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| Introduction: Neither prosperity nor poverty are evidence of piety or closeness to God. Great wealth is not always the result of an intimate relationship with the Lord, and poverty is not always the result of our Heavenly Father’s disciplinary actions. If you observe both the rich and the poor, you will find evil and righteousness alike in each economic stratum. We are not asked by God, in general, to look upon wealth with disdain nor are we told that material possessions are, of themselves, evil. However, when we begin to believe that our possessions comprise our security and determine our well-being, we move away from God and walk among idols!
Where is your treasure: What are your heirlooms or precious possessions (things, talents, and accomplishments)? What makes these things valuable? How would you respond to the loss or the threat of loss of each of these possessions? Students will share their answers to these questions with their partners. The intent is not to superficially list a few things that we think are acceptable, but to share what is truly important along with honest reflection as to why it holds the rank of "treasure". After a time of sharing, the whole group will discuss what Jesus meant by storing treasures in Heaven rather than storing them on Earth.
In its simplest form, a treasure is something we consider valuable. Some of our treasures are valuable because they once belonged to someone important. Other things are treasures because they are rare, without flaw, or just cost a lot of money. Jesus warned us about treasures because they have a tendency to steal our hearts, and our hearts belong to God. A treasure has your heart when your well being depends upon it. If your security, peace, hope, or purpose come from things, you are certain to experience insecurity, anxiety, despair, and aimlessness; because, things are not dependable. If much of who you are is defined by what you own, your identity can be lost or stolen and leave you an empty shell. So Jesus instructs us to place our treasures in Heaven rather than here on Earth.
What treasures did you find?
The treasures of Heaven are unique in several ways. Only imperishable items can be stored in Heaven; only that which is eternal can exist in Eternity. Heavenly treasures are fashioned by God; they are never man made. We cannot acquire these treasures from anyone other than God. We cannot give them to our family and friends; they too must receive them directly from the Lord. The manner in which the treasures of Heaven are acquired is also unique.
What actions are required to receive the treasures of Heaven?
The distinctive aspect of these actions is that the motive behind the action is more important than the action itself. For example, if we give to the poor just to acquire treasure in Heaven, we will miss the intended reward. If, on the other hand, our giving is born out of a pure compassion for people with no thought for what we receive from the action, we will receive a rich reward in Heaven. Jesus said when we give to help people in need, we should keep it secret or our only reward would be the fleeting present accolade. If our good deeds are done for the sake of notoriety, then that is the most we will get for doing them. In short the objective in storing up treasures in Heaven is not focused upon the reward or treasure. The real objective or treasure is the development of a loving relationship with the two highest beings in all of Heaven:
Our real treasures are not things we acquire and possess, but rather the lives we are privileged to touch and love. We are to use things and love people. We get terribly twisted when we turn that around and begin using people and loving things.
The Lord freely gives "everything for our enjoyment". We are not to be prideful for what we own, because God has provided it. Furthermore, we need not feel ashamed for having the wealth He has provided; He expects us to enjoy it. Because Our Heavenly Father has richly provided us with everything, there is no place for greed or guilt. Yet, so often these are the attitudes that develop around wealth. The reason is found in 1 Timothy 6:17. People start putting their hope in their wealth rather than in the Lord Who provides it. When this happens, they tighten their grip on their possessions and lose their willingness to be generous and share. When those of us who seek to follow Jesus are caught in this bondage, we become torn between two extremes. On the one hand, we may horde everything we acquire and ignore the needs of others around us because there is never enough to meet our personal and family needs. At other times, our guilt overrides our greed and we give to salve our burning consciences. In both extremes, those in need remain needy. Our dependence upon our possessions and money remains intact, and our guilt over having these things and this money when so many people are in need continues to overwhelm us. Further, the receivers only get things rather than a touch from the Lord. Relax your grip! Step out of the control center and rely upon the Lord to both provide for you and your family and to guide you in how and with whom to share. Be rich in good deeds. Do them out of love for God and love for your neighbor. The actions we take to express our love for God and our neighbors store treasure in Heaven, and the treasures are the relationships we form with Him and them. These treasures are suited to the economy of Heaven, where there is no need for material wealth. In Heaven there is no separation of death, so we don’t need heirlooms to hold fond memories. We have not seen, heard of, nor imagined the magnificence of Heaven that is freely given us. There will be no need for savings accounts or monetary treasures to ensure our security and well-being; it’s all free, graciously provided to us by our Father. We will not be able to use wealth to acquire power or dominion over others; we will be in a theocracy where Almighty God reigns and the social strata is reversed causing the least significant servant of Earth to be the Nobility of Heaven. The old cliché, "You can’t take it with you," is true and even if it is possible to take your earthly wealth with you into Heaven, you will find it is worthless there. All that wealth affords here is either not necessary or is obtained in a completely different way there. Just look at the absolute wisdom that our Lord imparts to us! He told us not to consume our energy and time in the pursuit of earthly treasures. He has instructed us not to worry about material things. He knows the futility of these things because He has an eternal perspective. If we devote our lives to the acquisition, maintenance, and protection of earthly treasure, and we ignore the development of loving relationships, we will look back upon our lives and declare them vanity of vanities. This life is but a microsecond in duration compared to eternity. Why devote all of your energy to that fleeting moment. Make your life count for all eternity!
