Pastor Mark Batterson has often said these words. He said change of place plus
change of pace often equals a change in perspective. And these last two weeks
here getting away with family, we were able to experience that. So a change of
pace, change of place and really gaining a new perspective and just a refreshed
spirit for ministry coming into it. And, and I can think of nothing better in
terms of representing that change of perspective when we literally got a
complete change of perspective. And we, we drove up to the summit of Mount Haka
or I can never pronounce the words correctly. And so, uh and it was incredible,
the summit was over 10,000 ft high and the island of Maui there in Hawaii. And
actually I learned this afterwards that some say that. So the mountain above the
sea is 10,000 ft, but actually under the sea, the mountain extends another
19,000 ft. So in terms of the size of mountain, it's actually the same size, if
not a little bit bigger than Mount Everest. And so pretty crazy and you can
drive to it and you're literally just driving pretty much straight up for an
hour, hour and a half zigzagging back and forth and driving through the clouds
is a crazy experience is that it's cloudy and you're going through it and then
you're in the cloud and then you're above the cloud. And so we took the kiddos
up there for the sunset because I'm not getting up for sunrise and, uh going
through. And so it's such a cool experience to be on what feels like the top of
the world and you see the sun setting below the clouds and the town below you.
And then when the, when the sun went down, the stars came out, and I can say
that I've never seen so many stars in my life. And when you talk about getting
above the noise, you are literally above the noise of the world below you. And
so it was just a reminder of the bigness of God and the goodness of God. And
then you cannot help but feel small in that moment. And so experiencing that is
really a change in perspective and really, that's my hope for, for you and for
me in these next couple of weeks, as we're jumping into the series entitled The
Stories of the Kingdom. You see, we're in a change of place because we're now in
this new building and we're going to change the pace a little bit as we're going
to take a deeper dive into the short stories of Jesus. And because I want us to
have a new perspective, a refreshed perspective on the meaning of life, the
power of God and the identity within ourselves. Because when you take a look at
the words of Jesus, it makes sense to say, ok, what did Jesus speak about? What
was his most common theme? And then what was his method to deliver that message?
And the reality is the most commonly taught themed of Jesus is the Kingdom of
God. He spoke about it more than anything else. In fact, it was really seen one
central message in everything he spoke about was about the Kingdom. And the way
he did that was through telling stories called parables. Now, as Americans in
this democracy, we don't really understand from a practical sense. What is a
kingdom outside of watching movies and reading books? OK. Who am I kidding?
Watching movies. And uh and so we go through here, but the Kingdom of God was
seen as something very realistic for the people of the day because the Kingdom
actually represented power. But at that current time, in the current context, it
represented oppression. And so religiously, there were the Pharisees that were
oppressing the faith of those below them. And then politically, there was the
Roman Empire that was enslaving the people. And so this promise of kingdom, they
thought that Jesus was coming to physically reign and they got excited. And in
fact, it's partly why Jesus was killed, he was killed because he claimed to be
God. But then also because he spoke about bringing about a new kingdom. And so
they were threatened by that. And what Jesus was actually doing was preparing
them for a new perspective, a better way. And that one day Jesus would rule in a
new heaven, new earth, but he was also currently ruling. And so the question is,
what is the Kingdom of God? And I would define the Kingdom of God this way that
the Kingdom of God is the power of God working through the people of God. It's
the power of God working through the people of God. And the reason I like that
is because it's, it's valuable right now in present tense one day Jesus will
come back. But today right now, God is still in charge and there is an
alternative way of living that then you can actually live out and be a part of
the Kingdom of God right here. And it works in every setting. It works in every
culture. It works with every ethnicity, race, gender. It doesn't matter how much
money you have or don't have is that you can actually usher in the kingdom of
God with how you live because it's God's power working through God's people.
David Platt put it this way. He said the Kingdom of God is really about the rule
and the reign of Christ is that God is in charge and is leading the way and that
He is sustaining our very existence. Uh Matt Chandler, another pastor put it in
really three categories that the kingdom of God is about dwelling Dominion and
then dynasty. It's about dwelling because the name of God means God with us. And
that's seen all throughout the scripture as we know it. When God created the
world, he spoke it into existence. He created Adam and Eve. He was then walking
in the garden with them. And then we see that again with the people and Moses
and they were wandering through the wilderness and that they were led by the ark
of the covenant, the presence of God. And then when they built the temple, the
holy of Holies was marked with the presence of God. And then when Jesus came
down, he was given the name Emmanuel, which means God with us. And then when
they started the church, he said, I'm gonna give you the Holy Spirit, which
means that I am gonna be with you to the end of the age. And that when there is
a forever heaven, a new heaven, new earth, the best part about that is that we
will be face to face with our creator and savior. And so this idea of dwelling
with God and God dwelling with us is what it means to be in the kingdom of God.
