What's It Worth?

Yeah, really grateful for everybody being here today. Yeah, if you are here with us specifically because of the child dedications, thank you so much for being here. We really appreciate it. If this is your first time or your first time in a long time with us, otherwise, man, we’re just as happy and excited about you being here as well. Yeah, we have those tear-off cards that are in the bulletins. Love to get to know a little bit more about you in the coming weeks if that’s something you’re interested in. And if you’re looking for a church home or you got some pressing theological question, I’ll send those to Carter, our youth pastor, and he will get back to you promptly.

So, you know, our prayer for those kids that were dedicated a few moments ago is that they will grow up totally, completely, 100% captivated by Jesus Christ. That these kids will just readily offer anything and everything to God on the altar of their life. That nothing, absolutely nothing, would be off-limits to God for them. Because here’s the truth. Too many kids grow up disinterested in Jesus. If I can be like completely honest, I’m thinking about my own spiritual heritage growing up in church. I’m sure I was dedicated. I was on a cradle roll at some point if you’re familiar with that term. And I grew up knowing a lot about Jesus because I was raised in church, but grew up emotionally and mentally just so totally disinterested. The idea of Jesus was not captivating for me. Church wasn’t very exciting for me. I didn’t get the fun side that Becky was talking about. It wasn’t until I was 15 that somebody helped me understand why I need Him and how Jesus is like this missing piece of everybody’s life.

And one of the prayers that we have for those kids is that from a very early age, they would always know that there is a Heavenly Father that loves them. There is Jesus who died for them and a Holy Spirit that could be with them. That these kids would grow up deeply in love with Christ. Because man, there’s so many things competing for their affections. I think about sports and the types of accomplishments that some kids might want to have on a ball field or on a court, some sort of athletic successes, and sports is great. It can’t really compete for your soul. I think about school and how some kids just push and push or their parents push and push for them to do so well, to get into the right programs, to get into the right colleges, to have the right kind of job, but at the end of the day, they just find that it’s just kind of meaningless.

Man, if I can be a little scandalous, I think about sex and how our kids from an early age are being inundated with stuff. They get on their smartphones or parents on your smartphone and they start accessing things that you used to not be able to get access to until you have gone full into adulthood. And man, that stuff just kind of grabs the hearts of our kids. And that’s a lot more alluring than Jesus, honestly, the way we talk about Jesus a lot of times. Or think about just like the God of self. Like what we don’t want is that these kids would be so wrapped up in their own self-interest and their own desires and their own little kingdom that when the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords wants to break into their life, Jesus has to go through all these walls and all these years of living for your own desires and preferences.

This morning, we’re going to look at one of the parables Jesus taught in Matthew 13. If you have a copy of the Bible, go ahead and open up there. Matthew 13. And it’s going to get straight to the heart of what I’m talking about. We had five families dedicate children this morning, but I’m looking at a church full of people that might need to take a moment to rededicate themselves. Not through something formal, not through necessarily coming up front, but if God leads you to do that later, I’d be happy to help you. But what I’m talking about is something that’s going to get straight to the heart of your interest in Jesus. If you were completely honest with me over a cup of coffee this week and I asked you, “Hey, is Jesus actually that compelling to you?” I’m curious what you’d say. Not, “Hey, why’d you come to church?” Not, “Hey, what “Sort of church did you grow up in?” Not, “How many books of the Bible do you know by heart?” The real question is, how interested are you in Christ? How interested are you in Jesus? I’d be so curious to hear what you’ve got to say. God Himself is extremely curious and He actually knows the depths of your soul. And this morning, I wonder how many of us the Lord is talking to. And He’s just trying to get your attention and help you see, hey, you think you know a lot about me. Hey, you’ve grown up in church. Hey, you’ve read some of the Bible. Hey, you’ve given a lot of money in the plate. Hey, you’ve said grace before every meal for years. But brother, sister, do you actually like me? Are you actually interested in Jesus?

