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"Is that your final answer?"
"Final answer."
Dramatic pause. "You're right! You've just won a million
dollars." The confetti comes down, and the crowd goes wild.
"Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" has become an incredible
television success. Huge ratings, lots of ad income for the ABC
network, and probably the reason that the parent Disney Company's
stock price has been boosted by 30 percent. There are now local
versions of the show in 70 countries around the world.
Of course, the creative geniuses at the other networks
hardly missed a beat in getting copycat products on the air. NBC
dusted off the format that was at the heart of the quiz show
scandals of the 50's, Twenty-One. The Fox network, not known for
its reluctance to push the boundaries of taste introduced
"Greed," no one apparently concerned that Greed has long been
identified by the church as one of the seven deadly sins. And
then there was that inspiring and uplifting television event,
"Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire?" It was trash TV at its
trashiest, and it deserved the horrified outcry that it spawned.
But it was a ratings winner.
Why are these things such a success? Is it A) they are fun?
B) they are the best shows on TV? C) they are educational? or
D) people are mesmerized by money? We know the answer to this
one and we do not even need to use a lifeline.
Now, here we are in Lent, that time of the church year in
which we are encouraged to look at our lives, to see if there are
elements in them that ought not to be, and, by the power of God,
make some changes. We continue to study Jesus' words in the
Sermon on the Mount and come across "Do not lay up for yourselves
treasures on earth..." Uh, Jesus, is that your final answer?
Hmm. For a society that is as fascinated by "Who Wants to Be a
Millionaire" as we are, those are hard words to hear.
Listen to him again: ""Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves
break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in
heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do
not break in and steal." What is Jesus saying here?
To understand him, it might be helpful to look at his
references to moth and rust and thieves. Concerning moths,
remember, they are not only "computer bugs," they eat things they
ought not. In Jesus' neighborhood, an individual's position in
society was very much reflected by the clothes that were worn.
Elaborate dress indicated that a person was of high rank, while
plain garb showed someone to be of lesser rank. You have heard
the old adage, "Clothes make the man?" Well, in first century
Judea, that was very much the case. Of course, if the moths got
to all that finery, you could forget it. Suddenly, the rank and
position in life reflected by clothing were out the window.
There is nothing permanent about the treasure of clothing.
What about "rust?" What does rust do? It "eats" away at
metal just as moths eat away at clothes. Jesus' reference could
have just as easily been to worms or rats or mice or other
assorted little vermin that eat away at the corn and grain stored
in great barns, little critters which would eventually pollute
and destroy the entire store. Obviously, there was nothing
permanent about that kind of treasure either.
Then there is the matter of the treasure that thieves would
go after. In a day in which life savings might be deposited
under the bed in an old sack, and houses were hardly constructed
with security in mind, those savings could prove to be a most
inviting target. One could hardly call something "forever their
own" which could be forever GONE between the time of leaving home
in the morning and returning at night. Again, there is nothing
permanent about that.
The message of Jesus is clear: do not put too much store by
things that you cannot say positively are yours anyway. If
clothes are a big deal to you, fine...but be aware that they are
not going to last. If accumulated possessions, the fruits of
your labors, are important, okay...but make sure that you know
that all sorts of things can happen to deprive you of them. If
having a lot of money means much to you, all right...but
remember, there is nothing to guarantee that you will keep it.
As a matter of fact, about the only guarantee you can get with
ANY of those things is that there will come a day when they will
NOT be yours. As the old Spanish proverb has it, "There are no
pockets in a shroud."
A rich man in town died one day, and two men were talking
about it. "How much did he leave?" asked the one.
The reply came back, "All of it."
Good common sense wisdom: "Do not store up for yourselves
treasures on earth..." But Jesus did not stop there. He
continued, "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in
and steal." What is he saying? You can't take it with you but
you can send it on ahead? How are we to understand Him?
Obviously, even though he has just been talking about
material things, he is NOT talking about them now. The people
who listened to him there on that hillside knew that. Their
rabbis taught that HEAVENLY treasure came from two sources: deeds
of kindness and a good character.
Of course, the early church operated on that principle. One
of the most important tasks those first Christians felt they had
was in the care of those who could not care for themselves.
Story has it that, during the days of terrible persecution, the
Roman authorities broke into a church to loot whatever treasures
they might find there; they demanded of the deacon in charge that
he hand over everything of value. The deacon simply pointed to
the widows and orphans being fed, the sick being nursed back to
health and the poor whose needs were being supplied and said,
"There, Sir. There are the treasures of the church."(1)
The other aspect of heavenly treasure concerned good
character. One rabbi was asked if he would spend time in a
heathen city if he were paid handsomely for his services. But
the man replied that he would only do so if he could stay in a
home of the Law. His rationale was "In the hour of a man's
departure neither silver nor gold nor precious stones accompany
him, but only his knowledge of the Law and his good works."(2)
Good deeds...good character. Those are the stuff heavenly
treasure is made of. There is the old story of the rich and
famous man who died and went to heaven. As he was being guided
to his celestial home, he passed through one magnificent
neighborhood after another and thought to himself how fitting it
would be for a man of his position and reputation to live in one
of the many fine mansions he saw there. But the angel who was
leading him did not stop at any of the magnificent mansions he
saw; he stopped instead in front of a poorly constructed little
shack. "But wait," the man protested, "surely this cannot be MY
home."
