Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasrues in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6, a continuation of the Sermon on the Mount, contains the Lord's Prayer, perhaps the most famous prayer of all time. This model prayer by Jesus capturees well the message of the kingdom: Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus seeks to bring th two worlds together, and the Sermon on the Mount explains how.
At first glance, some of Jesus' advice may seem downright foolish: Give to everyone who asks, love your enemies, turn the other cheek, grant interest-free loans, don't worry about clothes or food. Can such idealism ever work in the "real," or visible, world? That is precisely Jesus' point: Break your obsession with safety, security, thriftiness, self-righteousness. Depend instead on the Father, letting God take care of the personal injustices that come your way, trusting God to look after your daily needs.
The message applies to rewards as well. Most of us look to friends and colleagues for our rewards: a slap on the back, a raise, applause, a generous compliment. According to Jesus, far more important rewards will come in God's heavenly kingdom. Therefore, the most significant acts may be carried out in secret, seen and rewarded by no one but God.
As Jesus explains it, we are accumulaing a kind of savings account, "storing up treasures" in heaven rather than on Earth- treasures great enough to pay back any amount of suffering in this life. The Old Testament has dropped a few scant hints about an afterlife, but Jesus speaks plainly about a place where "the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father" (13:43). In their quest for a kingdom, the Jews of Jesus' day have been looking for signs of God's approval in this life, primarily through prosperity and political power. Beginning with this speech, Jesus changes the focus to the life to come. He discounts success in this visible world. Invest in the future life, he cautions; for rust, a burglar or even an insect can destroy all the accumulated things of this present one.
1 comment:
"The World is not a Stage". That is the chapter heading in the "Peterson" translation as it goes on to say : "God is not in a box seat". Jesus wants integrity in our acts of worship. He wants simplicity in prayer and a life of God-worship. He is our Audience of One as we live our life making Him our Treasure.
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