The King's Church in Ilford
The following is the text of the talk given on 8th July by John Pearson
Treasure in Heaven
Matthew 6: 19-21
Jesus says that we will live our lives in pursuit of something and what we pursue will determine the quality of our lives and who we become in the process. We will lay up treasure, that is what we are going to do. That is how we have been made. Remember the parables of the 'pearl of great price' and the 'treasure hidden in a field'. We are made to value something and to pursue it.
Having said that, what treasure will we pursue? What will become the focus of our lives? What is the concentration and preoccupation of your life? Jesus says that where our treasure is there our hearts will be also.
Let me say a few words about the heart.
Out of it come your words (Lk 6:45)
It holds your thoughts and intents (Heb 4:12)
Wisdom enters it (Prov 2:9,10)
From it spring the issues of life (Prov 4:23)
It is the seat of trust (Prov 3:5,6)
It is the seat of our desires (Ps 20:4)
It is the place where our deceit lies (Prov 6:14, Jer 17:9)
It is the place where our good comes from (Lk 6:45)
We are really what we are thinking in our heart (Prov 23:7)
So it is the source of who you really are
And we are to love God with all our heart, that is, all of ourself.
In this passage Jesus speaks of treasure on earth and I guess that we all have a pretty good idea of what that is. A house, a car, clothes, money in the bank or under the mattress, investments, furniture. Things! Some societies are too poor to have things but we are a society of things.
John McArthur speaks of Mr and Mrs Thing.
"There he is, sitting down on a luxurious and very expensive thing, almost hidden by a large number of other things… Things to sit on, things to sit at, things to cook on, things to eat from, all shining and new. Things, things, things.
Things to clean with things to wash with, things to clean and things to wash.Things to amuse, things to give pleasure, things to watch and things to play. Things for the summer and things for the winter. Things for the house, things for the garden.
Things on four wheels, things on two wheels, things to put on top of the four wheels, things to put behind the four wheels, things to pull behind the four wheels, things to go inside the thing on four wheels.
Things, things, things and there in the middle, Mr and Mrs Thing, smiling, pleased with themselves, thinking of more things for their collection… security in a castle of things.
But what is treasure in heaven? Is it pie in the sky when you die? Some of us were rather hoping for meat on your plate while you wait as well! Jesus and Paul both link treasure in heaven with giving. Treasure in heaven is what we have given of ourselves in the service of others and particularly the poor.
As we give ourselves away, we gain. The love we show to others remains in the heart of God for all eternity and we gain ourselves by the transformation of our hearts that results from living this way. We become more like Jesus. Listen to what he had to say about himself 'the son of man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransome for many'
When we hear and receive the gospel the Holy Spirit comes to live within us. Our faith is evidence that our hearts are already in the process of transformation and we are being made free to serve, not in the letter of an old code but in the new life of the Spirit. So, we are free to serve.
Remember Jesus' command to his disciples, 'love one another as I have loved you'. How did he love us? He laid down his life for us and as scripture concludes, so we ought to lay down our lives for each other. Does this sound extreme? It is meant to!
Lets clear up some misconceptions
Jesus is not saying that it is wrong to have riches. But if riches increase do not set your heart on them. This was the mistake of the rich young ruler and the farmer who planned to build bigger barns. It is not wrong to provide for our families in fact God expects us to do that (1 Tim 5:8)
It is not wrong to engage in business and commerce and make profit (parable of the talents, Job, Abraham).
It is not wrong to invest (putting money in the bank for interest was commended as better than doing nothing with it)
It is not wrong to enjoy good food and wine (Jesus often sat down to eat and drink with friends and those he sought to reach with his message, but see 1Cor 10:31)
The lord never condemned possesions. He told the rich young ruler to sell all and give to the poor because they stood between him and God.
About 120 years ago Mark Twain wrote
'All Europe and America are fevershly scrambling for money…Money-lust has always existed but not ever in the history of the world was it ever…a madness until your time and mine. This lust has rotted these nations; it has made them hard, sordid, ungentle, dishonest, oppressive.'
And what is true of nations can be true of individuals within them.
It is not having things that is the problem but rather our attitude to them. Where is your heart? It will be where your treasure is. If earthly things are our treasure then like the fictional dark side of the force in Star Wars they will forever dominate our lives. They will form us into a person who is as unlike Jesus as we could possibly be.
Have you heard of the Oscar Wilde story 'The picture of Dorian Gray'?
The novel tells of a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward, who is greatly impressed by Dorian's physical beauty and becomes obsessed with him, believing that his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new kind of hedonism, Lord Henry suggests that the only thing worth pursuing in life is beauty, and the fulfillment of the senses.
Realising that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, wishing that the portrait Basil has painted of him would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, subsequently plunging him into a series of debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin being displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging. The picture becomes more terrible as his heart does but Dorian Gray remains young and beautiful. In the end the picture is destroyed and all the horror of the picture is visited on Dorian and he perishes into dust.
Here it was the pusuit of pleasure and the desire for beauty that dominated the man's soul and the devastating effects of this were graphically portrayed in the picture. Sometimes a life of laying up treasure on earth can be seen in our faces, it was Oscar Wilde who said that at forty, everyone has the face they deserve. But whether it shows in our face it will be in our character. The pursuit of earthly treasure will change us in our hearts as the shallow and immoral pursuits of Dorian Gray changed his heart and was revealed in the picture.
