Allen Raynor Weblog:
“Laying Up Treasure in Heaven” (Pt. 1)
(Jan. 10, 2019)
Human beings
are naturally thing/possession oriented.
People are strongly inclined to be seeking, pricing, considering,
shopping for, acquiring, enjoying, storing, organizing, insuring, admiring,
envying, and protecting material possessions.
There is enormous pressure to build our lives on, and around,
“things.” Everyone else is doing it, so
why not us? John Stott writes “Worldly
ambition has a strong fascination for us.
The spell of materialism is very hard to break.” (John Stott; Christian Counter-Culture; 154)
The subject
of money/possessions often comes up in Scripture. Why, we might ask? Was Jesus obsessed with money and
things? Was Jesus a closet accountant? Roland Leavell offers explanation when he
writes “Jesus knew that no man is any stronger spiritually than his attitude
toward money and what money can buy.
Jesus understood the vital relationship between gold and godliness. He was aware of the plague of materialism,
the very antithesis of spirituality.
Jesus did not discourage the making of money; he deplored the fact that
some men give money the place that God should occupy in the affections.”
(Roland Leavell; Studies in Matthew: The
King and the Kingdom; 47)
We live in
“the land of plenty” so it is kind of hard for us to discern whether or not we
have a problem, or obsession, with money and possessions. Someone has suggested a simple thought to
help us look more honestly at ourselves and our attitudes about these
things. R. Kent Hughes writes “If
anything in this world is everything to you, it is an earthly treasure.” (R.
Kent Hughes; The Sermon on the Mount: The
Message of the Kingdom; 211) Where
do our priorities lie? What are our priorities? Jesus taught His followers to re-think where
they laid up their treasures what they considered to be their priority.
In Matthew
6:19-21 Jesus says “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. For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” First of all, in verse 19 He states that this
earth is a poor investment. James, in
his epistle, warns the rich (those with plenty) as he says “Come now, you rich,
weep and howl, for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments
are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are
corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your
flesh like fire. You have heaped up
treasure in the last days.” (James 5:1-3)
We need to clarify just who are the rich. We all are!
Everyone is rich compared to someone else who has far less. What James is saying is that there is
enormous danger in investing in corroding riches and wealth. Paul wrote to Timothy “But those who desire
to be rich fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and harmful
lusts which drown men to destruction and perdition.” (1 Tim. 6:9)
Many people
have worked, saved, and collected all types of things; all these sorts of
things have been destroyed by fire, tornados, hurricanes, floods, and have been
stolen. Jesus warns them that, in this
world anything made of fabric sewn together can be dismantled, eaten up by
insects, and destroyed. He warns that
anything made of metal can, and will, corrode and rust, and ultimately be no
good at all. I have been to salvage
yards, on several occasions, and I always see cars, sometimes stacked upon one
another. Some are smashed up, some
not. But, all are junk and are worth
nothing except for possibly some parts or pieces. But, not that long before, these were someone’s
new car that pulled into the driveway and made them the envy of their neighbors. With pride they drove it places. Now look at it. Jesus further warns that just in case insects
cannot destroy it and rust and corrosion do not destroy it, then thieves will
steal it.
Everywhere
we look, it seems, we get further encouragement to be more “worldly” minded
rather than to focus on God and those things that are truly important. The world sees just about everything in
opposite terms than do Christians. It is
tragic that the supreme effort of our lives seems to be about making
preparation for the here and now
instead of for the hereafter. Basically the next few years instead of
eternity! It really makes no sense at
all except to very earth-centered worldly people. We certainly should want to live, but we also
need to keep in mind that there is a big difference between living today and
living for today. There is a story that is told that St. Philip
of Neri (Italian Priest in the 1500s), known by all as a great teacher. He would question his students who came to
study law under him. He would ask each
student “Why did you come?” they would
respond “to study law.” He would ask
“What will you do when you have studied the law?” They would respond “I will set up an office
and practice.” He would ask “What
then?” They would respond “I will get
married and have a family.” He would ask
“What then? They would respond “I will
enjoy my home and my work.” He would ask
“What then?” They would respond “I will
grow older.” He would ask “What
then?” They would respond “I will retire.” He would ask “What then?” They would respond “I will eventually
die.” Philip of Neri, the great teacher
that he was, forced the student to recognize the need for doing more than
merely preparing for this life. Our
destiny is not to be found in this world,
but in the next. (Taken from Charles
Allen; The Sermon on the Mount; 120). If we only think a little harder and a little
further out, we will see that much of what we do is nothing more than pursuing
and attaining things that will only be in our grasp for a moment. We must train ourselves to think eternally.
In Christ,
Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor
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