Where Your Treasure Is

Where Your Treasure Is, There Your Heart Will Be
Matthew 6: 19-24

A devotion written for our church's recent stewardship emphasis.

In our scripture from Matthew, Jesus famously teaches that our treasure should be in heaven. Earthly wealth “rusts” (the Greek word has the sense of “eaten away”), but heavenly wealth—our relationship with God, who cares for us and guides us and matures us—is not perishable. Jesus goes on to say that wealth can be an object of false worship, in the sense that we put it before God and pay it more homage than God. But if our hearts are invested in our true treasure, consequently our souls are full of light that in turn shines outward.

Of course, we need money and savings. I’ve been in the position of not having enough money, and it’s a terrible, worrying circumstance! But there is a fine balance between the normal concern about money and finding the meaning of our lives in money. We’ve all known stingy people, who won’t tip well in restaurants, who express haughty attitudes about people based on their income. They (and sometimes we) thereby miss the chance to witness to God’s own generosity.

The story of the rich young ruler (Luke 18:18-23) is not our scripture this week. But I thought about it in the context of treasures and the heart.

You could imagine the story of the rich young ruler going another way. Jesus would tell the man the same thing: “Sell all that you own and distribute the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me” (Luke 18:22). But instead of sadness, the man would have a “eureka moment” about helping those in need. Perhaps he would ask Jesus’ advice about who was most in need, and Jesus would direct him to some persons. And the rich young man would be remembered in the hearts of those whom he helped; as with George Bailey in It's a Wonderful Life, the world would’ve been a better place with him in it.

But conforming our attitudes around Jesus’ teachings is a growth in grace. We begin to find joy in possibilities of giving away some of our money. We begin to feel deeper compassion toward persons in need. It’s okay to feel uncertain with Jesus’ teachings but to want to grow. I can imagine the rich young ruler saying to Jesus, “I’m just too uncomfortable with giving away my wealth, as you say I should, but I do want to learn more from you and to draw closer to God. I want to show myself as a Jesus-follower in making other people’s lives better.”