So, what I’m going to do for the next few moments is just briefly walk through this parable. I’m going to draw two truths that will apply to everybody in this room and then I’m going to invite everyone to act on those truths. So, this is Matthew 13:44-46, the parables of the hidden treasure and of the priceless pearl. Jesus starts and He says, “The kingdom of heaven.” Jesus taught a lot about God’s kingdom. The kingdom of heaven is life under God’s rule and God’s care. To be in the kingdom of heaven means you have a love relationship with God the King, which is only made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. To live in the kingdom means to love Jesus.

So Jesus says the kingdom of heaven is like treasure buried in a field. What gives? The kingdom of heaven, living for Jesus, loving God. It’s being compared to treasure buried in a field. Now I got a question. Why in the world would treasure ever be buried in the field? Right? If you’ve got treasure in the ground, it’s not where I’m putting it. But life in the ancient Near East when Jesus was walking the earth was so different. You see, they did not have banks or safety deposit boxes. So for them, storing their riches and their wealth required a bit of a more hands-on approach. They would oftentimes bury their literal treasure, especially in times or places of invasion and warfare, such as Israel. Oftentimes, families would bury their treasure in the field as they were fleeing so that they could run faster and then they would come back and reclaim what was theirs when all was resettled.

Jesus says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure buried in a field.” And we’ll continue that a man finds and rearies. In his joy, he goes and he sells everything he has and he buys the field. I ask too, what gives with this? This is a shrewd dude, man. He finds this treasure. He’s just walking around. His foot just kind of bumps into something and he says, “Wow, look at this. There’s this buried treasure.” He finds it. He digs it up. He looks up in the treasure chest like, “Wow, I’m going to figure out what it takes to get this.” And he goes, he reeries it and all that.

You see, privately owned land was publicly accessible for foot traffic in those days. Once again, I imagine if somebody comes on your property, starts snooping around what you would call your treasure, they would not be met with grins and giggles, would they? No. They might be met with Smith and Wesson or something else. No. But for them, it was totally different. If I need to get from A to B, I’m going as the crow flies, which means I’m going to walk across your field to get there. And that’s totally fine because you would go across somebody else’s field as well.

In fact, a few weeks ago, we looked at the parable of the four soils, which I know all of y’all remember by heart at this point. And you’ve got that farmer and he’s throwing his seed and some of it lands on the path. You remember this? That’s because paths would have gone through everybody’s fields. It’s just the natural way people would have been cutting across your property. So this man, he’s going across somebody else’s property. He’s walking along a path or maybe he’s just kind of meandering through the wilderness and he stumbles upon this treasure. Now he knows even though he can walk anywhere he wants, he can’t take anything he sees. This wandering man did not have the right to just take the treasure for himself because everything in the dirt belonged to the guy that owned the dirt.

So he’s shrewd. He buries it. He goes home, sells everything he owns to go and to buy that field. Imagine that conversation at home. The man gets there. The wife is preparing dinner. And he says, “Liquidate everything. The trucks, it’s gone. The boat, it’s gone. The house, it’s gone. Take off all your jewelry, it’s all gone. Take these nice paintings off the wall, they’re all gone. All of your stocks, all of that, it’s all gone.” He goes home. He takes all of his possessions. He sells everything. They’re homeless. They’ve got nothing to their name except for this wad of cash. And then he goes and he buys that field.

This man did not go out looking for treasure. Treasure just kind of bumped into him. But notice how he sells it in his joy. This man’s not despairing over his situation. He’s not anxious about how he’s going to live. He’s not upset. He’s not worried. He’s not frustrated, disappointed, discouraged, none of that. When he discovers treasure worth having and living for, he is joyful in getting rid of everything that would keep him from having the treasure. The treasure was worth everything. So he sells everything to get it.

Jesus continues again, “The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls.” You see, this time it’s not a wanderer who just so happens to find buried treasure. No, this is a merchant. He’s a treasure hunter. You get the idea that this guy has been looking and looking, searching and searching, working and working all day, all night, looking for pearls. This is his job. He is a pearl finder. He is on his boat all the time. His face is like weatherbeaten. He is so tan from being on the water all the time. His hands are super calloused because he’s always pulling up the nets. He’s probably a little bit of a swimmer because he’s got to get down to the bottom of the sea. He is a merchant in search of fine pearls. He’s found other pearls. He has seen other things that have value to them, but never the one, the elusive perfect pearl. But one day he finds it. When he found one priceless pearl, the ultimate pearl, he went. He sold everything he had and he bought it.

