Treasure Your Treasure

The other day, when we were all on lock down, and our maid couldn’t make it home, I took it upon myself to clean the house. (no appreciation necessary. Aww c’mon, hold your applause. Really, it was nothing) The problem with me, and I’m sure you can relate, that when we set out to clean one thing, we end up cleaning a lot of things. I bought myself a vacuum cleaner a couple of months ago for this very purpose. And it is serving me quite well. Vacuumed, wiped, mopped the house.

As I was winding up and ready to pack it in, satisfied with myself that I’ve done some good in the world (or my world rather), I couldn’t help but notice some dirt in one of the shelves we had stored some books in. As I picked at it, I found it to be a bit hard. And then I realised it wasn’t just one spot, it was a trail of dirt, more like a tunnel, the kind that ants build. And I see this tunnel make its way deep into the shelf bordering around the books. And then as I venture out like a detective into the shelf, I see this shiny little creature moving around. Then I see one more and then a few more. Frantically but carefully removing the books, I see the creatures have multiplied and have a little colony around the binding of the books and have been eating through their pages! Once again, grateful for my vacuum cleaner, I do what I can, get out the garbage bags, dispose off all those precious books, get disinfectant and scrub the shelf clean before some semblance of peace came over me.

But you know, that nagging feeling you get when you wonder, where else in the house am I missing a colony like this one! Well, we’ll see I guess.

I checked – they’re actually called bookworms – worms that get attracted to books especially the binding and eat through them. Fascinating and repulsive at the same time. As I looked at the books eaten through, one passage of scripture came to mind.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

And as I was cleaning, I couldn’t help but reflect on everything that was happening around me. Friends I know who are struggling, Precious ones losing their loved ones, people feeling wronged because their loved one couldn’t get the simple care and treatment that could’ve saved their lives. I even thought about the recently deceased actor, Amit Mistry, who just at the age of 47, in the pink of health and at the height of success, suddenly without any warning to those closest to him, suffered a cardiac arrest and passed away.

There was inner mourning as I was taking care of the the shelf and I was reminded of two things.

Firstly, choose wisely where you put your treasure. What this implies is also how we use our treasure. So it’s not just about giving our treasure to some religious cause. It’s about using our treasure wisely in a way that aligns with God’s agenda on earth.

Responding to the rich young ruler’s apparent claim to perfectly obeying the law of God, Jesus said

Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19:21

Notice how Jesus tells him that he will have treasures in heaven if he gives to the poor? Why is that? It’s because alleviating poverty aligns with God’s agenda on earth. If we truly are to be people who echo Jesus’ prayer as he asked the Father to “Let your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven”, then this is how we do it. Later Jesus tells the religious folks of his day,

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:34-40

Using our treasure to further God’s Kingdom’s agenda on earth – whether that’s righteousness, justice, peace – things as simple as cleaning up a shelf full of bookworms and as grand as visiting someone in prison – All of it counts. Anything outside of that agenda – can easily be destroyed – it’s pointless.

The second thing I was reminded of as I wiped the shelf clean using a disinfectant, was how what I was doing is a microcosm of what God’s also doing in the world today. Jesus’ resurrection was the beginning of this massive clean up – the Bible calls Salvation – that God is undertaking in the world. Beginning with our hearts, to the world when he will make all things new. All that we undertake now is echoing what he began in his death and resurrection and proclaiming what he will one day complete in the future when he returns. At that time, as our loved ones get new healthy bodies and return with him to reign on the earth, and as the health care workers, the scientists, the ones that mourn their losses and cry for justice finally find their rest when God – the righteous judge – will come to establish justice on the earth – we will see God doing what we are all waiting to be completed – peace and justice at last.

Until that time, He has promised the presence of His Spirit which is a guarantee and a foretaste of what that Kingdom is going to be like. And with his transforming power in us, he calls us to partner with Him in what he is doing in the world today.

As you look around you today, at your world – your family, your work, your home, your neighborhood – How is the Lord calling you to pray, “Let your Kingdom come, Let your will be done in my world as it is in heaven”? How is he calling you to treasure your treasure?