11 Pentecost

August 8, 2010
St. Mark's Lutheran Church
Fargo

Luke 12:32-40

+ Last week, at St. Stephen’s, I mentioned that very rarely do I preach about things I hate. And one of the things I hate to preach about is money. I just don’t like it. It seems I end up offending someone somewhere along the lines when I preach about money. And money really is a very touchy subject for most of us.

So, this week, I thought I was off the hook. Then, on Tuesday, I read the scriptures for today and there it was: a continuation of what we heard last week in our Gospel reading. Here we find Jesus continuing his talk about giving up our earthly treasures, so we can gain heavenly treasures. And we know that when we hear that word “earthly treasures,” our minds instantly go to thoughts of “money.”

But, just when I was ready to despair, I really let the Gospel reading sink in and I realized that he is telling us two things that strike us at our very core: first, he begins with “Do not be afraid.”
We love hearing that. Those are the words we want Jesus to say to us and those are the words he tells us again and again in the Gospels. And those are words I love to preach about. If I could peach on nothing else but Jesus’ commandment of “Do not be afraid” I would be very happy.

Do not be afraid.

Second, he tells us “where your treasure is, there you heart will be also.” At first, we might find ourselves nodding in agreement with this. But when we start thinking about what he’s truly saying, we might find it a bit more difficult to accept. It starts sounding a bit like we’re talking about “money” again.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Now, to be clear, when we hear Jesus talking today of where your heart is there is your treasure, he isn’t talking so much of a our material treasure. He is saying that where your heart is, that is where your passion will be. There is where your attention and your fulfillment will be found.

Now, for me, I have two passions in this life. I have, of course, my vocation to the Priesthood. And if I had to get real specific, I would say my passion was in liturgy—in the actual service I have at the altar and in the services of the Church.

And, of course, my other passion is poetry. If I was asked where my treasures are on earth, I would say it was squarely within those two areas.

“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
This might not be as easy for us to accept, because we know it is a very true statement And few of us can say with all honesty that our treasures are built up enough in heaven that there too is our heart. Our treasures, for the most part, are here on earth.
So, we do have to ask ourselves that very hard question: where is our treasure. Or maybe the questions: what is our treasure? What is our passion? What is that drives us and motivates us? Has it been money? Has been fame? Or has been things like family and spouse? They are hard questions to ask and they are hard questions to answer.

But Jesus is clear here that we shouldn’t beat ourselves up about what our treasure is. Rather, he says, we should simply shift our attention, shift our focus, and center ourselves once again on the treasure that will never disappoint, which is, essenitally, him and all that he stands for. When we find our treasure in Jesus, we find that that treasure is more than just a sweet, pious, Jesus-and-me kind of relationship. Recognizing Jesus has our treasure means making all that Jesus loved and held dear as our treasure as well—primarily, loving God and loving others as we long to be loved.

It seems that when do that, it all falls into place. I don’t mean that it falls into place in a simple, orderly way. It definitely does not do that. More often than not, when we recognize all that Jesus encompasses only frustrates us and makes our lives more difficult.

Rather, even despite the frustration and the difficulty in seeing Jesus as our treasure, we find strangely more fulfilled. Despite its up-in-the-air quality, we quickly realize it’s a treasure that sustains and lifts up when we need it.

“Where our treasuries , there our hearts will be also.”

Jesus is where we should find our treasure—our heart. But even if we are not there yet, spiritually, it’s all right. We should simply cling to that command he made to us: “do not be afraid.”

Do not be afraid.

Do not be afraid of where our passions and treasures lay. Do not get all caught up in the things of this earth.

Instead, just love your neighbor as you would love yourself. And love your God who provides for you everything you can possibly need. And know that that Jesus, our true treasure, whom you love and who loves you in return, has a place prepared for us with him.

Remember the words of Jesus, “It is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”
We simply have to receive it gratefully and humbly and with true joy and gladness in our hearts.