Your Treasure Chest

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Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:19-21 (NLT)

“How much money is enough?” John D. Rockefeller responded to the reporter’s question with his answer, “Just a little bit more.” Rockefeller would amass a fortune becoming the first billionaire in the United States before his death at 97. Yet I think Rockefeller fully understood the “little bit more” could not be held onto for eternity. Rockefeller who daily read his Bible, attended prayer meetings twice a week and led a Bible study along with his wife understood the temporary status of his treasure. A lot of his giving was church-related; generous to Baptist missionary causes, funding universities and social ministries.

What is the value you place on your treasures? Rockefeller used the wealth entrusted to him “where moths and rust cannot destroy.” Unfortunately, we often don’t realize the real value of something until it is gone. It could be something material or lost intimacy with a family member or a relationship with God. An antiques enthusiast in Connecticut could easily relate to Jesus’ parable in Matthew; “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (13:44)

The antiques hunter came across an interesting looking porcelain bowl at a yard sale in New Haven, Connecticut paying $35 for the bowl. The buyer did some research and found out the bowl was a 15th century Ming Dynasty-era piece. The yard sale $35 bowl ended up selling for $721,800 at a Sotheby action. Angela McAteer with Sotheby said it was a once in a lifetime discovery. McAteer said, “How the bowl ended up at a Connecticut yard sale remains a mystery. It’s possible it was passed down through generations of the same family who did not know how unique it was.”

How easy do you discard your treasure? A 64-year-old man in southeast Germany found two framed paintings in a roadside dumpster. The paintings were actually 17th century original portraits by Italian artist Pietro Bellotti and Dutch artist Samuel van Hoogstraten. The police launched an investigation on how two priceless artifacts ended up in the trash can. I am pretty certain that whoever threw out the two paintings had no idea of their real value.

Time after time Jesus confronted the religious leaders of the day because they repeatedly rejected the precious gift of God’s love replacing it with worthless rituals and requirements. “The good person brings good things out of a good treasure, and the evil person brings evil things out of an evil treasure.” (Matthew 12:35)

Do we discard the real treasure of a friendship over a heated argument about politics? Do we discard the real treasure of a church family because of a disagreement over an issue? Do we discard the real treasure of a relationship with God because He didn’t answer a prayer the way we though He should?

In Star Winar, a most interesting article was posted on the relationship between happiness and treasure. “The most remarkable research is one done between the world’s richest and world’s poorest.  Forbes 400 “richest” list was given a survey and their satisfaction was rated at exactly the same level as did the people of Masai of Kenya and Intuit people of northern Greenland, who have no electricity or running water.

Money is a necessity to live but apparently it can’t buy happiness and that’s for you to decide.  And as the old saying goes, “Money can buy you a house but it can’t buy you a home.”

Regardless of the size of our bank account, our 401k or the square footage of our house; the real treasure is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” Paul writes in 2 Corinthians that “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” There is nothing wrong with earthly treasures if you hold them loosely. The real treasure you need to guard and hold tightly is the treasure of heaven found in Jesus Christ. One writer asked the question, “What do others see in you—the glory of God in a clay pot, or a clay pot trying to look like a treasure chest?’

God is great,

 

9/11 Anniversay – Remembrance in Prayer

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Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched. My eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. Psalm 69:1-3

Turn on the TV! These were the words as I answered a call from Connie. We had just moved from Nairobi, Kenya to Richmond to take on a new assignment with the International Mission Board. September 11, 2001, a day forever etched in time. Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of 9/11 that is still as fresh in our memory as if yesterday.

We joined that night with other believers at our church to pray. Across America, thousands of other churches opened their doors for prayer. For the next several Sundays there seemed to be a spiritual awakening as churches were filled to capacity. Millions were looking for hope, assurance that everything would be ok. People sought the fellowship of others in the midst of tragedy. The words of William Temple, the Archbishop of Canterbury after World War II said it well, “The church is the only organization that does not exist for itself, but for those who live outside of it.” It was those outside that also sought the comfort of the church.

Yet as quickly as our nation turned to God in fear and confusion on that bleak night, just as quickly people went back to their pre-911 lives. R. C. Sproul wrote that the very last sermon that Martin Luther preached was on people departing from the power of God. “Luther preached with passion about his concern for Germany. He observed that after the gospel had been rediscovered—after light had dawned and pushed aside the darkness that had eclipsed it during the Middle Ages—people were now becoming somewhat jaded to the gospel. They could hear it from virtually every pulpit in Germany, but it was no longer something that ignited fire in their bones.”

