Do not be afraid little flock, for it is the Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give alms. Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out , an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys.
I want you to take a moment to think about what you have.
What is hanging on the walls?
What does your kitchen contain?
How about the garage or storage shed?
Imagine the lifetime you’ve spent building what you have.
Now picture one thing that you enjoy using, something that you get a lot of use out of, something you’re happy you bought.
Now when you go home today I want you to put an advertisement up on kijiji or the buy and sell saying that it’s for sale.
And when the person who wants it calls you up give them a fair price.
How does that scenario make you feel?
What words come to mind when you think of being without that thing?
When I asked myself this question the thing that came to mind was my Makita 18V cordless hammer drill/driver combo.
I got it for Christmas last year after struggling along with my Grandpa’s hand me down corded drill that had to be held at the perfect angle in order to work.
Without my Makita all the building I do would go so much slower.
I get a lot of pleasure out of using such a well-made tool.
It’s precise, does the things I need and makes the job so much more enjoyable.
Before I would get frustrated, projects went slower and building things took much longer.
So how do I feel when I think of not having it?
Sad.
A little fearful that I will have to go back to that old drill.
Disappointed because I waited so long to get this one.
I could live without it but I sure don’t want to.
Perhaps your affinity is not for shop tools like me.
Maybe it’s a nice Kitchen Aid Mixer or a Stereo or a Boat.
Maybe it’s something you worked hard to get or something you were given.
Either way it holds value for you, not only because of what it cost but because of what you can do with it or what it does for you.
It has value.
But something isn’t valuable only because of what it costs or how practical it is.
One of the times in life when things become very important is when someone dies.
It was before my Grandpa died that he let me have some of his tools, including that old, difficult, frustrating drill.
When I used to us it I remembered him, how he smelt and what he was like.
I remember him sitting in his old lazy boy smoking Pall Mall’s with no filter watching Matlock or the Rockford Files.
The drill is valuable not because it does its job particularly good but because it reminds me of someone I loved.
But the Makita 18V Hammer/Driver Drill Combo has replaced it and now it sits in the drawer, never used and getting dusty.
A memory rarely remembered and fading.
Either way the value we place on things is so fickle.
One day that new boat is the apple of our eye and we couldn’t do without it.
The next we sell it, move on and find something else to value.
The new becomes old and is replaced by the newer.
The memories we have fade and new ones emerge.
Our hearts jump from one thing to another, never satisfied, always on the move.
The new things are eaten by rust and wear and memories time takes away our memories.
So when Jesus says to “Make purses for yourselves that do not wear out , an unfailing treasure in heaven where no thief comes near and no moth destroys,” it’s a curious thing.
We are used to everything wearing out.
Carpets become faded, parts in our cars wear out, clothes are eventually full of holes.
Maybe if we’re unlucky things are stolen before they’re no longer useful to us.
Even our own bodies decay and come to an end.
All the physical things God gives us are temporary.
We fight to preserve them, take care of them but in the end we must let go of them.
That’s not what Jesus is suggesting.
He’s not suggesting that we what until the very last minute to let go.
He’s inviting us to place our value in an unfailing treasure, to place our value in Him.
One way to do that is to take what we currently value and give it to others, to rid ourselves of those idols that are laying around our houses.
Especially in 2013 were our money is spent or given is where our treasure is.
But even in the church today most of the money we give goes right back to ourselves.
Of a budget of $160,000 a year we give $10,000 away.
When I was visiting Denmark this summer I saw a different version of giving in the church which some of you may be familiar with.
During the worship service I was ready to put my 100 Krone in the offering plate.
The problem was that it never came around.
Confused I asked the friends that we came with where the offering plate was.
She told me that they don’t have one.
However then we walked to the back of the church and there was a very old box with a slot in it.
This is where you donate you’re money and it goes to various programs for people in the community.
I recognized the box from some of the historical stuff I read in seminary.
Luther talked about the alms box at the back of the church.