Treasure

Readings for today: Luke 12, 13:1-30

What do you treasure most in life? Is it your spouse? Your children? Your grandchildren? Is it professional success? The admiration and esteem of your peers? Is it influence and recognition? Is it wealth and the lifestyle it affords? Is it a particular possession? A set of exciting and unique experiences? Whatever it is, whatever we treasure, we will do anything to gain it. We will make every sacrifice. We will put in maximum effort. We will do whatever it takes. And Jesus knows this about us. He knows this is how we are wired. And it’s why He calls us to store up our treasure in heaven. For where are treasure is, there our hearts will be also. (Luke 12:34 CSB)

Our treasures are not necessarily bad things. In fact, most of the time, they are good things. The problem comes when we make them ultimate things. When this happens, the good things we treasure are forced to carry a weight they are not strong enough to bear. For example, if you treasure your spouse as the ultimate good, you will be bitterly disappointed when they let you down. If you treasure your kids as the ultimate good, they will be crushed under the weight of your unrealistic expectations. If you treasure professional success as the ultimate good, what happens when you peak out in your career? If you treasure influence and recognition, what happens when your fifteen minutes of fame are up? If you treasure wealth, what happens when the stock market crashes or an investment fails? None of these things is strong enough to provide the freedom and security and hope we need.

This is why Jesus tells His followers to seek first the Kingdom of God. He knows it is the Father’s delight to give His children all they need. And because God has promised to provide, we are set free. Set free to give generously. Set free to serve sacrificially. Set free to offer all that we have for the good of those around us. Because we know our treasure is heaven. Our treasure is eternally secure. Our treasure is not of this world and therefore not subject to the threats of this world. It cannot be stolen. It will not decay. It cannot be destroyed. Listen again to how Jesus describes it, “But seek his kingdom, and these things will be provided for you. Don’t be afraid, little flock, Because your Father delights to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke‬ ‭12‬:‭31‬-‭34‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

There is no greater freedom in this world than living by faith. No greater joy in this world than serving Jesus. No greater mission in this world than advancing the Kingdom of God. How do I know this to be true? I look to Jesus. Jesus was the most free person to ever live. Jesus was the most joyful person to ever live. Jesus was the most impactful person to ever live. All because He sought His Father’s Kingdom. He trusted His Father’s good pleasure. He understood the inexhaustible treasure stored up for Him in heaven if He would simply do His Father’s will here on earth. And I want to be like Jesus. I want to live like Jesus. I want to love like Jesus. I want to serve like Jesus.

Readings for tomorrow: Luke 14-15

King and Kingdom

Readings for today: Psalms 97-99

God’s Kingdom is not of this world. It is in the world but not of the world. It is coming into the world but not here yet. It is growing like a mustard seed but not yet in full bloom. This doesn’t mean the world is worthless. It doesn’t make what happens in this world meaningless. God loves this world. He loves it so much He gave His only Son to save the world. And He promises His Son will one day return in glory to reign and rule over this world so what we do here matters. How we engage here matters. How we live our lives here matters. But we can’t get it twisted. It is not our job to save the world. It is not our task to rescue the world. It is not within our power to bring the Kingdom of God to earth. Our job is to serve as a witness. A living witness in this world of the world to come. We are to serve as living, breathing witnesses that life can and will be different once the world changes. What do witnesses do? They testify to what they have seen, what they have known, what they have heard, what they have experienced. They proclaim the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. And they do it in love. Do it because they care for the same things God cares about, lost people in a lost world.

The Psalms we read today serve as great reminders to us of our role in God’s Kingdom. The Psalmist is a witness. He is simply bearing witness to the glory of God as it is revealed. God is the primary actor on the world’s stage. God is the primary mover in world history. God is the primary driver of world events. He is the one who establishes righteousness and justice as the foundation of His throne. He is the one who burns up His foes on every side. He is the one who rescues His people from the power of the wicked. He is the one who protects the lives of His faithful ones. He is the one who comes to judge the earth. Our job is simply to lift our hands and voices in praise. Our job is to sing a new song, the song of the redeemed. Our job is to be glad and live our lives with gratitude and thankfulness before Him. Our job is to bow in worship before His throne.

It’s so easy to try to take matters into our own hands. It’s so tempting to see ourselves as the heroes in God’s story. It’s so tempting to self-promote and try to take center stage. But that spot is reserved for Jesus. No one else can take on that role. Even when we try, we turn into a tyrant. We simply cannot be trusted with that much power and authority. At the same time, it’s equally tempting to withdraw. It’s equally tempting to retreat. It’s equally tempting to seek an escape from all that’s wrong in the world. Hide in our holy huddles. Seek to blend in. This too is an abdication. A dereliction of duty. A failure to take the witness stand. As Christians, our citizenship has been transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. From the kingdoms of this earth to the Kingdom of heaven. We speak as aliens and strangers. And though we love this world, though we advocate for this world, though we want what’s best for this world, it is not our home.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Samuel 24, 1 Chronicles 21-22, Psalms 30

Good Trouble

Readings for today: Acts 23-24, Psalms 130

John Lewis was a strong Christian. In fact, it was his belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ that compelled him to get into “good trouble” as leader in the American Civil Rights movement. Lewis risked his life countless times as he organized voter registration drives, sit-ins at lunch counters, and challenged the systemic racism of the Jim Crow laws in the Deep South. On March 7, 1965, Lewis led over 600 peaceful protestors over the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, AL in a march for voting rights. They were brutally attacked by Alabama State Troopers in what later became known as “Bloody Sunday.” The leaders of the Civil Rights movement were considered “agitators.” Everywhere they went, they fomented unrest. They disrupted society. They created all kinds of problems with their peaceful, non-violent protests as they advocated for a more just and frankly, more biblical society where every human being would be of equal worth and value, having been made in the image of God.

