Who's Your Boss?
Throughout the scriptures there are over 500 verses talking about prayer. Certainly talking about something 500 times underscores the weight of that thing. Similarly, there are roughly 500 verses referencing faith. That makes sense seeing that prayer and faith are closely linked. I highlight this because it provides a comparison to the enormity of the weight that the scriptures put on our topic for Sunday, money, as money is talked about over 2,000 times!
That's right, the scriptures talk about money, possessions, generosity and greed 4 times more than they talk about prayer! In fact, it is estimated that roughly 25% of Jesus' teaching had to do with money. 16 out of Jesus' 38 parables capture these themes. And so we are not surprised, as Jesus is detailing the lifestyle of those who would call themselves his disciples, that he tackles the topic of one's treasure (Matthew 6:19-24). These are pretty famous verses, "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" (vs.19-21). I am sure that many of you are familiar with them. But why does Jesus put such an emphasis on money? Let's face it, if a church today focused 25% of it's teaching on money there wouldn't be much of a congregation left!
Jesus is so forthright on the issue of one's treasure because he know the power that it has. One writer puts it like this, "What Jesus is saying is that money gives orders. It bosses you around. If you have your priorities right, there is only one boss, and that is God himself" (N.T. Wright). And while an urgency, a force, exists to Jesus' warnings, there is also a strong invitation to the treasure that cannot be taken and will not be destroyed. There is an invitation to security and significance that goes beyond anything our world can promise and which will never fade. It is an invitation to be yoked to the best boss you could ever dream of. One that will never take advantage of you. One that will always provide, above and beyond what you could ask, imagine or deserve. As we traverse this Lenten season, it is an invitation to look at Christ who spent himself fully in order to ransom a people hijacked by an enemy. It is an invitation to have our hearts captured.