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August 12, 2007 Rev. Steve Gehlert Well, it was anything but a quiet week at Camp Bethany – New Trinity. Oh, there were the usual questions and concerns: how long till supper? What are we having for supper? When are we going canoeing? Are we gonna have a night swim? What are we gonna do for the talent show? Where'd I put my socks? Whose socks are these? There were some new ones too. For one thing, we were much more aware of the weather than usual; we talked about it all the time. "How hot is it gonna be? Is it gonna rain? When will the rain stop?" And with those concerns came a host of others: how to adjust the schedule if we couldn't do our outside games or if swimming was cancelled; how to get the tie-dye T-shirts to dry, or the towels; whether to eat inside where it was hot, or outside, where it might storm. Yes, this year, the weather provided constant drama. But the drama, that was much more important, and just as obvious (if you were looking for it) had to do with our lives together. Because, you know, a week at camp, is a week of intense living, where we're making decisions all the time about relationships, about what's important to us and about what kind of person we're gonna be. That means it provides an amazing opportunity to see how the truth of what Jesus says in today's passage is played out in our life together. In case you were distracted or talking to your neighbor while the scripture was being read, here's the heart of it: Jesus says, "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." I know, you hear the word "treasure," and you may think, "He's talking about money. How in the world do you see that played out at camp, where money is the farthest thing from anybody's mind most of the time?" But, though Jesus has lots to say about us and our money, that's only secondarily what he's talking about here. His primary purpose is to tell us the truth about ourselves: "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." He's simply telling us that treasure and heart go together; where the treasure goes, the heart follows. So, what does he mean by treasure? It's several things. It's what matters most to us, what we value, what we cherish. It's also what we have to offer, to share, to give. That may be money, for sure. Later in Luke, Jesus encounters a rich man who says he wants to find eternal life. Jesus tells him to simply obey the commandments and life will be his. When the man responds, "I've kept all these since my youth," Jesus says, "Sell what you have, give the money to the poor, and come, follow me." The man left in sadness. He just walks off, back toward his house and his riches. We're told he can't follow because he had great wealth. Treasure and heart must stay together. While the man said he wanted eternal life more than anything else – the truth was that his real treasure was his wealth. Jesus didn't just tell him to spend his treasure on different things. He revealed what the man really had his heart set on. He showed that treasure and heart can't be separated. It doesn't have to end that way. Jesus encountered another rich man. A huge crowd had flocked to see Jesus. Toward the back a man named Zacchaeus is too short to see over the people. Elbowed out of the way, shoved aside, he climbs a tree so he can see. He's a tax collector, which is another reason no one would let him through. He's despised for cheating people out of too much tax and as a collaborator with the Romans. When Jesus sees him up in the tree, he tells him to come down, and decides to have lunch with him. Over lunch, Zacchaeus blurts out that right there and then he'll give away half his possessions to the poor. He pledges to pay back four times what he may have stolen from anyone. This unclean collaborator with Rome does what the seemingly righteous man in the earlier story could not. Why? Because, "where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." He'd experienced God's love in Jesus, and that's what he came to treasure, that's where he wanted his heart to be. That change meant he could give his treasure, put it, where he wanted his heart to be. So, yes, our treasure may be money, and our encounter with Jesus gives us a choice about whether we're going to continue treasuring that above everything else or whether we'll treasure Jesus more, and be willing to offer everything we've previously treasured, including our money, to him. But our treasure may be other things too – popularity, getting attention, having a good time, doing whatever we want, avoiding work – all kinds of things. And if our treasure is one of those things, you can bet, that's where our heart will be as well. And if that's where our heart is, it will show in how we live, how we act and talk, and how we deal with people. It will mean that what we say and do is going to be focused on such things, getting attention or popularity, having a good time, getting to do what we want, not having to do what we don't want. In other words, what we say and do, and how we live, will be very focused on our self. That's what can happen when we realize that what we most need to treasure, we don't have to earn or manipulate or grasp or do anything to get. It's given free as a gift. What does Jesus say at the start of today's lesson? "Don't be afraid, little flock, for it is the Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." What could we want more than that? What could we want more than a love so great and a realm so sweet that it will take an eternity to understand it and to express our gratitude for it? This passage is Jesus' call to take my treasure and reinvest it where I want my heart to be. He understands and wants us to understand that treasure and heart go together. Our lives become subject to that which we prize most highly. What we treasure most claims us – mind, body, and soul. If I treasure success or popularity, success or wealth, if I desire those things above all else, if I give my time and talent to those things, how can I keep my heart from being given to those things as well? If I give the treasure God's allowed me to acquire, the treasure God's entrusted to me to steward for God in this world, to use as God's image, God's representative in this world, to material things, to the latest, the best, the glitziest, how can I expect my heart not to get wrapped up in all that too? But if I treasure the things of God, life, relationships, loving and serving God, caring for God's creation, surely my heart will be given to those things, the things God wants me to treasure. And if I give more of my material treasure, all that God's entrusted to me, to serve God's purpose in the world, my heart will follow, in being given to those things that hold a special place in God's heart. This passage is also a call from Jesus to treasure what is real, to have a passion for what lasts. It's a call to change what I treasure, call to treasure what matters, what is of God, and shares in God's purpose. Jesus is warning us that what we truly value will determine who we are and how we live. If wealth is our treasure, we will be unable to follow Jesus, who is not about gaining wealth. I've seen so much brokenness in lives, in relationships, in families, because people don't treasure what God's given. Instead they treasure what they think they have to have to be happy or to be somebody. They think success, popularity, power, or money will make them happy or make them into somebody; so that's what they treasure, what they give themselves to. When you give yourself to that, you can never give enough, because you can never get enough to really make yourself happy, to really assure yourself that you matter, you can never get enough to convince yourself of it. So, you're always falling short; you always have to get more. In the 2004 movie Jersey Girl, we are introduced to a character named Ollie Trinke. His story is an American dream story. He grows up in blue-collar New Jersey in a barely functional family and makes it big on Madison Avenue. Armed with his BMW and high-rise apartment, the world is at his feet. He meets the girl of his dreams. They have a child. But his dream girl dies in childbirth. The pressures of raising an infant and staying sharp on the Avenue lead to a meltdown; he loses his job and reputation. Ollie ends up back home, living with his father, working on a garbage truck. He looks constantly across the water from Jersey to the lights of the city, longing to return. He treasures Madison Avenue and his BMW, and that is where his heart is. One day, Ollie gets a chance to return to the glitz – an interview is all he needs. He sits in the swanky office waiting for his chance. Will Smith walks in, playing himself. They talk, and the conversation leads to kids. Smith finally says he would give up all his fame to stay home with his kids. The light goes on for Ollie. He sees the face of his daughter, the relationship he has managed to make with his dad after all these years, and Jersey looks like home. He finds his heart has moved there, because what he treasures has changed. He leaves Madison Avenue behind and goes back to the love, and the garbage truck. "Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." What is your treasure? Can Jesus be that treasure? When he is, the poor are fed and we are set free. When Jesus is our treasure, then in him our hearts can dwell, and then we'll know the peace and joy he promises. |
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