Tuesday, July 29, 2008

July 27 Sermon

Pr. Daryl has great sermons! He was asked to share this one our blog. We hope you are blessed by it as well!

11th Sunday after Pentecost – July 27,2008
Matthew 13:44-52
44 “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. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 51  “Have you understood all these things?” They said to him, “Yes.” 52 And 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.”(ESV)
A stone lay for centuries in a shallow, limpid brook in North Carolina. A poor man passed one day and saw the stone as a good thing to hold his door ajar and took it home. One day a geologist stopped at the poor man's door and saw the lump of gold, the biggest lump of gold ever found east of the Rockies. You know sometimes we don't realize something valuable until its pointed out to us. This morning our gospel contains three parables-- two of these parables reveal to us how valuable the kingdom of heaven is to us. But before we look at these three parables about the kingdom, lets review what it is we are referring to when we talk about the Kingdom of heaven.
Some scholars have suggested that it might be more helpful to translate Kingdom of heaven or Kingdom of God as the reign or rule of God. In other word's the Kingdom of heaven is where God rules and reigns. It is also pointed out that the Kingdom of heaven includes much more than just the true believers who make up the church. It is much bigger than that. The kingdom of God embraces all created intelligence, both in heaven and earth that are willingly subject to the Lord and are in fellowship with him. The kingdom of God is therefore, universal in that it includes created angels and human. It is eternal, as God is eternal, and it is spiritual—found within all born again believers.
In the Large Catechism Luther asks: What is the kingdom of God? He answers by describing what the kingdom means personally for a believer but also refers to the final revelation when the Kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord. Listen to his definition. What is the Kingdom of God? Answer: Simply what we heard above in the Creed, namely, that God sent his Son, Christ our Lord, into the world to redeem and deliver us from the power of the devil, to bring us to himself, and to rule us as a king of righteousness, life, and salvation against sin, death, and an evil conscience. To this end he also gave his Holy Spirit to deliver this to us through his holy Word and to enlighten and strengthen us in faith by his power.
We ask here at the outset that all this may be realized in us and that his name may be praised through God’s holy Word and Christian living. This we ask, both in order that we who have accepted it may remain faithful and grow daily in it and also in order that it may find approval and gain followers among other people and advance with power throughout the world. In this way many, led by the Holy Spirit, may come into the kingdom of grace and become partakers of redemption, so that we may all remain together eternally in this kingdom that has now begun.
“The coming of God’s kingdom to us” takes place in two ways: first, it comes here, in time, through the Word and faith, and second, in eternity, it comes through the final revelation.1
Now lets look at three parables about the kingdom. First 44 “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. The point of this parable is that the kingdom of heaven is hidden but very valuable and acquired at great cost. Do you realize the hiddenness of the kingdom of heaven? Its difficult to point out to people where exactly the reign of God is. Eugene Peterson expresses the hiddenness of the kingdom well in his book The Contemplative Pastor. He writes: I bristle when a high-energy executive leaves the place of worship with the comment, “This was wonderful, Pastor, but now we have to get back to the real world, don’t we?” I had thought we were in the most-real world, the world revealed as God’s, a world believed to be invaded by God’s grace and turning on the pivot of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection. The executive’s comment brings me up short: he isn’t taking this seriously. Worshiping God is marginal to making money. Prayer is marginal to the bottom line. Christian salvation is a brand preference.
I bristle and want to assert my importance. I want to force the recognition of the key position I hold in the economy of God and in his economy if only he knew it. Then I remember that I am a subversive. My long-term effectiveness depends on my not being recognized for who I really am. If he realized that I actually believe the American way of life is doomed to destruction, and that another kingdom is right now being formed in secret to take its place, he wouldn’t be at all pleased. If he knew what I was really doing and the difference it was making, he would fire me.
Yes, I believe that. I believe that the kingdoms of this world, American and Venezuelan and Chinese, will become the kingdom of our God and Christ, and I believe this new kingdom is already among us. End of quote.2
Notice that when the man finds the hidden treasure-- he goes and sells all that he has in order to acquire it. Doesn't this man's action sound like what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3:7-9 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. (NIV) This parable and the next one should make us ask this question. Should not we the hearers not likewise act with boldness as we are confronted with the treasure of the kingdom of heaven? Of course we should. We should reorder our lives (= repent, 4:17) with dramatic and joyous abandon and live under God with single-minded devotion (cf 5:58).
Let's look at the second parable. 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46 who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.” The point of this parable is that the kingdom of heaven is sought after diligently and is very valuable and acquired at great cost. Can't you just see this merchant searching and scouring the globe looking for the one pearl of great value? This merchant has devoted his entire life to finding that one pearl. And when he finds it, it is so valuable that he sold all that he had and bought it.
Did you read recently in the news about a man in Australia who sold his life on ebay? The news article said: A 45 YEAR OLD Australian man from Perth is selling his entire life as a package deal on eBay after his wife left him. Ian Usher, originally from England, decided that he needed a clean break and a “new life” after his eight-year marriage to his wife Laura ended abruptly.
His Website gives potential buyers the who, what, how, where and when of it all, with the home page reading: "Hi there, my name is Ian Usher, and I have had enough of my life! I don't want it any more! You can have it if you like!".
His site lists all the possessions he will be selling as part of the package. They include his house, his car, his motorbike, his jet ski, his job (in a rug shop), his “lifestyle” and even his friends. A “coming soon” section on the website will include video interviews with all of his friends so that potential buyers can check them out before putting in a bid.