I thought about John Lewis as I read our passage this morning. Like Lewis, the Apostle Paul got into “good trouble.” Everywhere he went, he stirred things up by preaching the good news of the gospel. He was considered “a plague” and “an agitator among all the Jews throughout the Roman world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.” (Acts 24:5 CSB) Paul was considered a threat by both Jewish religious leaders and Roman authorities. To the former, he was considered a heretic and a traitor to his religion. To the latter, he was considered a danger and disturber of the peace. The last thing either group wanted was a new religion popping up that refused to bow the knee to Caesar and acted with such evangelistic zeal. Paul’s preaching was politically, socially, economically, and culturally de-stabilizing. It upended the power systems of the ancient world. It leveled the caste system, redefined the family, re-ordered human society, and disrupted the cultic system on which the Pax Romana was built. Little wonder a group of Jewish zealots took a vow to seek Paul’s death at all costs.

The world still finds herself in desperate need of those who will make “good trouble.” Those who will agitate in the name of Jesus and for the cause of Jesus in politics, economics, and human society. To be sure, such people will not be embraced. They will not be welcomed. They might even be considered a threat or a plague because the values of the Kingdom of God have a tendency to turn this world upside down. Over the course of the next month, we will be voting in my country. Voting for our next president. Voting for members of Congress. Voting for governors of particular states and legislatures of such states. We will be voting on new laws, new programs, and new policies. It can be difficult to resist the urge to vote as a member of a particular political party rather than as a Christian. It is tempting to put our own desires ahead of what’s best for society at large. It can be tempting to place our trust in a particular outcome and make dramatic changes if the result doesn’t go our way. This is an opportunity for Christians to stand up and stand out. To “agitate” for the values of the Kingdom of God and seek to advocate and vote in alignment with them for the good of our communities, our states, and our nation.

Readings for tomorrow: Acts 25-26, Psalms 131

The Kingdom of God

Readings for today: Matthew 13, Mark 4:1-34, Luke 8:1-18

Have you ever wondered what the Kingdom of God is actually like? And how it differs from the kingdoms of this world? In our readings for today, Jesus takes up the subject of the Kingdom and describes it from a number of different angles.

• The Kingdom is like a field full of different kinds of soils, some more fruitful than others.

• The Kingdom is like a paddock where both wheat and weeds grow up together.

• The Kingdom is like the smallest of seeds that blossoms into one of the largest of trees.

• The Kingdom is like the little bit of leaven one puts in bread to leaven the whole lump. 

• The Kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field.

• The Kingdom is like that one pearl of great price.

• The Kingdom is like a net that captures all kinds of fish, some good and some bad. 

It is striking how different Jesus’ kingdom is from the kingdoms of this world. The world’s kingdoms value wealth and power and success. They measure themselves according to their size and influence. Their goal is to achieve as much as possible. To sit atop the rankings. They jockey for position. The compete with one another. They take delight on another’s fall even as they scramble for a higher rung on the proverbial ladder. 

Sadly, too many churches fall into this trap as well. We value attendance. The size of our annual budgets. The number of people on staff. The beauty and attractiveness of our property and facilities. We jockey for position on Outreach Magazine’s Top 100. We seek to expand our brand by planting churches in communities where many other gospel-preaching churches already exist. We define success by the number of new attendees even though statistics show they are often transfers from the churches around us. So our “success” is another church’s “failure.” The American church is particularly susceptible to this line of thinking. I heard a pastor recently argue that we should pull back from missions around the world so we could focus on planting churches in America. After all, he said, imagine what God could do with all the resources we have in this country? As if God needs our resources to accomplish His mission. 

I will confess my own failings here as well. It is so tempting for me to focus on the crowd that gathers on a Sunday morning. To dwell on how they receive the message I preach and whether or not they are putting it into practice. I spend a lot of energy daydreaming over what God could do with the resources in my church family and how that would impact not only Parker but the whole world. If I am not careful, my passion to see God awaken every heart in my congregation spills over into a sinful trust in our strength. Our wealth. Our resources. But the Kingdom of God is measured in much smaller, more subtle ways. It is the man set free from addiction. The abused woman who finds a listening ear. It is a marriage saved by counseling. A child who invites Jesus into their heart. It is a person going on a mission trip for the very first time. It is men and women stepping forth to lead and to serve in all sorts of ways. This is what the Kingdom is like. It is often hidden. Often under the radar. Often under the surface. It is messy and complex. Never clean or neat or easy. It is often two steps forward, one step back. The people we think have so much potential often are the most resistant and the people we often overlook become the true heroes and heroines of the faith. 

In my experience, good soil is always mixed in with concrete, gravel, thorns and thistles. Wheat is always mixed in with weeds. Mustard seeds often get lost in the shuffle. Leaven disappears into the dough. The treasure sometimes stays hidden for years. Finding that one pearl can take decades. Casting a wide net brings in all kinds of fish. Such is life in the Kingdom and thank God it’s not up to me to sort it all out. 

Readings for tomorrow: Matthew 8:18-34, 9:18-38, Mark 4:35-5:43, Luke 8:22-56, 9:57-62