Joel 2:12-19/2 Peter 1:2-11/St Matthew 6:(1-6) 16-21
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also. Home is where your heart is. So, where is your heart and home? Where does your heart live? It really is a question of what and where your treasure is. Where you look for it and seek it, where you would keep it and store it for yourself.
Your treasure is your bliss, your prize, your real wealth. It is what makes you happy, and if it is threatened or taken away, you are frightened, sad to the point of despairing.
Your treasure is wherever your heart would find its peace and rest, wether for a little while or forever. It is whatever you suppose will satisfy you and make you content. Whatever will mark and measure the meaning and purpose of your life, fulfill your destiny, make you glad.
As such, your treasure is also your god, for good or for ill. And whatever your treasure is, whatever your god, so shall you be like it.
So, what is your treasure? Where is your heart?
Perhaps it is in your property, your house and home, your collections and investments. Or your family: your parents and siblings, your spouse and children. Or your reputation, your popularity and friends, your respect among your friends. Maybe your treasure is power, position, privilege, and prestige. Or your possessions and income, your salary and savings. Food and clothing, toys and hobbies, the bare necessities or the best that money can buy.
What are you proud of? What identifies you? On what do you rely? Fall back on? Aspire to get for yourself? To keep for yourself? To promote yourself?
If you treasure and store up stuff, whether coins or castles, clothes or collectible, know that it will all perish, every bit - even if its stolen first. It doesn’t last. It cannot give life. It will not save you.
If you treasure worldly wealth and riches, paper or plastic, precious metals or digital data, it will come and go in the blink of an eye. Or you will die before it can even do you any real good. Locusts of one sort or another will come and devour it. Neither the biggest bank nor your mattress will guard and keep such wealth for you in heaven.
And if you treasure other people as the source and substance of your life and happiness and future well-being, remember that all men die, because all men sin. Even princes and princesses are mortal. As are pastors according to their flesh. Parents and children, spouses and friends shall die in their day, and they cannot return to you here.
But not only that: people are fickle and fallible. Other people are as sinful as you. If you make of them your god, they will fall far short and fail you. They may lie to you, break their promise, or simply fail to follow through.
What, though, if everyone thought well of you? What if everyone were impressed with you? Looked up to you? Praised you in every way? What if your reputation among men was sterling and unsurpassed in all the world?
Well, then, my friend, you would already have your reward. But not with your Father in heaven.
In the end, none of these can help you, none can save. Your gods are rusting and moth eaten. They cannot save. And you shall perish with them.
If you would have life, and if you would live now and forever, repent of your idolatry and return to the Lord, the one true God, your Maker and Redeemer. Store up for yourself treasure in heaven, in the secret place of faith, in the hidden place of His Cross, in the inner room of His Church. Which is to say, fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of the faith, and be reconciled to God in Him. For He is your Righteousness and Holiness, your Peace with God, your true Sabbath Rest. He is your true and lasting Treasure.
So, how do you store up Jesus for yourself? What does that even mean? What does it look like?
You lay hold of Him where He lays hold of you, that is, by His Ministry of the Gospel. For He gives Himself to you by this way and means, as the One who has given Himself to God for you. Thus, He is your Sacrifice, whom God does not despise. He has become your priestly Food and Drink. He was anointed by the Spirit of God in His body of flesh and blood, so does He anoint you with His Holy Spirit by the Gospel, the full and free forgiveness of all your sins.
His flesh and blood are the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world. For He who knew no sin became Sin and death and the curse, in order to put sin to death in Himself, and to bring forth the blessing of righteousness and life everlasting in His Resurrection.
He has entered heaven for you. There He has established His place for you with His God and Father where He ever lives to make intercession for you as your great and merciful High Priest. Thus by the power of His indestructible Life, in and with His own glorious Body, risen from the dead and never to die again, immortal and imperishable, He is your Treasure, now and forever, whom moth and rust and thief cannot touch, and even death cannot destroy.
He stands between the vestibule and the altar, your Advocate and Mediator, shielding you with His love and mercy. And see here, He has also left behind the Grain Offering of His Body and the Drink Offering of His Blood, that you may eat and drink and be satisfied, and rejoice in Him who loves you. With these holy and precious Gifts He gives Himself to you and pledges Himself to you for all time and eternity. So that whether you have much or little in this life on earth, you have everything in Him, forever and ever.
Whether men speak well of you or curse you to your face, His Word adorns you with His holiness and righteousness, with the glory of His grace and the beauty of His Resurrection. Whether you live or you die, you are the Lord’s and He is yours. And in Him all that is His is yours: His Father and His Spirit, His Name, His Sonship, His Life and Salvation in body and soul. You lack no good thing in Him. He seats you at His Table to eat the flesh of the Lamb and drink from the overflowing Cup of His Blood.
