What do you treasure?
Feast of Saints Francis & Clare
What do you treasure? As you ponder this question, listen to these wise words from Jesus, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
People crowded around Jesus. He was wise and helpful. His teaching and preaching were inspirational. He healed the sick and raised the dead. Unlike other teachers and healers of the day, Jesus did not charge a fee for his services. So wherever Jesus went people flocked to hear him and seek his help. The people crowding around Jesus, treasured the norms of their day. Among the norms they held dear was the right of the first born son to inherit all his father’s possessions. Though this norm was well established, conflicts regularly arose during its execution. The Bible describes the inheritance conflict between Jacob and Esau, twin sons of Isaac. Esau was born first and had the right to inherit. Rebecca, their mother, loved her second born son, Jacob, better than her first. She colluded with Jacob to trick his blind elderly father, her husband, into giving him the inheritance. Esau, who had the right to inherit, got nothing. This money conflict elicited anger in Esau and fear in Jacob. The enmity between them remained, even later after Jacob gave Esau a significant portion of the estate. Obsession about possessions destroyed respect and trust, making a relationship between these twins impossible.
The Gospel lesson today opens with a person in the crowd seeking help from Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” Luke 12:13. We don’t know the nature of this inheritance conflict, but we know how Jesus responded. Jesus refused to intervene; instead, Jesus offered advice to equip that person to resolve the conflict themself. Jesus said: “Take care! Be on your guard against obsessions about possessions; one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Luke 13:15 This is the same counsel Jesus offered in those wise words recorded in Matthew: “Where your treasure is, your heart will be.” Matthew 6:21 Jesus then told a story to illustrate the perils of obsessing about possessions. The moral of this story: money can buy lots of things, but you can’t take it with you! The person in the story who obsesses about possessions, is shown to be a fool at the hour of death. This is, Jesus explained, what happens “…to those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
Jane Goodall, primatologist and conservationist, died at age 91 died this week. George Hardy, Tuskegee Airman who flew missions during World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam (in spite of the prejudicial treatment he endured in the armed services), died at age 100 this week. We remember them with pride, not because of what they possessed, but because of their dedicated service. George put his life on the line over and over for what he believed in. Jane was on a speaking tour to make people aware of climate change when she died. What do you treasure? Remember what Jesus said, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21
The reading from Acts presents Jesus’ wisdom in a story reminiscent of Halloween B movies. A husband and wife, Ananias and Sapphira, so obsess about possessions they cheated the early church. The early church created a system for eradicating poverty in the community of believers. In the first hundred years after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus, Christians “held all things in common.” Nuns and monks in religious communities today follow this practice. The apostle Paul described the early church as a community where, “there is neither Jew
nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female; all are one in Christ Jesus.” To eradicate poverty and install equality, all believers were given access to food, shelter, clothing, and healthcare. This was achieved by people in the faith community putting their possessions into a common account. When Ananias and Sapphira turned in the proceeds from the sale of their property, they held back some of the funds for themselves. When the apostle Peter asked them about their “rainy day fund,” they drop dead. I can almost hear Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, or Adam Sandler (the voice of Count Dracula in Hotel Transylvania) using their best spooky voice to declare the moral of the Ananias and Sapphira tale. “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God”…blah blah blah blah.
What do you treasure? I see that you treasure your pets. They shower us with affection and attention. I suspect your dog greets you joyfully upon your return home. Your cat walks across the computer keyboard as you type or rubs its face on the book you’re reading. Your parrot squawks terms of endearment. The fish in the bathtub size pond in my backyard swim to the surface when I stand over their habitat. Our pets love us and we love them. This love has divine characteristics. Like God, there is unconditional love between us and our pets. Like God, offenses are forgiven and forgotten. Like God, there is honor and protection. Like God, there is worry and grief. The treasure of our pets gives us a taste of divine love.
We are living in uncertain times. The norms we uphold are generating anxiety, problems and conflicts. The health insurance premiums my baby brother pays, will go from $60 a month to $1000 a month in 2026. Teachers in the Sag Harbor School District, nurses and physicians in the new Emergency Room in East Hampton, as well as the people who wait on us at IGA, Marshalls and Page restaurant cannot afford rent or mortgage costs in the Hamptons. People are being shot as they worship in churches, mosques, and synagogues. Students practice active shooter drills at school. Some of norms we treasure are generating anxiety, problems, and conflicts.
I invite you to allow the love between you and your pet to sooth the anxiety caused by these uncertain times. I urge you to let the similarities in the love, regard, trust between you and your pet remind you of God’s concern for you; God’s concern for everyone. Let us like Jane Goodall and George Hardy, hold fast to treasures that endure and serve; treasures that strive to eradicate poverty, homelessness, hunger and disease. Treasure what mirrors God’s love in your families, communities, country, and world. For, where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
