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Oct 11, 2015

Treasure 1: Where Is Your Treasure?

Passage: Matthew 6:19-21

Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

Series: Treasure

Category: Discipleship, Stewardship

Keywords: heart, money, stewardship, treasure

We tend to think that our treasure follows our hearts. Jesus says it's the opposite: Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I was sitting next to someone I knew, but I didn’t know her well.  I had learned some important things from her in some of our seminary classes and had an impression of a quiet person – kind of “still waters run deep” impression.  

 I got the question first:  what possessions do you treasure the most?  I said something like, “the things I treasure most probably aren’t things.  I can’t think of a single thing that I can’t live without.”  When the spotlight was no longer on me and I was beginning to relax a little, the woman sitting next to me was asked the same question, but she had a very different answer.  Ann said something like this to our ordination examiners:  her things give her a great deal of comfort.  She spoke of a few treasured items in a kind of sacramental way.  I got a picture in my mind of a few items of beauty and a few that held deep meaning – symbols of treasured relationships – and of Ann having a cup of tea in a favorite rocker while reflecting on memories that are important to her.

Ann’s response has reshaped my own response to that question.  One of my students, a thalidomide baby who only had 1 working arm, embroidered a picture of a frog for me.  That is a treasure.  Rich and Erin each wrote a piece that is among my dearest treasures.

There is 2.3 billion square feet of rentable self-storage in the US.  We have so much stuff that our homes can’t hold it all.   Have you seen Storage Wars?  We have so much stuff that apparently we forget what’s in those storage lockers – and people bid on the contents, sight unseen, hoping for a windfall.

As a pastor, I have had a number of opportunities to be with people who are in their last days – even the last moments – of their lives.  I can’t remember a single time when someone has talked about stuff – you know, the kind of treasure that moth and rust can destroy, the kind that thieves can break in and steal or greedy bargain hunters can bid on.  When my own dad was dying, he took every opportunity to speak to or hear the voices of those he loved, and when my sister couldn’t get here in time from New York, she spoke to him – a conversation she has mentioned a number of times since he died, even though he was no longer able to speak. 

Families talk about special times together – vacations and holiday traditions – they tell stories that sometimes make no sense to people who weren’t there, laughing hysterically while others join in just because of the contagious laughter.  You know what I’m talking about:  those experiences that make everyone laugh or cry when just a word or a facial expression takes everyone back to the experience over and over and over again.

This worship series is about where you are investing your life, but there’s no denying that it’s also about money.  We will be ending the series with a commitment Sunday, encouraging us all to make a commitment to giving to God’s work through our congregation.

I know that people don’t always like it when we talk about money.  However, Jesus talked about money.  In fact, he talked more about money than about heaven and hell combined.  He talked about money more than anything except the Kingdom of God.  Eleven of Jesus’ 39 parables are about money.  One of every seven verses in the Gospel of Luke talks about money.  Why did Jesus talk so much about money?

In the Sermon on the Mount we see that Jesus is looking at the heart. He cares about the hearts of God’s people. Jesus talks about money and treasure because he knows that they affect our hearts. He knows money stresses our relationships. Money causes division in and among people. Money and its pursuit can be all-consuming and burdensome. Those who have lost jobs or find money scarce will tell you that it is not just a financial issue but an emotional and spiritual one. Jesus talks about money because he cares about our hearts.

We usually think that where our heart is, our treasure will follow. Jesus says that it is the opposite. Where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. This is not just a change in semantics. Jesus knows that the place where we spend our money will become our treasure, whether we want it to or not. Financial commitments require time and energy. They pull our heart in a direction that perhaps neither we nor God ever intended. If you buy a house that requires a large percentage of your income, you have no choice but to spend time and energy and money in paying for it. When you put your treasure into anything, your heart will follow.

[During worship, we played the first series video.  Central to the video is the story of the author's backyard camping "trip" with his 4-year-old daughter who, upon seeing the sunrise for the first time with her dad, asked, "You mean this happens every morning and this is the first time I am seeing it!?!"  Her question made Jacob Armstrong question his priorities and where he was investing his life.]

Billy Graham was asked late in his life, “If you could, would you go back and do anything differently?” His answer may surprise you.

Yes, of course. I’d spend more time at home with my family, and I’d study more and preach less. I wouldn’t have taken so many speaking engagements. . . . Whenever I counsel someone who feels called to be an evangelist, I always urge them to guard their time and not feel like they have to do everything.”

During this series, there will be a sermon discussion guide in a little different format than the study guides I usually prepare for you. It is available on this website.  I hope you will use it every day, along with the devotional booklet available through the church office.  

Right now, I hope you will spend a few moments to reflect.  For just this moment, lay aside your debts and your current commitments.  Looking into the future, if you had a totally blank slate, where would you choose to store up your treasure?  Time, talent, money – where do you see your investments reflecting the deepest desires of your heart?

And now – take a moment to assess realistically where your treasure currently is? Do you feel your heart divided?

When you have considered these questions, take this opportunity to pray for God's guidance in how you store up your treasures.

This series is based on Treasure: A Stewardship Program on Faith and Money, written by Jacob Armstrong and published by Abingdon Press, 2014.