Hidden Treasure

At first glance it is extremely challenging to see anything that these two people have in common. She was a portly, frumpy, middle-aged woman, currently unemployed and had lived her entire life in the same small town. He was a teenager with shoulder length hair, black fingernails, his electric blue eyes thickly lined in black, wearing a black leather jacket and leather pants.

People thought they were a joke standing there and wondered, what could they possibly offer? But when they opened their mouths, the most beautiful singing came from each of them. She sang “I Have a Dream” from “Les Miserables” with such clarity and conviction that people were moved to tears. He sang an aria from an Italian opera in perfect soprano pitch that earned him a standing ovation.

Suddenly everyone watching was aware of the hidden treasure of their talent. Minutes before they were no one, but now their lives would never be the same. She is Susan Boyle, and she appeared on Britain's Got Talent in March 2009. Her audition went viral and so captivated the world that to date it has been viewed by over 200 million people. She has had a meteoric rise, cutting several record albums and enjoying worldwide acclaim.

He is Andrew De Leon, a shy teenager from Austin, Texas, who describes himself as an outsider, used to rejection and not good at anything. His audition in June of 2012 for America's Got Talent was the first time he sang before anyone, even his parents. One of the judges remarked, “Andrew you've been hiding all these years. You've never let the world see who you really are.” In less than two years, he has cut two albums, and appears to be embarking on a promising musical career.

Susan and Andrew’s stories remind me of someone else who has a great hidden treasure. That person is Jesus Christ. Like them, Jesus hardly seemed to be anyone significant. Raised in the backcountry of Galilee as an uneducated son of a carpenter, He didn't stand out in a crowd. Yet when He opened His mouth He invited His listeners into a new dimension of reality, the Kingdom of God.

Jesus emphasized that the Kingdom of Heaven is a “hidden treasure.” (Matthew 13:44) What did He mean by that? The Apostle Paul offered this explanation. “But we are revealing a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. No eye has seen and no ear has heard, nor has the heart of any person ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him. These things God has revealed to us through his Holy Spirit… that we might understand the things freely given to us by God.” (I Corinthians 2:7, 9–10, 12b)

The hidden treasure Jesus spoke of was the incredible blessings that Father God wants to give to all those who will come to Him and receive them. But they remain hidden to our understanding until we say “Yes” to Father God. Perhaps you keep passing Jesus by because you have never really understood the hidden treasure contained in knowing Him. Ask Him today to open your spiritual eyes to see all the blessings He is holding reserved for you.

Please join us this Sunday at 9:00 AM, 11:00 AM or 2:00 PM. As we continue with part 4 on God's blessings. My sermon is, “How to Wear Your Blessing Well by Loving Others, Part III.”

Pastor Che