This is the ninth in a series of reflections offered as part of my service with the Stewardship Ministry at Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Hickman, Neb., where Anne and I are members.
The black walnut trees north of our house have shed their leaves. Only a few walnuts still cling to their branches, silhouetted against the blue skies we have enjoyed the past few weeks. Amid the leaves on the ground, the fallen walnuts—husks green, but mottled with brownish black—lie scattered. When I go outside and wait patiently and quietly, I can eventually spot the resident squirrels at work, burying here and there carefully selected nuts, treasure they will reclaim when they follow the maps they have committed to memory … or entrusted to instinct.
A squirrel’s life has purity and simplicity: find nuts, eat some, hide others, elude predators, raise up little squirrels. Our lives confront us with more complexity and, sadly, less clarity of purpose. Even so, much of our lives and energy remains committed to finding, gathering, consuming, storing, and worrying about our walnuts, our treasure.
In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches, “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew 6:21, New American Bible). By that he means that when we want to know what matters to us—what we value, what drives us, what we choose to honor—we need look no further than the reflection glinting off of our treasure. Our treasure is not a hoard of walnuts, but rather the object of our attention, the recipient of our devotion, the focus of our dedication.
How do we use our time? What excites us? On what do we gladly spend our money? Where do we choose to use our talents? What topics of conversation entice us? These are the questions that help us to learn the truth about our treasure. Do we desire treasure that really doesn’t last much longer than walnuts buried beneath the leaves? Do we seek treasure that distracts us from devotion to God? Jesus reminds us, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal” (Matthew 6:19, NAB).
Our Lord desires for us to treasure him. He knows when we hold him most dear, when he lives in the center of our lives. He knows, too, when the pursuit of other treasures occupies our thoughts and drives our desires. The wise advice King David gave to his son Solomon applies equally well to us:
… know the God of your father and serve him with a perfect heart and a willing soul, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the mind’s thoughts. If you seek him, he will let himself be found by you; but if you abandon him, he will cast you off forever (1 Chronicles 28:9, NAB).
This month presents us with at least two occasions to reflect on the treasure in our lives. First, when we gather as a congregation to consider our 2012 budget, we can ask ourselves, “How does this plan for ministry reflect the treasure in our life together? What does it say about how we use the time and the talent and the money God has given us? When God looks at our budget as a testimony that reveals what lies in our hearts—both as individuals and as a congregation—what does he see?”
Our second occasion is our nation’s Day of Thanksgiving. As we gather with friends and family, we can offer our prayers of gratitude to the Father who grants us life each day, who enriches our world with abundance, who blesses us with grace through his Son’s sacrifice, and who sustains us by their Holy Spirit. These are the great treasures God alone can and does give to us, his children.
David M. Frye, Stewardship Ministry