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Where Your Treasure Is
Pentecost XV
September 25, 2011
Matthew 6: 19-21
We are going on a treasure hunt this morning. In fact we are going to be on a treasure hunt for the next five weeks as we participate in the congregation's Fall Stewardship program. I have to tell you I like talking about stewardship on all levels. I see it as the management of all of life with Jesus Christ at the center. Christian stewardship has changed our home....our lives. It has been a treasure. I would like to take you on a treasure hunt this morning and like any treasure hunt you need a map or a good guide. I have a map this morning with four stops along the way.
Our first stop is in the gospel of Luke where he says...where your treasure is you heart will be also. But Luke has an additional clue to the treasure. Listen to this: "Do not be afraid little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom." At stop number one we learn that before Jesus talked about your treasure he wanted you to know that you are treasure, that you are treasured by God. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a statement that:
- You are the reason for Christ's coming...for his dying and rising. God is committed to you.
- You are cherished...you are God's beloved.
- God treasures you.
My, we need to hear that. This is the beginning point of stewardship. It is the beginning point of faith. It isn't what you have done to accept Jesus or to earn his good pleasure. This is about what God has done and is doing in Christ...for you. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So relax and let's go to the next step.
Verse 19 in our gospel today -- Do not store up treasures on earth, treasures that can easily be taken from you. You will know them because they are usually full of empty promises. It's the fad diet that will get you ready for your swim suit next summer; the investment strategy that will protect you from the rollercoaster that is our economy; the newest fashion that will turn everyone's head; the exercise plan that will make you look ten years younger. I watched the last five minutes of the Viking game last week and at the end I yelled, "another empty promise." I was so glad I have learned not to treasure the Vikings, Bears, Packers, Twins and Timberwolves. Nice entertainment but not worth the depths of my loyalty.
The culture is based on your commitment to invest in and search for treasures that will be moth eaten and consumed. Jesus knows this so he starts this section of his Sermon on the Mount with some helpful suggestions for our relationship to our earthly treasures. By the way, I have never seen a hearse with a luggage rack.
Last weekend Rebecca and I rented CD "August Rush." It is the story of a little boy in search of parents he has never seen. The parents, both musically gifted, have a brief romantic affair that is interrupted by the young woman's father. He takes her far away from her new romantic interest. She becomes pregnant and when the baby is born her father forges documents giving the child for adoption...and tells her he was still born.
Eleven years later the little boy believes that he will find his parents through the music that embraces all of life. He follows the music he hears to the innards of NYC where he meets with a FAGIN like character from Oliver Twist, a manipulative man, played by Robin Williams, who has many children panhandling for him. They give him the money they earn and he redistributes it. Evan the little boy has incredible natural ability with music....a modern day prodigy not unlike Mozart. He plays the guitar without a lesson and the Robin Williams character recognizes a human goldmine. He renames Evan August Rush, he shares a vision of future greatness and fame. He finally says to the 11 year old...what do you want more than anything in the whole world? I WANT TO BE FOUND.
Do not seek treasures on Earth. You won't be found there. The irony is, we have already been found...cherished...beloved...treasured.
The next stop on our hunt is verse 20....but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. You know we have talked quite a bit about the six marks of discipleship...
- Pray daily for the transforming presence of God
- Read scripture for God's promise and guidance
- Worship regularly with the body of Christ
- Be in Conversation among the faithful to encourage support
- Give Generously in thanksgiving to God
- Serve others in Jesus name.
These marks aren't a map on how to find God. They are a guide for living faithfully with the Christ who has already found you. They are ways to store up for yourselves Treasures in heaven. They allow you to hear and see the Lord who treasures you...who says, you are my beloved.
The treasure we discover here, the treasure we store up here, cannot be taken away from us. In fact when everything else is taken away this treasure holds us and gives us life and purpose and hope.
The last stop this morning on our treasure hunt is in verse 21. For where your treasure is, there your heart is also. I have to admit to dyslexia when it comes to this verse. I have usually turned it around to read where my heart is my treasure is. But, that isn't what it says; it says where my treasure is my heart will be. That's a more difficult way to read this last verse. Now I have to ask, what is it that I treasure the most? What is it that I am most afraid of losing?
It's at this stop that I catch some ambivalence on my part. I like the proclamation that I am treasured and beloved. I want my heart to be anchored in Jesus. At the same time there are other things that I cherish...that I treasure. I identify them when I look at my credit card bill and see what I have spent money on this past month or two. I see where I have invested my time, my money, my reading. And I catch myself saying, Uff Da!
Do you catch yourself making the same discoveries? And yet we are here today because we know God treasures us and we want our hearts anchored deeply in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I believe this is the work of stewardship. It is a faithful work. It is a helpful work. The place to begin is to take out this treasure map as often as we can, beginning with stop #1. You are my beloved...I cherish you...I treasure you. It is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Start there and the rest will follow.
Amen
Rev. Glenn Taibl, Pastor
Lutheran Church of the Cross, Nisswa, Minnesota
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