Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Matt 6:20 (NIV)
Rust and Moths – Treasures Series – Part 5
Go to PART 1 | PART 2 | PART 3 | PART 4 | PART 5 | PART 6 | PART 7
When Jesus mentions the word “heaven” here, straight away, we think of a place that’s beyond this world, out there somewhere, where we’ll end up when we die. The word ‘heaven’ Matthew uses in his book, is the word “Ouran.” It means an “elevated place, the seat of order of things eternal and consummately perfect, the place where God dwells.” The “heaven” we’re meant to store our ‘treasures’ in, is not a place that is out there somewhere separate from here. It’s the place where God dwells – the grip that holds all things together and gives all its order.
The word ‘heaven’ is not mentioned at ALL in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). It’s not something that the Jews saw as the end goal of life: be a good person, keep the law, and then you’ll get to heaven. Following the law was all about valuing the life that they had and the life of others; making this moment, here and now, as full and as pure and as helpful and as holy as possible. Jesus is not our golden ticket to heaven; our get-out-of-hell-free card. He is the WAY to meaningful and holy living, right here, right now.
Jesus challenged his listeners to think differently.
At the time, Israel was under the occupation of Rome. Slowly two cultures were mingling. There was a lot of “us and them” talk. Comparisons. Differences. Separation. People were judged and assumptions were made based on ethnicity, academic level, income, health, and social status. (Sounds familiar?)
All the things that divide us and make us different from each other; all the things that we look at and make assumptions about each other on – clothes, success, reputations… all of it can be taken away in an instant. They can be destroyed by moth and rust, they can be stolen by thieves, they crash with the economy, disappear with accusatory news columns.
And when all that is stripped away and we are left facing each other with our bare hearts, we realise that we are in fact, all the same. Beautifully broken, heartbreakingly flawed, capable of peace and joy, stronger together, unified by both our desire for hope and our capacity for it. Graciously and eternally loved.
This is where we find our real value. When we realise that it comes from within; that eternal realm where God dwells that is in us and through us and connects us all, we realise that the real treasure of life, and of others, is not found in the external, but in the internal and eternal. This unseen place of love and grace is a treasure house that we can draw from for our own needs, and deposit into through our own experiences of love and generosity and grace and mercy and joy; given and received. A sacred and holy place.
Comparison is a villain. Me comparing myself with you; you comparing yourself with him; him comparing himself to someone else. The “not enough,” the “what about me,” the “at least I’m not as bad as they are,” and the “I am better than them.” Not only is comparison the thief of joy, as Theodore Roosevelt so aptly stated, but it’s also the moth that eats away at our generosity and the rust that slowly corrodes our grace.
You are not your stuff. Your neighbour is not their stuff. The real gold of life, the real treasure is found in what we cannot see and what we cannot obtain in a physical container. Except, of course, our own bodies and hearts.
1 John 4:8 says “God is love.” Matthew 26 says the greatest commandments are to LOVE – God, others and yourself. 1 Corinthians 13:13 says “Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.”
Love lives in the eternal (heavenly) realm. It transcends space and time, bank accounts and reputation, country and culture. Moths cannot eat it, rust cannot corrode it and thieves cannot grip it. It’s beyond the limitations of this earth.
Frederick Buechner writes,
“Wherever people love each other and are true to each other and take risks for each other, God is with them and for them and they are doing God’s will.”
Over to you. Leave us your thoughts in the comment section below.
Go to Part 6 – Perfume and Forgiveness »
[vcex_image_grid columns=”3″ pagination=”false” thumbnail_link=”custom_link” link_title_tag=”true” custom_links_target=”_blank” overlay_style=”title-category-visible” columns_gap=”5″ img_hover_style=”fade-out” image_ids=”20934,20935,20937″ custom_links=”https://itunes.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1239768002?pt=118656308&ct=blog%20footer&mt=8,https://www.pktfuel.com/dailyemail,https://www.pktfuel.com/support” img_height=”350″]