Perspective: Treasure in Heaven

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Treasure in Heaven

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NRSV)

Ruin my life, the plans I have made

Ruin desires for my own selfish gain

Destroy the idols that have taken Your place

Till it's You alone I live for

You alone I live for

From "Ruin Me" by Jeff Johnson

One day, a rich man approached Jesus, and kneeling before Him, asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  Jesus referred him to the Ten Commandments, and the man insisted that he had kept all of the Commandments ever since he was young.  Jesus looked at him, smiled warmly, and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me."  The rich man walked away dejected, because he did not want to part with his many possessions.¹

If you have been following this blog for a long period of time, then you might have noticed that I've written about the encounter between Jesus and the man commonly known as the Rich Young Ruler numerous times over the years, and you might be wondering why I'm writing about it yet again.  A friend of mine, who is a pastor, was scheduled to participate in the Kairos Prison Ministry² two weeks ago, and I had volunteered to fill in for him at the two churches he serves.  The Gospel passage for the week just happened to be story of the Rich Young Ruler, so I started preparing to write a sermon on it.  I later learned that the Kairos weekend was postponed and that my services would not be needed on that particular Sunday.

Two weeks ago, as I read the passage yet again, I thought about what I might have preached that day.  I knew I wanted to avoid the "obvious" messages.  I wanted to avoid the ever popular message that Jesus does not really expect all of us to part with our possessions, as He was speaking to a particular person.  I also wanted to avoid the less popular message that, as Christians, we need to take the words of Jesus seriously, actually do what He said, and give up our possessions.  I wanted to the congregation to do the hard work of looking at their own lives and deciding for themselves what they need to do with their possessions.

One thing I know I wanted to explore in my sermon was what Jesus meant when He spoke of "treasure in heaven."  Jesus uses the phrase only a few times.  Probably the instance that best explains the concept is in the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus encourages His audience not to accumulate "treasures on earth," which wear out, break, and get stolen, but to instead collect "treasures in heaven," which one cannot lose.

Jesus then says, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

This concluding thought is, I think, the key to unlocking why Jesus told the rich man to sell his possessions and give the proceeds to the poor that he might have "treasure in heaven."  I think that maybe his problem was not that he was wealthy but that he was attached to his wealth.

I had also planned to explore in my sermon a phrase used by the rich man.  Consider again what he asked Jesus: "What must I do to inherit eternal life?"  The Greek phrase translated into English as "eternal life" is zoe aionios.  According to scholar N.T. Wright, this phrase is more accurately translated "life of the age," referring to the coming age of peace and prosperity to be ushered in by the Messiah.  "Eternal life" then is life in the messianic age of peace.³  Perhaps we could also think of "eternal life" as life in the Kingdom of God.

When Jesus returned to civilization after spending forty days in the wilderness, He started proclaiming, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news."⁴  I'm starting to think that maybe this proclamation is not merely His first message but rather a summary of everything He ever taught.  The Kingdom of God is, as the prayer Jesus taught His followers suggests, heaven's coming down to earth so that God's will is done on earth as it is done in heaven now.⁵  The coming of the Kingdom of God will be a reordering of the entire world.  What is valued now will not be valued then.

Jesus urged His audience to repent because the Kingdom of God has come near.  To repent is not to simply feel sorry because of the bad things one has done.  As I have noted on this blog countless times, the Greek word translated into English as "repentance" is metanoia, which literally means a change of mind.  Repentance is a change of mind and heart that results in a change in the way one lives.⁶  For the rich man, repentance in anticipation of the Kingdom of God would mean changing what he valued.  As Jesus said, one's heart accompanies what one treasures.  The rich man needed to let go of the worldly wealth he treasured so that he could learn to treasure heavenly things.

After the rich man walked away, Jesus said to His disciples, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God."  Some speculate that there may have been a particularly narrow gate in Jerusalem that was compared to the eye of a needle.  A person could negotiate his camel through this gate, but he would have to first unload the camel.⁷  Similarly the rich man would have to unburden himself of his attachment to worldly wealth in order to experience the Kingdom of God.

The encounter between Jesus and the Rich Young Ruler is a reminder that God's grace is free but not cheap.  Any gift God offers us is free of charge, but taking hold of it just might cost us something.  I cannot tell you whether or not Jesus would ask you to part with your possessions.  What I can tell you is that you need to examine your relationship to your possessions for yourself to determine whether or not they are distracting you from more important things.

In two weeks, while my friend is participating in the Kairos Prison Ministry, I will be filling in at his churches.  I will not preach on a story about a rich man who cannot bring himself to part with his many possessions.  I will instead preach on a story about a poor widow who parts with her last two pennies.


Notes:

1. Mark 10:17-22 (NRSV)
2. http://www.kairosprisonministry.org/
3. N.T. Wright.  "Going to Heaven?"  Published in The Love Wins Companion.  2011, HarperOne.  pp. 33-35
4. Mark 1:12-15 (NRSV)
5. Matthew 6:10
6. Wikipedia: "Metanoia (Theology)"
7. Kent Dobson.  Bitten by a Camel: Leaving Church, Finding God.  2017, Fortress Press.  pp. 35-36

Christ and the Rich Young Ruler was painted by Heinrich Hofmann in 1889.