The angel replied, "I am sorry, Sir, this is the best we
could do with the materials you sent up."
Heavenly treasure..."where moth and rust do NOT consume and
where thieves do not break through and steal."
Something else should be noted here: Jesus was not simply
some country philosopher; he had more reason to note the problems
of earthly possessions than simply their lack of permanence - he
knew that they could be a source of eternal difficulty. He knew
that "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
The danger is idolatry.
The rich young ruler was a case in point.(3) That young man
had all this world could possibly offer, but even with all that,
he knew that something was lacking in his life. He came to Jesus
to find out what it was. Jesus told him the problem was his
possessions: "Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the
poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow
me." But the young man could not do it. You see, he did not
possess the possessions; they possessed HIM. And whatever
possesses you is your God. If you are possessed by any other
than the God of heaven, you are possessed by an idol.
Be clear about this: neither in the story of the rich young
ruler nor in the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus saying anything
against possessing property. Some would read these words and
interpret them to mean that no one should have anything of their
own; Christians should be communists. No. Jesus' concern is
about priorities. Whom do you love? Whom do you trust? When
the priorities become skewed, the questions about love and trust
begin to be answered with things like money, or power, or
reputation. They become our "lifelines" and our "final
answer"...they become the idols. Jesus says do not let that
happen.
Then he goes on to talk about something that might be
confusing because it does not seem to follow on this thought
about earthly and heavenly treasure. He says, "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 unhealthy, your whole
body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is
darkness, how great is the darkness!" What do good and bad eyes
have to do with treasure?
Actually, we have a translation problem here. This is one
of those rare instances where a good modern translation, in its
effort to make a passage more understandable, tends to lead us
astray. But in defense of the translators, the Greek words
behind this English can be very confusing without a bit of
background. We who grew up hearing this passage from the old
King James version remember it differently: "The light of the
body is the eye. If therefore thine eye be SINGLE, thy whole
body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be EVIL, thy whole
body shall be full of darkness." The "single" eye as compared to
an "evil" eye? What is going on here?
The King James translators were quite correct in their
literal rendering, but what needs to be understood is a certain
Hebrew idiom that lies even behind the Greek. When SINGLE eye
and EVIL eye are taken together, the contrast is not between ways
of seeing; it is between degrees of generosity. Someone with a
so-called "evil eye" was someone who was a cheapskate. We have
the same kind of thing in English when we compare someone who is
"open-handed" as opposed to someone who is "tight-fisted."
Nothing to do with this five-fingered instrument attached to a
wrist; we are talking about whether someone is generous or not.
Jesus simply used the idiom of the day to point out how someone's
generosity or lack of it could affect their entire life.
Money, money, money. It fascinates us. Regis asks, "Who
Wants to Be a Millionaire?" and most of us would say ME. Then we
hear Jesus say, "No one can serve two masters; for a slave will
either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one
and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth."
You are familiar with the name Robert Fulghum, the author
who became famous following publication of his book, All I Really
Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Several years ago, in an
interview with the Christian humor magazine called "The Door,"
Fulghum reported that since his success, people were always
saying, "Well, you must have a big house and a big car." And he
responds, "No, I have the same house, same car, same friends,
same wife..." Fulghum says he is on guard against all kinds of
greed, and is committed to serving God, not money.
Of course, fame is a challenge, he admits, "and the
challenge is to be a good steward with this kind of authority and
power -- especially with the economics." So one year he did a
book tour, and used it to raise $670,000 for a number of good
causes. "I don't think I should be given extra credit for doing
that," he says. "I think you should think ill of me if I didn't
do that."
Death does not scare Robert Fulghum. In fact, he has
already picked out his grave, and he likes to visit it. It
reminds him to live life in a way that is rich toward God, and
when he sees it he says to himself, "Don't get lost here. Know
where you're going."(4) Good for you, Robert.
Regis asks, "Who wants to be a millionaire?"
Jesus responds, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on
earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and
steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in
and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also."
And that, my friend, is the final answer.
Amen!
1. William Barclay, The Daily Study Bible, CD-ROM edition (Liguori, MO: Liguori
Faithware, 1996) used by permission of Westminster/John Knox Press 2. ibid. 3. See Mark 10:17-22 4. "The Door," May/June, 1995
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