Category: Articles

Treasure

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“one man’s trash…”

Nowadays people are leaving unwanted possessions outside, inviting passers-by to help themselves.

“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. How true! People find valuable articles for next to nothing in car boot sales; we value trinkets which have little monetary value but huge emotional significance; and we bid ‘over the odds’ for things we really want.

What is important to us? The answer shapes our lives both now and for ever.

Jesus said:
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”

Luke 12:34

Prior to this he had warned about setting too much store by material things and possessions. He told the parable of a rich man who concentrated his efforts on building barns and filling them, so that he could give up work and enjoy himself. But this man died before he could benefit from his efforts. Jesus calls him a ‘fool’ (Luke 12:13-20), and adds:

“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God”

Luke 12:21

Not everyone believed Jesus then, and not everyone is interested now.

The message of the early Christians was met with scepticism and opposition. Paul wrote these words to people in the prosperous Greek city of Corinth:

“For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men”

1 Corinthians 1:22-25

So to some the gospel is of little value, and to others it is silly or foolish. But it is the message from God about how we can be saved eternally by being a follower of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said that the gospel (the kingdom of heaven) is worth more than anything else we can have.

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasurehidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”

Matthew 13:44

So what is our treasure?

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Rainbows

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Across the country homes are displaying pictures of rainbows, usually but not always drawn by children. These are generally accompanied by messages. These messages warn us to stay at home in order to keep ourselves and others safe, offer us hope for a way forward, and give special thanks to keyworkers – notably the heroes in the NHS. These colourful displays are a joyful sight.

The Bible tells about the first rainbow after the cataclysmic flood of Noah’s time.  Noah and his family were isolated in the ark for a full year. In this way they were saved and avoided the mass destruction in the world. After the flood was over God put the rainbow in the sky as a sign that:

 “never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth”

Genesis 9:8-17; verse 11

The flood was a disaster for everyone except Noah’s family. He had tried to warn them of impending doom, but they ignored him and just carried on as normal (2 Peter 2:5, Matthew 24:37-39).

Jesus told us that he would come back to the earth, but he warned that people would not be ready for him. He would come like a thief.

….if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Matthew 24:43-44

In fact he compared this with the days of Noah:

“But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be”

Matthew 24:37

People would be taken by surprise, absorbed by their daily lives of eating, drinking and family business.

We had warnings about the Coronavirus. Despite this, few of us were adequately prepared either physically or emotionally for the way things have happened. We were largely taken by surprise. We hate to see the suffering and death. And we are immensely grateful to those trying to save lives, risking their own lives in the process.

Two thousand years ago Jesus died a cruel death specifically so that we could be saved and offered everlasting life. An amazing hope for the future! Are we truly grateful for this? He asks us to believe, to watch and to prepare for his return.

“Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is”

Mark 13:33

They were not ready in Noah’s day. We were not ready for the virus. Let us try to make sure that we are ready for Jesus.

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Victory!

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Many houses have recently had displays of bunting. Bright Union Jacks celebrating VE Day – the day 75 years ago when the Nazi’s surrendered at the end of World War II. The memories are bitter-sweet. There was joy at the end of hostility and dreadful threat to life, but also sadness because of those who had risked and given their lives during the war.

Throughout history many battles and wars have been waged, many lives lost, and many victories won. Some are more famous than others; some are more far-reaching than others.

Two thousand years ago in Israel Jesus Christ was born. He lived a perfect life, but died a cruel death and rose to eternal life. This was the greatest victory of all time. He had conquered our worst and most dangerous enemy: sin. Unlike us, he always pleased God, even to the point of willingly giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

“Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth; who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to Him who judges righteously; who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed”

1 Peter 2:22-24

“As the Father knows me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep”

John 10:15

This victory of Jesus means that his followers can also be given eternal life when he comes back.

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit”

1 Peter 3:18

He asked his followers to remember him in bread and wine (communion), memorials of his life of utter dedication, death with bloodshed and resurrection to life.

“and when [Jesus] had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same manner he also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’”

1 Corinthians 11:24-25

Whatever victories we remember and celebrate, we should always remember this ultimate victory of Jesus Christ.

“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ”

1 Corinthians 15:57
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