Where Your Treasure Is, There Will Your Heart Be Also.
A Reflection On Matthew 6:14-21
The Lord said, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
“And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay 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 will your heart be also.”
RSV Matthew 6:14-21
Today, we stand on the precipice of a new season. Tomorrow we will begin our journey through Great Lent, preparing ourselves to receive the risen Lord at Pascha. Fittingly, today the Church calls us to live by a higher standard. Forgiveness, fasting, and valuing higher realities are how our Lord presents us the message, and in telling us our heavenly Father will do likewise, we see that He becomes our model. Through today’s musings, let us consider how we can incorporate these practices into our daily lives to deepen our growth in Christ during Lent.
Before we continue, it is important to note that everything that Christ is calling us to do in this narrative, He Himself does. Remember, the incarnation is at the core of our relationship to God, for without it, we would not be able to relate to Him fully. Thus, everything God calls us to do is actively carried out through His Son.
First, we hear that Christ tells us, “If you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father also will forgive you; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” He presents to us the positive and contrasts it with the negative.
If we forgive others for the wrongs they have done to us, we will be able to receive the forgiveness our Lord and God offers us. If we do not forgive as our Lord forgives, then how is it that we will be able to receive the forgiveness He offers? It is not possible, not because God isn’t offering us the gift, but because we live in such a way that we want nothing to do with the forgiveness He offers.
Forgiving others is not pretending that the past never happened, nor is it allowing those who wrong us to hurt us further; it is freeing ourselves of the burden of resentment and grudges we hold. It takes a lot of energy to hold a grudge, and at the same time, it takes a lot to forgive. If forgiveness feels overwhelming, start by choosing to release the hurt gradually as we offer it to our Lord.
Through forgiveness, we begin to offer our struggles to our Lord as He offers His forgiveness. Holding onto grudges, we carry the burden alone, yet forgiving as our Lord forgives, we truly become free from the shackles of resentment and hatred. To truly be free, we must offer that which we hold onto that is binding us, and forgiveness lies at the core of alleviating this weight.
After calling us to forgive as our Father forgives us, our Lord calls us to be intentional about how we fast. He tells us, “And when you fast, do not look dismal, like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that men may see their fasting. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
When we fast, we are not called to do it to show off. We are not humbling ourselves to be seen; we offer what we are struggling with to be connected fully with our Father, who is in secret. This is why Christ tells us, “But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by men but by your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” We are not called to put on a show and look dismal when we are making these offerings to our Father; we are called to act in secret, to align ourselves with our Father who is in secret.
Christ in His ministry does not make a show of who He is, in fact throughout the whole Gospel, we see that it isn’t until He offers His life for the life of the world that the Centurion in the Gospel of Mark proclaims “Truly this man was the Son of God” Mark 15:39 Our Lord acts in secret, so that we may have the freedom to know Him or not. It becomes our choice to know Him by living as He lives, so when we fast, let us do so with this intention in heart. Let us offer foods and all vices to Him, so our life may be fulfilled in standing in His loving and saving presence.
Finally, our Lord ties the call to forgive as our Father forgives us, and fast in secret to be seen by our Father who is in secret, by calling our attention to where we place our value. Our Lord tells us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay 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 will your heart be also.”
If we live for the treasures we lay up in this life, then we will see that they are all passing away as nature, evil acts, and time take their course. This is the reality of our lives separated from God, for over time, all falls into disorder. It is for this reason our Lord tells us to lay up treasures in heaven where all becomes fulfilled in our Lord. Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also, for if we live for what is passing away, then we are letting our life pass away as well, yet when we live for the gifts our Lord offers us, we experience true life in His presence.
On this journey towards the resurrection we undertake during Lent, we are called to remember what we are called to do with our whole lives. God, through the incarnation, crucifixion, and resurrection, shows us in action His love for us. He offers us the wholeness of who He is so we may experience the fullness of life He has to offer us. This is the mark we aim to hit: living the fullness of our life in Christ so that we may be fulfilled eternally in His loving and saving presence.
Along the way, our ego gets in the way. To place things in my own lived perspective, I refuse to let go of grudges and the hatred and resentment they produce. Over and again, I experience the weight such a disposition has on my life, and when I finally have the humility to offer it through forgiveness, the step is hard, yet the reward is freeing.
Regarding fasting, I have had plenty of times in the past when I flaunted the benefits of abstaining from food and prolonged fasting. I have hyperfixated on the foods I’m eating, rejecting the hospitality and love of others. Yet, when God opens my heart to the proper context of everything, I begin to see what He is forming in me as I continually make offerings to Him in secret. God is not calling us to live for show; He is calling us to live fully transformed in His presence, and all the while, whether we hit the mark or miss it, He is forming in us what we need for repentance.
I must also confess that, all too often, my sense of value is not centered on our Lord and the gifts He offers us all. Again, ego gets in the way; my priorities rest on work, finances, long-term planning, or health. None of these focuses is inherently evil, yet when I take my eyes off Christ in them, as I all too often do, I miss the true value they offer my life. Everything is a gift given to us by God, including our very life. Holding this prospectively, I find it a safeguard against missing Him and fixating on things in themselves. God, forgive me, a sinner, and grant us the strength to grow closer to you in our struggle towards your resurrection.
During our Lenten journey together, let us be intentional about how we live. Let us practice having God at the core of our lives, calling on Him constantly for guidance in our struggle. Let the forgiveness He offers us be our model for forgiving and receiving the gift He offers. Let us fast in secret, letting go of what may be separating us from our Father, who is in secret, so His presence may fill our hearts with joy and love. And let us place our true value in His presence, recognizing that all He has given us is a gift, which is truly fulfilled in His loving and saving presence. For truly, where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.
If I have misled, tempted, or wronged any of you in any way, I ask your forgiveness. My goal in all of these musing projects I offer is to invite you to know the love of our Lord and God. If my ego has gotten in the way of this goal, I pray that God fills all that is lacking in what I say and do. May our Lord fill all that is lacking in us as we struggle in faith as His body towards the light of His resurrection.
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