Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like that: a treasure hidden in a field that someone accidentally discovers. To secure this newly found wealth, the lucky man hides the treasure again in that same field, and then joyfully goes and sells everything he owns to buy the plot of land. Once the field is his, the treasure is his, too. His actions were entirely lawful; by purchasing the land, he gained legal ownership of the field and the treasure within it.

As if to emphasise His point, Jesus added, “The Kingdom is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he finds one of unmatched value, he too sells everything he owns to purchase that pearl. This is what the Kingdom of God is like—a hidden treasure, a pearl of great price.

These parables share one striking commonality: both individuals sold everything they possessed to claim the treasure they had found. Why? The answer is obvious. Their possessions simply could not compare in value to the treasure.

It is crucial to notice that this treasure Jesus describes is meant to be discovered. The Kingdom of God is like that, too. The Kingdom of God is not merely something we enter someday when we die; nor is it something we have to build ourselves. The Kingdom of God is here and now. It is a present reality available to those who truly take it seriously.

In west Texas, there is a famous oil field known as the Yates Pool. During the Great Depression, this field was a sheep ranch owned by a man named Yates. He was unable to make enough money from his ranching operation to pay the bills, putting him in constant pressure of selling his land. With little money for clothes or food, his family—like many others during the great depression —had to live on government subsidies. Many properties owners just sold their lands and moved on.

Then, a crew from an oil company came into the area and told Mr. Yates that there might be oil on his land. They asked permission to drill a wildcat well, and he signed the lease. At just over a thousand feet, they struck a massive oil reserve producing 80,000 barrels a day. In fact, 30 years after the discovery, a government test of one of Mr. Yates’ wells showed that it could still produce more than 100,000 barrels of oil a day.

Imagine if Mr. Yates had kept his land without ever discovering the oil beneath it. He would still have been the legal owner of a multi-billion-dollar fortune, yet he would have continued living in poverty, relying on government assistance.

Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is much like that. You and I already have it within our grasp. It is there, waiting to be discovered. Yet, many of us live as though the Kingdom is like a fairy tale or a religious concept or metaphor for the next life. The Kingdom is actually here and ours in this life.

This Kingdom can only be ours if we are willing to give everything we have to claim and secure it. The Kingdom of God does not just happen automatically, nor does it arrive unannounced. We have to invest everything we have and all that we are to claim and secure the Kingdom in this life. A genuine Christian life is an all-inclusive, lifelong commitment—not only to embracing the Kingdom of God, but to living it out in every aspect of our lives. Sometimes you have to choose the Kingdom way above everything else; other times, you must be willing to sacrifice all you own to secure that Kingdom life in this world.

In his book The Compassionate Christ, Dale Oldham compared the attitude many people have toward the Kingdom to a yapping neighborhood dog. The dog was always chasing a neighbor’s cat. Whenever he saw it, he would give chase as if it were his only purpose in life. So long as the cat ran, everything was wonderful. But occasionally, the cat would stop suddenly and turn to face the dog. At that point, the dog would slam on the brakes and act as though the whole thing were just a game.

Evidently, the cat was meant to be chased, not caught; if the cat actually stopped to be caught, the dog became completely embarrassed or even lost in his action.

Dale Oldham writes: “Too often, we chase after the Kingdom of God like that. We get very excited while we are looking for it, but most of us would feel very uncomfortable if we actually caught it.” Maybe we don’t know what it feels like to live out the Kingdom simply because we’ve never truly tried it.

How many times have we talked about the Kingdom of God? And how much genuine effort have we made to live it out in our daily Christian lives?

Don’t just pray for the Kingdom. Don’t just pursue the Kingdom from a distance. Don’t just chase it. Instead, let us catch it and live it out in this very life.

And it’s true—there are countless hurting, shattered people in this world for whom help is so close at hand, if only they knew it. In the very same way, we are surrounded by the joy, happiness, love, and privileges promised in the Kingdom, but most people have no idea.

Living the Kingdom life doesn’t mean living in a bed of roses all the time. Pain, hurt, or failure might still cross our path. However, God is with us and for us, holding every step of the way.

There is a critically important question that I’d like you think about today: “What is the most visible character of Kingdom life from a human perspective?” To answer this, we need to have a closer look at the first parable Jesus shared: ‘The Parable of the Mustard Seed’.

