Toes and Treasure

If you ever want to hear a really weird story, look into the history of Oak Island, Nova Scotia. Oak Island is the site of the so-called Money Pit, a place where numerous excavations have taken place to recover treasure believed to be buried there.

The story begins way back in 1795, when a 16-year-old boy and his friends discovered a circular depression in the sand and started to dig. They seemed to find layers of logs and stones on their way down that had been placed there deliberately. They gave up digging at 30 feet.

Eight years later, a professional company made a 300 mile journey to dig at the same site, and at 90 feet down they allegedly found a stone on which had been inscribed, in ancient characters, “forty feet below, two million pounds lie buried.” Since then, approximately ten official excavations have taken place, using a variety of techniques to try and reach the level described on the stone, only to have the shaft fill up with seawater or simply to find nothing. Even so, as of 2005, a portion of Oak Island was for sale with a price tag of $7 million dollars, and as of today, nothing of value has ever been found in the Money Pit. I’ll let you be the judge of whether or not the time, the money, and the manpower has been worth it.

That kind of makes me wonder what your treasure is and how far you would go to get it. Would you go as far as this Green Bay Packers fan? He tailgated and then stayed through the entire 1997 NFC Championship game. Because the temperature was 17 degrees below zero, he acquired frostbite, and three of his toes had to be amputated. His response to all this? He said, “You know what? I got 7 good toes that I can lose—If I can go, I’ll stay the entire game next time.” It evidently was worth it for him to lose toes to be present at a professional football game. That was his treasure. So what’s yours? How far would you go to get it?

Jesus told a couple stories about treasure that I think you’ll find intriguing. You heard them as part of today’s Gospel lesson, but listen again and let our Lord paint the picture for you. He said, "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. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.”

As stories go, the plots of these tales are simple enough. Upon further inspection there is an interesting contrast between the two. In the first story, there’s a sense that the man stumbled across the treasure in the field. Nothing in Jesus’ story (or in common sense) suggests this guy was out poking around fields looking for treasure. The treasure, you could say, found him. In the second story, however, you’ve got a merchant actively searching for fine pearls. He was on the hunt, looking for the best. And he found a pearl of great value. And even though one man was looking for treasure and the other one wasn’t, their reaction to finding their treasure is the same. They recognize the worth of what they’ve found, and they sell all they have in order to possess the thing they value most.

 Although Jesus’ parables lend themselves to a variety of interpretations, certainly one point Jesus means us to “get” in this case is that those who find the kingdom of heaven—the kingdom of God—the kingdom of Jesus Christ—treasure it. It becomes the thing that they value most, whether they were looking for it or not.

That kind of makes me wonder what your treasure is—and how far you would go to get it? Does all the evidence in your life point to the fact that God’s kingdom and His concerns are indeed your greatest treasure? Or does the evidence take you in a different direction?

Let me ask the question a little differently, thanks to our Packer fan. What would you be willing to lose a couple of toes for? A better-paying job? A bigger house in a nicer neighborhood? Would you lose a couple digits for the sake of popularity or power? A better body—or improved health? The chance to meet someone you admire? Would you do without a couple toes if it meant that someone you know would come to faith in Jesus and be saved?

Now that’s a little extreme of course, but you understand my reason for asking is to make sure you recognize what Jesus and His kingdom are worth. Because it’s one thing to know who Jesus is and it’s another to treasure Him. It’s one thing to admire Jesus and it’s another to put all your trust in Him for forgiveness, new life, and salvation. It’s one thing to toss a dollar in the plate as it passes by and it’s another to sell all you have and buy the field; to invest not just your finances but your very self in His kingdom.

You see, Jesus didn’t do what He did on the cross to just make you a better person; He didn’t endure the whip to be your life coach; He didn’t let the nails pierce his flesh to make sure you were well off and successful. He did it to prevent you and me from having to endure torment in hell! He did it to save our lives for eternity! He did it so that you can look death right in the eye and say: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that I will see Him!” Jesus bought and paid for a full ride to heaven for us with his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. That means there’s no hell for you; no bitter separation from all that is good at the end of your life! Do you see and believe that’s what Jesus is worth?

