July 27, 2008

Matthew 13:44-52

11^th Sunday after Pentecost

The Treasure and Pearl

May the words of my mouth and the meditation of all of our hearts be pleasing to you, O Lord, through your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

In Jesus Name. Amen.

As St. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about their problems he came to them with a singular message amidst all of the struggles that they were encountering: For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor. 2:2). One of the early Lutheran fathers wrote: “the cross alone is our theology.” This church father was not saying that everything could be reduced down to just talking about Jesus death on the cross. But everything that we preach and teach in the Church is seen through the lens of the cross, what Jesus accomplished for us.

All of Scripture, both Old and New Testaments, every jot and title must be seen through the lens of the cross. Even when narratives and poetry don’t seem to have anything to do with what our Lord accomplished on the Hill of Golgotha they do. It is unfortunate that many no longer view Scripture through the lens of Jesus Christ; they would rather use Scripture to justify their behaviors or to even use it as a moral compass.

When we don’t view Scripture through Christ we sin. When we don’t interpret the parables or the psalms, or any parts of Scripture for that matter through the lens of Christ we always find Law. What do we have to do? How much do I have to do to be sure of my salvation? What must I seek? What haven’t I done? Many outside of the Church and even some inside the Church believe that the Lord’s Words are nothing more than moral stories on par with the brother’s Grimm and Aesop’s fables.

Viewing Scripture in this way offers us guidance in life, but nothing beyond getting along with your neighbors and not even a hint of salvation from our sins. That is what happens to Scripture without Christ! Without the Savior we are left to wallow in our sins, left hidden in the field or never purchased by the merchant.

II.

And so we come to today’s Gospel text. Viewed through the eyes of sinful man without the lens of Christ we are left to struggle about what we can do. The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid; and from joy over it, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding on pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matt. 13:44-46).

Viewed through only our sinful nature the first parable is not even a good moral story. A man trespassing on another man’s land, searching for hidden treasure and when discovering it he hides it and sells all he has to buy it. The man doesn’t even do the best thing, he doesn’t try and haggle with the land owner to reduce the price nor does he even just take the treasure from the field. From our sinful human nature it seems like we are the men, we need to go and search and then sell all. Yet how are we to do that when we don’t know what we are looking for?

Even the parable of the pearl of great price does not make that good of a moral story. Why didn’t the merchant haggle for a better price? Why sell everything that he had to obtain the pearl? Couldn’t their have been another way to do it? Through our sin stained lens we see what we must do for Christ. We must give everything up as the man and the merchant do. All that they owned they gave up to buy the treasure and the pearl. The buyers didn’t hold anything back. So much for a good business principle.

Some preachers and teachers when they read this parable demand the same. Give up everything you have, give everything up for the Lord. House, family, possessions, give it all up to obtain salvation. Leave all behind. That is what many of the monks in the early church attempted to do. They tried to give up all of their worldly possessions and all that they had to obtain God’s gracious favor. But how much is enough?

If we absolutely knew that by giving up everything we would receive heaven as our reward, I'd like to think that we wouldn't even give it a second thought.  We'd sell all we have, give the money to the poor, and wait quietly and patiently for our heavenly reward.  It wouldn't matter to us if we starved, got sick, or were ridiculed by our family.  We'd be sure of our reward and would know that what came in heaven would be far better than anything that we had given up.  And, on top of everything else, we'd know that we earned it.  We wouldn't have gone on some free ride to paradise. We would proudly be able to say that we did our part and earned our one way ticket to the pearly gates.  But even if we were completely sure, we probably still wouldn't do it.

But it's still an attractive thought to have it all in our hands.  We want to have control over our future.  That's why we save money, invest in retirement, and plan for contingencies.  The world wants to apply those same ideas to eternity.  Work hard, prepare for the future, and everything will be fine.  It's all in your hands.  But we know that a crisis can come that we haven't prepared for.  It can wipe out our savings and throw all of our plans into absolute ruin.  The same can happen spiritually.  What if the Lord demands your life before you've done all that you were doing to prepare for eternity?  What then?  How far can your works get you?  What sort of certainty for eternity can come from your plans?  None... none at all...  But some still strive to earn the kingdom of heaven.

Our sinful nature wants to keep at least something for ourselves. We don’t like to give our possessions up. And when we don’t know how much to give up or if we have given up enough, we are left in uncertainty. Uncertainty is the enemy of faith. Uncertainty struggles to find anything to hang onto.

Yet when we view Scripture through the lens of the cross of Jesus certainty is what we have. Jesus Christ crucified for sinners and raised again for our justification is the Lord’s doing. When we view the parables through the lens of Jesus we have certainty. Jesus is the man who travels through the field and finds the hidden treasure. Jesus is the one who goes and sells all that He has to redeem the treasure from the owner. Jesus is that merchant who finds the pearl of great price and sold all that He had.

Jesus became lower than the angels by becoming man. He did not use His authority to rescue Himself from the hands of the mob in Gethsemane or of the grip of the nails. Jesus paid the price by suffering the anguish of the cross on our behalf. As St. Paul reminds us in his letter to the Philippians He emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men (Phil. 2:7). Jesus is the man who walked in the field and discovered the treasure, He is the one who found the priceless pearl and used everything that He had to acquire us. Christ emptied Himself, He became like us and suffered and died on the cross so that we are forgiven of all of our sins. He gave His life as a ransom for all. Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many (Matt. 20:28). The blood of Christ, shed on the cross, was the payment that had to be made Jesus used His lifeblood as the price to redeem us from our sins.

You have been saved, not by your own silver and gold, nor by giving up your own lives, but by blood. Take heart children of God, for you have been saved from your sins, knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ (1 Pet. 1:18-19). This precious blood that was first poured out on Calvary is poured on your very lips each time you receive the sacrament bestowing on you, His faithful, the same gifts that it always has, forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. As the treasure and pearl were bought and became the owners you have also been bought and became the Jesus great possession.

Without the ransom paid by Christ we would never be certain of our salvation. But we are certain that we will see the face of our Lord, that we will feast with Him in heaven, and that we will be with those who have passed on before us in the faith. Why are we certain? Because our Lord’s Words are faithful. For we know that Jesus did not just die and left in the tomb. His victory was also over death, for three days later Jesus appeared to the disciples and we his children, claimed in the waters of Holy Baptism, will also rise again from the dead and will live eternally with Him.

Thanks be to God.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.