Just like the man who finds the buried treasure and buys the field, this merchant sells off everything. Sells all the boats, sells off his company, sells off his house, sells off his property. He sells everything so that he can buy this one pearl. This one pearl was so valuable, so worthy, so immensely beautiful and rare and perfect, the merchant had to have it. And anything that stood in his way, he didn’t want. He was ready to get rid of anything that kept him from this ultimate prize.

So, a few details in place. How does this break down? It’s simple. There’s two types of treasure. There’s two finders. There’s even two places, but there’s only one response. Total sacrifice for an undeniable gain. Whether it’s the wanderer who just so happens to stumble across buried treasure in a field or it’s the seeker who’s looking and looking and striving, there is a priceless captivating possession worth giving up everything to get.

Sauldam Baptist Church, strangers and friends, this morning you need to know something. Jesus is the treasure. He is the pearl. In fact, I want you to write this down if you’re a notetaker. Jesus is worth everything and He is nearer than you know. Jesus is worth everything and He is nearer than you know. Remember how it all starts. He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like this. To live with God is like this. To have Me is like this.” In this parable, Jesus is the buried treasure. He is the priceless pearl.

Let me ask you a question. Have you found Him? You’re sitting in church this morning listening to a guy talking about Jesus, listening to a congregation sing songs about living with God. And because Jesus lives, I can face tomorrow. You see families dedicating their kids to the Lord. But I’ve got a real question. Have you found Jesus? Is He someone that you relate with or is He just someone you know? Are you still doing the window shopping thing and you’ve passed by Jesus a lot of times? You’ve admired Jesus from afar. You said, “Wow, it might it would be nice to have that.” Or do you own it? Do you possess it? Have you gone and bought Him? Have you found Jesus? If we’re being honest, too many people sit in churches disinterested in Jesus, living disconnected from the Holy Spirit, divorced from the life of the Bible, and feeling deeply, deeply dissatisfied with everything. There’s a lot of folks that sit in a lot of churches like this one, and they have not found Christ. They may have found religion. They may have found habits. They may have found social network. They may have found something interesting to do on Sundays, but they haven’t found Christ.

It reminds me of a buddy from our old church. I met him when he was going through a crazy divorce and got to lead him to the Lord, got to baptize him, and got to officiate his second wedding. And he was telling me one day about his dad. You see, my friend, I’ll call him Dan, he didn’t really grow up in church. Kind of dabbled with religion every now and then for Christmas and Easter, that sort of a thing. But whenever he became an adult, Dan’s parents got into church. You see, his mom always wanted to do it. And Dan’s dad just kind of a good guy, good-natured, just happy to kind of play along.

The thing is, Dan is an atheist. Zero confidence whatsoever in the claims of the Bible, zero emotional attachment to the songs or the sermons, nothing like that. And I asked my friend Dan once, I was like, “Hey, why does your dad go to church?” He said, “Honestly, there’s nice people there. They like me there. I drink coffee with some people that want to be my friend.”

That might feel a little extreme to you, an atheist going to church even though he knows he doesn’t believe in it. But I’m curious. You’re here this morning. Are you altogether different from my friend’s dad? Do you actually have a relationship with Christ? Do you know Jesus? Or are you here because this provides something interesting? It provides a warm, safe place for you. It’s something comfortable. It’s something known to you. You see, as children, you may have been dedicated to Christ, but today is your life still part of that same dedication to Jesus? Have you given up everything to gain Jesus who gave up everything to gain you?

