Friday, June 17, 2016

Matthew 6: 19-23

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal.
But store up treasures in heaven,
where neither moth nor decay destroys, nor thieves break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“The lamp of the body is the eye.
If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light;
but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness.
And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be.”

For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

Show me where you spend your time and money and I will show you what is god to you. Seek not the rewards of this world for they cannot go with you when you die. You have never seen a U-Haul trailer behind a hearse. Arthur Ash once said, “With what we get we can make a living. From what we give we can make a life.”  He almost got it right. From what we give we can change the world. When I give I store treasure in heaven but at the same time I make the life for another. That person will go on to make the life for another and so one. The unseen effects of one act of kindness ripples through time. Energy cannot be created or destroyed but love can multiply faster than tribbles in heat.

Once in my life I considered myself a survivalist prepper.  I tried to be prepared in the event of a natural disaster or time of emergency. I tried to keep three to six months worth of food and water on hand at all times. You see, I did not trust the Lord when he told me that he would provide. I had to be in control of my future. When Hurricane Katrina hit I packed up most of my supplies and shipped them to a friend affected by the storm. God indeed provides. He provided me to her and her neighbors during their time of need.

I still believe in being prepared but I don’t believe in hoarding supplies for my family’s safety. I simply cannot justify having a large quantity of food put away for a future event that may never happen while I have neighbors barely getting by. When we give of our treasure here on earth God returns his grace. That doesn’t seem like a very good trade to me. With my treasures I can make a living. With God’s grace I have life.

The second part of this reading today deserves its own reflection on another day.