Click here for a list of previous messages

Where Your Treasure Is

by Deacon Marilyn Mitchel, August 2007

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

In today's first lesson, the prophet Isaiah criticizes the worship of Israel. Israel's God is a God who wants to be praised in all that we do. Think of our Sunday worship as dress rehearsal, practice for our worship of God on Monday through Saturday. Our God, the God of Isaiah and the God who comes to us as Jesus the Christ, links faithfulness to ethics. This God has a particular concern for the poor and their needs. Isaiah states: "We are to seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow." As St. Augustine said, "We imitate whom we adore." "Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

Our Gospel lesson today presents with a lesson about how to deal with the problem of possessions, an issue that was spoken to at least indirectly, in last Sunday's Gospel. Remember the man with the surplus grain who built a bigger barn instead of sharing his produce with anyone? Several members of a local church youth group went to Chicago this summer to see the reality of poverty in our country. Each young person was given $5.00 with which they were instructed to then go up to a person to ask them what they would like for the young person to buy for them with $5.00. The young person took the individual to a store and for $5.00 bought one person some deodorant, soap, a toothbrush, and toothpaste. Other young people had similar experiences. Additional items that people asked for included shampoo, combs, brushes, etc. Many items that we take for granted are precious for someone who does not have enough money to buy them There are soup kitchens or Loaves and Fishes as the New Milford ministry is called to feed people or clothes closet ministries for clothes to wear but not funds for personal cleanliness.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

This story does not do justice to the stories that Pastor Gail will tell about her trip to Africa. Some people there live on one dollar a day. What about children who have some of the same needs but can not verbalize their needs? She will have some suggestions on how to help there.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

Again a quote from St. Augustine: "God is always trying to give good things to us, but our hands are too full to receive them."

Enjoy the harvest, and share it with others. The poor have a place at our tables and in our hospitals, our schools, our nation and our lives because they are children of our heavenly Father. "God gives," the Haitian proverb reminds us, "but he does not share". The Creator is the source of all blessings, but we are given the responsibility of dividing and distributing them. Our supply priest at St. John's for two Sundays in July, Mary Gates has a huge garden near her home that Mary and her husband have created with volunteer help and financial support of Waterbury churches. Their produce is given to the soup kitchen and food bank for people who can not afford fresh vegetables in Waterbury.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

The children here at St. John's have the right idea when they filled a large jug with change each week. The jug was very heavy with change: over $300.00 worth. The Episcopal Church has committed .07% of its budget to programs that support the Millennium Development Goals, and is asking us to do the same. But where to find this money on top of our other charitable donations? Pocket change can really add up: in 2004, users of Coinstar's coin county machines donated $3 million in spare change for charity. Those are the coin counting machines that you see in the local super market as you check out.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

There is an urgency about these matters. Time passes, and we are shaped by our commitments and loyalties which add up to a particular way of life. We are accountable to God and to one another. At times our priorities are misplaced; in the language of Abba Poemen of the fifth century, we hear the warning: "Do not give your heart to that which cannot satisfy your heart." "Life is more than food," Jesus insists," the body more than clothing" (12:23) As disciples we recognize the danger of the sin of storing up treasure for ourselves, of giving priority to that which seems, in hindsight, to be trivial. The Gospel as gift and demand is clear: God will provide for us, and through us God will provide for others. A recent Time magazine article reminds us of the ongoing tragedy of the people of New Orleans and the attemps to regain a normal life as it was and the effects on the children and adults. There is a team from our Deanery going to New Orleans in February, 2008 to help restore the area and to assist the people there. Consider becoming apart of that team.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

As Eugene Peterson has translated this Gospel in modern language: "What I'm trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving..."Be generous. Give to the poor. Get yourselves a bank that can't go bankrupt, a bank in heaven far from bankrobbers, safe from embezzlers, a bank you can bank on. It's obvious, isn't it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. Just when you don't expect him the Son of Man will show up.

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

A story is told about a college student who is the first person in his family to go to college. Recently, when someone offered this student some illegal drugs saying, "Go head, try it. It'll make you feel good," the student replied, "No." "Don't be so uptight," said the drug dealer. "Nobody is going to know that you tried a little dope, got a little high." "That's not the point," said the student. "The point is that my mother cleaned houses and washed floors to send me to this college. I am here because of her. I am here for her. I wouldn't do anything that might demean her sacrifice for me."

"Where your treasure is," Jesus taught, "there your heart will be also."

Let us pray: Grant to us, Lord, we pray, the spirit to think and do always those things that are right, that we, who cannot exist without you, may by you be enabled to live according to your will; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

AMEN.