Dr. Roger Parrott, Belhaven University

Good morning.

I'm reading two passages this morning.

First, a parable from Matthew 13, and then Psalm 100.

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, he 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.

And Psalm 100 reads, Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him, singing with joy.

Acknowledge that the Lord is God.

He made us, and we are His.

We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

Go into his courts with praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

Jesus told stories.

Jesus told stories to help us understand.

How completely different the kingdom of God.

Is from the world we live in.

He's trying to help us to not see the world through sin's distorted perspective, but to see it through the eyes of God, how God designed it to be, how God created us to live and to relate and to flourish.

And we need to learn that day by day, just as the disciples did, as Jesus told story after story after story.

Because the kingdom of God is upside down compared to what the world values.

It's not just a little bit different, it's completely different.

The kingdom of God values forgiveness,.

And the world values revenge.

But it's a process day by day to see thee more clearly, love thee more dearly, and follow thee more nearly a little bit more each day and.

A little bit more with each story Jesus told.

So today we're going to look at the shortest parable that we have recorded.

I'm sure there were other stories Jesus.

Told that weren't recorded, but the shortest.

One we have recorded the parable, the hidden treasure, about the joy that's worth absolutely everything.

Two years ago in Kentucky, a farmer was out in his field and he saw something that didn't seem right.

They're worth $2 million.

Now,.

You see, that often happened during the Civil War because as the Union troops came to the south, especially in the last two years of the war, they had to live off the land.

And so they would take what they needed, and they often took what they didn't need and the wealth of the people.

So the people would go out into the country outside their town and they would bury their treasure in hopes that the soldiers coming through wouldn't steal it.

I've often wondered if there's any buried treasure right around here.

You see, because this was a place of battle during the Civil war, Mississippi River, 20 miles west of here, was the main thoroughfare of commerce through the country.

They didn't have.

I mean, they had railroads, but not in the way we have now.

They didn't have roads.

They didn't have highways, obviously didn't have cars.

And so the rivers were very important.

So who controlled the Mississippi river really controlled the western portion of the country.

During the Civil War.

And so it was a major focus for control.

And General Grant of the Union army came into Mississippi to try to take Vicksburg, because Vicksburg was the point in the river that was the primary port, because that's about as far as you could come up the Mississippi without some kind of power behind your boat, because the tide, the stream was too heavy.

After that point, and you couldn't go much farther north.

And so Vicksburg became a very important city.

So General Grant came and he came to try to take Vicksburg.

Well, Vicksburg's not easy to get to.

That's why it was a valuable place.

So he came through the swamps of the northern part, and he dug and he tried to make trenches and get boats through there.

He couldn't do it.

They tried to come in from other directions of Louisiana, and they couldn't get across the river to do it.

And he finally floated down past Vicksburg, and the battle was enormous between the guns on the shore and the boats in the water trying to take Vicksburg.

And he finally decided they couldn't attack it, so they were just going to surround it and starve out the people who were there.

Well, during that siege that lasted some 46 days of Vicksburg, where the people, because of the bombardments, went into caves.

And lived off, literally rats and other things they could find because there was no food left,.

Grant was worried that an army of the south might attack him from Jackson because this was the direction toward Vicksburg.

You'd come through here to get to Vicksburg.

And so he sent General Sherman to Jackson to wipe out the city.

And General Sherman came into Jackson and burned absolute every.

Everything.

There are only two structures really left in those days.

The old state house, which you see downtown, where if you go in that state House, that is Where Succession started.

Was right there in that state house.

And the other place that they did.

Not burn is what's now the governor's mansion.

Everything else was burned.

And they called Jackson Chimneyville after that raid because only the chimneys were left,.

Because everything else was burned.

Burn.

So I'm sure the people came out from Jackson to hide their wealth someplace.

And between our campus and UMMC must have been kind of a safe place because Fortification street as you know it, you came in on Fortification, that's called Fortification street because that's where the rebel army was encamped to try to protect.

Against the General Sherman.

And then they had another encampment over on the other side of ummc.

If you go onto the campus, you can still find the bunkers that are there that were built during the Civil War.

So somewhere between there and this part, kind of in our campus and around this neighborhood, would have been the place people felt the safest.

So I always wondered, is there stuff in the ground?

Is there stuff around here?

