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Advent Conspiracy, the movement, is the belief that Christmas can still change the world!
Unfortunately in our Western world, our culture tends to obsess about what they don’t have and it all started back in the garden where Adam and Eve got fixated on the only thing that was off limits for them.
So, we know there is this constant yearning for the next thing in our culture and the best antidote that I know is learning to give it away.
How do we not get caught up in a subtle but subversive movement where love is defined even in the most pure of relationships, that between a father and son, mother and daughter where we have the mindset “Well, I didn’t have this stuff, but I’m going to sacrifice and make it happen so you can have all the kind of presents that I didn’t have.
Maybe you have had one of these conversations as a parent…where Christmas is going to be as big this year. It was measured by the amount of presents under the tree or how full the garbage bag of wrapping paper was afterwards. However, what if we said it would be bigger than ever! A crazy notion that we would give away gifts that would multiply far greater in our world than we could ever spend on each other.
How, you ask? By giving to organizations like Samaritan’s Purse, Compassion or Partners International to name a few. They offer you opportunities to give gifts that provide wells for communities to helping children out of the child sex trade.
In Matthew 13:44,45, Jesus tells the parable of the hidden treasure and the pearl of great price and these two stories will frame my thoughts for our time together this morning.
The Greatest Discovery
READ Matthew 13:44, 45
Jesus tells us two stories about two men absolutely committed to possessing something of great worth. One sells everything he has so he can possess a treasure he finds hidden in a field. The other cashes in all his belongings so he can own the most spectacular pearl he’s ever laid eyes on.
Have you ever made an investment that was ‘pure gold’ for you?
How about an investment that gave you close to a 100% rate of return…A Night In Bethlehem grew from over 500 visitors last year to over 1000 this year. There wasn’t an official count, but we went from giving out 50 New Testaments to about 575 New Testaments this year!
Bobby C. makes a huge investment in PK… 16 men from those two buses prayed to receive Christ.
Do you know what Jesus says? Jesus says, “That’s what the kingdom of heaven is like.” Jesus says, “Just like those two men were willing to give up everything they owned so they could possess that treasure and that pearl, your commitment to me must be greater than your commitment to anything else on earth.” Do you possess that kind of overwhelming hunger to possess Jesus? Where’s that kind of hunger come from? What makes people like you and me to become fully committed followers of Christ?
There are these moments when something big and beautiful happens that catches people’s attention.
I believe that the Nativity Scene this year captured the imagination of people’s hearts in a way that they were challenged to make room for the Saviour! Steve H was one of the shepherds who bowed in that stable countless times over the three nights and spoke about how powerful that moment was.
It starts with a discovery. In these parables it all begins when one man discovers a treasure hidden in a field and when another man discovers a pearl of great worth. Commitment to Christ begins when we discover Him.
One thing these parables teach us is that different people discover the truth about Jesus in different ways. In the first parable we find a man who isn’t even looking for treasure. He just stumbles onto it. He’s walking along minding his own business and finds the treasure in a field by accident. It’s exactly opposite of what happens in the parable of the pearl. There we find a merchant who has spent his entire life searching for that perfect pearl that he ultimately finds.
Isn’t that the way it is with Christ? Some of you here today had no intention of ever following Christ. For a good part of your life you didn’t think about God. You didn’t care about God, but then the good news about Jesus unexpectedly broke into your life and you were forever changed. As it has been said, ‘You weren’t looking God, but He was looking for you!’
On the other hand, some of us had a different experience. It seems that some people are just born with an acute spiritual longing. Like that man visiting one market after another in search of the perfect pearl, you searched for God. Maybe you went from one philosophy to another or from one religion to another. Then one day somebody told you about Jesus and you discovered that peace with God isn’t about religion. It’s about a relationship. It’s not about works. It’s about grace. It’s about personal faith in Christ. Your search was over and now you found what so many people are still looking for.
Different people discover the truth about Jesus in different ways. Some are born into Christian families. Some hear the truth from Christian friends. Some come to know about Christ through hardship and trials. Some open a Bible for the very first time. It doesn’t matter. The point is, absolute commitment to Christ can’t happen unless you somehow discover Him. You can’t possess a treasure you never found.
Heather V. shares the story about her son, Ethan.
The story begins when Ethan, last year in grade one, initially got a teacher that we knew was antagonistic towards the gospel. A son of a Christian family that we know had this teacher and when he was open with the class about his faith, the teacher told him point blank that what he believed was wrong and continued throughout the school year to berate him when he talked about God. At first we thought we would leave Ethan where he was given that he is a quiet guy and we didn't think he would talk as openly about things of God as this little friend had. However we had a gut feeling that we should request another teacher for him, this kind of move being something we had never requested for any of our other children in the past. The principal told us it was pretty much an impossibility given the make up of all the classes. A week and a half into the school year we received a call saying that something had come up and they were able to move Ethan to another grade one class. He ended up with a Christian teacher.
A few weeks later I went on a field trip with Ethan's class and shared a bus seat with a little girl named Annika, who out of the blue asked me if I thought there was a God and said she didn't think there was. A few months later we were looking for Ethan's beginner Bible to read to him at bedtime and he told us he had taken it to school to read during free reading time. He said he couldn't bring it home for a while as he had loaned to Annika , who reading at about a grade four level, had been reading it over and over again! Who knows what seeds were planted! Of course if Ethan had the original teacher, she never would have allowed a Bible to be passed on during reading time. And we had underestimated what Ethan would share at school regarding things of God!