A mustard seed is famously known as the smallest of all seeds. Yet, when it is planted and grows up, it challenges its humble origins to become the biggest of all garden plants. It transforms into a big tree, big enough that all sorts of birds can come, and make their nests in its branches.

This image points directly to the same theme we explored a couple of weeks ago. It reminds us of a profound spiritual dynamic: We live out the Kingdom life, but we are not necessarily the primary benefactors of that life.

This is the culture of the Kingdom—one that continually challenges and confronts the values of the world. As citizens of God’s Kingdom, we are called to embrace this holy tension throughout our entire lives.

Just like the mustard tree does not consume its own fruit or sit in its own branches, the life of the Kingdom planted within us is ultimately designed to extend outward. It grows not to feed us, but to provide a sanctuary, safety, and provision for others—projecting God’s grace far beyond ourselves.

Friends, I pray that you and your loved ones will embrace and live out this Kingdom journey right here in this world, carrying its grace forward until you will continue it into eternal life. Amen.

Genesis 28: 10-22

It was winter. In the small village on the western side of the Blue Mountains, it seemed to get dark very early. The sun quickly disappeared behind a steep ridge that shaded the highway. It was cold and bleak and if it wasn’t raining and windy it was snowing. There was always the smell of burning coal fires in the air. I was a young school teacher in the little school there, (this was a long time ago) with just two teachers on the staff, and I was not happy.

That’s not quite true. In some ways I was very happy. But at that time, I was a long way from home. I was separated from my family, who I loved a lot. I was separated from my church family and my friends in Sydney. In that small village I felt lonely and homesick and out of step with the things that interested the local community. And cold!

I knew that I was not going to be there forever. I didn’t know where I would be going next and had no idea that in God’s plan my next home would be in Papua New Guinea. That cold lonely winter, I decided to use my spare time to study for the lay preacher’s exam, and that meant having my first attempts at preaching in small country churches. One of my first sermons was based on Genesis 28 and the story of Jacob and his dream.

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Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

I came across an inspiring story about a man named David, who spent a few years working to build a community of kindness and compassion. His experiences in volunteer ministry brought him into contact with many different people. It is a beautiful story, and I have framed it in the light of today’s Gospel from Matthew, while keeping the original account entirely intact.

David wanted to share with the community everything he had learned throughout his life as a follower of Jesus. He believed that if he truly wanted to make a positive impact on the lives of others in his newly found community, he first had to sow the good seeds of love and kindness.

He began his mission by visiting local schools. He spoke to students about the vital importance of kindness, compassion and forgiveness. He said, “When you cultivate a heart of kindness and compassion and become good at it, the world will always have a special place for you”. Many students listened attentively, and some of them were so touched by his message and asked him to come again to talk more someday. They were much like the good soil in the parable of the Sower in today’s gospel reading.

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Romans 7:15-25

Bonhoeffer lived in a time when the law of the secular world demanded absolute allegiance to a regime. That regime was opposing to the justice of God’s kingdom.

When visiting America, his colleagues and friends in America strongly recommend that he should stay safely in America. But he chose to return to his home. He wrote, “If I don’t choose to go through these hard times with my people now, I won’t have the right to be their pastor when the war is over.” He was executed in prison, just a month before the war came to an end in May 1945.

According to Michael Sandel, a renowned political philosopher and Harvard professor, justice is simply ‘doing the right thing’. But the question is, “what is the right thing to do?” How do we know what the right thing to do is at home, work, in church, or even on streets? Most importantly, what is the right thing to do in our daily life as children of God?”

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Exodus 17:1-7

At the start of the Exodus, God empowered Moses to perform many miraculous signs before Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, to demonstrate that Israelites’ exodus project would be a divine will to secure freedom for His people.

For an example, Moses struck the river with his staff, turning the water into blood and leaving the Egyptians without anything to drink. And, perhaps most famously, God used Moses to part the waters of the Red Sea, creating a dry path for the Israelites to walk through to safety. And the waters of the Red Sea had closed behind them, leaving the Egyptian chariots’ drowning in the Red sea waters. hey were finally free for the first time in 400 years. They sang a song of triumph for hours and their hearts were full of praise for days.

Yet, only a few days later, the joy of that miracle began to fade. That song of praise turned into a chorus of complaints. The reality of the hot, harsh desert took its place.

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