Is there stuff buried someplace in this neighborhood?

So what if you got your metal detector and you went out and decided you were going to look around a little bit, and you go maybe to some vacant lots and you start hunting and that thing goes off and in the ground you find somebody had buried.

Treasure here in this neighborhood from the Civil War.

Well, you'd find it, and you'd find those gold coins and you'd quickly put them back in the ground and you'd wonder, I gotta go sell everything.

I gotta go buy this lot.

If I could buy this lot, I'm gonna get the treasure.

And so it's worth getting rid of everything else in order to buy the treasure that's buried there.

And if you could contain your joy long enough that nobody actually found out what you found, you could own the treasure.

And that's what today's parable is.

It's about a man that finds a treasure.

Jesus 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 the field.

Jesus tells another one right after that, that was read to you today about a merchant looking for pearls.

It's kind of like a flea market thing.

They would go and they'd find all these pearls, and most of them would be junk.

And every once in a while you'd.

Find a great one.

Well, that happens too.

There's a few years ago, somebody founded a garage sale in New York, a little bowl.

They paid $3 for it.

That bowl happened to be 1,000 years old from the Northern Song dynasty and it sold for $2.2 million.

Well, Jesus is talking about that kind of a find.

One you didn't expect to find, but you came across and it was worth everything.

Jesus said the kingdom of God is like people who are not looking for treasure, but they find it.

And when they find it, they're willing to give up everything in order to get it.

And they weren't looking for it because they didn't realize it was possible.

They didn't realize that a corrupt world is not how you have to live.

They didn't realize that a sin plagued society is not what has to dictate our lives.

And when you find the treasure, there's great joy to realize there is something very different in the kingdom of God.

Well, the man was surprised by his discovery.

The scripture tells us Jesus, I mean,.

People often aren't looking for the kingdom of God.

But joy is discovered when we find out how God really designed us and.

That the world we know doesn't define us.

The contrast is so stark, it's so enormous.

It's not competition with each other, but service to each other.

And the most vulnerable, especially it's about the kingdom of God.

It's not about finding success by pushing other people down, but by lifting them up.

We all grow in our relationship with God.

It's not by us having.

And the only way we can have.

Is so others don't have.

It's not about abusing others, it's about infusing others.

It's not about revenge, it's about forgiveness.

It's not about hate.

It's about love.

There's an awful lot of hate in the world.

But hate hasn't solved one problem yet.

Not a single one.

You see in the kingdom of God is a stark contrast.

And the man was surprised to discover his treasure, just as we can be surprised when we see how transforming the kingdom of God really is.

The kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.

I've told you, Jesus used those phrases interchangeably because they're not just about eternity.

As I said in the opening today, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven is not just about someday.

The kingdom of God is now.

When we learn to live in the kingdom of God.

Well, this man in the story wasn't looking for it.

He, he stumbled on it.

He didn't expect to find a treasure like this, but when he found it, he had such joy.

He wanted to give everything he had for wasn't a duty Too often, the Christian life people see as a duty, oh, I have to give up everything.

So I can get the treasure.

No, you get to give up everything.

So you can get the treasure.

Some people encounter Jesus when they aren't even searching.

Like this man in this field, maybe.

Through a crisis, a conversation, maybe a moment grabs you where you just see.

Jesus in a different way.

My constant prayer for you is that.

You discover the kingdom of God and learn to live in it more and more, day by day by day.

Life does not have to be controlled by sin.

It doesn't have to be fighting in order to belong.

It doesn't have to be struggling to succeed.

It doesn't have to be tensions with people.

It doesn't have to be about gossip.

It doesn't have to be about attacks and counter attacks.

The kingdom of God is a treasure that puts all that aside.

And we live in the presence of God as He designed us to be in relationship to him and relationship to each other.

Have you found the treasure?

Has it brought you joy?

Some of you probably didn't know much.

About Jesus before you got to Belhaven.

I talked to a student just the other day.

He graduated a couple years ago.

He said, I didn't know who Jesus was.

Hardly.

I may obviously have heard about them, but I didn't know anything until I got here and I found Christ here.

And my life's forever transcended.

I've heard that story over and over and over through the years, and I'm thankful that this is a place where people find Christ and discover the treasure for the first time.

Some of you haven't found the treasure because your connection to Christ is more.

Of a battle than a relationship with God.

