SPECIAL DAYS: Third Sunday in Lent

March 14, 2004, Lesson: Matthew 13.51-53.

Sermon Title: Open Sesame

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Introduction
  1. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue, but then it is all done for you.

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

Something Old: Represents the link with the bride's family and the past, a popular choice is a piece of antique jewellery

Something New: Represents good fortune and success in the brides new life, often the wedding gown is chosen as the new item

Something Borrowed: Serves to remind the bride that friends and family will be there for her when help is needed. The borrowed item could be a lovely lace handkerchief.

Something Blue: Is the symbol of faithfulness and loyalty, often the blue garter.

And a sixpence(36¢) in her shoe: This is to wish the bride wealth (any silver coin) or a wealth of joy and contentment. (Sixpence not produced since 1970, but a 1956 Elizabeth II sixpence worth $.36)

  1. This is a collection of items that is considered to be the source of good fortune for the bride to take to her wedding.
    1. This does not say much for the men.
    2. What it does describe is the transitions that one or two people may experience in life.

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MAIN BODY

  1. The title for this sermon comes from 1001 Nights and the story of Ali Baba and the forty Thieves.
    1. Ali Baba was in the forest when he was surprised by a troop of men on horseback.
    2. He was afraid they were robbers so he climbed a tree for safety.
    3. The finest man among them, who was their captain, went a little way among some bushes and said, "Open Sesame," so plainly that Ali Baba heard him.
      1. A door opened in the rocks. The troop went into the cave and stayed there for some time.
      2. When they came out the captain said, "Shut Sesame," and the door shut.
    4. When the troop had left the area, Ali Baba climbed down from the tree and went to the spot in the rocks and said, "Open Sesame," and the door into the treasure store opened.
    5. He took some of the treasure and leaving said, "Shut Sesame," and the opening closed up.
  2. In Matthew 13.51, Jesus asks if they have understood what he has been teaching them.
    1. He has told them many ideas and principles in the parables that he has spoken.
    2. Now they understand.
    3. Then he points out to them the necessary correlation to what they have learned.
      1. Jesus has a treasure.
      2. There is no magical phrase like "Open Sesame," to acquire the treasures of Jesus.
      3. There is a way to acquire the treasure.
  3. Jesus maintains a treasure.
    1. He desire us to share it.
    2. He knows that it will bring the individual great joy.

Barney E Warren catches some of that experience in a hymn that he wrote, "Joy Unspeakable," (Words & Music: Barney E. Warren, 1900).

1
I have found His grace is all complete,
He supplieth ev'ry need;
While I sit and learn at Jesus' feet,
I am free, yes, free indeed.

Refrain
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory,
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.

2
I have found the pleasure I once craved,
It is joy and peace within;
What a wondrous blessing! I am saved
From the awful gulf of sin.

Refrain
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory,
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.

3
I have found that hope so bright and clear,
Living in the realm of grace;
Oh, the Savior's presence is so near,
I can see His smiling face.

Refrain
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory,
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.

4
I have found the joy no tongue can tell,
How its waves of glory roll!
It is like a great o'erflowing well,
Springing up within my soul.

Refrain
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Full of glory, full of glory,
It is joy unspeakable and full of glory,
Oh, the half has never yet been told.

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    1. We ought not to equate joy with happiness.

There is a Charlie Brown cartoon strip where Lucy asks, "Why do you think we're put on earth, Charlie Brown?"

Charlie replies, "To make others happy."

Lucy says, "I don't think I'm making anyone very happy....Of course, nobody's making me very happy either."

Then in the final panel, Lucy screams at the top of her lungs ... "SOMEBODY'S NOT DOING HIS JOB!"

Someone has observed

"The cross leads to joy and not just happiness. There is a difference between joy and happiness. Happiness is a checkbook that has money, a car that works, a good date for Saturday night. Happiness is the absence of major hassles, or terrorism or crime; happiness is kids getting good report cards and spouses getting a raise. Happiness is something we know as enhancement or protection of our own lives.

