The Value of the Kingdom of Heaven

Some of those blessed through the missionary work of LAMP.

by Brad Schollenberg

The Kingdom of Heaven is priceless! Jesus says in Matthew 13 that it’s like treasure hidden in a field, so valuable that you buy the whole field—or like a fine pearl where you sell everything you own to buy it. Of course, we know we can’t buy eternal life, but we know of One who did! Jesus bought and paid for our salvation with His own perfect life and His substitutionary death on the cross. Priceless! It’s the best news ever, and that’s why we call it the Gospel.

How valuable is the Gospel, this message of what Jesus Christ has done for us? Super valuable. We can’t be saved without it! (Roman 10:14-17)

Do we live like it is as valuable as the Bible says, though? And if we believe the Gospel is priceless and the only ticket to the kingdom of heaven, how much are we willing to spend to get it to the people who so desperately need to hear it? The answer to that question speaks volumes as to how much we really value that pearl of great price, that precious Gospel. It also speaks volumes about how much we value the people who need to hear it.

I am so glad to be part of a community of believers, a Christian church that sees the great value of the Gospel, not only for ourselves, but also for others. I am so glad I am part of a community of faith, some of whom sacrifice a week of their summer holiday to go to a remote part of our country to teach the Gospel, while others who stay back cooked meals, prepared crafts, gifted travel money, and prayed for them.

This year, I was reminded again of the value of the Gospel. We had to charter two planes to get one of our Lutheran Association of Missionaries and Pilots (LAMP) teams to a remote community to bring them the pearl of great price, the treasure hidden in the field. Two planes! Each can carry about 1,500 pounds, and there are only nine of us.

It seems like an enormous amount of money to spend, but, when you consider the cargo—the priceless ticket to eternal life delivered in person by the witness of those who have been touched by it—it’s not much at all. The planes might be expensive but the cargo is even more precious! The cargo is the Gospel. And the Gospel is life-giving, sin-forgiving, salvation-assuring, and hope-fulfilling. It’s priceless. And it’s free! But we must deliver it.

God has spent an immeasurable amount getting me to faith and giving me salvation. Immeasurable. First and foremost, through what Jesus has done for me with His life, death, and resurrection. Second, by what the Holy Spirit has done for me throughout history in sending those already saved out with the Good News. Third, by the Christian witness of others in my life who gave me the privilege of hearing, believing, and receiving the pearl of great price.

The story doesn’t end there. If you have been loved and blessed as I have, then God has called you to salvation and given you the priceless ticket to eternal life. Yes, you should be jumping up and down and giving thanks. He’s spent a lot on you, too!

God has called you to salvation and given you the priceless ticket to eternal life. Yes, you should be jumping up and down and giving thanks.

God knows what He is doing—He calls you and gives you salvation. He then gives you a mission, just like every one of your brothers and sisters in the faith before you. He has given the Church a mission to go and give that life-saving message to others. It’s not optional; this is how valuable the message is. You either go or you send, or do both, depending on what season in life you are in.

This is how God ordained that His heavenly banquet gets filled. This is the work of the Church of which you and I are a part. How valuable is the work of the Church? Invaluable—because it carries the pearl of great price and the promise of eternal life to the young and old of our hurting and troubled world wherever they are.

At the beginning of my ministry more than thirty years ago, if you had told me that I would be chartering two planes to get the Gospel where it needed to go, I would have laughed, and said “That’s crazy!” Now? I just shake my head and lower it in shameful disbelief and awe.

“What is impossible with men is possible with God” (Luke 18:27). God has made the impossible possible. He saved you. He saved me. He will save them—those to whom we go with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

———————

Rev. Brad Schollenberg is Pastor at Peace Lutheran Church in Winnipeg and a LAMP Volunteer Missionary to Sachigo Lake, Ontario.

Print this article