to know him, to have all that he offers, is far greater, more greater riches than anyone
could ever find on earth. But why? Why is the kingdom of heaven so valuable? Why is it not
just take it or leave it, like whether you like art or sport? Well, if we read through all that
Jesus teaches, we find that in the kingdom of heaven, we can find acceptance. It doesn't matter
what you've done, where you've been, however many mistakes we've made in life, however many
people we've hurt. There is a warm welcome and forgiveness from heaven's king, Jesus.
Not only that, but we can be made into new people in the kingdom of heaven. As people trust
Jesus as their king, he changes our hearts, changes our lives, makes us new. We're no longer
defined by our genes, by our family upbringing, by our education, or anything else we feel defines
and restricts us. Jesus makes us new in his kingdom. And in the kingdom of heaven, we also
find real hope. We find that Jesus is a king who came to take upon himself the suffering of
the world, the evil that is in the world, the punishment that it takes to put the world
right. He took it all on himself, so that he can offer hope, hope of a world to come, where
every tear will be wiped away. Do you see the treasure? The treasure of acceptance? The
treasure of a fresh start? The treasure of a real hope? That is the treasure of his kingdom.
Some don't see the treasure in the field, some don't see the true value of that pearl. But
Jesus says it is there. It might cost us to have that treasure, it might cost us to follow
Jesus. For some of us it might cost our reputation. People think, well, how could he or she believe
that nonsense? For every one of us it costs us our pride. As we admit we have no riches
of our own, but need what Jesus offers. For some it costs our friendships. For some it costs
the lie-in on a Sunday morning. But it's real treasure, says Jesus. That's a great similarity
between these stories, but you notice also the difference. The first person isn't looking
for treasure, he just stumbles across it in the field. Wasn't searching, but he found
it. I think of a friend of mine who's a bit like that. She wasn't seeking spiritual answers,
she wasn't looking for meaning in life, she just went out for drinks with a couple of colleagues
on Friday night after work. And one of these colleagues was a Christian, and this other, this
Christian colleague was talking to the other friend, trying to persuade him something about
Christianity. As my friend listened in, she suddenly thought, this is true. So very quickly
she turned to Jesus as her Lord and Saviour. She wasn't looking, but she was found. She found
a treasure. On the other hand, other people are like this merchant in verses 45 and 46, who
search hard all their lives, try to find something of value. Try to find something to make life
worth living. Try to find something that makes sense of life. Now, I wonder who you can identify
with. If you're the person who is searching for something of great value, then can I encourage you
to keep searching? I'm glad you're here. Maybe you've got questions. I'd love to talk to you about it.
Let's chat briefly at the end and put some time in the diary to go for a coffee or something.
Keep searching. Keep looking. That's the first difference between these people. One wasn't
seeking but found. One was searching hard and long. But the other difference is the social
difference between them. The socio-economic difference, if you like. The man who stumbers
across the treasure in the field is just a labourer. Just a workman. Just happens to be
in the field and finds this thing. So he sells everything he can to buy the field and get the treasure.
