Three Threats to Our Earthly Treasures

Author: Stan Guthrie
October 19, 2023

We all have a supreme treasure. It’s something that means more to us than anything else. And if we choose the wrong kind of treasure, we will lose it all. In fact, it’s guaranteed.

In last Sunday’s sermon, “Getting a Generous Focus on the Master’s Mission,” guest preacher David Sunday walked us through the startling implications of Matthew 6:19-24 from our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

So how do we know what our supreme treasure is? David said (and I’m quoting from memory and some notes), “What we value most, what we most dread to lose, what our thoughts turn to most frequently when we can think about anything, what brings us the greatest pleasure, is our treasure.”

But how do we know whether our supreme treasure is secure or ephemeral? Pointing us to Jesus’ words, David said the key is whether it is earthbound or rooted in eternity. “Every treasure that is earthly bound is bound to be destroyed eventually,” David said.

He gave several examples:

• Physical appearance, leading us to anxiously spend lots of money on things to keep us looking “forever young” even as the wrinkles accumulate;
• Financial portfolios, causing us to lose sleep as we always worry about what the stock market is doing; and
• The desire to appear knowledgeable, competent, or strong, pushing us to always fear being exposed with all our weaknesses.

In the text, Jesus pointed to three threats, which David called “corrosives,” to our earthly treasures:

• The moth, which is nature’s corrosion. We see this entropic truth with homes that always need repairing and cars that always break down. Because things fall apart and cannot last, there is no security in them.
• The rust, which is time’s corrosion. While God has placed eternity in our hearts, everything around us (including our bodies) grows old and dies. All the promises of permanence in a world winding down to dust turn out to be lies. They eventually will be buried in the sands of time, never to be found again.
• The thief, which is humanity’s corrosion. No matter how much we accumulate, our treasures are vulnerable to the greed, fraud, and viciousness of our fellow man. As Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn noted from bitter experience, “Do not pursue what is illusionary—property and position: all that is gained at the expense of your nerves decade after decade, and is confiscated in one fell night.”

Our earthbound treasures cannot last. “Jesus is telling us to test the durability of our treasures against these inevitable corrosives,” David says. “Jesus is arguing for common sense.”

Indeed. None of these corrosives is operable in heaven. Therefore, if we want to protect our treasure—that which is most important to us—from these three earthbound threats, then we have only one choice: “Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

The only question is if we will opt for common sense and heed our Lord’s loving advice. If not, He says, we will lose it all.

Stan Guthrie is NCC’s minister of communications.

Photo by Roger Starnes Sr. on Unsplash

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