Old and New Treasure (Matthew 13:52)

In all of Creation, one of the most beautiful and diverse things God has made is music. Every culture since the dawn of time has had its own form of music. In our own time, we have an incredible diversity of forms of music, from classical to rock, from pop to country, jazz, blues, punk, electronic, and more. We also have a wide range of ways to listen to music, from older recordings on vinyl, to compact discs, and digital files on our smartphones.

Some of these forms of music and the way we listen to them are older, going back decades or more. Others are newer, having just been developed in more recent years. Some people might struggle with listening to newer styles of music, while there are younger people who are re-discovering older bands and recordings. Younger people, raised with music on compact discs and digital files, are also gaining a new appreciation for records, with some more contemporary bands releasing their recordings on vinyl because of the sound quality.

No matter what style of music we might prefer, or how we listen to it, one thing seems to be true: a good song is still a good song, no matter if it is old or new, or if we are listening to it using old or new technology.

When Jesus told his parables in Matthew 13, some of which we hear in this week’s Gospel reading, he gave his disciples a new way to understand the Kingdom of God. He used everyday items such as mustard seeds, yeast, hidden treasure, pearls, and a net full of fish, to teach people that the Kingdom of God starts small with big results, has great value, and is something that can be hidden from us. Jesus concluded this section of this teaching by describing a ‘teacher of the law’ who becomes a ‘disciple in the kingdom of heaven’ as someone who produces treasures that are both old and new (v52).

The ‘teacher of the law’ Jesus is talking about are people who knew the Law of Moses from the Old Testament with all its rules, regulations and demands, and who applied them to their own lives as well as to the lives of others. When they encountered the liberating grace of God in the good news of Jesus, some of these ‘teachers of the law’ found freedom by discarding the legalistic and often condemning way of life of the law and embracing the new way of understanding God as our loving Father in the gospel. Jesus doesn’t talk about these people leaving the old ‘treasures’ from God’s Word behind to embrace the new ’treasure’ of the gospel, but instead they bring out of his storeroom both new and old treasures. Jesus is telling us that there were still treasures to be found in the Old Testament which point to and give us a fuller understanding of the new treasures we find in the gospel of Jesus.

To continue with our analogy of music, Jesus doesn’t want us to completely reject the old for the sake of the new. However, neither does he want us to ignore what’s new and hold on exclusively to the old. It is not an ‘either/or’ situation. Instead, Jesus wants us to hold on to what is good in the old as we embrace the new. What is central is the song itself, not whether the song is old or new, or that we are listening to it on old or new technology.

For Jesus, this ‘song’ is the good news of the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom was in existence throughout the Old Testament whenever people of faith trusted God and lived in the way he taught. All the Old Testament heroes of faith are part of this Kingdom and we can learn from them about living as God’s people, even in difficult or challenging times. God was still extending grace, mercy, and love throughout the Old Testament. We see God at work when we read those stories through Jesus’ teachings on God’s Kingdom. Our lives as God’s people are enhanced when we find the treasure of God’s grace, love and mercy in the Old Testament stories. Jesus is warning us from rejecting the old ways and encouraging us to look for valuable treasure in it. To ignore the treasures of the Old Testament would be just as bad as rejecting the new way of understanding God that we learn from Jesus. What is important is the song of God’s love, grace and mercy, received through faith, which has been sung since Adam and Eve and continues through our own times and into the future.

This way of finding both old and new treasures still speaks to us today. There are many ways in which we can find Christians arguing about the old versus new in the Church. For example, some would like us to hold on to cultural forms of worship which they learned when they were younger and completely ignore more modern forms of worship. There are others who reject older forms of worship because they don’t think they are relevant. Jesus’ words in Matthew 13:52 teach us that what is most important is not whether it is old or new. What is vital is that the way we worship is faithful to the treasure of the gospel and clearly points to Jesus as the One who extends God’s grace, love and mercy to sinners.

This can also apply when we talk about ministry. There can be people who think that if the church returns to what we were doing decades ago when they were young, then we would become a healthy and thriving church again. The other point of view argues that we need to get rid of everything we used to do and completely re-invent ourselves as church. Again, Jesus is teaching us that neither old nor new approaches to ministry are the answer in themselves, but the treasure of the gospel which we live out in our communities of faith, our relationships, and everything we do. This might include some ways we used to do it as well as some new, more innovative ideas. It’s not an either/or situation, but the good news of Jesus which we express in both old and new ways.

It can be great listening to older music as digital files, so we can enjoy them just about anywhere and anytime. At the same time, listening to recent recordings on vinyl records gives them a sound which can’t be replicated as a digital file. Blending the best of the old with the new results in approaches that are even better than one or the other on their own. Jesus introduced us to a new way of relating to God as our Father, full of love, grace, and mercy for sinners. He doesn’t want us to reject the old ways, but instead to find good news in the old and look for new ways to share the treasures of the gospel with a world in desperate need of the good news of Jesus.

More to think about or discuss:

• What is a situation you can think of where people tend to prefer either old or new things and ignore the other? What might happen if we embraced the best of both the old and new?
• Jesus taught a new way of understanding the Kingdom if God in his parables. What are some of these new ways in the parables Jesus taught in Matthew 13:31-33,44-52?
• How might we be able to blend the best of the past with new ways of living in God’s Kingdom in our community of faith?