The Parables of Jesus, Part 5: Hidden Treasure

Matthew 13:44

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

Matthew 13:45-46

“Again, 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.”

As a teacher and youth pastor, I spend a lot of time and energy trying to help teenagers find themselves. I love having conversations with young adults who have a burning desire to do something meaningful with their lives. As I'm typing this I have a kid in class that I am actively trying to convince to follow their dream of being a math teacher. She's worried about the money that teachers (don't) make but you can hear in her voice that she has a passion for kids and wants to be able to make a difference in the world.

It hurts my soul watching people constantly chasing worldly treasures. It's not necessarily from a religious point of view either. One thing that I have been incredibly blessed with in life was an early understanding that the treasures of this world do not equal happiness. There’s a good reason that the Bible contains over SIXTY verses regarding earthy possessions. Earth, and the treasures of this earth, will leave you with a “God-sized” hole in your heart every time.

I’m going to write a post soon about a book that I read recently titled If Grace is True. The working thesis throughout the book is that “I believe God will save every person.” I don’t want to get too much into that yet, but there is a section of the book that essentially debates the point of being a good Christian if everyone gets to Heaven anyway. The authors spend a couple of pages talking about the call of Christ to establish God’s Kingdom in the hearts of people here on earth. I’ve written about this subject before and how it is the most commonly taught subject from Jesus himself. The idea is that our goal in life is not just to get to Heaven. The goal in life is to improve your life and the lives of everyone else by following the teachings of Jesus Christ.

This is what I believe Jesus meant by comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to hidden treasure. I truly, in my heart of hearts, believe that when we walk with Christ and live life the way He taught us to live it, that we will live better and happier lives as a result. True joy doesn’t come from “stuff.” True joy is found in service. According to the Mayo Clinic, volunteering your time has proven to increase both the mental AND physical health of those who volunteer.

But you don’t just have to volunteer to “serve.” There are lots of ways to serve. You can compliment somebody’s shirt. You can put their cart away at the grocery store. You can be nice to the cranky person having a bad day. You can tip your waiter/waitress a little extra. You can donate your old clothes instead of selling them. There are so many things we can do every day to show the love of Christ to everyone we interact with. Nobody’s perfect, and I don’t think there is any point in trying to be, but I do think that it’s incredibly easy to forget when we’re feeling down that just being nice to people will, for a fact, make us feel better about ourselves. This is the hidden treasure.

There’s one more Bible passage I want to share regarding the coming of God’s Kingdom:

“Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17‬:‭20‬-‭21‬

I believe in Heaven. I believe that one day I will walk the streets of gold with everyone that I’ve ever loved. I believe we’re all going to get that opportunity. I also believe that we don’t have to wait for death to experience what that will be like. I believe we can create Heaven on earth. We don’t get to control the game we play, but we all get to control the way we play it. We get to choose to treat people right. We get to choose the way that we serve others. We get to choose to love. That, to me, is the hidden treasure of God’s Kingdom.