"Joy comes in connection with another or with Jesus. Joy can happen without money or a working car. Joy happens when we get to the core of life and realize that love is at the core. Joy befriends us; love accompanies us."

  1. Jesus "Open Sesame," is to be found in the story of the householder who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.
    1. In verse 52 Jesus says to the disciples,
    2. "Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like the master of a household who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old."
      1. The old is in this case being replaced with the new.
      2. This is as it ought to be.
  2. There is a series of old and new that ought to capture our attention and our energy.
    1. A New Gospel.
      1. Amplification
      2. Clarification
    2. A New Form of Worship.
      1. In John, chapter 4, Jesus has a conversation with a woman of Samaria at Jacob's well. Part of that conversation, in verses 20-23, relates directly to worship.

The woman contends: "Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem."

Jesus said to her, "Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship him.

    1. A New Sacrifice for Sin.
      1. The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews has much to say about the old sacrifices and the new sacrifice.
      2. Hebrews 9:12-14 (NRSVA)

He entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

    1. Hebrews 9:23-28 (NRSVA)

Thus it was necessary for the sketches of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves need better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made by human hands, a mere copy of the true one, but he entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself again and again, as the high priest enters the Holy Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for mortals to die once, and after that the judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

      1. Hebrews 10:4-10 (NRSVA)

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'See, God, I have come to do your will, O God' (in the scroll of the book it is written of me)." When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), then he added, "See, I have come to do your will." He abolishes the first in order to establish the second. And it is by God's will that we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

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    1. A New Law.
      1. In John 13:34-35, Jesus teaches the basic rule of life and all relationships.

"I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

    1. A New Covenant.

Luke 22:14-20 (NRSVA)

When the hour came, he took his place at the table, and the apostles with him. He said to them, "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; for I tell you, I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; for I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me." And he did the same with the cup after supper, saying, "This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

Hebrews 10:11-18 (NRSVA)

And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, "he sat down at the right hand of God," and since then has been waiting "until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet." For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,

"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds," he also adds, "I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more." Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

    1. A New Life.
      1. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night to argue with him about his origins.
      2. Jesus spoke of being born again, by water and the spirit.
      3. Jesus also said that he had come to, well this is what he had to say in John 10:10 (NRSVA)
        1. "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.
        2. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly."
    2. A New World.
      1. Jesus will replace the old with the new
        1. Isaiah 51:6 (NRSVA)

Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and those who live on it will die like gnats; but my salvation will be forever, and my deliverance will never be ended.

        1. Revelation 21:1-5 (NRSVA)

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true."

      1. This is as it ought to be.
      2. This is as we would expect God to be and to act.

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CONCLUSION

  1. Fanny Crosby wrote "Take the World, but Give Me Jesus." which was set to music.
    1. The words of the last verse recall her often quoted statement: If I had a choice, I would still choose to remain blind...for when I die, the first face I will ever see will be the face of my blessed Saviour.

1
Take the world, but give me Jesus,
All its joys are but a name;
But His love abideth ever,
Through eternal years the same.

Refrain
Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

2
Take the world, but give me Jesus,
Sweetest comfort of my soul;
With my Savior watching o''er me,
I can sing though billows roll.

Refrain
Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

3
Take the world, but give me Jesus,
Let me view His constant smile;
Then throughout my pilgrim journey
Light will cheer me all the while.

Refrain
Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

4
Take the world, but give me Jesus.
In His cross my trust shall be,
Till, with clearer, brighter vision,
Face to face my Lord I see.

Refrain
Oh, the height and depth of mercy!
Oh, the length and breadth of love!
Oh, the fullness of redemption,
Pledge of endless life above!

  1. Open Sesame opens the door to the greatest treasure that one human mind and spirit can encompass.
  2. What will you say?

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