St. Paul
reminds us in his letter to the church in Corinth that we’re called to focus on
the one reality that most matters: our relationship with God. (2 Corinthians 11:18-30).
Paul’s
“boast” was made up of the many ways that he had suffered for Christ in his
ministry to the churches he founded. He’d
been imprisoned, beaten, endured all kinds of hardships, traveled extensively
around the world of his time. He endured
all these negative experiences for the sake of Christ and the churches he led
to the Gospel of Christ.
Paul’s letter
is a wonderful, if stark, account of the hardships surrounding the preaching of
the gospel. He calls on the Corinthians
(and us) to stay firm in his preaching to them. They (we) are to avoid the contradictions
brought about by those who seek to turn the people away from the faith received
by Paul.
Where Paul
encourages the church to stick to the essentials and hold them strongly, the
gospel asks us to determine what is our “treasure.” To discover our treasure is to find out where
our heart is: with God or (selfishly) only with ourselves. Sometimes we consider the treasure only from
a negative perspective – what do we treasure?
Things that draw us away from God’s love and Jesus’ life of joy and
peace. Definitely needed, but there is
another side also to consider.
“…do not store up for yourselves…where
your treasure is, there also will be your heart…the lamp of the body is the
eye” (Matthew
6:19-23)
We’ve all
experienced great treasures in this past year and several months. There have been so many examples recently of
those whose treasure has been exhibited in profound service to those who
contracted the dreaded Covid19.
Think of all
those who, despite the pandemic, heroically gave themselves over to deep
healing of those hobbled even to death by Covid. We’ve all seen video of doctors, nurses and
medical staffs beaten down by impossible shifts and extraordinary demands on
their skills and energy. Facing crushing
odds and seemingly defeated, they stayed on task despite the patients who died
by the thousands. Think, too, of the
wives, husbands and other loved ones completely separated from the ill; not
able to visit and wipe the burning brows and hold the hands of their dear ones.
My
reflection today also brought me to consider how ‘things’ can control our
life! Things we ‘need’, things we
‘want’, things to ‘make life easier’, things to prove ‘status’, ‘wealth’,
‘happiness’, ‘achievement’. Things to fill
our time, our homes, our workplaces.
Things to obsess over, worry about, and sometimes hoard! I sometimes think ‘things’ are the American
way!
In the
gospel, Jesus shows us another way, the way of God, the way to open us to the
‘treasure’ of living in God’s kingdom.
Be careful, he says, pay attention – pay attention to your behaviors, to
your longings and to true awareness.
He warns
against pleasures that will ‘wear out’ or can be ‘eroded
away’…don’t collect,
gather or hoard that which can be ‘stolen away’.
These kinds of treasures will only lead to disappointment – things like
that can’t last forever!
Jesus
reminds us that while ‘things’ are not unimportant, they do need to be kept in
perspective! Some questions may be ‘do I
need this…or do I want this’? How can I
share this? How does this change me –
does it feed my ego or open my heart?
If the eye
is the window that lets in the light – what smudges do I need to wipe away to
see more clearly what is being taken in?
The smudges of prejudice, bias, jealousy, self-centeredness can prevent
us from seeing clearly, just as ‘things’ can isolate us from the truth and
reality that envelops us. We’re called to live in harmony with ourselves,
others and God. What ‘things’ or
‘smudges’ might be preventing this harmony within you? Today’s a good day to spend some time with
the Lord – what might he be saying to you or trying to point out to you? “Where your treasure is,
there also will be your heart…”
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