Joel 2.12-19 & Matthew 6:16-21
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
“Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Jesus’ words invite us to ask ourselves, “What is my treasure?” What do you value above all else? From what do you expect all good? Of what do you say, “If I didn’t have that, I’d have nothing left?” The answer is where your heart is. That’s your treasure. As Christians, Jesus is our priceless treasure” His Gospel, His forgiveness, His Word, His promises. We know Christ to be the most valuable thing we have in this life, so that if we were to lose Him we’d have nothing.
And while we know Jesus is our treasure, that our hearts should be continually and ever set on Him and His word, this is not always the case. If we’re honest with ourselves, we see that there are times when we work pretty hard to lay up for ourselves treasures on earth. By this I don’t mean that we work hard to save money, to have nice things to enjoy, and to share with others. It isn’t a sin to have wealth. It isn’t a sin to enjoy the blessings God gives us through our labor. Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 5:18-19, “It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; for it is his heritage. As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor — this is the gift of God.” What I mean is that we work hard to lay up treasures on earth so that we might set our hearts on them, trust in them, and be comforted by them, and think that if we have these things then life is good.
Wealth is the obvious thing to which so many devote their hearts. They desire to be wealthy, to have plenty—which is always more than they currently have. St. Paul tells Timothy, “Those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim 6:9-10). While there are many temptations which assail the one who desires riches, the chief temptation is to define oneself by one’s riches, to find one’s identity in riches, and imagine that more wealth equals more security from the changes and chances of life. Yet what happens to this earthly treasure we lay up for ourselves? Security systems may deter thieves from breaking in and stealing, but savings, investments, and retirement accounts are destroyed by the decisions of people we will never meet. Riches are truly uncertain (1 Tim 6:17).
Health is another earthly treasure to which so many devote their hearts. It’s good to be healthy. It’s good to be fit. It’s good to eat right and exercise the bodies God has given us. Yet many have the desire to use health as a means of overcoming all life’s obstacles. Many believe that if they can only attain—and maintain—a certain level of health, they can keep disease away from their doorstep and deterioration away from the their bodies and minds. Some are tempted to find their identity in their health, their weight, their active lifestyle. Others are tempted to locate their security in their bodily and mental health, so that as long as they are healthy, life is good. Yet what happens to this earthly treasure we lay up for ourselves? No one is exempt from illness. Disease afflicts seemingly at random. While we may have a bit more control over our health than we do riches, health is also uncertain.
Relationships are another thing to which many devote themselves, imagining that if they have certain relationships, they will have every good thing and have a good life. The single person may seek the treasure of a spouse, then life would be good. The married may desire someone else’s spouse as that which would make their life good. The childless may desire children as their highest good so much that they employ science to help them conceive a child at all costs, even at the expense of the embryos—living children—who will certainly die. Others seek pleasure as that which will give them a good life, so that if they only had more of whatever gives them pleasure, they’d have a good life. Show me your treasure and I’ll show you your heart, for “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
With these words Jesus invites us to ask ourselves, “What is my treasure? What do I value above all else? From what do I expect all good, so that if I have it, I have everything I need?” The thing about earthly treasures is that they are treasures. Wealth, health, marriage, children, pleasure, and all the things of this life are gifts from God. They are our daily bread. It isn’t the possession of earthly treasures that is sinful. It is laying up treasures on earth so that we might set our hearts on them and seek our identity and security in them. It is to make these things idols, into god. Luther writes in the Large Catechism:
A god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and believe Him from the [whole] heart; as I have often said that the confidence and faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. 3 If your faith and trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put your trust is properly your god (I:3)
When Christ invites to ask, “What is my treasure?” He teaches us the First Commandment, that we are to have no other Gods before Him, so that we fear, love, and trust in Him above all things.
As often as the Holy Ghost shows us that we are laying up treasures on earth for ourselves, to find our identity and security in them, there is only one response. Repent. “Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Who knows if He will turn and relent, And leave a blessing behind Him — A grain offering and a drink offering For the LORD your God?” “(Joel 2:12-14). Turn back to God with all your heart. Repent of attempting to turn His good gifts into Him, of looking to created things for identity and security rather than Him.
And then rejoice, for your God is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. God our heavenly Father hears the prayers of the penitent and forgives the idolatry of our hearts for Jesus’ sake. By forgiving us for Jesus’ sake, He shows His graciousness and mercy toward us, because that by which our sins are forgiven, and we are counted righteous in His sight is the heavenly treasure: Jesus and His perfect merit and all-sufficient suffering and death for all sins on the cross. God wants us to have this treasure. He wants us to enjoy this treasure by faith. He wants us to use this treasure each day because this treasure gives those things which formerly looked for from earthly treasures. God gives us identity—we are sons and daughters of God through faith in Christ Jesus. God gives us security in the midst of the changes and chances of life—If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31). In the gospel God gives us security for the life of the world to come, because by faith He has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for us (1 Ptr 1:3-4).
Jesus is our treasure: His gospel which promises forgiveness as quickly as we repent; His word which teaches us to see ourselves as He sees us and the world as He sees it; His Holy Spirit so that we begin to live a new life, simultaneously content the earthly treasures He gives as our daily bread, yet also desiring our eternal inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. Christ Jesus is our most valuable treasure in this life, and setting our hearts on Him, finding our identity and security in Him, we have everything we need. Regardless of what God gives or withholds from us for our good, we say each day: “Yes, whate’er I here must bear, Thou are still my purest Pleasure, Jesus, priceless Treasure.” Amen.
May the peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
