Matthew 13:44-46

Worship: Prizing What is Most Worthy - A Treasure and a Pearl

by James Lincoln on January 1, 2006

 

These are two of my favorite parables. One reason is that they are short, uncomplicated, and easy to remember. However, I can't think of another passage in Scripture that is more effective and liberating when it comes to following Jesus - especially in the presence of powerful temptation. Oddly enough, it's one I've never read in any book on making disciples. I should also say that this is the one text I intentionally repeat about once a year. So, if you hang around here very long, you'll probably hear this again.

WORSHIP = WORTH-SHIP

Now at the heart of this parable is the true meaning of worship. This is so because we get our English word worship from the old English word, "worthship". True, worship is about what you deem most worthy of your attention, your love and your life. True worship is about what you value the most. In a sense you're always worshipping something. You have been hard wired to worship. The question is not if you worship or not. The question is always, "Is the object of your worship worthy of your time, energy and commitment?" The truth is that you will give yourself to what you worship. These parables are about two men who found something so valuable that they gladly gave up everything they had to get it. It's a metaphor about worship and about the behavior that worship produces.

Is Worship About Us or God?

First, God is jealous about what moves us. Today it's not uncommon for people to identify worship with what we experience in music and song. When people ask me, "Jim how's the worship piece of your service going?", almost without exception, what they want to know about is the music and singing piece of our service. Now, I love music and singing. And it's clearly a part of Biblical worship. However when worship is identified with what we experience in music and singing, the focus of worship can become more about the experience of being moved than about God and His value and worth. In 2002, George Barna reported that only 29% of church-going adults surveyed in the U.S. thought that worship was something that's focused primarily on God. The majority thought that worship was an activity undertaken for the personal benefit of the worshiper. So the focus of worship has changed from honoring God's value to the benefit of the worshipper to be moved. One of the key factors of church health that is promoted by our denomination is something called "impactful worship". I'm suspicious that this has more to do with the immediate impact music and singing has on the worshipper than on the honor and praise due to our God. It would seem to me that if worship is supposed to primarily impact people then the focus has shifted from honoring God to moving people. This is a serious shift.

I once asked someone how their worship went that Sunday. They said, "Today worship was great, it really rocked!" We can easily confuse the experience of being moved or being "rocked" with worship rather than honoring God. The prophets of Baal were moved and impacted by their worship. In her season of rebellion and idolatry Israel was also moved. She raised her hands in passionate worship (Isa.1:15) and sang with loud and passionate praise. Yet, God said through Malachi, "Would someone please close the doors to the church, so that they can't get in and perform all this nonsense." (1:10). Their passionate and impactful worship didn't match up with the true course of their lives. Even though they were moved their behavior revealed that God was not the true object of their worship even though He was the subject of their praise. The prophets wrote, "They honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. " and "You are near to their lips but far from their minds" Jer.12:2

Now God does want us to be moved. However, God primarily cares that you and I value and prize that which is most valuable and worth prizing! The problem in our day is that sensory experiences can easily eclipse the real deal. And so we need to be careful about this.

The WWE

Let me give you a contemporary non-religious example. Some really love the art and skill of wrestling (Greco/Roman, high school, college and Olympic wrestling). It's an honorable sport. However, the former World Wrestling Federation (now World Wrestling Entertainment) has found a way to make wrestling more exciting. What was once an obscure secondary sport with a small but dedicated following has now become one of the most successfully marketed businesses in America. Thousands of fans pay millions of dollars to fill coliseums in every major city in the U.S. to watch big time wrestling. Wrestling has never been more exciting. Are the crowds authentically moved? Yes. Are they genuinely passionate? Yes! Is their praise free and unrestrained as Rattlesnake Brooks slams Kripler Karl Davis to the mat and puts him in a full Nelson? Yes, it is. Are people genuinely excited? Yes. There's smoke, canons, fireworks, lightshows and music. Is it successful and effective? Yes. Does it work? Yes. Is it growing? Yes! Now, does all of this have anything at all to do with wrestling? Of course it doesn't. But, people are having an experience. They're moved, excited, having fun and they're liberated to express themselves freely (too freely). They're not bound up with stodgy and dull traditions of amateur wrestling. The experience is passionate, impactful, growing and successful. How could you argue with success? But does it have anything to do with wrestling? No, it doesn't. At least not in the way wrestling was originally defined. We must be careful about what it is that is really moving us. Now, God wants us to be moved. However, what God primarily cares about is that you and I value and treasure that which is most worth valuing and prizing!

