Matthew 6:19-21, 25, 33;
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Let's play a game of Family Feud. Forget about the feuding part but try to guess how Americans on an informal survey answered this question: What is it that keeps you up at night? Family? X! Health?
X!X! Food, Shelter, Clothing? X!X!X!
The Number One Answer to ‘What keeps you up at night?” Survey Says: Money.
Between 2007 and 2009, a survey said that the number one thing that was keeping Americans up at night was money. That answer probably does not come as a surprise to any of us. We are in the midst of the worst financial times in this country since the Great Depression. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in Washington, DC wrote a 673-page report as to the causes of these terrible financial times. Not surprisingly, the causes fell along party lines, with the Democrats blaming Greed, and the Republicans claiming that banks were demanded to make home loans to folks who could not really afford them. The FCIC report was probably 672 pages too long for all that we gained from it.
Through these difficult days, even if we are among those who have done everything right, we are still affected by the pulsing pain of the economic hardship gripping our country. It is the rare person, I think, who is not worrying about money these days. We have all been witnesses to or even knocked down by the dominoes of over-consumption as they fall one after another these days. In one way or another, large or small, each of us has played a part in the out-of-control financial situation our country is in.
We have lived in this nation these past prosperous years on three assumptions: (1) our income will always go up; (2) the stock market will always go up; and (3) housing prices will never go down. When I bought my condo in 2006, I was so happy that I was making this investment and it was going to provide for my future—I was going to be set for life! I don't even dare find out how much my home is not worth any more.
Our lives become out-of-control when we take as timeless truths our over-assumptions, and when we get caught up in over-consumption of something (anything), whether it's money, food, sex, possessions. If we want to get a handle on what's going on in our financial world then the answer is not to budget better, invest smarter, or save more. The best way, or perhaps the only way, to get at the root causes of all that is keeping us up at night is to examine our issues through the voice of spiritual language.
According to the Catholic Church, there are seven deadly or cardinal sins; they are “deadly” because these particular sins put our salvation in danger. The first three sins as we know them today are lust (Gr. luxuria), gluttony (Gr. gula), and greed (Gr. avaritia). Whatever we lust after, we shall never be satisfied; however much we consume nor how fast we eat and drink of it, we shall never be filled; and no matter the extent of our riches and possessions, we shall never have enough. Spiritually, we are out of control when we engage in these behaviors because we leave no room for God; we have no desire to seek God first.
Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21(p 6) is very clear about where we need to focus our desires so that salvation shall be ours. “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 consume and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
When Jesus spoke these words, remember that he was talking to thousands of peasants and people scourged by sickness, sin, selfishness and demons of all types. They were simply folks like you and me who were looking for antidotes to their first-century out-of-control lives. In our humanity, we are all vulnerable to the same sins. We have to make spiritual choices about where we place our treasure. Placing our “treasure” in front of God means we add idolatry to our sins. The Bible is full of examples of people making egregious mistakes, committing heartbreaking sin because they take their focus off God and place it onto earthly, fleshly desires. Adam and Eve lusted after the forbidden fruit; the Israelites worshiped a golden calf and pagan gods; and today we get caught up in a desire to worship our desires. Why?
What we know about humanity is that it is easier to put our faith in gods we can see rather than a God we cannot. Golden apples, golden calves and golden bank accounts—all are a reflection of our culture's encouragement to desire more, more, more. Yet, the God who commanded us to honor the sabbath, to say no to lesser things so that we can say a greater yes to God, to trust that God will keep the promise to be with us always no matter what, has one more antidote for the out-of-control lives: “Strive first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Mt 6:33, p 6).
What things is Jesus talking about? Look at verses 31 and 32: Do not worry about what we will eat or what we will wear or what we will drink because God knows that we need these things, but strive first for the kingdom of God....” In one sentence we have the secret to the conundrum of why less is usually more.
Less is more when we worship God and not our desires. Less is more when God is in first place, not last. Less is more when our hearts weigh all our actions and our attitudes, our pursuits and our purchases, on the scales of God's kingdom and righteousness. When we are generous toward God, God delights in our faithfulness; God knows that we have our priorities and our desires straight. When we are faithful with a little, God will give us much more. Therefore, less is more.
Take your own internal survey and ask yourself, Is my concern about my earthly treasures keeping God up at night? If you and I serve our treasures, our desires, before we serve God, then we are turning away from God, and that's what keeps God “up at night.”
God wants us first. And God wants to be first in our lives. If we would rather not be devoured by moths and rust, if we do not want to lose ourselves to a thief that can steal our souls as well as our treasures, then it's time to take God's word seriously. In order to strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, there are three steps to take.
The first step is best described by the Greek word: metanoia. Metanoia is the moment when we suddenly realize we have been moving in the wrong direction. Metanoia means to repent, turn back to God. All of us are probably in need of repenting with some or all of our treasures. Repentance with our treasures is not about making a new budget, moving our investments, or fully funding our IRAs . The tithe is treasure repentance. The Bible is full of commandments to bring the first fruits, the first tenth of one's treasures to God. The promise in is that we will receive even more treasures in return.
Sacrifice your best lamb, a tenth of your fields of grain, or a few pigeons, and God will return to that one a multitude in return. We're not much into sacrificing lambs these days, but neither are many of us in the habit of sacrificing a tenth of our treasures, either. Yet, the tithe is what God requires. God is not interested in our lambs and grain. God is interested in our attitude that we should bring with gladness the best of who we are and what we have been given to honor God, to say in effect, “God I bring my very best to you because you are the most important treasure in my life. I seek you first.”
Go home today and look at your treasures. Do you pay God first? Is the first check you write from your paycheck to God? Do you give to God cheerfully or resentfully? It makes a huge difference.
We live in difficult economic times. It's natural to want to hang on to our treasure to protect ourselves. We want to make sure we have more than enough to meet any needs that might arise. We store up whenever we can and whatever we can because we afraid, anxious, worried, stressed.
Storing up treasures on earth is not the antidote to the out-of-control life. Relying on ourselves to provide for our needs rather than relying on God's promise to care for all our needs is just not a faithful practice. It goes against what we have been told is good and right.
When we started the “new year” in September, I preached a sermon series called “Putting God in First Place.” Who knew that we should end up here with the very same message? This sermon series on Antidotes to the Out of Control Life comes to the same conclusion.
The most important antidote to our out-of-control lives is simple and profound: show God that God is the most important part of your life by putting God in first place; giving God your first gifts, your best gifts, a tenth of all your treasures. And a tremendous thing will happen to you: All true treasures like sabbath and peace, trust and gifts...and so much more shall be added unto you and yours in ways that will boggle your mind.
God is good all the time. Rely only on God, for things should not be the desire of our hearts or less we perish for lack of an antidote for the out-of-control life. Choose life, friends; this life God has prepared for us so that we may not succumb to humanity's insanity. Choose the Christian life so that we may think more deeply, see more clearly, listen more effectively, savor life more fully and most of all serve God completely. Let's let go of worldly desire and assumptions so that tonight and every night we shall sleep well, knowing we rest in the care of an all-embracing God. Amen.
January 29, 2012
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
