The Real Treasure

What does it mean to follow Jesus?  In Matthew 8 we found out the "cost of following Jesus" when two people asked about being disciples; Jesus told them the high stakes of such a commitment.  This concept is boldly emphasized by Jesus in two of the parables told in Matthew 13.

Matthew 13:44-46
   44 “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field. 

   45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.

The kingdom of heaven is not a trivial pursuit, not passing fad.  When a person finds the kingdom, they are willing to sell everything in order to have it.  This concept is repeated twice.

How much does it cost to follow Jesus?  When, you would be right if you said that there is no joining fee for the church.  Being a follower of Jesus does not cost you a certain amount of money.  God does not just want a little bit of you, though.  He wants all of you - all your time, abilities, talents, possessions - he wants it all.  Living for Jesus and not being tied to 'things' will free a person to live the way that Jesus intends.

So if you've given everything to God, what does he do with all of it?  Most of the time, he gives it back.  But when you get it back, you have a new perspective.  When I am willing to give my house to God, then I do not see it as my possession to protect but God's possession to use.  How do I use it?  Who do I invite?  How do I live as though this is really God's house which he has entrusted to me for a few years?

What about my money, my phone, my time... what would it look like to live as if those were all of God's things which I get to use for a while?  While the answer to that question might be hard and different for different people, I believe it is the right question to be asking.

But while this is a nice message, it is probably not the central message of this parable.  If you think through any of the parables (The Sower, The Good Samaritan, The Prodigal Son, The Lost Sheep, etc.), the main character is almost always Jesus.   Jesus is the man who sows good seed.  Jesus is the Good Samaritan who helps the injured Jew.  Jesus is the shepherd who finds his lost sheep.  Jesus is the guy who found a great treasure and gave everything to have that treasure, including his life.

And what is that treasure that he found?  That treasure is you. He gave all that he had to buy this treasure, even his life.  You are worth everything to Jesus!

The Rest of Jesus

The gift that Jesus offers at the end of Matthew chapter 11 might not be what you expect, but it might be something that you really long for.  He offers peace, comfort, rest - a break from what we are trying to do all the time.

We are busy people.  We are busy trying to do our work, busy trying to play sports or get our children to sports, busy trying to find new and fun activities, busy trying to keep up our appearance, busy trying to stay busy.  There are very few times we rest.

The busy-ness flows into our spiritual life, as well.  When we are so busy with everything else we are trying to do, we find ourselves trying to fit in "Jesus Time," as well.  And sometimes it is a lot of work.  Is God happy with me?  Am I doing enough?  Do I need to be doing something more, something better?

The popular teachers of Jesus' time would pile up instructions for their followers, or disciples to follow.  If you wanted to follow a rabbi, you would need to take up his 'yoke.'  A 'yoke' was the body of teachings the rabbi would give to his followers.  Just like a two oxen would wear the same yoke while plowing a field, a rabbi and his disciple would be bound together in going the same direction.

Jesus gives a different description of what his yoke is like.

Matthew 11:28-30

28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus had a message that is different than other religious leaders.  (Even today many Christian pastors wear a stole over their robes to symbolize the yoke of Jesus.)  The point was not what his followers needed to do, as much as a reliance on what he would do for them.  The message is still different than other religious leaders.

Almost every religion is about what a person needs to do.  There are requirements for offing sacrifices to the Hindu gods.  There are steps to becoming a more enlightened Buddhist.  There are five pillars of actions that take people on the path to Islam.  The Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons have specific activities they need to accomplish to please God.  Christians are even tempted to fall into that trap of 'doing' enough to make God happy, but Jesus' message is different.  It's about what Jesus has done.  It's about the cross.

Jesus is reaching out to us and offering us rest for our busy lives.  He wants to give us what we really need. Rest in his arms, knowing that He has done it all, and that you are free to live in his love.

Listen Up!

