"Discovering Our Hidden Treasure” Sermon Delivered By Rev. Dick Stetler – July 27,
2014 Centenary United
Psalm 105:1-9; Matthew 13:31-33, 44-46 I have always been attracted to stories of treasure hunters and
the loot they have recovered from sunken ships lying on the ocean floor.
Recently, In an earlier venture, Dr. Saul’s company recovered 110 tons of
silver bars from another sunken vessel, a treasure that was valued at 64
million dollars. During his
lecture on July 18, our former Premier told the audience that his
company recovered 43 gold bars, 1,300 twenty dollar double-eagle gold
coins and thousands of other gold and silver coins that were scattered
over the debris field located at a depth of 7,300 feet.
He estimated this recent find to be worth “tens of millions of
dollars.” There is mystery, intrigue and adventure experienced by those who
search for lost treasure.
If you spoke to Dr. Saul with the thought that he was a modern-day
Indiana Jones, he would tell
you about the boring months spent on the paper work, the countless
approvals, the waiting time for permits to be granted and the down-time
for his crew. In our lesson
today, Jesus was sharing his knowledge of a power within us that can
literally change average people into
super heroes.
While explaining this to his
listeners, Jesus told of the excitement that comes when a person finds
buried treasure. The
finder’s heart quickens as he tries to conceal from others the
excitement of his find. He
carefully covers up the treasure, quietly sells everything that he has
and discreetly buys the field.” (Matthew 13:44)
In a similar fashion, Dr. Saul did the same thing.
When he spoke about his adventure that Wednesday night, this was
the first time that a public announcement was made on the results of the
Odyssey’s recovery efforts.
Up until that time, recovery efforts had been kept secret.
We may not be able to equate the recovery of gold and silver from
a ship wreck with the buried treasure within ourselves, because
spiritual development is not near as exciting as the discovery of 64
million dollars worth of silver ingots.
People’s eyes get big when someone is talking about finding gold
bars, but they yawn and almost lose consciousness when someone is
talking about spiritual power.
I guess many of us would rather feel
the power of having material
wealth than the power to be
happy, peaceful and confident every day of their lives. What Jesus was doing was comparing
buried treasure to the power
inside of a seed. Any seed
represents potential. He
taught that inside a seed is a large tree which can become a grove of
trees. (Matthew 13:32) His
listeners were clear on Jesus’ illustration. However, this same group of
listeners was not able to apply his image to their inner-world.
Think about the story of Joseph in the Old Testament. As a little
boy, he knew that he had a gift.
He was a visionary with a vivid imagination.
He had dreams of the future and knew how to interpret their
meaning. He also knew that this skill and ability made him different
from his brothers. A short time after he told several of his visions to his
half-brothers, they planned to get rid of him. The list of Joseph’s
sudden life changes is legendary.
After his brothers sold him as a slave to a passing caravan, he
had to face a very attractive married woman that tried to seduce him.
When she failed, Joseph was put into prison when this same woman
accused him of trying to rape her.
While in prison, he was forgotten. Every sudden
change to the flow of his life was interpreted as an opportunity to make
his spirit shine.
None of his experiences created remorse, bitterness or thoughts
of being abandoned by God.
How come? Joseph had found
the pearl of great price,
the treasure hidden in the field
and the seed that would
become an infinite number of
forests. He accepted
each experience that showed up in his life without
judgment, and that decision placed him at the right
place at the right time when Pharaoh needed Joseph’s services to
interpret the ruler’s dreams.
This is a life strategy that we seldom use.
We make judgments of what is
good or
bad and we often bring a
swift response before we know where what is happening might lead us. In Joseph’s situation, his orientation toward life finally
produced the wealth he was not even seeking. He became the second in
command in the most powerful nation in the ancient world.
Everything that came up in Joseph’s life was looked upon as
preparation for a destiny he could not see. (Genesis 45:5)
He saved his people from starvation.
The German poet, Goethe understood this inner treasure and how it
can be activated. Goethe
discovered why and how such a powerful treasure can dramatically
transform people. This is
what Goethe wrote: Until a person is
committed to an idea, there is hesitancy.
Many people keep remarkable ideas only in their minds. Doing this
often kills countless ideas and splendid plans.
However, the moment
a person becomes committed to an idea, a vast, invisible universe
of energy is set into motion. All sorts of things occur to support the
person that otherwise would never have happened.
A stream of events enters this person’s life that supports their
quest. This support comes
in the form of unforeseen incidents, chance meetings with those who have
influence and economic power.
Doors magically open.
None of these events was visible prior to the decision to commit
oneself to an idea. Whatever you can do, or dream
you can do, take that first step and begin!
Boldness has genius, power and
magic to it.
Begin to follow your commitment immediately! In every walk of life, people have uncovered their hidden
treasure and have grown new industries, created cures for various
illnesses, helped people to walk again and have produced new ideas that
have fractured and destroyed
old ways of thinking. Many
of these people were not
religious, i.e., people whose boundaries are defined by dogma,
doctrine and specific beliefs.
Has it ever
occurred to us that Jesus was teaching something that had little to do
with his parent religion?
His lessons had to do with becoming the highly creative beings
that we were designed to be.
He was teaching his listeners what it means to being created a
little lower than the angels. Right now, we are
experiencing a world where people everywhere are scrambling to find
the treasure that will help
them gain control over their lives, e.g., freedom, wealth and power.
In case some of us have not noticed, very little is working for
any of them. Why is that?
Millions of people and nations are looking in the wrong places.
Seeds produce
one-of-a-kind life-forms because of the
DNA code inside of them.
We are no different!
In one of my churches there was a very talented man.
His formal education had been limited but he was an engineer in
every aspect of that profession. He not only could fix anything, but he
was a visionary that knew how to create machinery that would increase
the efficiency his company needed. If he was not able to build it
himself, he created the blue prints so that others could.
One day, he, two of his brothers and a nephew were arguing about the best way to load a washing machine into the back of a pick-up truck. As their differences of opinion grew louder, Ernie just picked up the machine by himself and placed it onto the flatbed of the truck. He knew what to do and acted immediately. Today, world leaders talk about diplomacy.
They talk about the ineffectiveness of the United Nations, the
weapons of mass destruction that are available to
angry children living in
adult bodies, the use of biological agents that have the potential to
destroy millions of lives and the uselessness of exporting democracy
when that form of government does not appear to be working in the
nations that have it. As
someone once said, “All of this talk is symbolic of our belief that
rearranging the furniture on the deck of the Titanic will somehow save
the ship.” It may take thousands of years before the world’s people discover
that the hidden treasure of a perfect form of government, a perfect
mate, a perfect job, and a perfect income level do not exist nor has
such perfection ever existed.
Anything that we
understand as perfect comes
from an attitude that only we have the power to develop.
If we try to find our treasure in the world, we will die
brokenhearted.
Jesus was teaching what Joseph, the son of Jacob, actually lived.
Our seed has the potential to become gigantic groves of trees.
All we have to do is
allow that seed to germinate and God will fine-tune creation through
what we become.
Remember, Hilda Aitken became committed to giving political power to
women. As a member of
Centenary, she became the first of two women elected to Parliament in
1948. Quality of
life is not caused by what is happening to us or around us in the world,
but rather how we are interpreting those events.
Once we are committed to making
the angel inside of us to
become visible, we have found that
hidden treasure.
We are prepared to use the
yeast to make the batch of
dough rise. We own that
pearl of great price.
God molds and shapes human events by working through us. We bloom where we are planted and God does the rest. When this happens we are living in what Jesus called, “The Kingdom of God.” |