I want to tell you this morning that Jesus is worth everything. He is worth everything you could ever give up for Him. There is no competing prize that could ever amount to anything compared to Jesus Christ Himself. It’s the difference between gold and fool’s gold. Real gold and pyrite. One that looks like the real thing but doesn’t act like the real thing. That doesn’t have the value of the real thing. That isn’t as rare as the real thing but pretends to be the real thing. Do you have the gold of Jesus or do you have the fool’s gold of something else? Because man, there is so much fool’s gold out there for you to live your life for.

There’s so much like the approval and the respect of people. Like some of us just go through life so deeply craving people’s attaboy’s and so deeply afraid of the how-dare-you’s. Approval and respect. Is that your fool’s gold? Or money and possessions. Some of us, man, we just live for the next toy, the next paycheck, the next promotion, the next house, the next success. Is that you? Is that the fool’s gold that you are chasing, man? Is it a picture-perfect family like we just had five of up here? Is that what you’re living for, you’re hoping for? Your ultimate desire is for?

Some of us live for the fool’s gold, I’ll be honest, of just control, having things our way, and we just white-knuckle it through life, thinking that we can mitigate some of the bad stuff. We can prop ourselves up, and as long as I’m in charge of me, I’m good.

Man, none of that compares to Jesus. None of it compares. You see, Jesus is the King of heaven. And what He says matters, not the praise or the judgments of people. People, we are fickle and our approval shifts like the tides. Jesus is the great provider and His wealth has no end. Your money will run out. Your stuff will break down. Your next home and toy will become obsolete within time. Jesus is the true brother and the family He brings us into will last for all eternity. These photogenic families, the people you compare yourself to in real life and in social media, that is not real. That is not lasting. Photogenic families and healthy kids still get sick. They still break up. They still die out. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. So, you can Give up needing to find your own way, establishing your own truth, and trying to muster up the strength to live your own life. Here’s the deal. Someone in this room needs to hear me say this. You are a very bad God. I’ll say it again because it got somebody. You are a bad God. And you think if everybody would just listen to you, the world would be better. If people would just live according to your morals, we’d all be straight. If people would just defer to your judgment, then everything would be smooth sailing. It’s not true. None of us can live under the weight that God holds. None of us can do that.

Every treasure this world can offer is just fool’s gold compared to Jesus. Who else could pay the debt of sin that you know you owe against a holy God? Who else could free you from the darkness that wants to sit on top of you and keep you bound? Who else could give you true life? So that whenever the hard stuff comes and rocks your boat, you’re able to stay calm and steady, not because of your inner resolve through a self-help book, but because of the supernatural presence of God living inside of you. Who else? Every treasure this world offers pales in comparison to Jesus.

If you came in here this morning just looking to hear an encouraging message about kids, I’m really sorry. I am here to tell you that you need to give up. Give up. It’s only because Jesus lives that we can face tomorrow. Living for Him is the only sure way. We get to these places in life where we think, man, if I just work a little bit harder, if I just be a little bit better and none of that lasts, nothing else can give you life. Nothing else can save you. Nothing else is God. Jesus is He is worth everything.

But you also need to hear this morning, Jesus is nearer than you know. In this parable, there is a wanderer who just happened to be in the right place at the right time. There’s a merchant who’d spent an entire career looking for the ultimate prize. And both found something that changed everything. And that revolutionary something is here this morning. That lifechanging treasure is available for you today.

Acts 17 shows in a real life situation what Jesus is describing in this parable. You’ve got this guy named Paul. He is traveling around starting a bunch of churches when he used to try to stomp them out. And he finds himself in the city of Ephesus, a city full of wanderers and seekers, a city that was utterly devoted to trying to find God. They had over 50 different temples to 50 different deities in this city alone. Paul is going through all these idols in this city square. These idols devoted to these all these little gods. And there’s even this idol he finds. It’s an idol dedicated to the unknown God. The Ephesians are so religious that they even made a place of worship for a deity they don’t know just in case they weren’t covering all their bases. Paul finds himself there and then he gets to share the gospel. And this is what he says. This is in Acts 17:24-31.

