One of Jesus’s most famous sayings is:
Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matt 6:19-21)
I sometimes hear people say about money, “Oh, you can’t take it with you when you’re dead”. Jesus wasn’t even that optimistic. He told us it might not even last that long; it might be taken from us before the day of our funeral. This was brought home to me recently when I returned to a hire car on holiday to find the rear window smashed in and all our cases stolen!
Jesus tells us not to trust in the temporary things of this world, and we would do well to listen to the master because we face the almost constant temptation to overinvest ourselves on earth. Jesus tells his followers – who have been saved by him – not to put their hopes in their investment portfolios or big houses, but rather to invest their money in serving the poor and feeding the hungry. And we must follow those instructions.
But don’t these instructions also have a huge bearing on the whole mission of the church? Jesus’s words call us to constantly bear in mind that this world is temporary, that it is passing and that some of the things that we love are not going to last forever. He summons us to always have an eternal perspective in mind in everything that we do.
The ultimate mission of the church is to see people saved for eternity, to see people liberated from accumulating earthly treasure and to show them how to invest in treasure in heaven! We’re surrounded by people who are rich in this world, but have no such treasure in heaven. Our job is to tell them that they can have treasure in heaven in Christ. That they can invest in things that will never be taken away from them and we need to tell them that!
We also need to model it to them in practice as well. That means not having our rooting and our treasure here on earth, but role-modelling what it means to divest in this world’s goods and invest in eternity. We are in the business of inviting other people to come and join us in an eternal kingdom that will never fade, that will never spoil, that thieves cannot break in and steal from, that moths can’t eat and rust can’t denigrate. Jesus said, “Do not build up for yourselves treasures on earth” because treasure in heaven is so much better!
Part of the church’s evangelistic commission is to tell a rotting, rusting world where true and lasting treasure can be found and how they too can find the ‘inexhaustible riches of Christ.’ (Eph 3:8)
Prayer: Thank you Lord for the reminder that this world’s goods cannot be relied on. Please root my identity so firmly in your family that I not only build up treasures in heaven, but invite many others to do so too. Amen.