But then there's Dominion as well. So Dominion again is to rule or to steward
that when God created the world, he also invited us into his story and he gave
us a job. So God gives Adam and Eve a job in Genesis one and two. And sin
doesn't enter the Bible until Genesis chapter three. That means that work is not
sinful, but actually ordained by God. And then when it talks about heaven, it
still includes working. And, and so there isn't like this some retirement that
we get to sit on our own little cloud property and play cloud pickleball with
our friends and family in heaven with. Although I bet Peter's sweet at
pickleball, you know, like Peter's been practicing, right? He's ready for you up
there anyway. I'm sorry, I'm weird. Anyway, um, like we think about this
retirement thing. No, there's gonna be working in heaven. The difference is, is
that we get to work re and roll with these without any of the negativity that
comes from work. And so too often we hear people like, oh, we got the case of
the Mondays, right? Like it's because we don't like certain aspects. We don't
like the weight of it. We don't like the relationship. We don't like the
responsibility or the betrayal or the frustrating things that come that you work
so hard after something and you don't get to see the response to it. And so we
get to work alongside God and to steward what he is given in our hands. Whether
that's a relationship or responsibility that we get to actually rule with him.
And then the last thing is you got dwelling, you got Dominion, but then you have
dynasty because it'll actually outlast any other kingdom of this world. It will
actually last forever. Because where is the Roman Empire today? Right? Where is
the Greek empire today? Or the Persian Empire? Like every empire that has tried
to squash Christianity has ceased to exist. And Christianity has actually grown
as a result of it. And so it's kind of a crazy thing to think that the Kingdom
of God is going to last forever. You know, Jesus himself repeatedly talked about
the kingdom. It was his message when he was preaching to the disciples and the
crowds of the first century. And he said things like this. For example, Matthew
chapter six verse nine, he says, pray then like this, our father in heaven
hallowed be the be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. In other words, we are not meant to live culture up but heaven
down there, our identity and responsibility and relationships and concepts and
approach to truth comes from the kingdom mindset and not the worldly mindset.
Another example, Jesus said this in Matthew 633 he says, but seek first the
Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you.
Now, there's a guy named Paul who was actually persecuting Christians gets saved
on the road to Damascus starts actually preaching about the Kingdom of God and
the gospel of God that it's actually available to all people. And he writes this
in a letter to the church in Colossus. So Colossians chapter one verses 13 and
14, it says God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us
to the kingdom of his beloved son in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of
sins. Same author, different letter to a different church. He writes to the
church in Rome and Romans 1417, he says, for the Kingdom of God is not a matter
of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit. So what he's saying there is because again, people in that original
context viewed a kingdom as oppression. And so they were looking for physical
relief when what they needed was a spiritual renewal. And so Paul says, it's not
about the physical, it is deeper than that. It's not just about what you want,
it's about what you need and what you really need is redemption and forgiveness
and love and purpose because those things will outlast any oppression against
you and that you can actually overcome all obstacles when you understand and you
are a part of the Kingdom of God. Now, that's a strange concept and, and Jesus
knew that. And so how do you teach a spiritual truth to a physical group of
people. And so he did so through storytelling and we do this all the time, don't
we? Like if you think about the conversations you have with your spouse or your
friends, you ever try to describe somebody who, who hasn't met? What do you do
you say? Well, oh, let me tell you about, uh, Susie over here. You know, she's
remember Sally from accounting over there. She's a lot like Sally. Oh Yeah. Oh
And we, and we take something unknown and we attach it to something known.
