The Kingdom is worth it

The parable that we are going to be looking at this morning is very short, in fact it's only two sentences long. How are you going to base your talk on two sentences in the Bible, I hear you ask. However, stored in these precious two sentences are hidden gems that I would like to expand on a bit this morning.

So Matthew chapter 13 verse 44 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.

So, I know its very predictable but it has to be done: I have hidden some treasure around the room and you have 2 minutes to go and find it. Are you ready? On your marks, get set, go.

(people go looking around the room looking for treasure and come back to their seats)

I find it very interesting as to how we reacted to that. Did you sit in your seats thinking "why did I come this morning - someone just invited me and now I'm wishing I was at home?" Did you watch and observe? Did you want to join in but were maybe a little embarrassed? Did you think, "I'll see what the treasure looks like first and if I want some, then I'll get up"? Or did you jump out of your seat ready to go?

When I was studying for my A levels, I had to spend a big chunk of time, as part of my French literature course, studying the impressionists and one of the artists that I enjoyed studying was James Tissot. Anyone heard of him? Well at the age of about 28, Tissot had a spiritual encounter with God, rather like the man finding the treasure hidden in a field. The experience compelled him to find out more and resulted in him spending the rest of his life and the latter part of his career producing a series of 700 watercolour drawings to illustrate the life of Jesus.

Here is his painting of the parable we are looking at this morning, where the man finds treasure hidden in a field. I think it brilliantly shows us an image of what Jesus was describing:

hidden treasure

The parable, and the painting, introduce us to a man who was not very rich. We can assume that because of his great excitement in stumbling across the treasure. A rich man might have been quite pleased but it simply added to what he owned already.

This man may have been a hired labourer who stumbled upon a jar filled with gold or silver coins, perhaps jewels, and then left the treasure where he found it because he had no rights to it. Had he been a dishonourable man, he could have simply taken it right then, but there were laws in those days in Palestine that governed the discovery of such riches. One law said that if a workman came across such treasure, it would become the property of his master- that is, the owner of the field. However the man was careful not to take the treasure, and he told no one about it. Instead he sold everything he owned and bought the field himself. He didn't want the field as much as the treasure, but being the legal owner was the only way to get it. The treasure was worth more than the field ever was.

So why is Jesus telling us this parable? I think he's telling us because he wants to show people how valuable the Kingdom is and he wants to make the point that the Kingdom is worth getting hold of, it's worth giving everything for.

How do we understand the Kingdom of God?

I wanted to know what people understood by the word 'Kingdom' so I decided to do a little research in Sainsburys this week. I often talk to Simon, the trolley collector, and so I asked him what he thought of when I mentioned the word 'Kingdom'. He said Kingdom reminded him of greatness.
I then thought I'd check out Gok Wan's new Spring collection in the clothing department and ask the lady there what she thought of when I said the word 'Kingdom'. She said she thought of fairy tales.
I then moved on to the hot chicken counter and asked the 2 ladies there. One said that the word 'Kingdom' made her think of the world and the other lady said she thought of glory.
I then went to the bakery and asked the lady there and she said it reminded her of 'realms'.
I then went to pay for all my purchases and I asked this elderly man in the queue next to me. He didn't give me an answer because he thought that I had been employed by Sainsburys to make his shopping experience more interesting!

How do we explain the Kingdom?

I believe the Kingdom is where the King rules and reigns and it's worth giving everything for.

The Kingdom challenges with our minds and it messes with our heads. It surprises us and it shocks us. Sometimes we find that when people encounter the Kingdom, they don't understand it and so often their reaction is to run away or avoid it because it's too much. I clearly remember a friend of mine, who visited the Vineyard here last year, and said that something happened to her in worship when everyone started to sing. She found herself crying and moved. She hadn't experienced anything like that before and didn't know how to react. That's the Kingdom, when God comes and meets with us. The Kingdom comes with love and acceptance when we sing simple songs to God.

I first started to understand the Kingdom about 12 years ago. I was a just married 24 year old who followed Jesus, was part of a local church but never understood anything about the Kingdom and the power of the Holy Spirit. We were helping to lead a kids camp in Derbyshire and one night I asked God to show me His power. All I'd heard and read about the Kingdom of God said to me that it wasn't just for leaders, it was for everyone and I was hungry for God to show me.

