January 16, 2000
Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church of San Francisco.
Valuable Someday
Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity or adventure of moving our daughter, Lauren from Cleveland to Philadelphia. After finishing college, she was moving to Philly to work for the next year or two. I rented a Ford Taurus, 4-doors, full-size, thinking that it would be big enough to move her. Well, when we opened up her roll-up self-storage door, I realized we were in trouble. And there were still things in her apartment.
After Lauren talked me out of the idea of making two 14-hour round trips to Philly as the solution, we returned the Taurus and rented a 10-foot U-Haul truck. For a college student who is experiencing transitions, it’s hard to know what to throw out or what to keep. Besides, some of these things that she possess might be valuable someday.
And some of you who helped us move from Arguello Boulevard to Sausalito were amused to read the labels on what seemed like hundreds of boxes we stored at two Public Storage containers in Burlingame. There were Greg’s Matchbox cars and model train sets. There were Lauren’s She-Ra figures and stuffed animals. There were Joy’s art work and history books. And then, there were boxes I labeled, “Don’s Old Things” that only I know what’s inside. We are obsessed in saving things that may have little practical use but may have great value someday.
As a church, we too have experienced recently the task of moving church equipment and furniture that filled three truck-loads of things stored in a Crocker’s Locker in South SF. We boxed and packed and moved a lot of things that day. And I know that there will be things that we will eventually discard before we move back into the church. Partly because we don’t know what we will need in the renovated building and partly because we thought there was still some value that’s worth keeping. How about that old communion table or the pictures hanging in Room 3?
Self-Storage of Things
We’re a nation of junk keepers. We think that the things we have are worth saving so we save, store, salvage, and squirrel away the remnants of the past in cramped closets, garages originally designed for cars, and these little mausoleums to materialism we know as rental storage units: Public Storage, Crocker’s Lockers, and Self-Storage. Did you know that these storage units originally created for temporary storage are now used frequently as long-termed storage additions to many homes? Maybe you have secured one yourself. Or two—to handle the overflow from the first one! We just have too much stuff!
We’re savers. With white knuckles we grip our possessions, pulsating with a passion to preserve the goodies of the days gone by. We believe that maybe some day, what we may have saved will become something of worth. We have “possession obsession!”
Antiques Roadshow
Now we have added an element of gold to our possession obsession. On public television, there is a top-rated weekly program called “Antiques Roadshow.” Hosted by Chris Jussel, antique appraisers and specialist from leading auction houses go on a weekly quest to discover America’s hidden treasures. It’s part adventure, part history lesson, part treasure hunt. The excitement comes when there’s a look of surprise when someone finds out an old painting is worth a quarter of a million dollars or on the other hand, there’s disappointment but a brave face when a “priceless” vase is revealed to be a fake.
On a recent show, a Houston man who learned that although his oil painting of the Titanic was worthless, the menu pasted on the back was an original from the last meal on the ship, worth close to $100,000. The menu had been owned by the son of a surviving crew member, and it revealed that the doomed passengers dined on grilled lamb chops.
So why should we toss out anything if it could end up being one of America’s hidden treasures? Really, what’s a little clutter when some of the things in “Don’s Old Things” might end up being my ticket to paradise? In a nation full of junk keepers, the Antiques Roadshow is sending all of us rummaging through our attics and basements in the belief that we could find a lost treasure. We are obsessed with our possessions!
Now I know I’m meddling with you. I have seen some of your garages… What are you thinking?
If Jesus were preaching parables today, would he say, “The kingdom of heaven is like a menu on the back of an oil painting of the Titanic?” In Matthew 13:44, Jesus said “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field?” The point of this parable is not that we actually go out and possess the field because there’s a treasure there. Rather, the point is that we give up all of our material possessions to seek after the kingdom of God which is the treasure.
It is a safer bet that Jesus would proclaim, “Indeed, it is easier for long moving trailer to find a parking space in Chinatown than for someone with serious self-storage problems to enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Luke 18:25) Jesus pushes us to lighten our earthly loads, not heap high with Beanie Babies, Star War figures, old appliances and lava lamps, but to fill our hearts with faith, hope, and love.
In short, Jesus doesn’t wonder, “What’s your stuff worth?” He asks, “What’s worth saving?”
Hope in a New Year
We have lived 16 days into the New Year already. With noY2K catastrophe, it’s probably safe to begin eating up all that emergency food that you stored away. And while you’re doing that, maybe it’s also time to think about what’s worth saving from the 20th century, and what ought to be scrapped right now.
Our passage from Jeremiah this morning is an exception to the gloomy book that tells about Judah standing at the brink of an abyss and at the bottom lay the end of their history as an independent nation. All they could do was stand on the walls of Jerusalem and look to the horizon for the conquering armies that stood poise to sweep them off their land and into exile. Jeremiah’s sole purpose was to make sure Judah understood the gravity of their situation. He warned the people that only true repentance and turning to God could save them from the devastation that was surely coming. But after repeated attempts failed to get through to them, Jeremiah’s message became one of resignation.
Nothing could save Judah from the Babylonian onslaught because God had decided to punish them for their idolatry and lack of faith by letting the invaders take the people into exile.
Is our obsession over possessions like the idolatry and the lack of faith that Judah was unwilling to repent for–leading to their destruction and exile? Might we be worshipping our collectibles more than God? Is it our lack the faith in God that makes us obsessed with the need to have these potentially valuable collectibles to cash in when times get tough?
The section of Jeremiah that contains our passage for this morning, however, is the one bright spot in an otherwise depressing book. Jeremiah 30 and 31 is called the “Book of Consolation.” Within these chapters, the prophet holds out the eternal hope that no matter how bad things get for Israel and Judah, God will still keep the covenant, God will turn back to the people with compassion, and the people can and will be restored to God’s good graces.
