July 27, 2008 — Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
“The Treasure of the Gospel is Your Great Possession” — Vicar Huehn
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Dear friends in Christ,
What is the greatest treasure that you possess in your life? What is it that you desire the most? It could be a number of things! Many people would say that being happy is their greatest treasure in life….to be loved….to be accepted, to have good relationships with family and friends. Maybe being successful in everything you do is the greatest treasure that you desire. And maybe…. your earthly possessions….your home….or your car….have become your greatest treasure. But I know that for the majority of you gathered here today in God’s house…. you already possess the greatest treasure of all…..the treasure of the gospel …..THE TREASURE OF THE GOSPEL IS YOUR GREATEST POSSESSION.
Fellow redeemed in Christ….do you really know how valuable a treasure you have in the gospel of Jesus Christ? Did you give up everything to possess that treasure? It often happens that we find a place for Jesus in our lives….but….quite often He fits in somewhere behind every other treasure. Jesus is valuable to us…. we consider Jesus Christ and His gospel to be good to have by our side….to be of great comfort to us…but so are a number of other security blankets and treasures in our lives.
Many people throughout the world were not raised with the treasure of the gospel as their great possession….they were not brought up in Christian homes learning about this great treasure. Their parents may have taught them right from wrong….they may have received a good public education…but they never came into contact with the treasure of the gospel….they never came to possess…to own by faith…..the good news that Jesus Christ died for their sins.
In our gospel lesson for today, a parable is told by our Lord in which a man who had never heard about the Gospel of Jesus Christ… was working hard in a field….working as a hired hand…and all of a sudden the man plowing the field dug into something hard that he couldn’t plow through. He stopped his plow and went to see what it was. Buried in the ground, he found a box, and inside that box was a very special treasure. It wasn’t a box of precious gemstones, it wasn’t a box of money, it wasn’t anything valuable by earthly standards…..it was an old raggedy used Bible. Initially the man didn’t think anything of the book in the box. However, the man knew that if someone had gone through the trouble of burying this book in the ground…then the book must have been of great value.…..and so after reading through some of the book…the man heard for the first time the precious treasure that was contained inside this book called the Holy Bible… the man knew that he had found the greatest treasure of all…. one that possessed more hope, more joy, more peace than any treasure he could ever find in the world. When the man came into contact with this great treasure…he knew he had to possess this treasure for himself….so he sold all his earthly possessions and paid every last dime he had to buy the field in which he found this great treasure. He gave up everything he had to possess the treasure of the gospel. Because possessing this great treasure was the very means by which he would continue to find the forgiveness of sins and peace of eternal life in Jesus Christ…that same treasured means of grace that all of you here today receive as a gift from God each and every Sunday.
All of you….who have faith in Jesus Christ possess the treasure of the gospel….not by your own power or strength….but by God working repentance and faith in your hearts…. transforming you into a new person in which you desire to give up all the pettiness of seeking after earthly treasure in order to make the treasure of the gospel the number one priority in your life. You may fail at times to make the treasure of the gospel number one in your life. But you come before God and repent of that sin. Why? Because your priorities have changed….as one who has found the great treasure of the gospel….you now desire to read God’s Word…. to have an active prayer life….to spend time having family devotions…. and to be committed to coming to God’s house each and every Sunday for Divine Service. The treasure of the gospel is yours….and it is your greatest treasure.
Many people in the world today, at one point in time in their lives…despite possessing all the earthly treasures they could ever hope for…..are still searching for a bigger and better treasure….a pearl unlike any other in this world. Maybe that was how it was for you before you came to possess the treasure of the gospel. Maybe one of these treasures was the certainty of peace in a particular religion. Maybe you had explored many of the world religions trying to find some kind of inner peace. Maybe some of the treasures included…. owning the best designer clothing, the most glamorous of jewelry, the best the luxury car industry has to offer, and so much more. You wanted it all! You couldn’t get your hands on enough earthly treasure. And your life to most people around you….couldn’t be better……but…… it really wasn’t better. Because no earthly treasure could satisfy the desire to want more….no matter how much earthly treasure you had…it was never enough…there was always something more to seek after. The treasure hunt never ended. Like the merchant in our parable who had amassed a large collection of fine pearls that he thought would never be improved upon….so too did you think that every possible fine treasure that the world had to offer was in your possession…..until one day….your life changed as you knew it….a pearl unlike any other you had ever seen came into your possession.
Up until this point, peace for you had always been found within yourself….found through deep inner contemplation… seeking after the best life has to offer….accumulating more and more earthly treasure. In the past when you thought of Christianity you always assumed it was for the weak minded….and viewed Christianity as nothing more than a bunch of difficult rules to follow….but now…..in the blink of an eye….the most precious and finest of all pearls had been placed before you….and for the first time in your life…..you realized that all the pearls you had gathered….paled in comparison to the exquisite, flawless, and awesome treasure of the pearl of great price….the gospel of Jesus Christ…..you now knew without a doubt that Christ had died for all your sins. While you were wrapped up in all your worldly selfishness…. Christ had died for you....He died to pay for all your sins…..once and for all…..you had an eternal hope and an eternal peace…an eternal treasure in the gospel. And because you wanted that pearl of great price to be yours…..you gave up all you had in the riches of this world to possess the pearl of great price….you gave up everything…to be a new member of the kingdom of heaven through faith in Jesus Christ.
And finally, our Lord tells his disciples of how this great treasure of the gospel is spread throughout the world. It is like a great net that goes out. And as the proclamation of the treasured gospel spreads throughout the world….many people are caught by the net of the gospel as we have seen today in our other two parables….and they come to possess trusting faith in Jesus Christ….but others reject the promises and good news which Christ has for them....they reject the treasure of the gospel…….because there is always something more precious to them in this world than the gospel. But the gospel continues to be proclaimed as it has for thousands of years….the gospel treasure continues to be revealed to those lost in this self-serving world….men and women, boys and girls continue to be made into disciples of Jesus Christ by possessing the great treasure of the gospel. Then…. on the last day…..when the net is fully gathered….the angels will come and take all believers in Christ who possess the treasure of the gospel...to be with their Savior forever in heaven…while those who reject the treasure of the gospel….those who desired the treasures of this world more than the treasure of the kingdom of heaven…..they will be thrown out of the net like rotten fish…cast away from the presence of God for eternity….cast into the fiery furnace where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever.
My dear friends, the good news has been proclaimed to you this day from God’s Word…Jesus has told you that you have come to possess the treasure of the gospel of Jesus Christ…it is yours….it has been given to you and you possess it by faith in Jesus Christ…..who perfect in every way….came into this world to die for your sins and for the sins of the whole world.
Dear friends in Christ, what joy it has brought me this past year as your Vicar to proclaim the truths of this precious treasure we posses in the gospel of Jesus Christ. What priceless treasure it is….more precious than any earthly possession. I encourage all of you to hold on to that treasure by faith….and to never let go….continue to gather here as the body of Christ to receive the treasure of the kingdom of God….the treasured gospel that Christ proclaims to you in the preached Word and in the precious Sacrament… May that great treasure continue to strengthen and sustain you in the one true faith and may you continue to be assured that….THE TREASURE OF THE GOSPEL IS YOUR GREAT POSSESSION.
Amen.
The Peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
