You are the Treasure

Matthew 13:44, John 3:16

Watch on YouTube

Hello, my name is Tony Pittenger, and I’m the pastor at Bethany Lutheran Church, School, and Early Learning Center out in Port Orchard, Washington. And because we are blessed to have a school and early learning center, that means that we have a playground. And out in the playground, underneath the swings, underneath the slide and the monkey bars, there’s gravel. This past school year, someone, no one knows who. (It was me.) No one knows who has been taking some of that gravel and painting it gold, and then putting that gravel back into the playground. And so the kids come out to recess and it’s like, they’re up at the Yukon, you know, they’ve struck gold. They dig around and they collect it and they run and they show their teachers, look, look, I found some gold. And so that’s been happening all year. And again just randomly, every now and then there’s a whole new batch out there. No one knows where it’s coming from. (It was me.) No one knows where it’s coming from. But the kids love it and it’s so much fun. They’re just going nuts with it.

Well, a few weeks ago, at the end of the school year, I showed the kids some of the gold that that somehow I happen to have, and I talked to them about it. I said, guys, what if imagine if you were finding this gold, like in a field across the street from where you live. And it was real gold, not just painted rocks and you showed it to your parents, what would you and your parents do? If that field was for sale, wouldn’t you do whatever you needed to do to buy that field? And if you didn’t have enough money, maybe you could sell your car and your bikes and your other toys. Because if you could buy that field, if you had all of that treasure, well, then you could get a new car. And think of all the good that you could do with some gold.

Well, I told them that, and I said, you know, the Bible talks about this. Jesus himself talks about this. Matthew 13, verse 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. (Matthew 13:44)

Now often we read these verses and people will talk about them and say, you know, the kingdom of heaven, faith, believing in God, that’s so important and so valuable that once you run across it, do whatever it is you need to do to get it and to keep it. But another way to think about those verses is what if we are the treasure?

What if we are something so valuable in God’s eyes that on finding us, on seeing us, God went out and did whatever he needed to do to have us as his, as his own precious, valuable children. And God did exactly that, seeing us there in the dirt, there in our sin, God did whatever he had to do, which was for God to give his Son, so that whoever believes in him would not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

So the next time you, you know, maybe look at your a ring on your finger or you see some other treasure, gold, diamond, some other jewels, remember, that is how God sees you. God sees you as a treasure worth, worth the cost of his own son, so that you would be his child. To be with him here in life, on this earth, but especially to be with him forever in heaven. And so God Himself bless and keep you as one of his own children. Amen.