On the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, the people of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Joplin, Missouri welcomed Pastor Christopher Ramstad home from his first LCMS synodical convention in Phoenix — and heard three of the shortest parables Jesus ever told. A treasure buried in a field, a pearl of great price, and a net full of fish: three pictures of finding, and three pictures of joy. From the children’s message to the closing hymn, the morning kept returning to one word the Apostle Paul plants in Romans 8: nothing.
Pastor Ramstad’s Sermon on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost: Treasures Old and New
Jesus had been teaching in parables all through Matthew 13 — earthly stories with heavenly meanings, His favorite way to teach. Pastor Ramstad pointed out that Matthew ties this directly back to the prophets: “I will open my mouth in parables, I will utter what has been hidden since the foundation of the world.” The parables do not merely deliver a lesson; they show us that Jesus comes to fulfill the Old Testament. And He chooses pictures anyone can relate to — the thrill of finding something. Cleaning out a desk drawer full of paper clips and rubber bands and stumbling on a forgotten gift card. Digging through the couch cushions past the popcorn pieces and the kids’ toys and finally surfacing the missing remote. Being a kid and spotting a coin on the parking lot on the way into the store. We know that particular joy.
Three scenarios, three treasures, one idea — and, Pastor Ramstad noted, two very different ways the Church has read them. The early Christian fathers took the simple route: we are the seekers, and Jesus is the treasure we stumble upon, the pearl worth everything, the great catch that changes our lives. That reading preaches well, and it is true as far as it goes. But it runs into a wall at the end of every one of these parables — “he sold all that he had.” Have any of us actually given up everything? We may have given up a good deal for our faith, but on that count we are more like the rich young man who came to Jesus and walked away sorrowful, because he had much. We have much.
So there is a second and better way to read them, with Christ at the center as the finder. Jesus is the one made flesh who came and walked among us, who sold all that He had. And that makes the treasure, the pearl, and the great catch His people. It is exactly what He told Peter: you will not fish for fish anymore — I will make you a fisher of men. It is the same care we heard in last week’s parable of the wheat and the weeds: do not uproot the wheat too early; let it grow, and gather it to Myself. God shows care and concern for His people because He intends to gather them to Himself. Pastor Ramstad also drew attention to the tense Jesus uses. Not what the kingdom will be like, or might be like. “The kingdom of heaven is like.” This is the rule and reign of Christ right now, today — because Jesus has already come in the flesh and paid the full price of our redemption with His precious blood on the cross.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”
Matthew 13:44–46 (ESV)
A Report from the LCMS Synodical Convention
Pastor Ramstad wove his own week of “finding” into the sermon. He left Joplin on a Friday and pulled back into town at 2:00 a.m. the following Friday, having spent the week in Phoenix at the convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod — his first. He offered a brief word study worth keeping: synod comes from two Greek words, syn (“together”) and hodos (“path” or “way”). It is the way in which we walk together — in the unity of faith, in a common confession, standing firm on the Word of God. The preparation was not glamorous: a 580-page workbook that nearly pushed his suitcase over the fifty-pound limit, and sessions running 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. before district breakfasts and evening events. (And no, he was not on a beach. It was 111 degrees at 11:00 in the morning on the day he flew home. Most of this sermon, he admitted, was written in an airport terminal.)
He was honest about the hard moments. There was disappointment in the conversations about pastoral formation — how difficult it has become to raise up pastors, and how heartbreaking to hear from congregations that have gone vacant for a long stretch without the Word and Sacraments, or that cannot find teachers, principals, or anyone to play the organ. There was frustration (as a former high school parliamentary procedure competitor, even he grew tired of hearing “I move to amend”). And there were moments of genuine anger at how divisive we can be over some of the simplest things in this walk together. Our walk together, he said plainly, is challenging. It is not easy, and it takes work.
But those moments were completely outweighed. The convention theme was “Christ Is Risen Indeed,” and a refrain kept breaking out even in July — a pastor shouting “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” and a hall full of Lutherans answering back. Easter in July. He met Lutherans from around the globe, including brothers and sisters from the Lutheran Church of Bolivia and the small but fast-growing Lutheran Church of Australia, both of which resolved to walk in fellowship with the LCMS. He heard encouraging news from our Concordia colleges — an increasing number of students saying they want to teach in a Christian school, or serve as a DCE, or play the organ — and from our seminaries, which reported their highest pastoral enrollment in ten years. Three years from now the Synod will need lay delegates again, and he encouraged the congregation to pray about whether God might send one of us.