And it is timely to remind ourselves that treasure on earth need not be only material things. Seeking position in the form of fame and status, or seeking power and the pursuit of physical perfection can all be ways to lay up treasure on earth and indeed these often proceed in parallel with the pursuit of wealth. Again it is not wrong to have position, power or physical beauty but as scripture counsels 'let not the mighty man boast in his strength'
Jesus is the prince of life. What he is teaching in these verses is about our everyday lives. How then will we live? He lays down principles for us so that we can have the kind of life he came to give us – life in all its fullness.
What we have set our hearts on will dominate our thoughts and the mind set on the flesh is death. The mind consumed by the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life is death. We will end up like Dorian Gray if we go this way and when the chickens come home to roost we will be seen for what we have become – a thing of ugliness.
The mind set on the Spirit, keeping in step with the Spirit is life and peace. If we set our hearts on what God says is important, if we pursue what God says is worth pursuing we gain life. What does it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his life. I don't believe Jesus is talking only of death we can lose our life bit by bit like in the story of Dorian Gray.
In these passages from Matthew 6 Jesus has been teaching about our everyday lives. We need to learn to think differently than the Pharasees. We must live so that pride does not dominate us, so that insecurity does not dominate us, so that appetite does not dominate us and so that the pursuit of wrong goals does not dominate us. All these things would rob us of the life that he intends for us.
Who, I ask you, is the one who comes to kill and to steal? Who's purpose is served if we are robbed of life in all it's fullness?
So here Jesus directs our pursuit of treasure to another path. The path of giving ourselves. That is why submission to God is so important. If you haven't made him lord then you will have difficulty giving yourself to others. To the rich young ruler he said 'sell all these and give the proceeds to the poor and follow me and you will have treasure in heaven.'
The giving of his wealth would free him from his failure to keep the commandments Jesus did not mention like loving God with all your heart and not coveting. Jesus saw that the young man's heart was not free and offered him real life, eternal life. The young man had asked how he could get eternal life but he was not willing to do what was needed in his case. He knew he hadn't got it, all his riches had not satisfied him, but he was not free to walk away and live life in all it's fullness with Jesus.
Are we willing to do what is necessary in our case? It may not be the same as for the young ruler though I rule nothing out. However we must face the question 'where is my heart?' What am I spending my life pursuing?
If God asked us as we were about to depart and be with him forever, to look back over our lives and say what we were glad we did. What are we able to say 'I am so very glad I did this' about? Would it be long hours in the office/job while our family grew old in our absence? Think about it. Where your treasure is there your heart will be also.
What will be the treasure you have laid up for you as you look back over your life. Will you see people whos lives were changed by the gospel because you were willing to speak and you backed up the talk with the walk. Will you see people whose lives were healed because you prayed and backed up the prayer with action as God enabled you.
Will you see growth in the church that is there because you used your gifts according to the measure of faith God has given you and because you received the gifts of others joyfully and did not envy them because their gift was more high profile than yours.
Will you look back on the good relationships you formed with your family, friends and others. Will you see the ripples of good still moving out from the good works you have done and see how one person has passed on good to another all flowing from your obediance to the lord. Will you be pleased with how you have used your time and talents.
We are pursuing treasure whether we like it or not the only question is what are we pursuing? Is it treasure on earth? Is it worth it? You can't take it with you and it is not secure. This treasure is temporary and can be lost. It is not really secure at all. Mr and Mrs Thing are quite mistaken if they think they are secure in their castle of things. And so are we!
One of the hard lessons about life is that things are taken from you as you grow older. Your independence, your strength, your health, your loved ones, your abilities, your faculties. Jesus said you can't make yourself even a tiny bit taller, and you cannot make a single hair black or white. You are not in control, but praise God, He is! So he says don't worry about food and clothes but seek first the Kingdom.
You see laying up treasure, lliterally stockpiling for the future is not trusting God to take care of you in the future. We are to enjoy all the things God has given us and live our lives to his glory. Don't pile up what we don't need and don't plan to use. God knows what you need and we must learn to trust Him.
If we are to gain the life he wants for us we must act contrary to what many people are doing. We must not pursue earthly treasures. If riches increase, and they may, we are not to set our hearts on them. We must rather choose a life of service, a life of giving ourselves for others and as we do this we will be changed. Where our treasure is there our hearts will be. We will be changed from one degree of glory to another. Just the opposite of what happened to Dorian Gray. We become more lovely, more holy, more gracious, compassionate, patient, kind, forbearing, forgiving. More hopeful, faithful and loving.
We get more than we could ever imagine and this is treasure indeed. This life of freedom Christ wants for us is a great enterprise. It will not be easy and there may be opposition and danger, but it is the challenge and the hardship that makes us more, makes us grow. Christ our captain is a warrior leading us onward in this life of self giving, this pursuit of heavenly treasure. This is high adventure indeed.
I close with an excerpt from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
'What do you demand of your captain? Are you so soon turned from your design? Did you not call this a glorious expedition? And wherefore was it a glorious expedition? Not because the way was smooth and placid….but because it was full of danger…; because, at every turn your fortitude was to be called forth and your courage exhibited..For this it was glorious. For this it was an honourable undertaking… And now, behold with the first imagination of danger; or, if you will the first mighty and terrific trial of your courage, you shrink away and are content to be handed down as men who had not enough strength to endure… You need not have come thus far and dragged your captain to a shame of defeat merely to prove yourseves cowards. Oh! Be men, or more than mere men. Be steady to your purposes and firm as a rock… Return as heroes who have fought and conquered, and who know not what it is to turn their backs against the foe.'
And their expanse is declaring the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1