Ash Wednesday February 18, 2015

Ash Wednesday
Matthew 6:1-6,16-21
February 18, 2015

“Your Treasure is Jesus”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The last verse of the Gospel reading, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

It’s such a simple thing.  Wherever your treasure is, there you’ll find your heart.  There you’ll find all your desire, energy, motivation, emotions.  If your treasure is, for instance, the Chicago Bears…then your heart will be with the Bears and if they do well then your heart will feel glad and content and if they do terrible then your heart will die with them.   If your treasure is your job and the place you work and the people you work with—then your heart will be there and the only way your heart will be right is if your job is right and the only way your heart will be up is if everything at work is up.  If you lose your job, then you will lose your heart.  If your job is hard, then your heart will be hard.

If your treasure is literally treasure…as in “money” and “stuff”…then that’s where your heart will be.  Your heart will feel good when you have more and more stuff and more and more stuff until you find out that none of that stuff really lasts and then your heart will die with all that stuff.  If your treasure is any kind of “thing”—your heart will die with that thing.

If your treasure is anything but Jesus—then your heart is very vulnerable and it will die with the things you’ve treasured.  But if your treasure is Jesus—your heart is secure.  Your heart is strong.  Your heart is joyful.  Your heart is steady.  If Jesus is your treasure, then the Bears can win or lose and you’re heart’s still strong.  Then your job can be up or down and you’re still secure.  Then money and stuff can come and go and you’re heart’s still content.  If your treasure is Jesus—then your heart is with Jesus—and then your heart is safe, secure, and strong.

That’s a problem for you and me because we usually treasure other stuff much more than Jesus.  We live in a very material world.  And we are very material people.  Look at our checking accounts and look where the majority of your money goes every month.  That will tell you where your treasure is.  There’s not a much better judge of your treasure and your values than where you spend your money.  Or where you hoard your money.

All of the things of this material world all turn to ash.  All of the things we spend our money on every month are all fleeting and temporary.  If our treasures are material, then our hearts will be simply material.  We are dust and to dust we shall return.  We brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it.

But…Jesus is a different kind of treasure.  Heaven and earth will all pass away, but Word of the Lord endures forever.  Jesus endures forever.  He went into the dust and ashes of the grave but rose again.  And that what makes Him different and what makes this treasure different and what makes your heart different when it is with Him.  He will not die.  If He’s your treasure, then your heart is with Him and your heart will not die.

So what are we specifically talking about tonight?  Put your heart and treasure where Jesus is!  That means, first of all, in His Word.  Put the phones away, the TV away, the newspaper away, the internet away—and treasure Jesus’ Word.  Listen to His Word.

When you treasure Jesus’ Word, then your heart is with Jesus.  There Jesus gives you the Holy Spirit.  There Jesus forgives your sins.  There Jesus creates faith and strengthens your faith.  There Jesus lifts up your heart.  There He puts joy in your heart.  There He takes your heart and makes it safe and secure with Him.

In Deuteronomy, God told us already to treasure that Word.  He says, “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when lie down, and when you rise.”  Treasure Jesus Word and keep it on your heart.

Then there’s the Lord’s Supper.  When we receive Holy Communion, then Jesus is our treasure and our hearts are with Him.  In the Lord’s Supper, we receive treasure that doesn’t ever fail or fall away.  We receive the indestructible body and blood of Jesus Christ.  The very body and blood that death couldn’t destroy, but rose again on the third day.  That’s treasure that will never pass away.

One thing about this treasure, though, is that it’s a hidden treasure.  It’s a treasure in the heart—a treasure that others won’t always see and even you won’t always see.  That’s why Jesus uses the word “secret” so many times in the first part of the reading.  He talks about giving your money in secret, praying in secret, and fasting in secret.

The temptation is always to make ourselves the treasure and show everybody what we’re doing and how great we are.  We want everybody to know how much money we’re giving and how much we’re praying and how often we’re in Church.  Pride rears its ugly head and says, “Everybody look at me.”  But then our treasure isn’t Jesus.  Then our treasure is ourselves and our treasure is other people’s praise and acknowledgement.

But the treasure of Jesus is a secret treasure.  It’s a treasure in the heart that our Father in heaven sees.  So Jesus says that you shouldn’t flaunt yourself in public and tell everybody how much your giving and how much your praying.  But rather do those things in secret…in the heart…where your Father sees and where Jesus your treasure is.

God isn’t so much concerned with hypocrites who look good on the outside.  He’s concerned with sinners like you and me who have hearts that need to be cleaned and hearts that need Jesus.  And to you and me and to our hearts, He sends His treasure Jesus.  You have it.  You have Him.  He is yours.

The world might not think your treasure is all that great.  And sometimes you might not think that treasure is all that great.  It might seem like hidden treasure that’s not worth all that much.  But it’s worth more than all the gold and silver in the entire world.  You have a treasure that can’t every be lost and won’t ever lose.  He has conquered sin and death and the grave and He has made you a child of God.  And when Jesus is your treasure, then your heart is with Jesus and your heart is guarded and protected from all the evil in this world and your heart is filled with joy and peace and your heart is made clean and new in Jesus.  It’s such a simple thing.  Your treasure is Jesus—and your heart is with Him, forgiven and secure.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.