The most publicized Bible verse is probably John 3:16.  It has been called the "Gospel in a Nutshell" because it has the overall message of the Gospel (good news about Jesus): God loves the world, he gave his Son for the world, and those who believe in the Son will have eternal life.

Many people share the message of the Gospel simply by displaying that Bible verse, John 3:16.

Before John 3:16, there was Deuteronomy 6:4-9.  The "John 3:16" of the Jewish Old Testament was the rally cry of the Israelites: There is One God - the Lord, so love the Lord with everything you have, and always talk about this Word of God that He has given to us.

Deuteronomy 6:4-9
 4 Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. 5 Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

This section was not referred to as the "Law in a Nutshell" (though maybe it could be), but rather the "Great Shema."  Shema is the Hebrew word that commands people to 'listen' or 'pay attention' or 'hear' what is being said.

So many other cultures had a collection of gods - the Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Hindu's, and every other culture.  Jews were 'odd' because of their claim that there is only one God in charge of everything.  Understanding John 3:16 can give others a better idea of what is important to Christians. Understanding Deuteronomy 6:4-9 can give us a better idea of what has been important to the Jewish culture throughout time, including the Jewish culture of which Jesus was a part.

Faith

There are a few chapters in the Bible that have such a strong theme that they are known by one word.
1 Corinthians 13 is known as the Love chapter.  "Love is patient, love is kind... and the greatest of these is love."

Hebrews 11 is known as the Faith chapter, containing the word more than two dozen times.

Luke 15 is sometimes called the lost chapter, containing the stories about the lost sheep, the lost coins, and the lost (prodigal) son.

Faith is important.  It is by grace we have been saved, through faith - Ephesians 2:8.  During the reformation a strong emphasis was put on three 'sola' phrases: Sola Fide, Sola Gratia, and Sola Scriptura meaning Faith Alone, Grace Alone, and Scripture Alone.

This side of heaven, faith and hope will support us through difficult times, but a day will come when God's Kingdom is realized and there will be need for neither, for God will be with his people - Immanuel.

Hebrews 11:1 
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.

Faith is an interesting word. You may be familiar with the fact that the English word 'love' has three different form in Greek referring to the brotherly 'philos' love, the passionate 'erros' love, and the unselfish 'agape' love. Faith has variations in the opposite direction - the same Greek word can either be translated as faith (a thing/noun) or faithfulness (a description of this noun). Hebrews 1:1 pretty solidly fits the first translation, but other places are a little less clear.

Ephesians 2:8-9

8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 

Here faith could mean a couple things. First, it could mean that we are saved through the 'faith' that we have in God; we are not saved by our actions, but through the free gift of grace that we receive through our faith in a God who has given this gift to us.  It could also mean that we are saved through the 'faithfulness' of Jesus - that Jesus was faithful to what God asked Him to do by living and dying to save us.  The two are not incompatible, and it is somewhat helpful to see the truth in both uses of that word.

God's faithful blessings to you this new year!

God With Us

Matthew 1:23

23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).


My home congregation, growing up, was called Immanuel.  Sort of.

The original leaders thought 'Shiloh' would be a good name for the church, the place where God's people gathered (Joshua 18).  The German pronunciation was more like 'Silo' than 'Shiloh,' and this named seemed appropriate for a small church in a farming community.  But the official name is Immanuel.

Matthew said that the baby Savior should be called Immanuel (God with us) as well as Jesus (The Lord Saves).  Since no one in the Gospels ever called Jesus by the name 'Immanuel,' it seems that name holds more purpose in meaning than identification.  The miracle of the incarnation is that God came to us - the God of the universe became a helpless baby; the Word became flesh.

The "im" is the preposition "with."  "manu," the substance of the word, is an elongated pronoun meaning "us."  "El" is short of Elohiem or the Hebrew word for 'god,' here specifically referring the one and only God.  With-us-God = Immanuel.

