It was a hot, arid day. The sun was beating down, but still the crowd was huge. As they gathered and pressed around Jesus, he climbed up on a large rock and began to speak. He proceeded to tell them a story. “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which someone stumbled upon, and then hid. And in his joy, he went and sold all that he had and bought that field. And the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. On finding one pearl of great value, he sold all that he had and bought that pearl of great price.”
Finding a treasure is one of the most soul-captivating moments of human experience. Do you remember the movie The Shawshank Redemption? At the
end of the movie, Morgan Freeman thumbs a ride to a field up in Buxton, Maine. Along this rock wall, at the base of a large oak tree, he finds a polished, black rock that has no business being in a field in New England. Under that rock, he finds a treasure that reminds him of some long-ago advice he had almost forgotten: “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” Treasure takes a lot of different forms sometimes.
Imagine you’re sitting in church one Sunday, listening to the minister preach, and a stranger sitting beside you leans over during the service and says, “Hey! After this is over, come on and go with me!” You say, “Where are you going?” 
And this stranger says, “I’m going to a place where there is treasure hidden in a field, and you can find it.” You say, “Really?” The stranger says, “Yes! And I’m going to a place where there are pearls worth all the other jewels in the world! I’m going to a place where they give parties for prodigals. I can take you to a place where peasants and beggars are invited to sit down at the king’s table!” And you say, “Oh, there’s no such place!”
After church, you notice this stranger talking to others out in the lobby during the coffee time, and while you’re going to your car, you notice this stranger leaving, and there’s a small group of church folks with him; you count about twelve.
What do you do? What do you do?