Such righteousness and life, such peace and rest, can only be given by God. No creature can satisfy in this way. Beloved, these are yours in Christ Jesus. They are for you. Here they are given and poured out for you, preached into your ears and pressed into your hands and placed upon your lips and tongue, and laid upon your heart by the Spirit through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how your heart has found its home in Christ Jesus, with His Father who is now your Father. This is how your Treasure, which is Christ Himself, is stored up for you.
In this confidence and hope, then, you pray to Him. Not to be seen or heard by men, but to be heard and answered by your true God and Father in heaven. He will reward you, by His grace, with Christ and all His benefits, hidden under the Mystery of His Cross.
Thus also do you fast, knowing that God your Father feeds you. You discipline your mortal flesh, supplementing faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Thus do you set your heart and mind, your body and soul, against the enticements of the devil and your flesh, and you rest in the refuge of Christ Jesus.
So also are you free to love and serve your neighbor with genuine works of compassion and gifts of mercy, trusting your God and Father in Christ for all that you need and receive with thanksgiving what He provides, so that you who freely receive may likewise freely give, being generous on the right hand and the left.
While you do these things, you needn’t keep score or maintain a ledger. Simply love, as you are loved. In this way you let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. And so also do you glorify Him and exercise your faith in Him, in love for Him, when you give alms, when you pray, and when you fast.
So does your Father work His good works in you, in your body of flesh and blood, in your words and actions of faith and love. For He washes you through and through, inside and out with His mercy. He cleanses you from all your iniquities by His Gospel.
Even if you do not feel or experience such grace and peace and love and hope in yourself, nevertheless, it is given to you, and is yours in Christ Jesus.
Do not receive this grace of God in vain, but lay hold of Him who loves you, who lays hold of you by His Word of forgiveness, by His Word of the Cross.
And do not despair, for He does not grow weary of loving you. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He does not punish you as you deserve, but He daily and richly forgives your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. He is patient with you and as He has pledged Himself to you, He shall never leave you nor forsake you. He has opened His heart to you, even unto His death upon the Cross, in order to save you from sin and death. He has come to make His Home with you to abide in peace and love. Here then is your Home, your heat’s true Love and greatest Treasure. For here is your true God.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also. Home is where your heart is. So, where is your heart and home? Where does your heart live? It really is a question of what and where your treasure is. Where you look for it and seek it, where you would keep it and store it for yourself.
Your treasure is your bliss, your prize, your real wealth. It is what makes you happy, and if it is threatened or taken away, you are frightened, sad to the point of despairing.
Your treasure is wherever your heart would find its peace and rest, wether for a little while or forever. It is whatever you suppose will satisfy you and make you content. Whatever will mark and measure the meaning and purpose of your life, fulfill your destiny, make you glad.
As such, your treasure is also your god, for good or for ill. And whatever your treasure is, whatever your god, so shall you be like it.
So, what is your treasure? Where is your heart?
Perhaps it is in your property, your house and home, your collections and investments. Or your family: your parents and siblings, your spouse and children. Or your reputation, your popularity and friends, your respect among your friends. Maybe your treasure is power, position, privilege, and prestige. Or your possessions and income, your salary and savings. Food and clothing, toys and hobbies, the bare necessities or the best that money can buy.
What are you proud of? What identifies you? On what do you rely? Fall back on? Aspire to get for yourself? To keep for yourself? To promote yourself?
If you treasure and store up stuff, whether coins or castles, clothes or collectible, know that it will all perish, every bit - even if its stolen first. It doesn’t last. It cannot give life. It will not save you.
If you treasure worldly wealth and riches, paper or plastic, precious metals or digital data, it will come and go in the blink of an eye. Or you will die before it can even do you any real good. Locusts of one sort or another will come and devour it. Neither the biggest bank nor your mattress will guard and keep such wealth for you in heaven.
And if you treasure other people as the source and substance of your life and happiness and future well-being, remember that all men die, because all men sin. Even princes and princesses are mortal. As are pastors according to their flesh. Parents and children, spouses and friends shall die in their day, and they cannot return to you here.
But not only that: people are fickle and fallible. Other people are as sinful as you. If you make of them your god, they will fall far short and fail you. They may lie to you, break their promise, or simply fail to follow through.
What, though, if everyone thought well of you? What if everyone were impressed with you? Looked up to you? Praised you in every way? What if your reputation among men was sterling and unsurpassed in all the world?
Well, then, my friend, you would already have your reward. But not with your Father in heaven.
