Where your treasure is, there your heart will be

In August Caroline and I were worshipping at Chelmsford Cathedral.  The preacher that morning was Canon Philip Neel, a former Director of Ordinands in Chelmsford Diocese. The Gospel reading that day  came from Luke 12.22-40.  Philip Neel focussed on the words of Jesus: “Where your treasure is, there you will be also” (Luke 12.34; Matthew 6.21).

According to Frederick Dale Bruner, an American commentator, Jesus was saying, that:

If one’s goal is to impress others by acquiring personal treasures in fame or fortune, one’s centre of gravity will always be people and their admiration… Our goals can be laudable, but if they are not lodged in a relationship with God, we are going to be disappointed… Even the desire to be an outstanding preacher, teacher, writer, or even person… will not do.

R.T. France, a British commentator, suggested that the treasures in question are “inheriting eternal life”. By contrast Phil Neel applied these words of Jesus to what we experience every Sunday. He likened the treasure of worship to a diamond with many facets.  The facets of worship, he suggested, are the reading of the Scriptures, the hymns and songs, the prayers, the bread and wine, and the fellowship which binds people together. I confess that I had never preached on this verse, and had I done so, I probably would not have applied these words of Jesus in this way. Yet I immediately realised that of all earthly treasures the most valuable is the gift of worship. Compared to this even an annual salary of a £100,000,000 is nothing at all. Surely for all God’s people what we experience on a Sunday is the highlight of the week. Certainly, this is my experience at Chelmsford Cathedral, where we are blessed with good preaching and wonderful worship, where not surprisingly I regularly encounter God.

I recognise that that this is not the experience of all God’s people. In the first place, in the vast majority of Baptist churches the Lord’s Supper is celebrated only once a month, and as a result there is less opportunity to encounter God through bread and wine. Furthermore, in many Baptist and independent churches the songs which are sung lack the depth that many of the great hymns of the church have. As I have often said, most modern songs are like paper tissues, which quickly wear out after frequent use! Furthermore, in some churches preaching is often a form of entertainment rather than an opportunity to expound and apply God’s word to the world in which we live. Similarly, public prayer in many churches I know is extraordinarily limited. Yes, the congregation praises God in their prayers, but not in every church do people confess their sins and receive the assurance that however much we may have let God down, he will always forgive us our sins. Sadly, in many churches the prayers of intercession lack depth. In this regard I used to preach in one particular church which had 400 to 500 people every Sunday morning, where the minister never had any prayers of intercession in the belief that it was the responsibility of their mid-week Bible study groups. As regards the reading of Scriptures, in every Anglican church at every Sunday morning service there is always a Psalm, an Old Testament reading, and a New Testament reading. Yet amazingly those who profess to be Bible-based Christians in their Sunday services often read much less than those who follow the lectionary.

Needless to say, the treasure, which is ours, needs to be shared with others. The challenge which faces churches of every denomination and theological conviction, is how we share the treasure which is ours with those who never attend church, except perhaps for weddings and funerals. The fact is that Anglican churches find this easier than other churches. Anglican ministers relate more easily with people outside their church. Most Anglican ministers will visit schools, and will have civic services to which the mayor or local councillors or politicians are invited, whereas most Free Churches and independent churches tend to have no relationships with the wider community. This does not mean that they are not winning people for Jesus and his church, but the impact upon the decision-makers in their town or village tends to be somewhat limited. The challenge which we all face is to burst out of the spiritual bubble in which so many find themselves and to make such an impact upon their town or village that people will want to come to church and discover the difference that Sunday worship can make to their lives.