So I waited there that night and I waited for God to do something dramatic to show me His power. I remember the dialogue I had with God....it went something along the lines of:
"OK now is the time you can knock me over if you like, or you can make me speak in a different language".
Little did I know I had no idea how God was going to show me His power and there was no way God was going to do it the way I had suggested to him! I remember going upstairs into our room and being suddenly aware of God being in the room with me. I'm not sure how it happened, but the next thing was that I was flat on my face and unable to move.
It was not that I was paralysed or anything but that I was so in awe of this Presence in the room, so aware that it was God that I didn't dare look up or move. For hours I was there, flat on my face, acutely aware of God's power and yet incredibly safe. In between my sobs all I could say was two words, "sorry" and "thank you".
When God's Kingdom came that night, I was acutely aware of my failings and yet acutely aware of His grace and acceptance. That time was so significant, I had to find a place where I learnt about what had just happened to me, I wanted to understand more and so we actively went looking for a church that would teach me about the Kingdom.
Hence we found the Vineyard a few weeks later.

So just like my friend who cried in worship and just like me on that evening and many times since, the Kingdom bypasses our normal way of operating and we sometimes just can't contain ourselves.

The Kingdom is everywhere

Jesus does not just rule and reign at Ralph Thoresby on Sundays. His Kingdom comes when you're driving on your way to work and you commit the day to God, His Kingdom comes when you're washing up and God reveals something to you, His Kingdom comes when you're going to catch the bus home from work and you stop to buy a Big Issue seller a coffee.

We can't keep the Kingdom to ourselves. It reminds me a bit of manna from heaven. When the people of Israel were escaping from Egypt, they relied on God for everything. God sent this flaky bread called manna to feed them but they were only allowed to take as much as they needed for that day, they couldn't keep hold of it. They had to share it with their whole household and beyond, that's what it was for. I think it's the same with the Kingdom, we love to receive from God and yet give it away.

There is such joy in sharing it with people.

At our house, there's quite a wide stream at the bottom of the garden with a public footpath on the other side which people walk on. Last Summer, a group of about 8 young people stopped and were playing in the stream right at the bottom of our garden. They were covered in piercings and tattoos. We could have been a bit intimidated, retreated inside, avoided or indeed told them to move their barbecue on and to not make so much noise!

Those thoughts did absolutely go through my mind but instead I went to the freezer, pulled out all the ice creams I had and went down to share them. And I would do the same thing again every time because it was so much fun! You could tell, when they saw me approaching them, that they thought I was going to tell them off and it was a total delight to see their faces light up when they realised I was smiling and bearing gifts. The Kingdom breaks down barriers when it is shared.

When we went to Africa last year, we knew it was God calling us to go and serve alongside the team at the HIV clinic at Emthonjeni. I had a strong sense that it was the Lord and we went knowing that there were risks with taking our own children but we could plan for those. The joy that came from running the soccer school there was overwhelming and seeing the Lord move in so many ways was simply beautiful. There was one man called Patrick who used to arrive every morning with his empty flask. Patrick was very very poor but he loved the Lord and knew what it was that he could do to serve King Jesus. So every morning he would fill his flask with tea and walk to see the people who had HIV and were too poorly to go out. He would pour them a cup of tea and pray with them.

We also came across a boy called Sammy. He was 11 and was severely disabled, so most of his life was spent in bed. When we met him, he hadn't been washed for a long long time and smelt really bad. We brought food and prayed for him and the family. Alex and Karen later went back to see him, they gave him a bath and dressed him in new, clean clothes. It's not about Patrick, Alex or Karen, it's about their desire to see the Kingdom come in that place and in the lives of the people who live there.

The King is calling

The King calls us and beckons us in. He calls us to get involved with what he is doing in the Kingdom

Gwen and Jason Procter feel called to a place in East Leeds called Osmondthorpe. They have prayed and asked God to intervene there for years and they are seeing Gods' Kingdom come in so many ways. For example, on Valentines day, their housegroup gave away 72 individual roses to the locals just to show God's love to people. Gwen has had the joy of introducing people to Jesus for the first time and they are also showing God's love to people living there by decorating houses. Many people who live in Osmondthorpe are financially less well off and have higher crime rates and social problems than other areas of Leeds, but God loves them just the same as He loves me and you.