It's a struggle over your desires.

And you're trying to kind of color within the lines of life, but you don't always color within the lines.

People who live in that sometimes kind of see how bad they can be and still be good.

Like I can be this bad and still be In.

In that Christian life, there's no joy, there's no discovery, there's no treasure because.

They haven't yet discovered it.

Well, for others of you, maybe you've always known Christ, maybe you grew up.

In the church, you're always there, but.

You never really found the joy.

You never really got the treasure.

You haven't seen the contrast to what God designed versus what the world has become.

It's kind of like the old illustration.

Of the frog in the boiling water.

Have you heard that one?

I'm sure at some Point journey.

If you take a frog and you got a pot of boiling water, and.

You throw that frog into the water, it'll jump out immediately.

But if you have a pot of cold water and you put that frog in and then you slowly heat it.

Up the water, the frog will boil to death, never realizing it was that hot.

Some of us have grown up in.

The church that as the temperature came up, we never really got the wow of the treasure.

We never really understood it.

You can put me in that camp.

That's who I was.

My dad was a pastor.

I grew up in the church.

Always there, always part of it.

It wasn't until probably my sophomore or junior year in college, it finally sunk.

In and the wow came and the joy came when I discovered the real treasure.

Maybe some of you haven't found the treasure, haven't had the joy, because he kind of adapted to the sin of the world.

You had it one time.

You had the joy of the Christian faith.

You had the joy of finding the treasure.

And then over time, it's kind of dissipated and it's kind of gone away.

You're kind of like the frog in the kettle backwards, where you just got accustomed to the world and the joy drained out.

Well, the man in the field was surprised by his discovery.

And when he discovered the treasure with.

Joy, he sold everything he had to buy that field.

That decision wasn't grudging.

That decision was excitement and joy.

He wanted that field because that's where the treasure was.

And it was worth giving up everything else he owned in order to get that treasure.

You know, I think too often Christianity is seen as a list of sacrifices.

What do I have to give up?

Kind of go along, do it, don't.

Want to do it.

Because we haven't discovered the treasure.

We haven't really possessed the treasure.

Jesus said it is joy.

Jesus said essentially, in so many words, you're trading pennies for treasures, for gold.

He said, you're trading rags for riches.

You're trading emptiness for eternity.

If following Jesus feels heavy, maybe you've lost sight of the treasure and you.

Need to find it again or need to find it for the first time.

When the man found it, he sold.

Everything for the treasure, all he had.

He didn't sell some of it.

Jesus didn't sell.

He sold some stuff he really didn't need.

He sold everything in order to get the treasure.

And the treasure demands total commitment.

You see, salvation's free.

Salvation is by grace.

You can't buy your way into that.

But discipleship costs everything and we are disciples of Christ because we see what.

He's done for us and we want to love him fully.

Jesus isn't asking to be part of your life.

He's asking for the whole thing.

And that's where the kingdom of heaven is found, because he gave his all for us.

So I ask you this question.

What are you clinging to.

That keeps you from buying the treasure?

What are you holding onto that's worth.

More than the treasure.

Until you let go of it?

There's really little joy in the Christian life.

The joy comes when we possess the treasure fully.

That's what Psalm 100 talks about.

Psalm 100 says, Shout to the Lord.

Excuse me?

Shout with joy to the Lord all the earth.

Worship the Lord with gladness.

Come before him with singing joy.

A lot of you wear headphones.

I see you on campus with your headphones on.

That's fine.

I wear them too sometimes, especially when I play golf by myself.

I like them.

But when I see you with headphones, my question I always ask myself is,.

I wonder, what's the soundtrack of your life?

What's the playlist of your life?

Is it a playlist of joy?

Or is it a playlist of stress, A playlist of love, or a playlist of struggle?

When we find the treasure, our worship of God becomes joyful.

Psalm 100 tells us, you know, we.

Often talk about, and the modern church talks about worship is that time when.

We sing during the service.

I don't really like that phrase, you know, kind of take it on.

You can't change it.

But we call that worship.

That's not really worship.

You see, worship is not an event.

Worship is a lifestyle.

Worship is because of who Jesus is, not what you just say or.

Or do at a time.

So worship is something we do all the time.

Come before him with singing, with joy.

Then that psalm goes on to say,.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts of praise.