You might think that there was “nothing worth saving” in the former history of Judah and Israel. But all of the prophets were crying out that the one truly good thing worth saving is the covenant between God and God’s creation. Regardless of the people’s faithlessness, God is faithful. Regardless of the people’s idolatry, God wants to be their one God. Regardless of the people’s resistance to repent, God stands ready to forgive.
What’s Worth Saving
I can imagine the Israelite people standing on the walls of Jerusalem with their little bundles of possessions they thought that were worth saving. They knew that when the Babylonian invaders come sweeping them into exile, they wanted to have some things that might be a hidden treasure someday.
But according to Jeremiah, what’s worth saving is not our possessions, but God’s promises. The Lord will bring his people home after years of exile in Babylon. He promises—“I am going to bring them from the land of the north, and gather them from the farthest parts of the earth, among them the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, together; a great company, they shall return here.” (31:8) The prophet predicts that the things that truly matter are the goodness of the Lord, the joy and hope of God’s people, and the peaceful home that God provides.
We know that nothing on the Antiques Roadshow or in your Crocker’s Locker or in your garage or in the little bundles that the Israelite people were carrying or in “Don’s Old Things” will come close to the treasures of God’s promises. Jeremiah is convinced that God’s promises are the things that are really worth saving, in any place and time. They are the hidden treasures of the people of God. If there’s anything we are to be obsessed with, it is God’s promises.
God’s Promises are Worth Saving
So what are these promises? First of all, it is God’s goodness. The goodness of God is what makes the whole homecoming possible. God ransoms his faithless, sinful people and redeems them, says Jeremiah; God pays the ransom note. God gathers them from distant lands and leads them to a place where he will keep them as a shepherd keeps his flock.
But why? The only answer is God is good. We have often wondered about the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” Instead, the real question is: “Why do good things happen to bad people?” Good things continue to happen to us is because God is good.
God is full of grace and goodness, so he desires the deliverance of his children, then and now. God is like a master antique appraiser who picks us up when we are dusty and rusty and broken and worn, looking to all the world like a piece of junk suitable only for the dumpster and he says, “You are a treasure. You are worth saving.” And so he does.
Sensing God’s gift of salvation, God’s second promise to us is that we can begin to burst with hope and joy. Just like the lucky junk keeper who discovers that her hidden treasure is valuable, we can begin to be filled with joy of new life. Along with the Israelites in exile, we are suddenly filled with hope that God will turn our “mourning into joy,” and give us “gladness for sorrow.” (31:13) Jeremiah said, the people shall sing aloud with spirit and be radiant over the goodness of the Lord. We can rejoice and be merry and be satisfied with the generosity of our God.
Why do we possess Beanie Babies when we have the benefits of everlasting life? What’s the worth of Star Wars collectibles against the salvation of our Creator? What’s so cute about Pokiemon when we can be obsessed with the joy and hope of new life?
If your hope is in worldly success, toss it out. Only the gifts of God can satisfy our deepest longings.
If your joy is in riches, give this shallow happiness a big heave into the bottom of the dumpster. Only the blessings of God can fill us with a satisfaction that is sweet and steady, life-giving and everlasting.
If your trust is in anything but God and his goodness, you’ll discover that your priceless vase is really a fake, your painting by Cezanne is rather a crummy copy, and the house of your dreams is doomed by an awful appraisal.
When we believe that God is good and sensing this goodness of our salvation, we have joy and hope of everlasting life, then the third promise in Jeremiah’s message is that God calls us back to where we belong and provides us a peaceful home in this world and the next.
God will tie together the blind and the lame, those with child and those in labor, Chinese speaking and English speaking, soccer Moms and single Dads, the haves and the have nots, younger generation and the older generation, the homeless and the homeowners. God creates a community out of what was once a ragged remnant, and plants us in a place where life can become like “a watered garden.” (31:12), a place where our deepest desires are met and we are given the gifts we need for an abundant existence. There may not be a long-lost Picasso or a Roger Clemens rookie card waiting for us in God’s house, but we can be sure to find a sense of peace that is priceless.
Like the Israelites, we are feeling a little “exiled” while we continue to worship here at the Lau school. Today is the 26th Sunday that we have been here—one-half of a whole year. Some of us may be wondering how much longer will it be before we will be able to return to our peaceful home on Waverly Place.
Let me assure you that God will not disappoint us in his promises. Just like Jeremiah reminded the Israelites when they were about to be taken into exile that God will eventually restore them and that God will once again be their shepherd and that they will “come back to their country” (31:17), God promises us that we too will soon return to our church home on Waverly Place.
We are Worth Saving
So what’s worth saving from the 20th century into the 21st century? Not any material possessions. Get rid of your possession obsession. According to our Lord, WE are worth saving! We are the hidden treasures. We are the garage sale bargain God found on an “as is” table because God knows our true value. And to show us how serious he is about our salvation, God gives us his goodness, fills us with joy and hope, and plants us in a home where we can grow closer to God and with each other.
You want to see something priceless? Look at one another. Go ahead: Turn left. Turn right. There’s your masterpiece.
The things that really matter as we turn the corner into the 21st century are all spiritual, not material. They are not found in attics or basements or at Antiques Roadshows or in Crocker’s Lockers or in “Don’s Old Things” box, but in God and in each other. Hold them tight. They are the things that are worth saving and being obsessed about.
Let us pray.
Dear Lord, free us from our possession obsession needs and lead us to believe that when we can trust you with our lives and our future, we will not be disappointed because you are good and everlasting. In the name of Jesus Christ who showed us how to live, we pray. Amen.