In the end, none of these can help you, none can save. Your gods are rusting and moth eaten. They cannot save. And you shall perish with them.
If you would have life, and if you would live now and forever, repent of your idolatry and return to the Lord, the one true God, your Maker and Redeemer. Store up for yourself treasure in heaven, in the secret place of faith, in the hidden place of His Cross, in the inner room of His Church. Which is to say, fix your eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of the faith, and be reconciled to God in Him. For He is your Righteousness and Holiness, your Peace with God, your true Sabbath Rest. He is your true and lasting Treasure.
So, how do you store up Jesus for yourself? What does that even mean? What does it look like?
You lay hold of Him where He lays hold of you, that is, by His Ministry of the Gospel. For He gives Himself to you by this way and means, as the One who has given Himself to God for you. Thus, He is your Sacrifice, whom God does not despise. He has become your priestly Food and Drink. He was anointed by the Spirit of God in His body of flesh and blood, so does He anoint you with His Holy Spirit by the Gospel, the full and free forgiveness of all your sins.
His flesh and blood are the Sacrifice of Atonement for the sins of the world. For He who knew no sin became Sin and death and the curse, in order to put sin to death in Himself, and to bring forth the blessing of righteousness and life everlasting in His Resurrection.
He has entered heaven for you. There He has established His place for you with His God and Father where He ever lives to make intercession for you as your great and merciful High Priest. Thus by the power of His indestructible Life, in and with His own glorious Body, risen from the dead and never to die again, immortal and imperishable, He is your Treasure, now and forever, whom moth and rust and thief cannot touch, and even death cannot destroy.
He stands between the vestibule and the altar, your Advocate and Mediator, shielding you with His love and mercy. And see here, He has also left behind the Grain Offering of His Body and the Drink Offering of His Blood, that you may eat and drink and be satisfied, and rejoice in Him who loves you. With these holy and precious Gifts He gives Himself to you and pledges Himself to you for all time and eternity. So that whether you have much or little in this life on earth, you have everything in Him, forever and ever.
Whether men speak well of you or curse you to your face, His Word adorns you with His holiness and righteousness, with the glory of His grace and the beauty of His Resurrection. Whether you live or you die, you are the Lord’s and He is yours. And in Him all that is His is yours: His Father and His Spirit, His Name, His Sonship, His Life and Salvation in body and soul. You lack no good thing in Him. He seats you at His Table to eat the flesh of the Lamb and drink from the overflowing Cup of His Blood.
Such righteousness and life, such peace and rest, can only be given by God. No creature can satisfy in this way. Beloved, these are yours in Christ Jesus. They are for you. Here they are given and poured out for you, preached into your ears and pressed into your hands and placed upon your lips and tongue, and laid upon your heart by the Spirit through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is how your heart has found its home in Christ Jesus, with His Father who is now your Father. This is how your Treasure, which is Christ Himself, is stored up for you.
In this confidence and hope, then, you pray to Him. Not to be seen or heard by men, but to be heard and answered by your true God and Father in heaven. He will reward you, by His grace, with Christ and all His benefits, hidden under the Mystery of His Cross.
Thus also do you fast, knowing that God your Father feeds you. You discipline your mortal flesh, supplementing faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.
Thus do you set your heart and mind, your body and soul, against the enticements of the devil and your flesh, and you rest in the refuge of Christ Jesus.
So also are you free to love and serve your neighbor with genuine works of compassion and gifts of mercy, trusting your God and Father in Christ for all that you need and receive with thanksgiving what He provides, so that you who freely receive may likewise freely give, being generous on the right hand and the left.
While you do these things, you needn’t keep score or maintain a ledger. Simply love, as you are loved. In this way you let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. And so also do you glorify Him and exercise your faith in Him, in love for Him, when you give alms, when you pray, and when you fast.
So does your Father work His good works in you, in your body of flesh and blood, in your words and actions of faith and love. For He washes you through and through, inside and out with His mercy. He cleanses you from all your iniquities by His Gospel.
Even if you do not feel or experience such grace and peace and love and hope in yourself, nevertheless, it is given to you, and is yours in Christ Jesus.
Do not receive this grace of God in vain, but lay hold of Him who loves you, who lays hold of you by His Word of forgiveness, by His Word of the Cross.
And do not despair, for He does not grow weary of loving you. He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He does not punish you as you deserve, but He daily and richly forgives your sins and cleanses you from all unrighteousness. He is patient with you and as He has pledged Himself to you, He shall never leave you nor forsake you. He has opened His heart to you, even unto His death upon the Cross, in order to save you from sin and death. He has come to make His Home with you to abide in peace and love. Here then is your Home, your heat’s true Love and greatest Treasure. For here is your true God.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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