Treasures Old and New Matthew 13:44–52

Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father, and our Lord Jesus, who gives us treasures.

Treasures old and new is the title of our message today.

One of my and Danielle’s favorite shows is Antiques Road Show. Anybody watch that?  It’s amazing what some of those antiques can be valued at. 

Sometimes, the owner has no idea what he or she has. And sometimes, the owner thinks he has something valuable that turns out to be a cheap imitation. 

In 2011, a man had a few 18th century Chinese cups carved from Rhinoceros horns that turned out to be worth 1 – 1.5 million dollars. 

In 2012 a man brought in a 1904 painting that his family had for 80 years and had been hanging behind a door. It turned out to be a long lost painting by a famous Mexican artist and was worth about 1 million dollars. Now, it’s worth 2.2 million. 

Wouldn’t you like to find some old cups or an old painting in your attic, or garage, or junk room, worth that much?

Jesus has given you a pearl worth even more. 

He says in our Gospel, “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.”.

There’s one thing in your life that’s worth more than everything else combined. That one thing had made you rich. And the name of that one thing is Jesus, the Gospel of Christ.

This is crazy thinking as far as the world is concerned. Surely the fortunes of the world’s richest billionaires are worth more. 

“No,”, Jesus says. “I’ve made you richer than that!”.

If things keeping going the way they are, eventually someone will become the world’s first trillionaire. If that person has the right treasure in his or her heart, then he or she will be the world’s richest person. If not, he or she will be the world’s poorest person.

There are people in our world with almost nothing, pretty much penniless. With the right treasure in their heart, they are the world’s richest people.

With the right treasure in your heart, you are the world’s richest person. The Pearl of Great Worth, the Gospel of Christ.

Without it, you’re the world’s poorest person. It’s worth everything you have, and more.

The treasure of the Gospel that God has placed in your heart, no one can take away from you, unless you let them. 

Some would try; and the devil would scheme; but with God, faith is stronger than the thieves who would try to steal it away.

God has given you a spiritual treasure to hold on to, and to have forever. So in Baptism and in His Word, He gives you the power of the Holy Spirit, to believe and hold onto the treasure of the Gospel, and never let go.  

Jesus said it’s more difficult for a camel to pass through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. 

The disciples, knowing that we weak and fallen people struggle with treasuring money over God, said to Jesus, “Well then who in the world can be saved?”.

Jesus said, “With God, nothing is impossible.”

Without Him, we couldn’t believe and hold to the Gospel of Christ. With God, we hold onto it; we believe and we are forever rich.

Having made us rich in heart and spirit, now God enriches our minds with the never-ending, priceless insights that come from His Word.

There’s all the knowledge we’ve already been given, but there’s a lot more where that came from.  Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God, Paul says in Romans 11:33.

The depth and wisdom of God’s Word can never be exhausted; there’s always more to learn from God’s Word.

One of the complaints of the Bible is that it’s an old message, and doesn’t pertain so much to people today, in our secular, scientific world.

That’s the conclusion you reach when you approach the Bible with a closed mind; with preconceived notions about what the Gospel is, and inaccurate stereotypes about what the Christian life.

But when we let the Word of God speak for itself, or let God speak through His Word, then we see how rich and true it is.

When we hunger and thirst for what God has to teach us every day, then there’s no end to what we can learn, and how it can help us. Truth builds upon truth, and our appreciation for the wisdom that comes from God increases. 

This is what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel when He says, “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.”.

As earthly treasure can increase in value, much more, the treasure of the wisdom and truth of God’s Word can increase in us.

Back to Antique’s Roadshow, a man brought in a gold pocket watch that had belonged to his great-grandfather, who was the owner of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and it was valued at 250,000 dollars. That was in 2004. Now, that gold watch is worth 2-3 million dollars.

That gold watch isn’t worth anywhere near as much as the simple, yet saving truths many of us learned as a child: that Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so; that I am Jesus’ little lamb, ever glad at heart I am; that Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world.

These are treasures of the heart and mind for us to always build upon.

Paul expresses it more in adult terms in our Epistle, For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In our Old Testament, God promises us that we are His treasured possession. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.

That’s a lot of love, and His commandments and His Gospel make up a lot truth for us to keeping on loving and learning.

In our Gospel Jesus warns us that, like the bad fish in the net aren’t kept but are thrown away, so in the end, those who don’t have the treasure of faith in Christ, will be cast away eternally.  It’s a treasure for the world to hold on to. 

And so God calls and empowers His chosen people to share the treasure of the Gospel in this world. What has made us eternally rich, can make the whole world rich.

What has justified and glorified us, as our Epistle says, will do the same for all who will hear and believe and treasure the Good News.

It’s an old and precious treasure to us, but it’s a new and priceless treasure waiting to be shared with many who haven’t heard, some who by the glory of God, will believe and rejoice. 

And so we continue in our mission of knowing Christ, and making Him known; He’s the treasure the whole world needs; He’s the treasure you’ve been given to hold on to. 

May that treasure grow in you, and give to you the peace of God, which passes understanding, to guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has made us eternally rich with His amazing love. Amen.