Ian is also selling his story as an ebook downloadable from the site. He insists that, although it may be sad, it is definitely not a “sob story”. He reckons that on the day he finally sells his life “I intend to walk out of my front door with my wallet in one pocket and my passport in the other, nothing else at all, and get on the train, with no idea where I am going or what the future holds for me.”
Well the auction ended on June 29th. According to another news article. Usher had wanted to earn 500,000 for his life. The final bid was a little over $100,000 less than he had wanted, and was not much more than the value of his home. Though he did not get what he was hoping for Usher honored the final bid and walked away from his life as planned. What is sad about Ian Ushers life is that he didn't sell it to acquire the pearl of great price. He sold it just because he was sick of it. The truth is the kingdom of heaven is so valuable that is worth doing for it what Ian Usher did. I don't expect that God is calling you to sell your life on ebay, but he does ask you to Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and to spend your life serving God not yourself. Hannah Whithall Smith said it well in a prayer: “I have tried keeping myself and have failed and failed most grievously I am absolutely helpless. So now I will trust Thee. I give myself to Thee. I keep back no reserves. I present myself as a piece of clay fashioned into anything Thy love and wisdom shall choose.”
The Third parable is about what will happen at the end of time when God's kingdom is revealed in all its fullness. 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. 48 When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad. 49 So it will be at the close of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. The point of this parable is that the Kingdom of heaven is like a big dragnet that catches everything in its path. Verse 47 in most English versions says: 47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. In the original Greek the word fish is not found. The English says it caught “fish” of every kind, but the Greek doesn’t use the word fish. It simply says “every kind of thing.” The King James for example says: 47 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: This kingdom net that comes in the person of Jesus throws itself over everybody and everything. God’s purpose is to redeem all of creation, to make all things new. In other words, the dragnet of the Kingdom of heaven is not going to miss anything. Everything will be caught in it, both good and bad. It will then be drawn ashore and then the good and bad will be separated.
The church father, Origen, back in the third century summed it up by describing Jesus with one novel Greek word: autobasileia. Roughly translated it means “Jesus himself is the kingdom.”1 Information and insight are not how we enter the reign of God. We enter through relationship. Parables don’t so much explain the reign of God as illuminate it. Parables speak to those who have already opened their ears, and their hearts, to the love of Jesus. If you have experienced the gospel, then parables are a great way to experience even more gospel. They become a way of deepening the relationship we have with Jesus.
Are you impatient about all the bad you see around you in our world today? Do you wish God would do something about it now? The truth is the reign of God is already at work in the world. The dragnet is already here-- and when its full, when God says pull it in-- that will happen. The close of the age will have arrived-- and then God will separate the evil from the righteous. Yes one of the points the parable of the dragnet makes is that God is patient-- not wanting any to perish. The dragnet of the Kingdom is out but it hasn't been pulled in yet. Today is a day of grace. Today is a still a day when men and women can make radical changes and submit our lives to Jesus. We can purchase the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price. Today you and I can still enter the kingdom and receive the righteousness that the Lord Jesus has purchased for us. We can repent and daily walk in repentance. Like the Apostle Paul we still have the opportunity to gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ -- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. And like the Apostle Paul we can live our lives as Holy Spirit empowered witnesses who seek to help people who have not repented, to repent and come to know Jesus. There is still opportunity for them to submit to God's kingdom, to come under his rule and reign.
Last of all Jesus says: 52 “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.”
What Jesus is telling his disciples here is every scribe knows what God has done in the past and has promised to do in the future. Jesus’ point is that the Kingdom of Heaven, the realization of how salvation will be experienced at the close of the age, stands in continuity with previous stages of salvation history, in no way nullifying them, but being anticipated by them. The “old” represents what the scribe knows about how God has delivered salvation in the past, whereas the “new” is what he has learned about the present fulfilment of the promises at the end. Jesus expects the scribe not to miss the salvation-historical significance of the present time when the Kingdom is beginning to be manifested, but to incorporate it into the “old” of what he already knows.
Brian Stoffregen says it well. The treasure of the kingdom is as old as the power of God working in the creation of the world; God's calling of Abraham and Sarah; God's leading the people in the Exodus; God using Cyrus to free his people from Babylon; God's earthly presence in Jesus Christ; God's actions in the saints of old including the apostles and Martin Luther.
The treasure of the kingdom is as new as hearing the stories of God and God's love for us today. It is as new as falling in love with God again today. It is as new as God's power living in our lives this very minute.
The three parables all emphasize that the kingdom of God is not so much something we possess but something that possesses us. "The treasure of the kingdom both old and new is so valuable that it is worth doing new, joyful, risky, and costly things for it... In other words it possesses and consumes us and becomes our life. .... A man sells all that he has and buys that field. The merchant sells all that he has and buys the pearl. This is a risky act which threatens his life, but it is worth losing even his life for. And everything both the good and the bad is going to be caught by the Kingdom. May the Kingdom of heaven possess you and me. Amen.

1 – From Kolb, R., Wengert, T. J., & Arand, C. P. (2000). The Book of Concord : The confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Page 446). Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Luther's Large Catechism
2 - Peterson, E. H. (1989). Vol. 17: The contemplative pastor : Returning to the art of spiritual direction. The Leadership library. arol Stream, Ill.; Dallas; [Waco, Tex.: Christianity Today; Word Pub.; Distributed by Word Books.

No comments: