First sermon

This is the first sermon that i ever preached in a church.  I also preached this in Brookings as my first sermon on 8/19/12.  I hope that all the sermons that follow this one will be significantly better.  But, for historical purposes, here it is:

“I said 'I love you. That's forever. This I promise from the heart.” If you listened to popular music in the late 1970's, you probably recognized that line from a popular song. If you didn't catch that one, don't worry. I'll quote a couple more that you might recognize. Here's another one: “I think you ought to know that I intend to hold you for the longest time.” And one more: “As long as I have you by my side, there's a roof above and good walls all around.” Now, these songs might seem to just be sappy love songs, but there's something significant about them: 
The pop singer Billy Joel wrote all three of these songs, and he wrote them for three different women. I have absolutely no doubt that he was completely sincere when he wrote them; he was in love and found a woman he considered a treasure. But you have to wonder if he underestimated how much it would cost him to cherish those treasures forever. 
Sometimes Christians underestimate how much they need to cherish the treasure they have from God. We know Jesus is important; we hear his Word on Sundays, and we put our faith to use during the week, especially when times are tough. But we can admit that there have been times when we haven’t thought all that much about God’s gifts, when we haven’t considered the tremendous value we have in our relationship with God.
In the Gospel for today, Jesus reminds us how important it is to consider his kingdom our most valuable treasure. He's talking here about his forgiveness, his love, and his willingness to take care of us—all the things that he does for us in his kingdom. He talks about these things in three parables. This is the lesson he wants us to learn:
Be serious about your priceless treasure.
x Value it
x Prize It
x Share It
Here’s the first parable Jesus told:
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.
1. Jesus tells us about a man who was walking through a field. He doesn't say why he was walking through the field. He may have been taking a shortcut from one place to another. Maybe he saw some flowers he wanted to take home for his wife. We don't really know. As he was in the field, he stumbled upon a treasure. Again, Jesus doesn't bog us down with the details. He just tells us that he found the treasure. What he focuses on is the man's reaction. When the man found it, he went away and sold everything he had so that he could buy the treasure.
So, why does Jesus tell this story? He wants us to know that his forgiveness is the most valuable treasure we have. In fact, without this treasure, we live in absolute poverty. No matter what our bank accounts may say, we are dirt poor because of our sins. In fact, we're not just broke, but we've got a huge debt. We've got so much debt that we can't even begin to chip away at it. Anything of value that we may want to bring to pay off our debt is about as valuable as old paint rags. But because he loved us, God erased the debt. God saw us in our state of poverty and sent Jesus to turn our rags to riches. By his death on the cross, Jesus gives us the forgiveness of sins and every other blessing we need. With this story, Jesus wants us to recognize exactly how valuable this treasure is. Just like the man in the field, we value this so much that we experience great joy, give up everything, and hang on to this priceless treasure.
By the grace of God, you have received this treasure through the Word. You've heard it here in church Sunday after Sunday. God brought you into his family in Holy Baptism at a time when most of you couldn’t walk or talk. You've heard the incredible treasures it contains. You know that God loves each and every one of you so much that he sent his Son to die for you so that you wouldn't have to spend eternity apart from him. 
We know this treasure is more valuable than anything else. Because of its great value, Jesus encourages us to cherish it above all else and to strive for it and hang on to it with all we have. 

2. Why? Why does Jesus care so much that we strive for his treasure and hang on to it? He gives us the answer in two more parables.
The first of these two parables is very similar to the one we just considered. He said:
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.
At first glance, it seems that these two parables are practically identical. I mean, they both are about a man who finds something valuable, sells everything he has and buys it. But there is a difference between the two. The difference is how the two men come upon the treasure. The first man simply stumbles upon the treasure in a field, but in this story, the merchant man was looking for fine pearls. This is what he did. He bought and sold valuable pearls to make a living for himself. The man had certainly seen a treasure or two in his day. But this one pearl was so impressive that he gave up all the other pearls in his collection to have this one. Once the merchant man recognized the value of this pearl, he cherished it greatly.
We see this sort of situation play out in real life too. Most people understand that there is a god, and they crave a relationship with him. Unfortunately, this often points people in the wrong direction. Some cling to worldly philosophies or other religions. But some find the valuable pearl that surpasses all others. When people are exposed to the love of God, they realize that this is far better than anything else they had been clinging to before. A person who has had to sift through the supposed pearls of this world certainly cherishes the treasure of God's forgiveness greatly.
Now, many of us may not have had to sift through many other “pearls” before we came to possess this treasure of Christianity. But Jesus wants us to compare our treasure with all the other treasures people chase after. He wants us to know that it's of the utmost importance for us to cherish this treasure. 
To show us how important it is for us to cherish the treasure we've received, Jesus told another story. This time the story isn't about treasure; it's about fishing. 
Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
He described a huge net going out and scooping up all kinds of fish. But when the fishermen lifted up the net at the end of the day when it was full, their work still wasn't done. They had to keep the good fish and throw the bad fish away.
Jesus doesn't leave us guessing what we're supposed to take from this parable. He says in no uncertain terms that this is what's going to happen on the last day. The people who don't cherish the treasure that they've come into contact with, will have bad things happen to them. This is eternal punishment in hell that he's talking about here. If we don't hang onto this treasure, we could find yourself ourselves among the bad fish facing punishment.
The problem with the bad fish wasn't that they weren't in the net. No, the net of God’s grace scooped them up. The problem was that they were still bad fish, despite the fact that God loved them. 
And for bad fish, there was only one place: the fiery furnace. The truth is that there is a day when God will return in judgment and condemn everyone who fails to cherish him and his priceless treasure, and everyone who wonders about the value of God’s treasure would be wise to listen to Jesus words carefully. 
But to those who do cherish the prize, there is a wonderful reward. When the time comes that each one of us faces death, we can face it fearlessly, knowing that we will stand blameless before the throne of our God, dressed in the robe of righteousness that Jesus has won for us. Of all the treasures, our treasure is the only one that has eternal value. Retirement funds are subject to market change. Even if things work out well for us, earthly wealth only lasts through this life. All the possessions and treasures we build up in this life are simply left to decay after we’re gone. Jesus want us to compare our prize with all the other treasures people chase after and cherish the one treasure we’ll be enjoying when all the other treasures on earth are gathering dust.
The treasure that we have, contained in the Bible, changes lives. First of all, it lasts forever. This treasure will be just as valuable to us long after we’re gone from this earth as it is now. If we hang on to this treasure, we will be rewarded with eternal life with Jesus. Second, this treasure puts everything we face in this life into perspective. Since we have the confidence of eternal life, we can say with the apostle Paul that any sufferings we face in this life are simply not even worth comparing to the glory that awaits us. I mean, think about the treasures that other people chase after. People who have family troubles often seek solace in alcohol or other temporary pleasures. And when people have been beaten down by the pressures all around them, leaving them down and out, they make themselves feel better by talking bad about other people. But we don’t need to concern ourselves with things like that. Certainly eternal life with God is far better than a few hours of dulled emotions or a few moments of fleeting social glory. So let’s cherish the treasure that we’ve found, because it provides us the sort of comfort that no other treasure can.
After all, you have received the most valuable pearl of all. There are billions of people in the world who are searching for exactly what you've got. That is: peace with God. There is nothing more valuable. Cherish it as such.

3. But Jesus doesn’t want us to stop there. Since we have this treasure that we value and cherish so much, he wants us to share it with as many people as we possibly can.
He explains to his disciples how they should share this treasure by telling them a metaphor. He said, “every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old.”
Now, as we read this metaphor, it’s important to call to mind that these words wrap up a section of seven parables that Jesus told. At the beginning of this set of parables, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Why do you speak in parables?” The answer to that question included a condemnation of the Jewish nation. Jesus wasn’t about to speak to eh Jews plainly because they had already rejected him. They were content with their Torah and the writings of their Jewish Fathers and weren’t really interested in what Jesus had to say. Jesus was teaching new things that Jewish believers refused to understand. Jesus’ point here is that a wise student of the scriptures accepts both the teachings of the Old Testament and the new teachings that Jesus brought.
So, what is Jesus telling us here? I mean, we‘re New Testament Christians, who cherish both the Old and the New testaments. Well, Jesus wants us to learn more and more about the Scriptures. He wants us to learn about the old parts we already know as well as the new parts we don‘t know. He wants us to focus daily on his law and his gospel, but he also wants us to broaden the scope of learning.
But there’s still more here. The owner of the house didn’t use the treasures that he gained only for himself. He brought them out and presented them to his servants and guests. We do the same. As we continue to learn more and more, we don’t let that knowledge just stay in our heads. We take this treasure and share it with others. Because we know that this treasure is so valuable and we know that it is the pearl to be cherished above all else, it comes naturally that we would want to share it. So, keep studying God’s word so that you can be ready, at a moment’s notice, to bring out the gems of God’s Word that you have in your storeroom. Bring out both the ones that you’ve had for your whole lives and the ones that you’ve just discovered this week. It is these things that make up the priceless treasure that we value, cherish and share.
Brothers and Sisters, I don't want you to look back on your confirmation vows like an embarrassed musician looks back on a love song. People who have written great love songs were passionate about the treasure they'd found, for sure. But a lot of times they didn't do all that they needed to do to hang on to that treasure. But you can hang onto your priceless treasure. Be serious about your priceless treasure by valuing it, cherishing it and sharing it. When you do these things, you can understand, appreciate, and experience the joys of this treasure to their fullest.