That's why as teachers, you have so many students there aren't. And this is
true. If you ask them the same thing as a youth pastor, there are names that I
could not name my Children because I associated it with somebody else. I knew,
you know what I'm talking about. All right, we do that and you're like, oh not
naming my kid Tom, I tell you that, right? Like cause why? Cause we associate
unknown with known and so you have this spiritual truth about the kingdom of God
and people living in a physical world. And so the best way to preach that to
share that to connect the two was through story. That's why we connect to still
to this day through movies and, and writing and, and music. Why? Because we
connect to the emotion and the reality of a story. We remember story and Jesus
knows this is why he taught through story. And that's what a parable is. A
parable is a story. Jesus tells um really of a practical reality to describe or
illustrate a spiritual truth. Usually it's focused on one point. It's not point
for point. Like it's like sometimes people, I find people trying to really break
down the parable or the SIM or the metaphor, you're like, well, this is gonna be
this or this is gonna be this. really, it's meant for one thing. It's meant to
connect one point or idea. And it's about the Kingdom of God, the author or the
one who started this program called the Bible project. Highly recommend that by
the way, if you wanna learn stuff online on youtube, you can visit and watch
videos by the Bible project. His name is Tim Mackey. He described parables this
way. He said, Jesus didn't tell parables to make everything clear. Rather he
wanted to provoke the imagination and invite people to see what God is doing in
the world from a new perspective. You see there's that word again, Jesus spoke
in story and spoke of the kingdom because he wanted people to have a new
perspective. And that's my hope for you too because we get so caught up in the
day to day, don't we like it? It, it all our to do list all the responsibilities
and things. And I can tell you when I was standing on a literal mountain top
above the noise of the world. Everything seems so small and you're just
reminded, like, wow, like, and that's what Jesus does when he tells stories is
that he's saying, hey, just pause your life for just a moment and just think
about the Kingdom of God. And I want to offer you an, an a new perspective, the
imagination to run free. And so sometimes these parables are not very clear, but
they invoke emotion and response and all of them require action of some kind.
And so our parable today is really going to be found in Matthew chapter 13
verses 44 to 46. It's actually two of them, but they're so short, which by the
way, I love that they're short. Um And then they actually go together and so
we're gonna go through two parables this morning. He says the Kingdom of Heaven,
same thing as Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in
a field which a man found and covered up and 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. So you got a treasure and you got a pearl. This
morning's message is entitled Treasure hunting because it's really about value.
It is a parable about perspective and then priority. And so if you're taking
notes, I encourage you to write this down that Jesus is worth great sacrifice
because he will give you the greatest joy. Jesus is worth great sacrifice
because he will give you the greatest joy. It will cost you something. I think
too often in churches in general or in spirituality, we like to think of
Christianity or religion in general as like a self help. Just do this. You'll be
better be you. It's great. Now it's gonna cost you something. It will, in fact,
it will cost you everything, but it's worth it because Jesus already paid the
ultimate price because what you value determines what you do. They're like,
well, John, how do you know what you value? Well, just flip it because what you
do then demonstrates what you value. And what's interesting about these stories
is that they are two very different approaches to God and one, the guy stumbled
across it, he stumbled into treasure and in the other, he was searching for it.
And I think, and there are times that people approach the approach God this way,
there are some people who, it's not so much that they were searching for God,
but rather God was searching for them. Right? And they kind of bump into God.
Some of you have no idea why you're even here this morning. Oh, I guess I'll go
or after weeks or months of that neighbor or friend bugging, you to come, you
just kind of can't and you're here. I want you to know that's ok. The first
story is that when someone bumps in the treasure, that's not a bad thing. The
question is, what will you do when you see it? And the question for you is what
will you do with the message of Jesus when you hear it? Because the flip side as
someone who went searching. And I think there are stories even in this room, I
think of Taylor, a friend here that who we talked. Like I we had conversations,
right? Where you were searching, you're like, I'm gonna find the truth, right?
You were researching and reading like I'm gonna read every religion. I'm gonna
read every book. I'm gonna watch every video and be searching. And there are
people that find God in that way because when you experience Jesus, when you
encounter Jesus, the truth of the Gospel truly sets you free. And so the
question is not, how did you come to God? Because some will come by accident,
some will come as a result of searching. The question then is what will you do
when you encounter Jesus for the first time? How will you respond? Because in
this case, in this story, it reveals as do all parables, the heart of Jesus and
the mission of Jesus and the character of who he is. And so he's equated to
great value, really value of all eternity. And in response to seeing something
of great value, they turned around and they sold all that. They had to buy that.