A calling sometimes feels like a burden, it doesn't come to special people alone. It comes to anyone who longs for it and seeks for it. If you want to go and see what a calling looks like, go and see it in action, join the Procters housegroup, share the burden and the joy of the Kingdom.

The King calls sometimes when we least expect it. One of my favourite passages in the Bible is from Acts 8 when Phillip meets an Ethiopian man reading the Scriptures and pondering over what they meant. It just so happened that God had put Philip in just the right place at the right time to explain what the Scriptures meant and to show the Ethiopian the next part of the story. It's a wonderful account and I'd recommend you read it to see how God calls at any time.

A few of us were in Caffe Nero a few weeks ago, just having a coffee, being available for God to speak to us if he wanted to. Sometimes we have a coffee and nothing much happens but sometimes God speaks and we get to share with people what we think God might be saying to them. Often, we have had the privilege of praying for them and sometimes, God breaks through and does significant things. The King calls us whenever he wants and our job is to be available.

The King gives us authority

If you read on a bit in Matthew from the parable of the hidden treasure, you will read Jesus saying these words in chapter 16:
"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

Dallas Willard, one of my favourite authors says, "Not enjoying the Kingdom and accessing it is like a man who had a house but carefully kept his doors locked and the keys in his hand but never went into his house! Having access to the Kingdom and living in it is what matters."

Are you holding the keys but are not using them?

John Wimber, who founded the Vineyard movement said, "We have been given the keys to the Kingdom, the authority and power over the enemy, but if we do not exercise that power it is of no use. The kingdom of darkness is organised to distract us from doing God's bidding...Satan diverts our attention from the Kingdom of God."

We have the keys and it is through Jesus that we can access the Kingdom.

The King controls the outcome

Sometimes we are frustrated when we turn on the news; we look around us and there are stories daily of injustice, famine, war and it is so frustrating. But we are called to be a light in the face of evil and sadness. So we pray for people to be healed but they may not get better and it's frustrating. Sometimes you pray for someone and they are amazingly healed and then they have no desire to get to know the one who just healed them. It's frustrating. But, even Jesus experiences the frustration. The bible records Jesus healing ten lepers and yet only one comes back and bows before him.

The Kingdom can sometimes be frustrating when things don't turn out as we would like but God the King controls the outcomes, not us.

The King invites us

Finally, the King carries an invitation. His Kingdom is available to everyone. I'd like you to ask yourself the question, "Do I offer people an invitation to be involved- so they can see what the Kingdom is like? In our Housegroups, do we offer people the chance to learn, to pray for the sick, to practice having words of knowledge for people and to make mistakes? Do we share life with our friends and neighbours?

John Wimber said, "Everyone gets to play. If we create places where only a few can participate, we've missed the call of the Kingdom."

I remember going to my first Vineyard conference down in Acton in London. It was a conference called 'Doing The Stuff'.
It was a typical conference with speakers, worship and so on but my highlight was when people prayed for each other. I absolutely loved it, mainly because there was an invitation to watch, learn, practice, fail, ask questions. When people were going forward for prayer, Ben and I would be right up at the front watching what was going on, asking people why they prayed in that way, why do you keep your eyes open when you pray, why did that person suddenly start laughing, why do you put your hands in the air in worship cause that's a bit weird....so many questions. And then we had a go ourselves and I started asking God to give me pictures and words and he did and it was exhilarating as we saw the Kingdom come. God would come and we would see people healed of past experiences, of pain, and we would join in praying for people.

At the National Leaders conference a few weeks ago we were just the same, learning, experiencing new things of the Kingdom. Never think that you know everything, there is always new things to learn about the Kingdom of God and the invitation to be involved is there for everyone.

So, to summarise:

The Kingdom is everywhere

The Kingdom is not restricted to Sunday mornings, to Leeds. There is a joy with sharing his Kingdom with others.

The King is calling

He calls us and beckons us in.

The King gives us authority

He has given us the keys of the kingdom, are you holding the keys but not using them?

The King controls the outcomes

Even when stuff does not go how we planned, it's not up to us to decide the outcomes

The King invites us

He wants you to get involved, the one who rules and reigns assures you that it's worth it, it's so worth being involved in what He is doing.

Kate Newman, 12/03/2012