Sermons for the Month
Gathering Lasting Treasure
DATE: 9/22/02
SERVICE: 18th Sunday After Pentecost
TEXT: Matthew 6:19-21“To all of you Saints here this morning, grace and peace to you from God our Father, from His Son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit. AMEN
I can play two songs on the piano - or at least I used to be able to do so. I do this amazing feat with one hand. One song is an old Christmas song, "Thou Didst Leave Thy Throne", that I heard on a tape about five years ago. I loved it so much that I picked it out on the piano at church, and then found the music and discovered - with help from the Director of Music - that I had gotten it right, note for note. Now, that was very exciting for a non-musical person like myself. The other song that I could once play was the Thanksgiving hymn, "We Gather Together." I don't know why I could play it, or how I ever came to do so. But, at one time I could sit down and play it one note at a time. "We gather together to ask the Lord's blessing, He hastens and chastens His will to make known." Then there was something about the wicked, and the hymn ended with, "Sing praises to His name, He forgets not his own." Those lyrics and tune kept coming to my mind as contemplated today's theme, which is GATHERING. "We gather together" as a faith community, and we also gather together in our lives people and things, and what we gather says a good deal about what is important to us. In the Gospel lesson Jesus is talking about what we gather together, or store up, in our lives. His words are part of the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus instructs his newly chosen disciples concerning how to be disciples. Some scholars say that the words recorded in Matthew 5-7 are the "Ordination Address to the Twelve". If you want to know the essence of Jesus' teaching, read chapters 5-7 in Matthew. But, remember, if you take his words seriously, your lives will change. In the middle of his sermon Jesus talks about what we should gather together or store up for ourselves. Some of us are savers or collectors, others are not. It so happens that I am not, EXCEPT for one thing that usually tempts me - china and glassware. In my kitchen there is one shelf for food. When I mentioned that to someone recently he said, "But I thought you had a pantry." "I do", I said, "It's filled with china and glassware." My justification is, of course, that most of it is from my family. But, the truth is that if I had more room, I'd probably have more stuff to wash and dust. That's one of the things I'm storing up in my house. What about you? What are you storing up? It could be anything … electronic equipment and CD's, clothing and jewelry, vacations and second homes, cars and motorcycles, hobbies and entertainment, savings accounts and stock options. Or perhaps it's something less obvious, like a valued pet or plant or person. To greater or lesser degrees we all gather together, store up and value stuff. Is that all bad? After all, Jesus does say to his followers, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth…." Why does he make such an extreme statement? Well, it's because we human beings have a problem with the stuff of life. We can allow that which can be consumed to consume us. It can become too important; these things can be like gods to us and they draw our attention away from that which is truly lasting. To quote our old friend Martin Luther, "That to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God." Earthly treasure has the power to turn our hearts inward so that the stuff we treasure becomes the focus of our hearts and that into which we channel all our time, energy and resources. It doesn't have to be that way, but often that's what happens. So, Jesus is reminding his followers to treasure that which has lasting value so that their hearts will be in the right place. You see, when our hearts are in the right place that which we gather will first be used to serve God and neighbor, because that's what we treasure above all else. Then we too may enjoy what we gather as long as doing so does not threaten our spiritual health or block the furthering of God's kingdom. For example, if we only give God what's left over after we've done everything we want to do, then that's a sign that we are treasuring the wrong things. The things that Jesus wants us to store up, or to treasure, are listed in that Sermon on the Mount. These treasures are our relationship with God, who we trust above all else, our faith in Jesus Christ, and opportunities to share it with others. Other treasures are cultivating righteousness, mercy, peacemaking, forgiving, fidelity, generosity, prayer and humility in our lives. These are the treasures that cannot be consumed, but that hopefully will consume our hearts and then will be reflected in our actions. And the amazing thing is that these rustproof treasures will be enough. G.K. Chesterton once wrote that are two ways to get enough. One is to accumulate more and more. The other is to desire less. If our heart's desire can be for fewer things for us, and for more Jesus for the world, we will be far richer and more content then we ever imagined. And, the bonus will be that God's love will be extended more and more to transform this place and the people in it. (10:45 a.m. - Today John and Joey will participate in the Affirmation of Baptism service. They will promise to live among God's faithful people, to hear God's word and share God's supper, to proclaim the good news of Jesus in what they do and say, to serve all people and to strive for justice and peace in all the earth. Most of us have made similar promises. We can fulfill them only with the Holy Spirit's help, which we will pray is stirred up in John and Joey today. These promises also can only be kept by treasuring the right things, by treasuring that which, to quote Jesus, "moth and rust do not consume and which thieves do not break in to steal.") The treasures of earth are fleeting. Remember the china and dishes I mentioned? Well, when I moved all of those items were carefully packed. Among them were some delicate plates with scalloped edges, decorated with hand painted roses. They belonged to my great-grandmother and when I was young we used them on my birthday for the cake. They were among my favorites; precious to me. As I was unwrapping them I dropped one, and it shattered on the kitchen floor. There was nothing to do but sweep up the pieces and throw them in the trash. What I had so valued was no more. That's the way it is with earthly treasures. So it is that as we strive to gather and store up treasures that are truly valuable, a daunting task for those who have more than enough making it essential then that we gather together to ask the Lord's blessing. We need it, and we need each other. There is more to our gathering than sharing warm hellos and good feelings. If that's all we want, we can find it at the Country or Health Club. Gathering in Jesus' name reminds us of the relationship God - who created, sustains and forgives us - has with each person. Gathering in Jesus' name encourages us to trust in God's faithfulness to supply our needs. Gathering in Jesus' name enables us to be challenged in a supportive place. And, gathering in Jesus' name empowers us to scatter with a purpose. In short, gathering in Jesus' name helps us treasure what is lasting, and thus keeps our hearts in the right place. So I remember again that hymn that for some reason I could once play on the piano. We gather together, to ask the Lord's blessings. He hastens - that is hurries - and chastens - that is challenges His will to make known. Yet, we sing praises to God's name because our Lord forgets not his own.
AMEN