The other man? Well, he's wealthy, isn't he? He's a merchant trading fine pearls. He's a
wealthy man. See the point Jesus is making here by these two contrasts? This kingdom is
for everyone. From the richest to the poorest. Doesn't matter our background. Doesn't matter
which country we're from. Doesn't matter how educated we are. It is for everyone. And it
is so valuable. It's his first story. Jesus teaches us the kingdom is so valuable. It
makes everything else disposable. Disposable by comparison. So valuable. Well, I guess the
disciples at that point may have thought, well, okay, you say it's valuable, Jesus, but right
right now with people picking on us, right now with the scribes and the Pharisees against
us, we're not so sure. So Jesus tells them another story. Look at verse 47.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of
every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers
that threw away the bad. So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate
the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace in the place where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's great Jesus gives us the explanation, isn't it? We can't miss the
point of this parable. He's telling us that one day there's going to be judgment, there's going to be
separation, the righteous and the evil. Jesus is making the point that the kingdom is not only
valuable, it is inescapable. It is inescapable. Everyone is in this story. All of us, all of us
are fishing who will be caught in this net one day. And the question is, are we going to be on the
righteous or the evil? We'll come to that in a moment. But I guess there's a, amongst us, there could be a
natural instinctive reaction against teaching about judgment, can't there? It all sounds so, so
mean, doesn't it, in some ways. You say, well, hang on, how can a God of love judge people? That's
something I hear quite a lot. Maybe it's thought you've got right now. Well, let's think about that
for a moment. How do you feel if someone you loved, if someone you loved was killed by a drunk driver,
or was blown up in a terrorist attack, how would you feel? Well, if we loved the person who was the
victim, we'd want justice for them, wouldn't we? We'd want justice to be done. We wouldn't say, oh, it
doesn't matter. I'm a tolerant, loving person. I don't care that my loved one died. That wouldn't
make sense, would it? See, justice is not the opposite of love. The opposite of love is indifference
and apathy. So loving God must care, must judge. He must judge people when they hurt you, because
he loves you. And so when they hurt you, he must judge them. But of course, the catch is that
when I hurt people, when I offend against people, because the Lord God loves those people, he
requires justice of me. See, God has to judge because he is a God of love. But there's another
way in which people are tempted to, we're often tempted, I think, to soften Jesus' teaching
about judgment. I said, okay, well, yes, I believe in heaven, I believe in eternal life,
that's good, but surely a loving God wouldn't punish people for all eternity, would he? Now
that would just be vindictive, that wouldn't be just. And actually, if all we knew about
hell was what Jesus says here, in verse 49 and 50, the evil we've thrown into the fiery
furnace, in that place, there'd be weeping and gnashing of teeth, if that was all Jesus
had ever said, then we might think, well, maybe, maybe hell doesn't last that long. But in
other places, Jesus is really clear. So in Matthew 25, verses 46 and 47, he talks about
the contrast between eternal punishment and eternal life. Jesus is clear. Rebellion against
an infinite God justly demands infinite punishment. There is no get out of jail free card. And that's
why Jesus tells us this parable. Because he loves us and wants to give us a warning. The
kingdom of heaven is inescapable. It's inescapable. And therefore everything else is trivial in
comparison. The kingdom of heaven is valuable, so everything else is disposable by comparison.
But the kingdom of heaven is inescapable. So every other issue, every other question
is inescapable by comparison. Imagine if you were woken up in the middle of the night
by the sound of a fire alarm going off, and you suddenly realise that your bedroom was swamped
by flames on the door of your bedroom. Your house is about to be burned down. What would
you do? Would you go to your wardrobe and calmly get dressed in your nicest clothes, so when
the fire became, you'd look good? I suspect not. Suddenly your appearance becomes trivial,
doesn't it? Absolutely trivial. You've got to save your life and get out of there. And
that's why Jesus tells this story. He loves us. He wants us to see that his kingdom is inescapable.
There is judgment coming one day for all of us. But Jesus has something else he wants to
say to us and to his disciples. Remember, he's speaking to his disciples here. He's training
his disciples up to do his work, to tell people his message, to pass that on. And so as any
good teacher, at the end of his teaching, he asks them, verse 51, have you understood all
these things? And like every scared student, they say, yes. And frankly, they probably
didn't understand everything as we discover as they go on in the Gospel. But Jesus had
explained some of these parables to them. They understood some things. So he goes on and
says this to them in verse 52. He said to them, therefore, every scribe who has been trained
for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who brings out of his treasure what
is new and what is old. Now the scribes were the religious teachers of the day. They
were the experts in the Old Testament law. And so that was how they made their living.
