Are these real?

This is the second summer in a row we did not have an in-person Vacation Bible School (VBS) at Grace Lutheran in West Kelowna. I have come to realize just how precious and important each VBS was. I really miss the interactions with the children. One year a six-year-old girl approached me clutching something in her right hand. She opened her hand and exposed five shiny red gemstones. She explained that she had found them in a sandbox in our playground. The recess leader assured the children that there were gems hidden in the sand. In faith she took a shovel in hand and dug. The five gems were the fruit of her labor. She had a question for me:

“Pastor Ed, are these real?”

Her question revealed a conflict in her inner being. A part of her hoped against hope that they were real gemstones and that she had a small fortune in her hands that must be kept and protected. Another part of her suspected that the glittering ruby red stones in her hand were fakes that could be discarded. My response to her question was to assure her that the shiny red objects in her hand were pretending to be rubies. They were not the real thing.

Like the merchant in the Gospel lesson the little girl believed that there was a treasure out there to be found and stepped out in faith to find it. Like the merchant, her labor was rewarded, and she found a treasure Unlike the merchant, the little girl was not convinced of her treasure’s worth or value. There was a part of her that believed she had been given a treasure something to keep and to cherish. There was a part of her that doubted. She reached out to me for guidance to help her understand what she had received. I could not lie to her. I had to tell the truth. What she had received was not a treasure to keep and cherish.

It struck me that this little girl pointed to many I have encountered in ministry. They had heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the pearl had been revealed to them. They were moved. They wanted to know more about what they had received. Each time was an opportunity to reveal more of the beauty and perfection of this pearl of great price. Each time I was afforded the opportunity to speak of the uniqueness of the pearl.

At the center of every pearl there is an irritant. It is usually a jagged piece of rock or shell. This irritant is the cause of the beautiful pearl. The pearl is formed by the oyster covering the irritant with nacre. Nacre is also known as mother-of-pearl, it is the iridescent material secreted by an oyster which covers an irritant the oyster can’t flush out. The oyster keeps covering the irritant with nacre and thus creates a pearl.

In the same way, at the center or heart of Jesus’ Gospel, there is an irritant. It is the cross. The cross is an instrument of judgment. It represents suffering and death as punishment for sins committed. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and gone astray and deserving of our fate (Romans 3:23 & Isaiah 53:6). The cross, suffering and death await us all. There is nothing between us and our fate; yet, God does not leave us to that fate.

God sent Jesus to intervene. Jesus’ innocent suffering and the blood he spilled on the cross covered over our sins and satisfied God’s anger or wrath at sin. When Jesus died, he died in our place. When Jesus rose from the dead, he rose for us. Jesus took the most ugly aspects of our existence, our sin, our death and the power of the Devil over us, destroyed them and made death the gateway to eternal life for all who believe. The church’s declaration is unique in all the world.

It is through the continued proclamation of the Gospel that the Holy Spirit gives us faith and permits us to see Jesus as the incomparable Son of God, the one and only sacrifice for our sin and the one and only doorway to eternal life. The Spirit permits us to see our sin on the cross that is at the center of the perfect pearl. The Spirit permits us to see God cover our sin with Jesus’ atoning suffering and death, his perfect life and his resurrection from the dead. The Spirit permits us to see that in baptism we are joined to Jesus’ death and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5), we put on Christ (Romans 13:14). Through faith in Jesus, we are a new creation: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). We have peace with God and are counted as righteous before Him (verses 17–21). Rather than seeing our sin, God sees the righteousness of His Son. He sees us as justified, redeemed, and sanctified (see Romans 8:30).

Through faith in Jesus, God covers our irritants, our sin, our death and our vulnerability to the power of the Devil. God makes us into a precious pearls in His sight. Pearls that He loves, cherishes and will bring to His heavenly treasure chest where we will live with Him, Jesus and the Holy Spirit forever. God makes us Pearls that were purchased at a great price. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16).

In Christ
Pastor Ed Skutshek, President

11th Sunday After Pentecost