Holding Unto True Treasures — K.P. Yohannan

True and False Treasures

Theme or the subject we are studying. I am sure, I imagine you have took notice of it. The subject is holding on to true treasures. Now, if something is true, then there must be also, what, false or bad treasures, right?

We have, you know, the government withdrew the thousand rupee notes and five hundred rupee notes. And one of the reason, they thought so much, massive amount of counterfeit, bad currency. So they cancelled all that.

So if there are true treasures, then there are the opposite. It don't take much time for us to know. When Jesus said statements like, what shall it profit a man, if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul.

The Rich Man, Lazarus, and the Futility of Wealth

You remember about the story Jesus talked about a man who was very rich, extremely rich. And he was living in a massive palace, I imagine. He had everything in the world you can imagine. The luxuries of all kinds.

But then Jesus also talked about another person. He happened to be a sick dying person with leprosy. Remember his name? Lazarus. And Lazarus had many friends that would come and lick his open sores, wounds.

Who were they? Dogs. I don't think any of those dogs ever entered into the gate of the rich man. But it says they both died. The doctor who treats the patient will die, so will the patient. Maybe not the same day or same time.

And the rich man with all his memory, he ends up in hell. So during his lifetime, he regarded riches, popularity, appreciation, education, all the many many things we as humans think are important. He had it all.

But in the end, it was all for nothing. There's another individual we read in the scripture about. He was the smartest, the wisest. Say he had 1 ,000 PhDs. And not only that, he was a mighty king. His name, King Solomon.

Solomon and the Emptiness of Earthly Pursuits

You read his story in the book of Ecclesiastics. I recommend all of you, once in six months, it's a good thing, good habit to read the book of Ecclesiastics. It is in the Bible. Why? Because here is a man who one day said, well, I want to figure out what is the meaning of life.

Why live? What is it all about? So he said, he began a journey of acquiring, accumulating, embracing every form of luxury under the sun. And he had it all. In the end, he writes in his own diary, this note, vanity of vanities, emptiness, emptiness, nothingness, and life is nothing but chasing the wind.

We have seasons of strong wind here. Recently, we had one. Some trees got uprooted. Remember that? Maybe you were not here. Can you imagine somebody running after, trying to catch the wind? You will say, that is the pursuit of people, unfortunately.

They think it is real, do you know there is a saying, all that glitters is not gold. It looks real, but it is not. It's shadow. So God reminds us, all that is visible, all that we see around us, this world, everything will pass us away.

Nothing is real. It's a shadow land. So we are asked to hold on to true treasures. Let's think about the passages we read very quickly and see what you have in there. The first passage is from Genesis chapter 28, 29.

Love and Human Relationships as a God-Given Treasure

I was just testing. So what is the story? The story about? It's a love story. That passage is telling us real human life on earth with earthly relationship and love and connection. Strange enough, God is not mocking at it.

He is not saying it's a bad thing. But he is giving us a massive or serious understanding of our relationship, how it connects with eternity. Something that is very precious. Didn't Jesus say, you take the whole Bible and condense it, you will get one sentence, love God with all your heart, your mind and your soul, then what?

Love others. So it's like a rupee note or a coin on both sides. Equally important. So that is one of the treasures that we must hold on to. That is love. The second passage we read from Psalm 105. If you read the whole passage, which I read last night, it has one theme if you look at it.

God's Covenant Promises and the Treasure of His Word

It is the promises of God. The covenant of God. It talks about how he made his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And there in the passage you read both names, Jacob and Israel. And he talks about how his word, he promises.

There is another verse in the book of Psalm says, you put me in remembrance, remind me of my promises. So the treasure we must hold on to, it is God's word. Never neglect it. Just the other day I was told by one of our priests, he was meeting with an older individual who some of us think he is a saint.

And he is truly a great and godly individual. So this, our priest asked this living saint, you traveled a long way in this journey of knowing God and can you tell me something about how to survive to the end?

And this older individual replied without any hesitation, don't neglect reading and meditating on God's word and prayer and do it daily. Beautiful answer. So, the treasure we must hold on to, let not God's word depart from your life.

Keep it between your eyes. Day and night, always. Anything you deal with, any problems, whatever it is, always let's have this second thought, the natural reflex that's embedded in you. It's a natural thing.

Immediately you think, what does God's word say about it? Is there a story in the Bible about it? Some illustration or some commandment, something. What does God's word say about it? And all of us will be surprised.

But how does that happen? You are reading constantly God's word. Now, the third passage you read, which is from book of Romans chapter 28. And if you remember, all things work together good for those that love God and all that.

Then the passage closes by saying, ah, what can separate us from the love of God? Then there's a list. Stoning, persecution, beating, misunderstanding, and all these other things, even death. So you take that back to the earlier portion of the scripture, kind of gives you a meaning of that.

The Cross in Suffering and Christian Perseverance

So what is the treasure here? The treasure is the cross. That is, all things happens, good things and bad things and terrible things and sickness or whatever else. You know, life is a continuous journey through the wilderness.