They were teacher people. They'd be the go-to folks. If you ever have a question, the scribes
would be able to answer it. But often the scribes were in conflict with Jesus. So read through
the Gospels, we find that. So that's why Jesus adds this little caveat. It's every scribe
who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven. Actually, that would be better translated,
every scribe who is a disciple of the kingdom of heaven. Every scribe who has had their hearts
transformed by trusting in my message, says Jesus. What's every scribe who is a disciple
of Jesus like? He says this, doesn't he? Verse 52. It's like a master of a house who brings
out of his treasure what is new and what is old. It's almost, if you can picture it for
a moment, it's like going to one of these great stately homes owned by the National Trust.
You get there and you see the old Rembrandts and the beautiful Ming vases. And then the
tour guide takes you around the back and shows you the brand new Aston Martin. Or the very
posh, bang and loathsome sound system that's been bespoke designed to go in one of the rooms
there. It's treasures old and new. Well, as Jesus puts it, treasures new and old.
Why would the tour guide be showing you those things? Not just to show off how great the riches
are in the house, but because they're beautiful, desirable things. Look at this vase. Look at
this incredible sound system. Look at the beauty that's on display here. And that's the message
Jesus wants his disciples to hear. That the teaching of God's kingdom is so beautiful, it should
be shared. That's why he says the master of the house brings out his treasure, what is
new and what is old, to display it so others can see the beauty of this message. Now what
is the storehouse that the master brings the treasures out of? Well, we have a little clue
to sort of back over the page. Back in chapter 12, verse 36. Jesus talks in verse 35 about
the person out of his good treasure brings forth good. The evil person out of the evil treasure
brings forth evil. What is the treasure? Well, back in verse 34 he tells us, out of the abundance
of the heart the mouth speaks. So the treasure house is the heart. Jesus is saying if you
can bring out these teachings, the new teachings, the teachings about my kingdom, the teachings
about me as the king, and the old treasures, the treasures of the Old Testament, which is
always promising that a kingdom would come one day, that a king would come one day, and
bear away the sins of his people, pay the punishment for them, so that the kingdom could be established,
so that the perfect world could be renewed again. They are the treasures old and new. They
are stored in the hearts of every disciple, everyone who truly trusts in Jesus and knows
him as their king. So Jesus says to his disciples, this beautiful treasure needs to be shown, needs
to be talked about, needs to be displayed. The treasure of knowing that the king has died,
so that rebels like me and you can be part of his kingdom, and not just enemies who will
be destroyed. The treasure of the good news, that we can be accepted no matter what we've
done, because of what Jesus has done. The treasure of the good news that's told throughout the
story, of God's promise to make our hearts new, that we might want to obey him and want
to walk in his ways. The treasure that is hidden in the Old Testament and revealed in Jesus,
of the kingdom to come, where there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain. It's beautiful
treasure, isn't it? If we believe it, what could possibly stop us sharing it with others?
It's what Jesus wants his disciples to see. It's such beautiful news, it should be shared.
Well, back in November 2006, there was a letter in the Financial Times from Professor Jessica
Kessler from the University of California in Los Angeles, and he wrote this letter telling
of how, as a young man living in New York, he'd become, he'd seen a beautiful picture, what
he thought was a beautiful picture, in Betty Pearson's small gallery. He wrote, I longed and
lusted for it. I was almost 19, and she begged me for two weeks to take it off her hands for
$450. She was willing to accommodate me if I would pay her just $5 a week. But that was
the weekly allowance for my bus fare to the college classes. So he never made the sacrifices
to get the picture he loved. He concluded the letter by saying, well, the picture was,
of course, Jackson Pollock number five, sold November 2006 for $140 million. He concluded
his letter saying this, let your readers try to imagine how many miles of blocks I have
kicked myself around since 1948. Why? Because it was a treasure. It was valuable. The message
of the Kingdom of Heaven is even greater. It is so valuable, it makes everything else seem
disposable. It is inescapable, it makes everything else seem trivial. It is so beautiful. It must
be shared by those of us who know it. We don't want to kick ourselves around blocks. Because
actually when judgement comes, we won't be able to kick ourselves around blocks. Let's pray.