This Christmas season the word struck me differently than before since I noticed the lack of a verb. God-with-us is not really a complete thought, but it implies the verb "is" making the sentence "God is with us."  Implied words happen often in other languages, and even in English nearly every imperative sentence, every command that is given, is missing a subject.  "Pick up your room."  is a complete sentence and implies the subject 'You' at the beginning - "You, pick up your room."  The one word sentence "Listen." does the same - "You, listen."  Since there is no verb in Immanuel, we can imply the verb 'is.'

But since there is no explicit verb written, you might find that this Christmas you are better served by implying the past tense of the verb - was. God was with people when he was born in Bethlehem.  God was with us, this year.  There were some interesting times, some difficult challenges, some hard decisions, but God was indeed with us through them.

Maybe the same could be said about your future as you look ahead at the unknown.  Our country is in a war with the threat of other wars, in financial troubles, and falling behind as a world power, but God will be with us.  Families and jobs may look different in the coming year, but God will be with us.

However, at any given moment you must live in the present.  You can learn from the past and prepare for the future, but you must live in the present.  Therefore, maybe the most appropriate implied verb is the present form - God is with us.  God came down from heaven on Christmas and was with people here on earth for a time, and he will return to judge the world and take us to heaven in the future, but right now you need to know that God is with you.

Immanuel.

Unexpected

One of my favorite stories of surprises is the first time Susan Boyle auditioned on the Britain's Got Talent television show.  When she entered, the judges and audience saw a goofy lady, but when she began to sing they were filled with awe.  The smiles and cheering are contagious.

One of my classmates in kindergarten would often be caught eating glue during our art and crafts time.  We may have laughed at the time, but now he is known as the guy who controls a multi-million dollar company, not the guy who eats glue.  

The truth of finding the unexpected is connected to the principle Jesus taught about judging.

Matthew 7:1-2

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

You are a wonderful person.  Sometimes people are able to see that, and sometimes that gets hidden in the messy reality of the world that we live it.  That messiness does not define you, so don't let it.  Don't judge others.  Don't let the judgments of others control you.

Unfortunately, we live in a world that will remain messy this side of heaven.  God is with you through that messiness, and wants to develop a deeper relationship with you.  He wants to talk to you, and he wants to listen, as well.  

Matthew 7:7-8

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

He will answer the door, so don't hesitate to knock!

What is needed?

What do I really need...

There are probably more things that we think we need than we actually need.  According to our science class, we need food, air, water, and shelter.  Society would say you need a job, community, and transportation.  Commercials from many different companies are telling me that I need a new car, and I am tempted to think they are right.

Some theorists would say that we need safety, a purpose, and our highest need is love.  That may true since God is love.  1 John 4:8.

Six out of the seven petitions in the Lord's prayer deal with concerns that might be considered more spiritual: holiness, God's will, God's kingdom, forgiveness, temptation, evil.  One of the encapsulates all the physical concerns we have.

Matthew 6:9-13

   9 “This, then, is how you should pray:

   “‘Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
10 your kingdom come,
your will be done,
   on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
   as we also have forgiven our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
   but deliver us from the evil one.’

This is a little different than the version we usually say in church or chapel.  One of the more significant differences is the request to keep us away from "the evil one" and not just "evil" in general. That makes me curious why it would be rendered differently.  That middle verse, 11, is about physical things and it calls those things 'daily bread.'  It would have reminded people during Jesus' day about the Israelites who were only supposed to collect enough food for one day and depend on God.  It would also have reminded them of a Proverb.

Proverbs 30:8-9
8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; 
   give me neither poverty nor riches, 
   but give me only my daily bread. 
9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you 
   and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’ 
Or I may become poor and steal, 
   and so dishonor the name of my God.

It also might remind us that in John 6, Jesus referred to himself as the Bread of Life, the food that people really need.

As far as 'things': not too much, not too little.  As far as 'God': the more the better.

"God, help us want more of You!"