Why? Because it was worth it, that the treasure was greater. They did so with
joy. Now, it might look foolish to those on the outside that might not know the
treasure or see it. But when you recognize the value of who God is and the
kingdom that God offers, that there's nothing short that we would do to receive
that because He already paid the ultimate price. And so that we can respond with
joy and he gives us eternity. He describes it this way. He says, I am the way of
the truth in the life. John 14 6, he talks about in John 1010 that I will offer
you. I came to give you life and life abundantly. He says this here in Matthew
619 to 21. He says, do not lay up for yourself. Treasures on earth where Moth
and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do
not break in and steal for where your treasure is there, your heart will be
also. Now, we like to live the reverse of that last statement. We like to say
where our heart is there, our treasure will be. But again, what you value
determines what you do and what you do demonstrates what you value. And so if
you wanna show me what you value, you're gonna see it in your checkbook and bank
account on your calendar and on your smart device and in your conversations and
in your mind, what do you think about? What are you talking about? What are your
actions show? Because what you do is a reflection of who you are and who you are
is a reflection of what you treasure. And so when you think through that, you
want to think through, OK, what do I value? There's a story of a San Diego uh
bank Robber who took off with some money. Make, hired an investigator to go find
this guy. They crossed the border into Mexico. He realized he doesn't speak
Spanish. And so he hired a translator to go with him. They tracked down the guy
and they find the guy and through the translator, he says, tell me where the
money is and the guy through the translator back says, I don't know what you're
talking about. And so he pulls out the, the investigator pulls out a gun and
says, tell him if he doesn't tell me where the money is, I'm gonna shoot him
right here. And the guy responds back that it's through the translator. It's
hidden in coffee cans on the fourth floor of the men's room in the hotel la
Plaza down the street. So then the investigator turned to the interpreter and
say, So what did he say? And the interpreter said, he said, he's willing to die
when you know, where treasure is, it changes what you do when you have
information that other people don't have, that changes your life and adds wealth
to you. That's even seen illegal. In some cases, it's called insider trading,
right? When you get a tip that, that you know where something is going and you
act on that and they say that's not fair, but we have the ultimate insider tip
except it's available for everyone that the Kingdom of God will last forever.
And it's so much greater than anything you could want because it's everything
that you need forgiveness, purpose, meaning joy, love, identity. So much of this
world is centered around ideas about finding your identity in gender and
sexuality, in politics and different things. But the truth is is that your
identity, your true identity and freedom comes in Christ and it was pa pa uh
paid for by Jesus himself. And so there is nothing greater than the Kingdom of
God. And the Kingdom of God is not something that you will experience someday,
but rather the power of God that you can experience today right now because God
is with you. God is here. Forgiveness is possible. Light is possible. Joy is
possible because it's not based on your circumstances. It's not based on your
difficulty. We are reminded on a regular basis of the brevity of life writer
Randy Alcorn put it this way. He said, Jesus warns us not to store up treasures
on earth because wealth, it's not that wealth might be lost. It's because wealth
will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we are alive or we leave it when
we die. The reality is all the pieces go back in the box when the game is over.
And so the question you have to ask yourself is knowing the brevity of life,
knowing that the difficulties of what's going on, whom or what do you value
most? Where do you place your value? Who do you put your trust in? Because if
you put it in your health, what happens when you get sick? If you put it in
finances? What happens when there's a crash? If you put it in one relationship
or the next, what happen when there's betrayal? The world's gonna tell you over
and over again that you need blank to be fulfilled. And I say blank because
it's, it's a car, it's technology, it's a house, it's a promotion, it's
whatever. What happens is that if you keep going after that thing, that treasure
that you think is so valuable that really ends up being like tickets at Peter
Piper's Pizza, right? Like I had so many tickets. It's amazing. Cool. And you
get this plastic trinket that breaks before you get home, we need to stop
playing for tickets when eternity is at stake, you know, they say things like,
you know, oh my keys. I found them. They were in the last place I looked. I hope
so because if you find them and then keep looking, that doesn't seem like the
smartest thing to do, does it? I found the keys. They were over there. But I'm
gonna keep looking anyway. Don't we do that with God though? We come to God, we
come on a Sunday, we hear the message, we hear this thing. We find our meaning
and purpose and joy and then we keep searching elsewhere. I say no, I'm right
here. I'm a treasure of eternity, eternal value. And I will change everything in
your life. I will change your perspective. I will change your priorities and I
give you value. Jesus is the ultimate treasure. So in our joy, we should be
willing to give everything we have to Him. Because in the Kingdom of God,
there's a better way. There's a new perspective that's of eternal value because
you have eternal value and that freedom and that purpose and that meaning is
ultimately found in Him. Let's pray dear heavenly Father, we love you. God. You
are the treasure. We give everything we have to you because you gave everything
you have for us that you died on the cross, for our sins, that when you rose
again, you defeated death and you made forgiveness possible eternity possible.
And so God, we want to treasure you together we give you our hearts, we give you
our lives. May we be generous? Because you were generous and we would be
forgiving because you forgave. Would we be loving because you loved us? And we
be may we be your people as your agents, your ambassadors of this greater, the
spiritual reality living in your power. We love you God. We give our lives up to
you. It's in your son's name. We pray Amen.