Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where
thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither
moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus told his followers to lay up ‘treasure in heaven’, not on earth; he told a rich, young ruler to give all his wealth to the poor, so that he might have this treasure; he told a corrupt tax collector that he had found salvation when he pledged to give away most if not all his wealth by compensating the people he had cheated and giving generously to the poor. In other passages in the New Testament, the treasure is referred to as reward, true riches and receiving a prize and symbolised by crowns, sceptres and thrones. There are two key questions.
What is treasure in heaven? In two parables, recorded in Matthew 25 and Luke 19, Jesus explained that treasure in heaven is responsibility in the Kingdom of God. In both, a man going abroad gives resources to his servants and, on his return, rewards them servants with varying degrees of responsibility, based on what they did during his absence. I plan to look at these parables more closely next weekend.
Can money buy treasure in heaven? I’ve often hear it said of money that we can’t take it with us when we die but we can send it on ahead. I know what people mean by that but I fear it may, inadvertently, create a wrong impression. Using money as Jesus described does not ‘purchase’ treasure but, like all obedience to God’s ways, it transforms people. The ‘transformed’ people get the treasure they can cope with. But if Christian lives revolve around money, God will not be able to trust those people with true riches.
I think it was a pastor in the 17th Century who likened receiving a heavenly reward to jars being filled up. Each jar is filled to the brim and it is no use the smaller jars complaining that the bigger ones get more because each is filled to its capacity. The treasure is not something we can earn but people get the maximum treasure they can accommodate.
As I wrote in a previous Reflection, I think Jesus included the passage about money in the Sermon on the Mount because he did not want his followers to be deterred from living the way he was describing by the financial implications. I invite you to re-read the entire passage: Matthew 6: 19-34.
Jesus went on say, ‘The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!’ If our eyes are healthy, able to see the spiritual as well as the material, our bodies can be full of light; but if our eyes have been blinded by what we see around us in our capitalist, consumer society, our bodies will be full of darkness. If capitalist, consumerist ‘light’ is inside us, how great is our darkness! It’s no wonder if we cannot see where we are or know what to do about it!
Does our blindness extend to the ways that we earn money and the motivations behind our spending decisions? How vulnerable are we to concerns about our credibility and status? How important is it for us to lay up sufficient treasure on earth, so we can feel secure about our futures? How easily is our desire for ease and entertainment exploited by advertising and sales talk?
After reminding his disciples of how well God cares for flowers and birds, and assuring them that they were even more valuable to God, Jesus set out this paradigm for handling money.
- Don’t be anxious about material things like food and clothing or, by extension, anything else that money can buy.
- Make seeking God’s Kingdom and righteousness the sole lifestyle priority.
- Trust God for basic needs.
Some translations say ‘give no thought’ to material needs but that goes too far: Jesus was warning against worry and fretting, not sensible forethought and planning. Jesus wants his disciples to make their lifestyle choices and daily spending decisions based on what is right, not what is cost effective. If we believe in a God who can underwrite our obedience to the way of life he wants us to live, the challenge is to live in the courage of that conviction and accumulate treasure in heaven.
With that in mind, I return to the exercise I explained at the end of last weekend’s Reflection: to record your spending for month. If you’ve begun doing that, take your spending record so far and sort everything you've bought into these categories.
(1) Survival costs. These are the things that we cannot avoid paying for and they will differ depending on where we live. They will probably include rent or mortgage, water, food, basic clothes, fuel (perhaps electricity or gas), personal hygiene (soap, toothpaste and the rest) and medication. They may include essential transport and communication (like mobile, telephone and internet access). Include any overdue bills you're repaying, and any loans or other credit repayments for survival costs you could buy outright. And, of course, include national and local taxes.
(2) Lifestyle choices. These things are not essential but they make life more pleasant for us. They include non-essential clothing, jewellery, gadgets, leisure activities and entertainment. Include any loans and other credit repayments for lifestyle costs you incurred in the past but are still paying for. I’m not suggesting that these things are unimportant, only that they are not essential to maintaining our homes and staying healthy.
(3) Giving.This includes giving to a church or charity or to any good cause or worthy person, expecting nothing - nothing at all! - in return.
You may not want to share this detailed information with anyone else but the important thing is that you know where your money goes. The reason should become clear during the next couple of Reflections.
© All Souls Clubhouse Community Centre & Church and Philip Evans 2014.
Please feel free to copy, print and share these Reflections on a non-profit basis.