Maybe we can turn these stories around. I think it would work to say you are the treasure that was found in a field. You are a pearl of great price. Jesus sold all He had to buy you. He gave all He could give to grab you out of sin’s downward spiral. And He did so with joy. He did so with passion. He did so knowing that this is what He had been born to do—to lay down his life for his friends, and take it up again on the third day. All because you are his pearl; his treasure; his creation; his child. What is that worth to you?

No Other Rock

A few years ago, a religious leader in Seattle made big news when she defined herself as both Christian and Muslim. Furthermore, she said about Jesus, and I quote: “I don't think God said, "Let me send this special person so that I can kill him for the benefit of the rest of humanity." That's not the kind of sacrifice I think that God desires.” End quote. Her supervisor says that her declaration that she is both a Christian and a Muslim to be “exciting” in terms of interfaith understanding. What do you think?

Well, let me tell you what I think. The God who reveals Himself through the Bible claims that He is the only true God. And it’s not like he’s silent on the issue of other religions. Consider our Old Testament lesson for today from Isaiah 44. There the Lord Almighty says: “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God. Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let him foretell what will come. Do not tremble, do not be afraid. Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago? You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one."

Does that sound like a God who would say, “Oh yeah, those other gods are fine. There’s really no difference?” No way. There is no other rock on which to stand when all other ground is sinking sand. It’s the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, or it’s false. It’s reliance on Jesus’ death and his resurrection or it’s wrong. If the Christian Church loses this truth, the church is lost.

This is not intolerance; it is simply repeating what God has said. It’s simply repeating what Jesus said in John’s gospel: “No one comes to the Father except through me.” It’s simply repeating what the apostles said in the book of Acts: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved. (Acts 4: 12)”

If we think we have the right to cut and paste the parts of the faith we like and ignore the rest, we’re just playing god. But guess what? The Holy One will not accept us as fellow gods either. This takes right to the heart of our deepest problems. When we kick God off of the throne and put ourselves there, there will only be heartache and misery and pain, not to mention isolation and death. There’s got to be a better way to live. And there is.

So often, Christianity gets criticized for being narrow. The claims of Jesus are disputed because He sounds so exclusive. But is being narrow and exclusive such a bad thing?

Think of it this way: Let’s say tomorrow that medical scientists announce a one hundred percent cure for all heart disease. It’s been tested and proven to work in every case. And the medicine will only be available in liquid form, kind of like cough syrup. As foolish as it sounds, there would probably be people who complain that it should be available in pill form too! All you have to do is drink it down and you heart is healthy again! Is that narrow? I guess so, but so what? It gives life! You really want to go get a quadruple bypass instead?

            The message of Jesus is exclusive. That’s true. It is absolutely narrow and unique. And I can prove it to you. Because all religion works one way, and new life in Jesus works another way, an entirely different way.

Without exception, every religion gives you a list of things to do, and you do the list to earn God’s favor. You do the list to improve yourself. You do the list to climb up a ladder to God. You do the list to make the world a better place. And if you do the list well enough, there might be some rewards for you. But inevitably, people can’t do the list very well at all, and it becomes a burden as they try harder. It becomes a terror to their conscience. Or they can be deceived that they are doing the list to perfection.

Only the Christian faith, with its focus on the saving words and actions of Jesus, presents the way of grace, of God giving us what we could never achieve. Only the Christian faith says God climbed down the ladder to come and bless you. Only the Christian faith says that God chose you and adopted you, and you didn’t have a thing to do with it except exist. Only the Christian faith says that someone has paid off the debt that you owed God. Religion says you’ve got to work hard to get God to love you; the Christian faith says because God loved you, He worked himself to death to have you.

 This is the life-saving medicine that is available to everyone. The only way to take that medicine is to trust that Jesus is your substitute. When you take that medicine, you’ll discover a love that has no limit, a power for living that never runs dry. Don’t you want that for yourself? Don’t you want that for our world?