The God who made the world and everything in it, He is Lord of heaven and earth. And He does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is He served by human hands as though He needed anything since He Himself gives everyone life and breath in all things. From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth. And He has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so that they might seek God. Perhaps they might just reach out and find Him, though He’s not far from each of us. For in Him, in God, we live and we move. We have our being. Even as some of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring. Since then, we are God’s offspring. We shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone and image fashioned by human art and imagination.

Therefore, having overlooked times of ignorance, God now commands, listen, God now commands all people everywhere to repent. Us, God is telling us this morning, turn from sin, turn from idolatry, turn from living for people and for yourself. Turn from those things. Turn to me. Because verse 31, God has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the man He has appointed, Jesus.

He has provided proof to this to everyone by raising Jesus from the dead. And man, when these people—ah, yeah—when they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to ridicule Paul. Others said, “We’d like to hear more about this.” Man, that is who Jesus is. He is this ultimately worthy treasure, and He is nearer than you know.

Ecclesiastes chapter 3:11 says that God has placed eternity in our hearts. An early church father named St. Augustine said, “You have made us for yourself, oh Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you.”

Here’s a bet I’m willing to make with you. You want Jesus. You want God. I believe that you are here this morning. Whether you believe in this or not, I believe that you want some of it to be true. You want there to be hope that is able to last longer than your life. You want there to be something sure and steady despite the difficulties of what you might be going through. You want something compelling to live for, and you are just hoping that this might be it.

What I know is that you have a hardwired desire for the divine. You have a God-shaped hole in your soul. And until you have God, you’ll be looking for Him in all the wrong places. You’ll be looking for God in the praise of people that you may not even care about. Most of them don’t actually care about you. You might be looking for God in another house, another toy, another upgrade, or more numbers in your bank account. It’s going to—it’s not going to last. You might be looking for God in the perfect family or relationship. But guess what, people? We fail each other. The photogenic families—things still start drooping eventually. The ultimate health starts to break down. Disagreements happen. And people that used to be so tight-knit start being a little divided.

You might even be looking for God in a religious performance, thinking that if you just show up hard enough here, then somehow God might love you a little bit more. What you need to hear this morning is that Jesus left His home in heaven to seek and to save us. He came to show us the heart of a Father who is so wild about you, He would give up His child to have you.

You see, Jesus said that He did not come into this world to condemn the world because it was condemned already. Jesus came to give this world life and joy and life abundantly. Jesus did not come just ready to just smack a gavel on the eternal desk of judgment against you. What He came was offering hope, saying, “Come to me. Anybody that’s weary, anybody that’s thirsty, anybody that’s hungry, just come to me.”

All it takes to have me is everything. That’s all. That’s all it takes. All you have to do to have Jesus is give Him all of your life. That’s all you have to do. You don’t have to satisfy all the religious demands. You don’t have to go through all the hoops that we could ever create for you. All you have to do is give Jesus your entire life, and He will give you all of Himself. Who wouldn’t have that deal?

There are things that you came into with this morning keeping you from Jesus. There are things that even right now when I say all it takes to have Jesus is everything, you’re thinking, “Man, ain’t no way I’m giving up this relationship. Ain’t no way I’m giving up this job. No way I’m giving up this substance or this vice, man.” Jesus is worth it. He’s worth everything. The things of this world just take and take and take. And Jesus is looking. He’s like, “I just want to give and give and give.” Will you have Jesus?

Some of us in this room this morning, maybe you’re a wanderer, and you’re just kind of meandering through life, kicking rocks, going from one relationship to the next, going from one thing, one job to the next. Not a whole lot of purpose, not a whole lot of direction, not a whole lot of drive or joy or love. You’re just wandering. And for some reason, you wandered into church this morning. You’ve—you’ve heard about the treasure. The question is, are you going to take the treasure? Are you going to give your life to Jesus and take the treasure?

Others in this room this morning, you are a seeker, man. Spirituality is something you are deeply interested in. You read about it. You might have crystals back at home. You might dabble in some of the things that we talk about in church like, I don’t know, trying to conversate with spirits and things like that. You really want it. You’ve given a lot of money to church because you’re seeking something. You read the Bible. You’ve probably also read some other spiritual texts. That’s where you’re at.

