A cross marks the buried treasure, not an x

We read these words by Jesus in the 13th chapter of Matthew:

The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and buried again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

– Matthew 13: 44

I have always loved this passage; the devotion and desire we are to have for the Kingdom of God is of beautiful simplicity.

Whatever the treasure this man may have found in the field, he counted it worthy of his all. His home, his possessions, the fruits of his labor of his entire life.

But what has always stuck out to me is the unwavering allegiance depicted in this passage. It isn’t that the man simply goes out and sells all he has, but he buys something else, something of infinitely more value.

Too often we try and be good people: we give up our addictions and our vices, thinking that will make us better people. But this negative move alone, this giving up of the evils in our life, just isn’t enough.

In emptying our hearts of an attachment to all that is temporal and passing, we must fill our hearts with longings for the eternal and the divine. As we sever the ties that bind us to this world, we must form new ones to the one that awaits us.

Christ paid the  price and bought us free and clear, securing redemption, reconciliation, and regeneration with His death on the cross. As we leave behind all that this world has to offer, we must secure our hope and our rest on He that promises new life.

May our hearts be ever more attached to the grace, love, and truth of Jesus Christ. Not only is He the Savior of our souls, but He is the Lord of our lives.

Turning to the table

⁵And from the throne came a voice saying,
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
you who fear him,
small and great.”

⁶Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,

“Hallelujah!For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
⁷Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
⁸ it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—

for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

⁹And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

– Revelation 19: 5-9

²⁶For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

– 1 Corinthians 11:26

The picture we are given in Revelation is of Christ coming back in all His glory to claim His bride – us, the church. And in doing so, there is a great feast – a supper.

So we are told by the apostle Paul that each time we turn to the table, we proclaim the Lord until He comes again; we proclaim His life, death, and resurrection. We look back to His death and we look forward to His coming again. We look back to the last supper Christ shared with His apostles, and we look forward to the celebration depicted in Revelation.

So eat of the bread and drink of the cup, and remember that our Lord came, and He is coming again.

Eat and drink, and so proclaim we are His people living here and now for His glory, constantly being perfected in His grace as we eagerly await His return.

Communion reminds us we are not alone; Christ is here, alive and working among us today.

Communion reminds us we are to live for His glory and proclaim His name.

Communion reminds us Christ is coming back to reign and rule forever.

The 2 Forms of the Gospel

You often hear emphasis on what you might come to think were two different Gospels.

Preachers, teachers, and lecturers will espouse what appears to be different Gospels with different origins, different focuses, different perspectives, different goals, and different methods of acceptance and participation.

One deals with our personal salvation. Christ purchased our justification and it is our duty to live the life of faith and glorify Him with our actions. Emphasis is placed on Pauline writings and traditionally emphasizes the doctrines of salvation by grace alone through faith alone.

The other concerns itself primarily with the Kingdom of God. Making great strides since Rausenbusch’s Social Gospel, this second form emphasizes working here and now to participate in the redemption of creation through His kingdom. We are to focus on the “now” aspect of the “now-but-not-yet” kingdom. The captives, orphans, widows, poor, oppressed, hungry, and homeless are the focus, as the Jubilee concept is sought in bringing freedom to the marginalized.

Favorite verses are Amos 5: 14-15
¹⁴Seek good and not evil, that you may live;
And thus may the LORD God of hosts be with you,
Just as you have said!
¹⁵Hate evil, love good,
And establish justice in the gate!
Perhaps the LORD God of hosts
May be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.

and Micah 6:8
⁸He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God?

One will often encounter these Gospel messages in an either-or setting: a church will often underscore one or the other as the foundational focus of its ministry; a conference is just as likely to focus on the concept of justification as it is likely to focus on liberating children from sex-rings all across the world.

But what I do not see in the evangelical world is the necessary focus on both.

These are not two forms of the Gospel, they are two sides of the same Gospel.

Christ did not come for the purposes of saving us from our sins alone, and Christ did not come for the purposes of freeing the oppressed alone.

He came for both.

His death and resurrection made it possible for His Spirit to indwell us, thereby empowering with the privilege to participate in the usher in His Kingdom.

They are intricately and inherently linked together, one is left powerless without the other.

A saving faith that forgets to focus on the needs present in the world is no faith at all, and a desire to serve that is not rooted in the love flowing from the Holy Spirit is rendered lackluster and purposeless.

These two forms of the Gospel go hand-in-hand, complimenting each other and supplementing each other because they are one Gospel.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after widows and orphans in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
- James 1:27

The Gospel of Jesus Christ transcends religious traditions and barriers we have built for ourselves and is all-encompassing. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not an either-or, it is a both-and.

****Tim Keller  has written at length about the further nuances of the forms of the Gospel, an article can be found here