The Parables

In the parable, it's the kingdom of God (heaven) that is to be prized and valued. And when this is happening in your heart... when God is ruling and reigning in your heart... then you are worshiping.

Now let's look at the parables. They're rather straight forward. Jesus says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field...

Now, in those days it wasn't as rare to find a treasure hidden in a field as it might be today. At that time, money was a medium of exchange but not yet a commodity. In those days you didn't take your money and have the bank pay you rent or interest for the use of that money. If you had capital you didn't invest it by putting it in the bank; instead you hid it. You found a place to keep it safe. It was quite normal for a wealthy person to take his family treasure (heirlooms, coins, silver, gold whatever) and hide it or bury it somewhere on his land. And because of the way things go, unexpected thinks happening -- like people being killed, wars coming along and political upheavals -- it wasn't that unusual to have treasure buried and then forgotten.

In this case you have a man - perhaps a hired laborer - and he's working in a field, finds a treasure or a piece of a treasure and he realizes that someone has buried a fortune here. So, we're told that he hides it or covers it back up. Now, he's not a man of means so in order for him to buy that field he has to liquidate everything he has. He had to scrape up and impoverish himself to buy that field. But, he knows that what's in the field is far more valuable than the sum total of his stuff ...so he sells his stuff with great joy and buys the field.

The second story is similar. Pearls were even more valuable then than now. For example I'm told that Cleopatra had a pearl that was valued at twenty-five million denarii. A denarius was a day's wage. So, in today's dollars that pearl would be worth several billion dollars. It's unlikely that any jewel would today be worth that amount. But then it was. When Jesus says, "Here's a pearl merchant." He's talking about someone who understands the value of a good pearl and he sees one that beats them all! He knows that even though he has to liquidate and sell everything that he has to get that pearl, it doesn't matter. He knows that what he is getting is far more valuable than everything he has.

Now let me say a few things about how to interpret parables. Jesus is not saying these two men are case studies in how you're supposed to do business. Parables are extended metaphors to get across a main point.

Jesus' hearers would have recognized this immediately. Was it fair or ethical for the man who found the treasure to buy it without letting the owner know what was in the field? No. Jesus is not advocating deceit. That piece of the story is not germane to His point. It doesn't matter to the point Jesus is making. That's one reason why He gives us two examples to show us what the thrust of His story is. I see at least four lessons about worship His parables reveal.

The Lessons

1. Worship is about apprehending something's value. It's about beholding the incomparable value of God and His kingdom.

First, both of these men see and apprehend the value of something that others - looking at the same thing - don't see. And it's this apprehension of what is extraordinary and extravagant that motivates them to action. In Pauline language they reckoned or calculated the value and worth of the treasure and the pearl and then after beholding their value -- they treasured that worth in their hearts.

They filled their minds with the extravagance of the riches before them. This is what Paul does with the gospel. He says, "But I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy of the glory that shall be revealed in us." (Rom.8:19). How deep is that verse. How many buckets of blessing are in that verse? Or 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come (the NIV unfortunately leaves out the word behold)". However, It's an exhortation to behold, to see, to apprehend and to treasure what God has done for us in Christ.

Paul says, "I count these treasures up ... I list them I think about them." They didn't come to Paul by osmosis. He had to listen, read, memorize, review and make the treasures of the gospel his daily diet. Is this what you do?

Let me give you a good example although it's in reverse. In Josh 7:20, Achan was part of the sack of Jericho. Achan was tempted by the treasures of Jericho. Although he was told not to take any of it here's what he said he did. "I saw a wonderful/beautiful robe, 200 sheckels of silver, a heavy bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them in my heart and I took them and hid them." It's a negative example but it shows how worship works.