And then you run into the waters of Mara. Bitter water. You can do nothing with it. But then Moses will take a piece of wood and throw it into the water. And all of a sudden, the bitter waters becomes sweet.

So, when you are terribly lonely, and people reject you and misunderstand you, and you don't have the money to give offering, and there's a million problems you deal with that you can't tell people. But those times you will quieten your heart and pause for a minute and say, Jesus, ah, now I understand a little about how much you suffered.

Your loneliness, your rejection, and your misunderstanding. You see, that experience now led you to bring the cross into the picture. And all of a sudden, everything changes. You can read more about that in Philippians chapter 3.

Paul talks about that. So, in these three places, we see the first, the treasure we must hold on to is love. Second, God's promises. He will never change it. He will keep it. And that's for you. And number three, the cross.

Anyone want to follow me? Let him pick up his cross daily and follow me. It's not easy. As a matter of fact, I coined a phrase. I don't know if I am the one who first made it up or not, but at least it don't want to be very sharp.

That is, no one, no one, no one, never, ever, anywhere, anytime, you cannot, no one can serve God and be His without suffering. And you know, something else that I found out, which I should have learned sooner, God will answer all prayers except to one.

Please remove this suffering, he says. And that's what he told Paul. So embrace it, there's a purpose in it. And it's a treasure. Bible has plenty of it. You can read about Joseph, and David, and Jeremiah, and Paul, and Peter, and study that.

It is good for you. Because this false gospel that comes from the television preachers from Western countries tells us, which is a curse, the greatest deception. If you live for God, all things are going to be well.

The Pearl of Great Price and Loving Christ Above Life

It's not true. You get more trouble as a matter of fact. But hold on to it. Don't waste your sorrows, your difficulties. Number four, the fourth passage we read about holding on to the true treasure. What was that?

Jesus talked about treasure. A man found a precious pearl of great price. What did he do? He stole it. He went and sold all his properties so he can buy this for the sake of the pearl. So what is this pearl you're talking about?

Jesus said, unless you love me more than father, mother, son, daughter, wife, husband, children, I wish he stopped there. He said, you want to be mine? You want to follow me? And he said, it's not a joke.

You cannot, absolutely impossible, you cannot be my follower and be with me in heaven if you don't love me more than your own very life. So what is a treasure? See Christ and following him more important than life itself.

Counting the Cost of Discipleship and Rejecting Shallow Christianity

So you have now, you go to the computer if you have one or one of those machines and Google the persecution in Ethiopia and see the orthodox believers and I saw one picture about 70 of them being marched to the ocean side and they were all given the option, deny Christ and acknowledge another God.

And all of them said no and they all were beheaded. What was it? See, I'm not trying to tell you that you are in a place where you say, oh okay, I'm ready to go, kill me. No, but I'm telling you this is a journey that you and I need to understand.

And this stupid, shallow Christianity of this culture and people talk about is not real. You need to know that. As a matter of fact, I'm of the opinion of the Protestant, Evangelical, so-called Reformation and all the literature written after 1600, much of it is useless because it is man-centered, man trying to preserve himself, yet have God endorse his life the way he wanted.

And that, that, that is serious. Now I know some of you don't understand what I'm saying maybe, but some of you do. And if you do, you be the one to tell others and be serious about it. Four important treasures in this journey that we must hold on to.

Holding on to these principles, it has to be a perpetual, non-stop exercise of our walk with God, always. Holding on, present a continuous tense and don't let it go. Don't let anything rob you from it.

Human Love, Companionship, and Christ's Presence

Long time ago in 1966 -67, before you were born, some of us fellows used to listen to shortwave radio in Delhi, in North India, and we loved what they called folk songs. And one of the group that became world famous in 1965 from Australia called The Seekers.

They're not Christian singers, but this song made us kind of number one in the world. And listen to some of the words of this. There's a new world somewhere, they call the promised land. And I'll be there someday, if you will hold my hand.

I still need you there beside me, no matter what I do, for I know I will never find another you. There's always someone for each of us, they say, and you will be my someone forever and a day. I could search the whole world over until my life is through, but I know I will never find another you.

Loving someone, there's risk, there's pain. Being open, there's risk. But I tell you a great secret. Great secret from someone who got grey hair and grey beard. The secret is this, whether you're married or not, you're children or not, you are never meant to be alone in this world.

You can't. We are made to love someone, loved by someone, and loved by people, and love people. That is a treasure that we must hold on to. And to do that, I wish I could tell you, do this one, two, three, four, no, maybe someday we can talk more about it.

But today we have the most amazing promise, the Lord Jesus Christ who said, I will never leave you, I will never forsake you, I am in you, with you, beside you, before you, after you, above you, even when you sleep and snore, I am not sleeping, I am just watching over you.

A friend who sticks very close to us than anyone. What greater reminder there is than himself in the Holy Eucharist.