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:13,14 NIV
The Ultimate Pursuit
But finding treasure is only the first step. It’s not enough to simply discover Jesus. Commitment requires us to recognize His great worth. In verse 46 Jesus tells us that when the merchant found his pearl, he recognized what many people never saw. He recognized that the pearl he was looking at was a pearl of great value. I wonder, how many people see Jesus and never recognize His worth?
A life of absolute commitment to Christ doesn’t happen just because we discover the truth about Jesus. Commitment only happens when we recognize His worth. This is where I fear most of us just don’t get it. We don’t really recognize the infinite worth of Christ. If we did, we would not hesitate to put our absolute trust in Him
The treasure is always there for us even if it is hidden. The fact that we are digging in a field suggest that we may fruitlessly search in life for all sorts of encounters , for meaning, for truth, for joy, whatever and try to find it in relationships, the pursuit of pleasure and of course then there’s physical beauty or physical strength. Why is physical beauty of such great worth to so many? Physical strength ultimately fades away. We have all seen people who have taken it too far with facial lifts, botox, ‘lipo-suction’!
But sometimes as one writer puts it, we are led unexpectedly through someone or something, an experience , an often simple encounter that leads us to that ‘ah ha’ moment , and in that moment we find the ultimate experience of true joy in God alone and we realise that to continue this new way of being will cost us everything.
Have you recognized the great worth of Jesus? Do we really understand the treasure He is? Every one of us deserves to be eternally separated from God in hell. Do you understand that? Do you believe that about yourself? Jesus rescues us. In Christ we get forgiveness. We get heaven. What’s that worth to you? In Christ we get adopted into God’s family. Because of Jesus, God Himself becomes your Father. Through faith you become His son. You become His daughter. What’s that worth to you?
You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13 NIV
I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 8:17 ESV
The Joy In Surrender
What happens inside someone when they discover Jesus and recognize His worth? Joy happens! When you recognize the worth of Jesus, you become joyfully determined to possess Him no matter what! Listen one more time to Matthew 13:44-46. Jesus says, 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.
Sometimes we get it so wrong. We talk about all the sacrifices we have to make for Jesus. Here’s what we all need to see. In this parable there’s no sacrifice at all. 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 the field.
How is it possible for someone to give up everything they possess with laughter and joy?
The only way that you would be able to do that would be if if you knew that what you were about to receive was of far greater value than what you gave up.
I don’t know what you’re hanging onto today. I don’t know what’s of great worth to you. Maybe it’s money. Maybe it’s control. Maybe it’s some pet sin you think you just can’t live without. Whatever it is, know this—it’s not worth what He’s worth. Not even close. Discover Jesus. Recognize his worth. Don’t you see the treasure He is to you? Isn’t it time for some real joy in your life. Here’s the thing, God can’t place in your hands what He has for you as long as you hand is clenched and shut. Open up your hands and stop holding on to stuff so you can receive what He is waiting to give you.
Isaiah 55:1-3,6,7
· Understanding what the kingdom of heaven isn’t -
Listen to what Jesus is telling us here. The kingdom of heaven isn’t about losing out or ending up with the short end of the stick.
· Understanding what the kingdom of heaven is - It is about the best investment that you will ever make with your life.
It’s about trading death for life. It’s about trading temporary toys for eternal riches. It’s about trading bondage for freedom. It’s about trading shame for joy. It’s about trading rejection for acceptance. It’s about trading your fear and emptiness for the love that never disappoints. The kingdom of heaven is infinite treasure. The kingdom of heaven is the pearl of great price.
The Takeaway
Nothing on earth can touch what we receive in the person of Jesus Christ. He is absolutely worth every part of the pursuit!
When Jesus talks about selling all and purchasing the kingdom, He is not suggesting that God can be bought off. He is not saying we should abandon all possessions and become beggars. So what are we selling? He is speaking of a willful abandoning those possessions that compete for one true devotion to Christ.
We are called to have one true treasure (Matthew 6:19-21) and confess one true Master (Matthew 6:24)
I did some research on pearls...here is what you need to know.
Pearls are formed in oysters as a response to an irritant, which enters when the shell valves are open for feeding or respiration. The oyster secretes nacre, a sticky substance around the object to protect the soft tissue and seals off the irritation. Layer upon layer the nacre coats the irritant and a pearl is formed, buried deep within the oyster. Light reflected from the layers produces the iridescent lustre. In our present consumer frenzied world we are probably all familar with the phrase "I've got to have it" but the stark reality is that we don't need half of what we think we can't do without.
The parable of the pearl is a great illustration of the way in which our spiritual lives are formed. Inside the shells of our heart we are irritated by feeding and taking in all the lies we are led to believe that we need to live but cumulatively these damage us, both physically and spiritually. Christ "our nacreous shell " forms and protects us layer by layer and He becomes the treasure in us, in our jars of clay. Philippians 1:6 He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it!
There’s another way of looking at these 2 parables. Instead of thinking of the treasure hunter as YOU, think of him as GOD. Instead of you being the merchant, think of GOD going through the marketplace. Now the story is different. Now the treasure hidden in the field is – YOU and ME! Now the pearl of great price is – US!
And what does God “sell” to make his purchase? Better question, who? Jesus. Jesus, His only Son. He gave His greatest treasure, to make us his treasured possessions.
And what does God “sell” to make his purchase? Better question, who? Jesus. Jesus, His only Son. He gave His greatest treasure, to make us his treasured possessions.
Phillip Lichtenwalter
So, what will your family’s ‘advent conspiracy’ be this year? Where will you invest in the Kingdom that will be multiplied and worth so much more for Jesus than all those typical gifts this Christmas?