Give thanks to him and praise his name.

You see, in ancient times, if you came into the courts where the presence of God was in the temple, you would come in through gates, and you would.

They knew that phrase.

You come in through the gates into the inner court, which is where the people would be who would be worshiping God.

Today we just approach to the presence of Christ.

We don't have to go to the temple.

But he says, when you come into the presence of God, give thanks.

Because gratitude changes our perspective on everything.

Instead of focusing on what we don't.

Have, try to see what God has provided in gratitude.

It's pretty amazing if you've kind of lost the joy or you never really had it.

I'm going to make a recommendation to you.

You probably pray at night.

I do.

And often our prayer is, lord, help me with this.

Please solve this.

Take care of that, Lord.

Work out that problem.

And by the way, we love you.

Amen.

And that's fine.

There's nothing wrong with asking God a list of your interests.

But along with that, write down three.

Things every night you're thankful for.

Just three.

Write down three things you're thankful for.

And when you take a pattern of.

Gratitude, the joy of the treasure becomes found.

Well, the scripture then says, acknowledge that the Lord is God.

He made us, and we are His.

We are his people and the sheep of his pasture.

You know, identity is a huge question of life.

Who am I?

Where do I belong?

Where do I fit in?

Well, it's answered right here.

You are created and claimed and.

And secured by God.

You are created, each one of you individually and purposefully.

God created you for a reason in this world, and you are claimed.

You don't have to worry about what group you belong to or where you fit in.

You belong to him.

You are part of the family.

You are.

You are his children.

And we're secure.

He says we're the sheep of his pasture.

We're protected by him.

You know, a sheep can't do anything.

For itself if it doesn't have a shepherd.

It's dead.

It's just gone.

It's not going to happen.

But with the shepherd, the sheep are fine.

Sometimes we forget we are protected by God in that kind of way.

I had one of those things happen last week.

Friday, really tough news.

It was a public policy out of Washington, really messes up my life and puts a lot of pressure on the school.

And I was trying to figure out how in the world to cope with this thing.

I mean, it was not a little deal.

It was a big deal.

Friday night, I just couldn't sleep, man.

I had nightmares.

I had struggles.

I was up all night, back and forth and the whole thing.

Saturday, I went up, I went to the game for a little bit.

Then I thought, well, I got to get my head cleared.

I got to get in a better place.

I'll go play golf for a little bit.

Played golf.

I was by myself and my stomach was just in knots.

You ever had one of those problems,.

You're just absolutely tied up.

And I kept thinking about our verse of the year.

You sang it this morning.

And be sure of this.

Be sure of this.

I'm with you always.

I'm with you always.

I'm with you always.

And I started saying it over to myself on a golf course.

And I started saying it out loud.

You're on a golf course.

You can talk to yourself.

People don't mind.

And I can say it out loud.

And over a few hours, all the tension went away.

Because you know, that problem, it's not my problem.

I'm in charge of this place, but it's not my problem.

It's God's problem.

And he'll fix it because he promised he's with us always.

We're the sheep of this pasture.

Well, then the.

The psalm ends.

For the Lord is good.

His unfailing love continues forever.

And his faithfulness continues to each generation.

In a world of uncertainty, you all live in a lot of uncertainty.

Uncertainty about your career.

AI going to take all your jobs,.

You're not going to have any future.

Uncertainty about politics, which has just gone.

Off the rails crazy right now.

Uncertainty about the economics.

There seems to be no stability.

Uncertainty even about relationships.

Even in all the uncertainty, God is steady.

His goodness means he wants the best for you and for me.

His unfailing love means he never ever gives up on us.

His faithfulness means you can trust him every single time.

Circumstances are going to change.

The world we're living with now is.

Going to look different, but it's still going to be a sin driven world.

But God's character is eternal.

It does not shift.

And that's the treasure.

That's the treasure.

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, he went.

And sold all he had and bought the field.

The joy of the Lord.

The treasure is worth everything.

The kingdom of God is completely different from what this world applauds.

So don't miss it by your unwillingness to let go of the trinkets that are prized by a corrupt world.

Don't hang on to them when you can trade them in for the treasure of the kingdom of God.

Let's pray together.

Our benediction.

No eye has seen, no ear is heard, no mind is conceived.

What God has prepared for those who love him.

God bless.

Have a good day.