As our nation commemorates the 20th anniversary, we find our nation deeply divided, less respectful of others, civility forgotten, fear increasing and anxiety prevalent. Instead of our nation focused on God, we find an increasing number rejecting the church. Janet Denison writes that “People will continue to blame religion for what is wrong in the world. It’s the job of every Christian to glorify God for all that is right. If we will take the time to “be prepared” and use every opportunity to share the “hope” that we have with “gentleness and respect,” we will change the culture one conversation at a time.”

As a firefighter was sorting through the rubble and remnants of the south tower he made an unbelievable discovery: A Bible fused to a chunk of steel. Pages from the “9/11 Bible” remained with a portion of Jesus Sermon on the Mount showing, as if God speaking to America, “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also.” (Matt 5:38-39)

Joel Meyerowitz, the photographer assigned as record keeper of ground zero received the Bible, said, “It totally mesmerizes me that amidst the burning destruction of 9/11 and the remaining rubble, this fragile yet powerful piece of parchment was able to endure and send a lasting message to us all: Our fleshly nature urges us to repay evil for evil, but God calls us to press on in forgiveness and love, while leaving vengeance to Him.”  https://youtu.be/VV6BtdNaI8E

On this 20th anniversary of 9/11 I hope we set aside a time for prayer and reflection. Let it serve as a renewed time of prayer for our nation’s citizens to again be humble and willing to return to God. Pray that our nation would be used of God to touch the world for good. Let our churches be a place of healing and spiritual renewal. “When the unchurched, the lost, and those away from God enter our churches, they need to see us believing in the power of prayer and the power of God.” — Ronnie Floyd

The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever. Isaiah 40:8

God is great,
Lynn

Sent_Living our lives daily on mission.

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As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. John 17:18

Followers of Jesus are never left to wander hopelessly in a desert, trying to find their way. Rather they are the sent ones, going into the world on mission for and with God. No two lives look the same or assigned the same God-given task.  Yet in the going, they are on mission – a mission that brings hope, life and presence.

Henri Nouwen wrote that “Each of us has a mission in life. Jesus prays to his Father for his followers. We seldom realize fully that we are sent to fulfill God-given tasks. We act as if we have to choose how, where, and with whom to live. We act as if we were simply dropped down in creation and have to decide how to entertain ourselves until we die. But we were sent into the world by God, just as Jesus was. Once we start living our lives with that conviction, we will soon know what we were sent to do.”

Jesus understood living life on mission. His prayer in John 17 reveals the depth and purpose of his mission. He understood and accepted the task that God had given him. Now He is at the point of completing His task and praying for His disciples. The tasks will be unique but each will undertake to carry out their God-sized task of being the sent ones.

Past generation Olympic runner Eric Liddell grasped his mission for God. He shared that “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.” Liddell channeled his running glory into his missionary calling to China and ultimately dying in a concentration camp to glorify God.

Current Olympic swimmer Caeleb Dressel is finding his life mission in that “It’s the reason I’m in the sport—not just to go fast times, but to inspire people and show them where I find my happiness with what God’s given me.” “Swimming is my life, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. This is what I’m supposed to be doing, and God gave me the talent, and I’m going to do that for him…”

Finding one’s mission in life may not be through Olympic glory but the dark nights of cancer. Liberty University graduate Jane Marczewski, who goes by the stage name Nightbirde found herself on America’s Got Talent stage. She probably wouldn’t have chosen to battle cancer yet in this God-sized moment she was able to sing her original song, It’s Ok and through singing encourage and inspire thousands. “You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy,” going on to say, “I have a 2 percent chance of survival, but two percent is not zero percent. Two percent is something, and I wish people knew how amazing it is.”

“In the daily rhythms for everyone everywhere, we live our lives in the marketplaces of this world: in homes and neighborhoods, in schools and on farms, in hospitals and businesses, and our vocations are bound up with the ordinary work that ordinary people do. We are not great shots across the bow of history; rather, by simple grace, we are hints of hope.” – Steven Garber

Living our lives daily on mission comes with the promise and provision of Jesus’ closing words of unity.  Let the years of our lives always be lived as years on a mission.

“I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20-23)

God is great,

Lynn