Achan demonstrates what it means to treasure something: "I looked and I saw." It took some time for him to consider. He's able to describe the items in detail. He sat there and he thought about it and he weighed it up. He reflected on it until he found himself desiring the treasure so much that he risked his life and that of his family to take it. And he did.

Paul tells us this is how he treasured the gospel. He beheld, reckoned, and counted it up. This is worship....to sit and look, behold, and treasure the beauty of Jesus, the wisdom of Jesus, the goodness of Jesus, the mercy of Jesus the authority of Jesus and the value of Jesus...until you say in your heart that nothing is worth losing this. Nothing could be more practical than this. The 16 c. poet John Donne writes:

"Take me to you. Imprison me, for I,
Except You enthrall me, never shall be free.
Nor ever chaste, except you ravish me."¹

He's saying, "Until I am ravished by you everything else will seduce me." I'll never be able to resist temptation (sexual, economic, greed, pride and all others) until I am enthralled by the treasure and the pearl. This is what Thomas Chalmers called the expulsive power of a greater affection. It takes time and thought to lay hold of the treasure's value. It also takes grace. Our hearts need God's grace to see and behold. You begin by repenting for worshipping things of lesser value...things other than God.

Authentic worship begins not in a hormonal or neurological response. It begins with apprehending and seeing something more beautiful, lovely, honorable and more glorious than anything else. And when you see Christ Jesus for who He really is this is exactly what you will see. And that will change you. You can't be the same if you do. If you are not changed by your worship then you are not worshipping God. Because you always default to what you value the most in your heart.

Second, The Prize of True Worship Beggars the Sacrifice of Worship

Both men in our parable realize that the benefit of the prize beggars the sacrifice and the cost to get it. When they went home to their wives and said, "Dear, we are going to have to sell everything we have to get that field or that pearl." Do you think they felt sad because they were making some huge sacrifice? Of course they didn't. Why not? Because the prize was extravagantly greater in value than everything they owned a million times over! Even though it cost everything... it was worth far more than it costs. They knew this. And therefore the sacrifice is put in the context of such extravagant riches and joy that they make the sacrifices necessary to lay hold of what they know is far more valuable.

Notice that the joy in the object comes first. The most important words in the parable are these four words. "from his joy over it." What motivates the sacrifice? Joy! He doesn't sacrifice to discover the joy. We don't sacrifice to get God to love us. We sacrifice because in the gospel we apprehend that He has already loved us. By His grace we have seen it, beheld it and apprehended it.

Listen, Is something that cost $500 expensive? That depends doesn't it? Would you give me $500 for a stick of gum? No. But if I could legitimately sell you a brand new dodge Ram Mega Cab pick up with a Cummins engine that puts out 350 horse power with a Hemi for $500 ...you would say, "I don't have $500 but give me an hour and I'll get it.? Why? Because you know that the value of the truck far exceeds $500.

The kingdom of God will cost you everything. But here's the deal...you give up nothing when you give up everything because when you lose your life in Christ you always gain it back and it is extravagantly better. But you must first apprehend the value if you are to be able to beggar the sacrifice. Otherwise you will think that God is taking something from you and depriving you. This is why exhortation has such a limited impact. People can change for a while by being exhorted. However, in time we all default to what we value the most.

Worship is the most powerful motivation in the Christian life. Look, what if I inherit an old tarnished necklace from a distant relative and I throw it the draw to collect dust. Then one day some guests come over to the house and one of them happens to be a gemologist. So, I tell him that I inherited this old necklace and ask him if it's worth anything. After examining it he says to me, "Jim this is a necklace that has been missing from Queen Victoria's private collection for hundreds of years. It's so valuable you can't put a price on it." What do you think I am going to do? Do you think my behavior towards that necklace will change? Of course it will. How fast? Immediately. What am I going to do? I'm going to get it out of my drawer, have it appraised, cleaned up, get it insured and put in a safety deposit box.

