The Father’s Treasured Possession Exodus 19:2–8

On this Father’s Day we’re going to talk about our Heavenly Father’s Treasured Possession.

Fathers, what are the material possessions you treasure most?

In our Old Testament today, God calls us His treasured possession.

On their journey to the Promised Land, the people of Israel camped at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where they would receive God’s covenant, His law.

From the mountain, God spoke to Moses, telling him to say to the people: If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:5-6

The world belongs to me and I could choose any people to be mine, but I choose you. Will you follow me, and keep my commands?

Our Old Testament tells us that the people responded: All that the Lord has spoken we will do. Exodus 19: 8

As He treasures us, so we will treasure and follow Him.

God kept His promise and made them into a holy nation from which the Messiah would come, and from which the gospel would spread to the world.

We see this coming to fruition in our Gospel reading today.

While going through the cities and villages, teaching the gospel and healing people, Jesus saw the great need for kingdom workers.

He said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Matthew 9:37

This led Jesus to send out His disciples to heal and spread the gospel.

This was keeping God’s promise to His people that they would be a kingdom of priests. You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. Exodus 19:6 A forgiven people to share the gospel with the world.

So today, Christ’s followers, as His treasured possession, are called to this godly mission of knowing Christ and making Him known.

Our epistle tells us how we became God’s treasured possession, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

It was the Son, dying for us, winning our salvation, and the Holy Spirit, coming to us in Baptism, making us the children of God, that we became our Heavenly Father’s treasured possession.

Everything in heaven and earth belongs to Him. But he values us most.

Knowing that we are our Father’s treasured possession, changes the way we see Him, the way we see the world, and the way we see ourselves.

If the Father made you in His image, and if the Son redeemed you with His blood, giving His life for you, and if the Holy Spirit lives in you by Baptism, making you his personal temple, then you have great value to God, and you have great value for this world.

As Jesus said, You are the salt of the earth Matthew 5:13; salt and light to the world; highly valued and necessary. You have a necessary and sacred task to bring the love and truth of Christ to the world.

Because we’re our Father’s treasured possession, and He values us so highly, so we value Him highly, most of all. He’s our Most High.

When we believe that we’re God’s treasured possession in all the earth, and that He is our greatest treasure, then everything else fits into place.

Knowing this helps us to value everything in the right way and the right measure.

First, 1) We value ourselves in the right way and right measure; not as greater than God, or more important than anyone else, but as a dear child of God with a grand purpose of serving Him and loving one another.

Secondly, 2) We value our possessions in the right way and right measure.

Back to the things we saw at the beginning of our message, when we treasure God above all, then those things fit into our lives in their proper place, where they belong; as gifts from God to be used in a spirit of love; but not as possessions we obsess over.

Thirdly, when God is our most high, then 3) We value people in the right way and the right measure.

We treasure our families as of greater worth to us than our material possessions, but not as of greater worth than God, our Treasure Most High.

On this Father’s Day, we thank our Heavenly Father for the treasure of our earthly father, and for all the godly men that God has placed in our lives.

Fathers make many sacrifices for their children and family. But the greatest gifts they give are the gifts that last; love, compassion, protection, discipline, forgiveness, an example of faith, and a relationship with our Heavenly Father. They are the true treasures our fathers give us.

Fathers and mothers work hard to provide for their family’s needs. While children appreciate the things they give, fathers and mothers themselves are far more important to their children, than any of the material things they provide.

We don’t love them for the things they give us, but for the gift from God that they are to us, and the love they’ve shown to us.

In the same way, your father’s treasured possessions are not so much his boat, or truck, or tractor, or any of the material things he has. Above all those things, he treasures you, as you treasure him; and that’s true for fathers and sons of all ages.

In spite of all our sins and flaws, with the help of God, and by His grace, we’re blessed to love and treasure our family and friends.

Let us treasure one another more than any of the material things in our lives. May our loved ones be our treasured possessions. And may God be our dearest love and greatest treasure of all.

You are your Heavenly Father’s treasured possession, His dear child. Always treasure Him as your dear Father, and treasure one another as His dear children.

And may the treasure of His peace, which passes understanding, always guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.