So what do we do with these parables? We listen to Jesus: “Every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Be like a scribe. Treasure the riches of God’s Word — hold it close, memorize it, share it, take it personally. And do not imagine that the Gospel makes the Old Testament expendable; Matthew wants us to see that Jesus has fulfilled those promises. We heard one of those old treasures in Deuteronomy 7, spoken by Moses to a people standing on the edge of the promised land: “You are a people holy to the LORD your God… the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love.” That is what God still does for those of us waiting for our promised land — He speaks to us out of treasures both old and new, and He gives Himself to us in Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, so that as brothers and sisters we may walk together on the way, and one day walk together in eternity with Him.
The Children’s Message: Four Things That Would Not Hold
With Mr. Jason Glaskey away, Pastor Ramstad took the children’s message himself — and came armed with things that are supposed to be hard to pull apart. First, a strip of Velcro, pressed together good and tight. One tug from a helper named Kylen, and it popped. Then two magnets shaped like halves of a horse (put them together and you get, of course, horsepower). Another tug, another separation. Then two strings knotted together as hard as a strong pastor could pull them — undone again. Finally a hammer, the most crooked nail in the garage, and a 2×4: the nail went in with a wobble and came right back out with the claw end. Zero for four.
Which turned out to be exactly the point. The Apostle Paul has something to say about separation. There are seasons when we are worried, anxious, or frightened, and we wonder whether all of that means God has drifted far away from us. Even pastors have those moments. So Kylen was handed the microphone to read Paul’s answer aloud for the whole congregation — that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Nothing. In a world full of things that fall apart and do not hold together well, one thing holds tight to you. That good news is planted week after week in our ministry with children and families and at Martin Luther School.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38–39 (ESV)
The Readings and Hymns for the Day
We worshiped using Divine Service, Setting Four from the Lutheran Service Book, and the appointed readings, the hymns, the children’s message, and the sermon all met at the same place: a God who chooses, keeps, and refuses to let go of His treasured people.
- Old Testament: Deuteronomy 7:6–9
- Epistle: Romans 8:28–39
- Holy Gospel: Matthew 13:44–52 (the sermon text — the treasure, the pearl, and the net)
We opened with the great Reformation hymn A Mighty Fortress Is Our God (LSB 656). The hymn of the day was From God Can Nothing Move Me (LSB 713) — a title that could serve as a one-line summary of both the Epistle and the children’s message — and we departed with Go, My Children, with My Blessing (LSB 922).
“From God can nothing move me; / He will not step aside, / But gently will reprove me / And be my constant guide. / He stretches out His hand / In evening and in morning, / My life with grace adorning / Wherever I may stand.”
Lutheran Service Book 713, st. 1 — From God Can Nothing Move Me
Frequently Asked Questions
Who preached at Immanuel on the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost?
Pastor Christopher Ramstad preached the Holy Gospel from Matthew 13:44–52, newly returned from the LCMS synodical convention in Phoenix. He also gave the children’s message, since Mr. Jason Glaskey was away that weekend. You can find more messages anytime in our Services and Sermons archive, including the previous week’s Eighth Sunday after Pentecost and the following week’s Tenth Sunday after Pentecost.
What does the word “synod” actually mean?
Synod comes from two Greek words — syn, meaning “together,” and hodos, meaning “path” or “way.” It describes the way a group of congregations walks together: in the unity of faith, in a shared confession, and standing on the Word of God. Immanuel is a member congregation of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod, which gathers in convention every three years. Read more about what we believe as confessional Lutherans.
Are we the seeker in the parable of the hidden treasure, or is Christ?
The Church has read it both ways. The early Christian fathers often took us to be the seekers who find Christ as our treasure — true, but it strains at the words “he sold all that he had,” since none of us has actually given up everything. The stronger reading puts Christ at the center as the finder: He is the one who left His glory and gave up all He had, and His people are the treasure, the pearl, and the great catch He gladly buys. Both readings land in the same place — joy that cannot be taken away.
What time are summer worship services at Immanuel Lutheran Church?
Through the summer we gather for one service at 9:00 a.m., with the Christian Education hour following at 10:15 a.m. Our fall schedule — services at 8:00 and 10:30 a.m. with Bible classes at 9:15 — resumes after Labor Day. Full details are on our Sunday services page. New to Immanuel? Here is what to expect when you visit.
How can I listen to the sermon as a podcast?
Each week’s sermon is published as Word & Sacrament, the sermon podcast of Immanuel Lutheran Church, on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Growing in the Word continues through the week in our LifeLight Bible study and Youth Ministry.
About Immanuel Lutheran Church
Immanuel Lutheran Church is a confessional LCMS congregation in Joplin, Missouri, and the home of Martin Luther School (PK–8). Jesus brings life — meet Him here. Join us Sunday mornings at 2616 S Connecticut Ave, Joplin, MO 64804. Questions? Reach out through our contact card, or learn how you can give to support this ministry.
Summer Worship at Immanuel: One service each Sunday at 9:00 a.m., with the Christian Education hour at 10:15 a.m. We would love to have you join us this week.