The point is that my behavior is going to change instantly and dramatically as long as I understand and apprehend how valuable it is. If my behavior doesn't change guess what? I didn't apprehend or value it for what it is. People ask, "Why is it that Christian behavior doesn't match with Christian profession?" The answer is always weak worship. We act on what we really value.

The value of the prize beggars the sacrifice. Beloved, this is the way it is with the gospel. You can never sacrifice too much for the cause of Christ and the gospel. Little sacrifice means little worship. Do you really want to change and become more like Christ? If so, then you must learn to worship or learn to value, cherish and prize Him and the gospel and believe that Christ and His ways are the most valuable treasure there is. If not... you will default to what you think really is most valuable. First, you must apprehend the value of the gospel and second the treasure will beggar any sacrifice.

Third, worship represents a change of essence, dimension and realm (authority).

The parables are about entering and laying hold of the kingdom of God/heaven. They're about being translated into a new dimension or essence. It's a movement into a new reality. It's the move out from under self sovereignty and into God's sovereignty. When you worship you come out from under your own rule and you come under the ruling power of God, heaven and His kingdom. In Colossians Paul says that we have been, "transferred out of the kingdom of darkness and been translated into the kingdom of His beloved Son Jesus."

Worship is always about a change of authority. Who is your king and who do you submit to? Who is ruling your heart? Whose authority are you under? You have been authored therefore you must live under some authority. What kingdom are you in? Yours or God's? To be a Christian is not simply to turn over a new leaf or adopt a new moral code; it's to have God's ruling power come over you. You become a new creation in Christ. It's a power that shakes you to the foundations of your life. Worship establishes a new foundation of authority in your life. The treasure - the pearl is a change of kingdoms.

Remember the message the angel said to the shepherds. "Today a savior has been born. He is Christ the Lord. Peace on earth comes when we acknowledge Jesus as Savior and King. It means to liquidate everything that would compete with His plans, His goals, His commands, His promises, His words, His business above your own.

Half way and half hearted Christianity is an indication of a small apprehension and little authentic worship. When we don't worship as we should our admissions and our ambitions are too small. We can't receive the kingdom of God if we only think we need a little improvement or only admit a little. We must admit the hopelessness, helplessness and sinfulness of our condition outside of Christ. Real worship changes your admissions (Peter: "Depart from me I am a sinful man." Isaiah: "I'm a man of unclean lips and dwell in a land of unclean lips.") True worship changes the depth of your admissions.

True worship also radically changes your ambitions. He doesn't offer a little bit of inspiration to get through the week. He will take His own nature and share it with you. You will become a partaker of the divine nature. It will cost you everything...but also, "Eye has not seen nor ear heard the incredible things God has in store for you." True worship is more costly and more rewarding than you know.

In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis said,

"Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to renovate that house. At first perhaps you can understand what He's doing. He's repairing the drains and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on and you know those jobs needed to be done so you're not surprised. But after a while He starts knocking the house around in a way that hurts abominably and doesn't seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? Here's the explanation. He's building quite a different house than the one you ever thought of. He's throwing out a new wing here and adding an extra floor there, running up towers and building courtyards. You thought, when you first came to Him He was going to make you into a decent little cottage. But he's building a palace...why? He intends to live in it Himself."

You just wanted a God who would show up and visit, get you past your job interview or finals or some crisis. The parable says that God wants everything so that He can turn you into a palace fit for His residence.

What is there to hold on to that would give you more safety, security satisfaction, salvation, real eternal happiness than Jesus? Nothing! There's nothing worth holding on to. This doesn't mean that we all take vows of poverty. However, it does mean that you must transfer ownership of everything you have to Him. He is Lord and King. You're really only acknowledging what is already true. The earth is the Lords and everything in it. Worship is always about who is king in your life. What is it that you need to liquidate today to honor Jesus as king in your life?

Worship is beholding, apprehending, prizing and treasuring God's incomparable value and worth over everything else. When you have worshipped you will beggar the sacrifice or cost to lay hold of Jesus who is the greatest treasure ever.

Worship is always about authority. Who is the final authority in your life? Who do you submit to? When you have worshipped you will submit to God and when you do you will lay hold of His peace.