Responsible; not Enslaved How can we clearly distinguish between responsible behavior in caring for the things God has given us and being possessed by our possessions? Jesus, expects us to "take care of business". How can you be entrusted to handle great responsibility when you are irresponsible with insignificant things? Yet, how can any of us truly say that Jesus is Lord unless we are free to go where He sends and do what He says? If we are burdened down with debt and too many responsibilities, we are not free to let Him be Lord of us entirely. The class will discuss ways to distinguish between prudent, responsible behavior and enslavement The following Scripture passages give several guidelines for achieving a proper balance.
When Jesus said, "do not be anxious for tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself", was he saying we should not plan for our future? Should we simply live for today and ignore the future? Is Jesus telling us to behave like the birds who neither sow nor reap, but rather just depend upon God to feed them each day? Or is it possible that God expects more from us than the birds, since He has entrusted more to us than to them? It appears the operative word here is, ANXIETY. Do not be ANXIOUS says Jesus. When you begin to worry about tomorrow, you have wandered away from His will. If you have done wrong and, therefore, are anxious about the consequences that will appear on the morrow, seek forgiveness today and make restitution. If you have not completed your tasks to the best of your ability and are worried that the results will fall short of what is needed, then finish the job right. If, however, you have done all that you are led of the Lord to do and yet are worried that you haven’t done enough to assure a successful outcome, you are stepping into God’s territory and are, in affect, telling Him that He can’t be trusted to do His part. Worry is never an appropriate response, but for some people it is just part of their nature. For these people, the Apostle Paul wrote, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God." (Phil 4:6) What responsibilities has God assigned to you that require you to be faithful in the handling of material resources? With respect to these material things, what brings anxiety into your life? Is the anxiety from failure to fulfill your true responsibility or from trying to do more than you are intended to do?
The requirements upon you are staggering. They require your time, your talents, your money, and your ingenuity. You need to cover the debts of the past the, expenses of today, and the coming obligations of tomorrow. What about college for the kids? Where is the money going to come from to pay for the new parts for the washing machine? But Dad, you promised you’d coach soccer this year?!? April 15th? Building Program? Lay off? Deadlines? Nominating Committee? Bills? A new set of graphites? Retirement? Jesus said follow Me! What did He do that we need to follow?
Let’s apply this to the concrete part of our lives. Consider everything for which you are responsible. What of these have you taken upon yourself irrespective of what God had to say about it? Of the responsibilities you have assumed that God has not given you, which ones would now be against His will for you to discard or ignore? Have you been irresponsible with what the Father has called you to do? Are you willing to take up the slack? What will that require from you? How much of your current anxiety is caused from your rebellion and stubborn streak and the consequences that have followed? Are you willing to put Him in charge now? Will you do only what He tells you to do? Discipleship partners, take your lists of responsibilities and lay them before the Lord and each other. Answer these questions before the Lord and emerge with a new set of responsibilities and plans for fulfilling them in His strength. This is not a one time class assignment, but should be a regularly scheduled "staff" meeting with the Boss.
Where do you draw the line? Jesus expects and demands first place in our lives. Is there anything that is so important to you that you are unwilling to forsake it for Him?
This is one of the saddest stories in the Bible. The ruler came to Jesus because there remained a gnawing emptiness within him. He had wealth, prestige, influence, high moral standards, and yet, real peace continued to elude him. Jesus told him what he already knew; one thing you lack. Jesus looked straight into his heart and saw this man’s first love. Jesus told him unless he was able to set the idol of wealth aside, he could not find the answer to his deepest need. But this is where the ruler had to draw the line. He went away sorrowful and still empty because his great riches were too precious. He had trusted his wealth to see him through. He relied on his money for security, comfort, position, and power. I suspect he was a very independent man who had no desire to be put in a position of needing to rely on anyone other than himself. If he sold his possessions, he would undoubtedly lose his independence, his security, his comfort, and his influence in the community. He would be placing himself at the mercy of this "Good Teacher" who wasn’t all that well off in any of these areas of his own life. So rather than forsake his wealth, he chose to turn his back on eternal life. Jesus is not saying through this story that we obtain eternal life by giving all of our wealth to the poor. We all receive eternal life in the same manner.
Whoever believes, relies upon, trusts in the Son has eternal life. If you place your highest trust in wealth, family, job, education, or anything other than Jesus Christ you will not see life for God’s wrath remains on you. The ruler placed his trust in wealth. At the beginning of this lesson, you and your partner listed and discussed your heirlooms and precious possessions. During this discussion you were to talk about your response to the loss or threat of loss of these possession. Look again at the list and focus on your most cherished possession. Now put yourself in the story of the rich ruler. Is Jesus saying to you, one thing you lack? Is this where you draw the line or will you stop at nothing until all of your trust is in the SON? Unless you have made your wealth an idol, Jesus typically does not ask you to relinquish all that you own. Typically, God simply asks that you acknowledge both your independence from possessions as well as the True Source of them, by returning only a portion of all that you receive back to Him. If tithing is something you have avoided in the past, you need to make it a regular practice. In the Old Testament Law, people were instructed to give back 10% of their income to the Lord. I do not think the amount is really that specific today. I think it depends upon your attitude. If by giving only 10%, you still find that your trust remains fixed on the possessions more than on the Lord, then you need to keep raising the percentage. Jesus went to 100% with the rich ruler because his dependence upon his wealth was great. How much you return back to God is something only the two of you can answer. However, if you are reluctant to meet the original token 10%, you may have misplaced your trust. Make a list of your activities (include things you enjoy doing as well as the things that are more tedious). Then indicate whose yoke you wear when performing this task. The yoke can be one you fashioned and therefore maintain control over. It can belong to a spouse, a boss, or others who have control over the particular activity. Or it can be HIS Yoke because the Lord Jesus both leads in the activity and empowers you to perform it. |
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