19“Do not store up for
yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves
break in and steal; 20but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.” Gospel of Matthew.
Lent is a time when we are invited to confront the truth about ourselves, to come to our senses, to acknowledge weaknesses, vulnerabilities, and incompentencies. We observe Lent. We pay attention. We are mindful. Therefore, it is not to be entered into lightly. Giving up chocolate or cookies is not an observation, unless one recognizes the obsession with, the addiction to sugar that effects the body and mind.
Jesus asks us to consider what or who we treasure. We have come to believe that the only treasure is that which is found on earth, in the flesh, in the material world, in possessions, in things, in stuff. We treasure good things and bad things. We treasure old things and new things. We treasure people and we treasure our feelings. We treasure our houses and our clothes and our cars and our technology and our pets and our books and our health. We treasure wealth and prosperity and security and safety. We treasure what we do not possess and we envy our neighbors' treasures. We hoard. We devour. We consume and we use up. We waste and we protect. What we keep for ourselves devastates our neighbors. What we throw away, others long to receive. We treasure what will not last and we ignore the things that endure. We don't even know what is valuable, what is worth treasuring, worthy of our devotion, our adoration, and admiration. The search for God starts with the desire to know what is most worthy, most valuable, of highest esteem. And it continues with the truth that it is not me.
Self-promotion and self-centered living characterize much of life today in the west. Social media and personal technology celebrate the individual, emphasize me. I am the first priority; my needs, wants, actions, etc..
When we practice piety, when we pray and fast and give in a public way to be seen by others, we are promoting ourselves. We are, therefore, not pious out of respect or love for God. One can be pious and care nothing about God. An atheist can be pious. Piety can be selfish, doing spiritual or religious things for me, for my improvement or for my faith, my life, my status before God.
But Lent is not for me. It reminds me that my life is to God and for neighbor. The ego longs to dictate and direct my actions and my thoughts, such that I spend more time focused on myself---my needs, wants, desires, struggles, pain, comfort, etc...and as little as possible on the other.
But then there is Jesus, who focuses attention on God and others. God and others. God and others. Jesus treasures creation, not as a means of existence, but as a gift from God. He does not use things. He receives them and gives them. Scripture is not a tool or a text book. It is a message, a word, a revelation of God to God's people. We hear and experience God's voice, demanding, calling, inviting, challenging, loving, pursuing, expecting, and saving. Jesus images for us a God/man relationship that is authentic, complete, and very good. He heals and forgives and eats and prays and dies and lives; always in contact with God and others. His existence is bound to God and other. His life in God directs his life toward others, such that there are no limits and boundaries to his reach, his touch, his circle of compassion. Ever widening. Reaching, even us.
Return to God and others, this is the invitation of Lent. We are made to live to God and for others. Making room to practice that life is the promise of Lent. 40 days. Enough time to change habits, to get out of something and into something else.
What do you treasure in this life you've been given? What would be impossible for you to give up? That is your God.
What do you treasure in this life you've been given? What would be impossible for you to give up? That is your God.
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