What I want to say to you this morning, too, is that there is a priceless pearl ready for you. Something better and more beautiful and truly worthy is right here in front of you. And His name is Jesus. And all you have to do is give Him your life. All you have to do is give up your seeking. Give up your striving. Give up your searching and say, “Jesus, I want You.”

There’s others in the room. You found the treasure. You would call yourself a believer. And man, my encouragement to you, your application for this morning is to behold your treasure. Some of us need to go back to the safe, open it back up, and look at that pearl. Some of us need to go back to the treasure chest, pop the top and look at the riches that we have in Jesus because we go through life with a relationship with Jesus but without very much joy attached to it.

In our passage, there is a wanderer and there is a merchant who in their joy give up everything to have the treasure and the pearl. But we live without joy. Man, Christians, we ought to be the most joyful people in the world. When your joy is slipping, look to Jesus. He is your treasure and your pearl, the real gold of heaven.

So, are you in a joy deficit today? Look to Jesus. Do the insults and the judgments of people have you down? Look to Jesus. Are the worries of making ends meet making you despair? Or have you gotten that next promotion, that next toy, and you still feel empty? Look to Jesus. Has a family member or a friend let you down again? Or are you still waiting for that perfect family to materialize? Look to Jesus. Have you made a mess of life again? Have you gotten yourself into another hole? Are you at the bottom of another cup, another bottle, and you’re wondering if God could still love you after what you have done? My friend, look to Jesus. Jesus is the one who loves you. He is the one that came to seek and to save the lost, and He gave everything to have you.

To have Jesus at all, to have more of Jesus at all, you’ve got to give up something. What is it this day?

I want to close the service this way. If you will just humor me and Michaela, I’ll ask you to play a little something pretty behind this. I’m not trying to manipulate. I’m not going to force you to show yourself. We’re all going to close our eyes and bow our heads. But what I want you to do is to put your hands on your lap palm up. Almost like you’re holding a box rather you’re holding a present. Man, this morning God wants to give you something.

If you have never given your life to Jesus, He wants to give you new life in Himself. He wants to give you salvation. He wants to give you joy. He wants to give you freedom and peace. If that’s something you want, all you have to do is give Him something back. Give Him your life. You say, “Jesus, I acknowledge that I am far from You and I don’t have You. I believe that You came and You lived and died for me and that You rose from the grave and I confess that I need You.” Those words don’t save you, but the heart behind them does. If you want that this morning, please pray those words to Jesus. Have Him. Give Him everything.

And if you have Jesus, I want you to ask Him this morning. Jesus, what am I holding on to that’s killing my joy? What do I need to give You to have more of You? Is it this hobby that I’m dabbling in that takes me away from my family and takes me out of devotional life with You? Is it some substance that I’m indulging in? Is it this relationship with this person that never drags me down? And if I’m being honest, God, I’ve never told them about Jesus anyways. Is it this secret longing for something God hasn’t given You and You’re holding it over God saying, “God, if You only give me X, if You Only give me Y, if you only give me Z, then I’ll be happy, man. Give it to Him and let Him give you more of Himself.

Let me pray for you. Lord, please speak to us, God, as we sing this final song. Will You get a hold of us? Help us to see what we need to give in order to gain You. God, I pray for the person in the room that doesn’t know You as Lord and Savior, as rescuer and Master. And I’m begging You would open the eyes of their heart to see You in truth and beauty this morning. They would see that You are the buried treasure. They would see that You are the priceless pearl. They would recognize that You are worth everything and You are right here, this very moment, just ready to be had. Please help them to see that. Help them to give up everything for You.

And Lord, for those in the room that know You as Lord and Savior, that have tasted and seen that You’re good, that have that treasure, please God, show them what to give up to have more of You. God, we don’t want to have a little bit of Jesus and a lot of the world. We want to have a lot of Jesus and as little of the world as we need. Give us more of You. Take away what is holding us away from You, please, God. Holy Spirit, do Your work. Thank You. Amen.