A Word from Pastor Lisa: Treasures

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” 

Matthew 6:19-21 (NRSV)

The IU men’s basketball news had our household in a tizzy on Monday. My husband obsessed over the details of the buyout, the possible new head coaches, and the best outcome for the team. I could not let go of the potential $10.5 million given to fire the coach. I tweeted about the many ways that money could have benefited Bloomington and the university in terms of education, poverty, health care, the environment, children, youth, and students, and yet we spent a vast earthly treasure on sports. Our priorities seemed so contrary to what Jesus advocates in the Sermon on the Mount.

The next day, I was confronted with my own use of earthly treasure. At a staff meeting, some members of our team discussed medical hardships due to lack of health insurance, which the church doesn’t provide non-clergy, while I have such needs covered. On the church emergency line, I got a call from someone in a financial crisis when my family lives securely. Then I read in the news about the inequitable rollout of the coronavirus vaccine, which has often prioritized speed over fairness in our country, not to mention the approximately 130 countries that haven’t even received one dose. As clergy, I already had the opportunity to be vaccinated in the Indiana rollout.

In the very next chapter, Jesus reminds us about being judgmental. He asks, “Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3). From my very privileged economic place, I was judging the use of someone else’s treasure. Jesus makes clear in the Sermon on the Mount that how we handle our stuff – our finances, our possessions, our privilege, and our desires – reveals the posture of our hearts in relationship to God. Our household budgets and bank accounts show what matters most in our lives. Likewise, our church budget shows what’s most important to us as the Body of Christ and whether our hearts align with seeking the kingdom of heaven.

Our stuff cannot save us, reminds scholar Amy-Jill Levine in The Sermon on the Mount: A Beginner’s Guide to the Kingdom of Heaven. Human beings always long to acquire more, and we generally find it easier to take than to give away. The problem becomes that we can never have enough. In this Scripture, Jesus refocuses us from earth to the heavens, after he has just instructed his disciples to pray: “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” He reminds us to store up treasures in heaven, not in earthly stockpiles.

Treasure on earth is literally stuff. Jesus is talking about all of our possessions that can be destroyed in an instant by natural and human events. Stuff can be stolen by thieves and ruined by moths or rust. Stuff can’t save us, and we can’t protect it. We need to get into the right relationship with our “stuff.” That doesn’t mean possessions like health insurance, wealth, and vaccine privileges are inherently bad. But we need to recognize they are all temporal. They will not save us or bring us peace. By storing up these possessions on earth, we need to recognize the consequences of our heavenly treasure.

In contrast, a life of generosity and compassion leads us to share abundantly our earthly treasure – to give, rather than to take. It also requires us to advocate for others to have privileges like health care, money, and vaccines. It forces us to take seriously the words of Jesus so we incline our hearts properly toward God, not our stuff, and seek God’s will being done on earth as it is in heaven.

As you take a few moments to reflect on your relationship with your earthly stuff and how Jesus might reorient you, check out this song by Burlap to Cashmere – “Treasures in Heaven.” Also, see this wonderful Lenten devotional from Biola University – “Store Up For Yourselves Treasures in Heaven.”