Midweek Lent 4 – Pr. Anderson sermon
Isaiah 53:6, ELH #331 v. 7-8 “My Greatest Treasure, Jesus Christ”
March 18, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Enlarge, O thou, my heart, thy shrine, To hold this treasure given; Far greater treasure here is thine Than earth and sea and heaven. Away, gold of Arabia, Away, myrrh, aloes, cassia! I’ve found a better portion, My greater treasure, Jesus Christ, Is this which from Thy wounds most blest Flowed forth for my salvation (ELH #331 v. 7).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
Being not that far out from a pandemic, we know how difficult it is to try and run from plague and disease. If we think we had it bad, Paul Gerhardt was during a time of “The Plague.” This disease removed one third of Europe’s population from this world. If you had lived during this time period, there probably would come a point where you would have been desensitized to death. As a culture, look how easy it is for us to see death in videos and not even realize what we are watching. While this wasn’t the height of the plague, it still was a top issue Paul Gerhardt had to minister to. Once fully in the parish in a little town outside the city of Berlin, and while writing the majority of his hymns, The Gerhardt’s would also have the difficulty of doing something a parent should never do. They buried their first child who passed away in infancy. In all of this strife, there is only One thing that can possibly allow a person to continue on. The better portion of all the treasure in the world, our greatest treasure, Jesus Christ.
So many riches in life, and Gerhardt rightly points out this will be the only perfect treasure for us to ever want. Knowing this truth, we should want this every day. This treasure guides us and comforts us through all life’s problems. Is it easy for us to crave this treasure every day? Surrounded by disease, death, and destruction, this treasures glow tends to fade from existence. While this treasure has existed since the foundation of the world for all of mankind to have and know, man looks out at this fallen world for immediate relief from all of its troubles and he easily wanders away to it. Through the Psalmist, God makes known what He has witnessed with His people. Looking back at the generation of the Exodus, for forty years I loathed that generation and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known my ways” (Psalm 95:10). They wandered and they were upset with God in their hearts, because of what they were experiencing. They blamed God, but that blame must be directed at themselves.
It is hard for the world to accept all the problems in it are because of themselves. A ginormous problem that has been passed down from generation to generation since the first man and woman gave into temptation to be like God. To the extent of the devils lie, man now knows the difference between good and evil. And the world has in its best interest to change its ways. If this is what we want, then why hasn’t there been a change? It’s because we don’t like change. For us to change, it would mean that we acknowledge to God that He is right and that we actively stray from His ways. Since there isn’t a change, the world can only try to make the change on its own and it does try as we witnessed it try to stop the spread of disease. While our efforts are not enough, God isn’t sitting around watching our suffering with contentment. God continues to declare who He is. Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture (Psalm 100:3).
This is a special message to hear. The God of the universe cares for us as a shepherd cares for his sheep. And while deep down we want this comfort to stop us dead in our tracks from wandering outside of His pasture, we know it is impossible to do it on our own. As Paul Gerhardt wrote, there are many treasures out there. These treasures which may be precious in the moment, they will not sustain us. He watched as countless people passed away, not taking any treasure with them. There is One great treasure and for us to possess it, it will always be the realization we can’t possess it on our own, nor do we deserve to possess it. As wandering sheep, we race from God in rebellion, yet God placed our guilt on the only One who stayed beside Him, the Servant.
The Servant, unaffected by illness, yet He bore all our illnesses. The Servant, who witnessed rebellion, yet submitted to His Father’s will. The Servant who knew the perfect riches of heaven, yet experienced all the pains of this world. The Lamb who didn’t wander, for all we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Every single person turns away, and when man deserves nothing but physical and eternal suffering, the LORD doesn’t put the iniquity where it should go. He puts it on the Servant, on the Lamb. And for our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). For the world to see the one who knew no sin become sin, the LORD enlarges our hearts and reveals this great treasure given. The better portion, the greater treasure, Jesus Christ.
This treasure reveals to you, that you are not at the mercy of everything the world will throw at you. This is a treasure that is active in your life. He doesn’t just watch you wander, He actively searches for His sheep. The Prophet Ezekiel writes, as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness….I will rescue my flock; they shall no longer be a prey. And I will judge between sheep and sheep (Ezekiel 34:12, 22). In a flock that isn’t prey and will be held accountable to actions, this would be worrisome for the sheep that have wandered. The judgment of the wandering sheep, the judgment of you, isn’t based on what you have done. The judgment you see is the judgment where the Shepherd, gives his life to rescue the sheep. One innocent Lamb remained, and that Lamb of God received the punishment of the flock that fled. And with His sacrifice on the cross, He gathers all the flock to Himself.
On the cross, the iniquity of the strayed sheep meets on the Servant. As your iniquities hang there, so does the curse of this world and all the pain it offers. For, Christ redeemed us from the curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). What a great treasure indeed! And as this treasure would fulfill the will of His Father, it is because of this event that even though the Christ had to ascend afterwards, He is still your precious treasure working on your behalf. Our Scripture texts for this season conclude about the Servant, Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 53:12). He intercedes for His most prized possession. He tells the Father why you, sheep who have wandered, will survive all of life’s illnesses, trials, hardships, and will possess the greatest treasure to ever exist! You sing, from His wounds, flows forth your salvation.
With your salvation, you can take pride in your heritage. A heritage of finding joy in a world that on the outside looks as though it has no joy in it. Many will ask you, in these hard days how you can have a smile on your face, even on the days you are facing a personal tragedy, like the Gerhardt’s losing their firstborn. You point them to the cross where, He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls (1 Peter 2:24-25). This message has always been the promise of the Servant. He takes away your sins, takes your place for judgment, and continues to speak to the Father on your behalf. With the greatest treasure in your enlarged heart, you continue to pray and sing, This treasure ever I’ll employ, This ev’ry aid shall yield me; In sorrow it shall be my joy, In conflict it shall shield me; In joy, the music of my feast, And when all else has lost its zest, This manna still shall feed me; In thirst my drink, in want my food; My company in solitude, To comfort and to lead me. The sheep that have strayed, are safely in His pasture forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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