Virginia Beach, Virginia
The Rev. Terry D. Clark,
Senior Pastor
Emmanuel
Lutheran Church
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
A big church in the east was having its Sunday morning service. Many hundreds were crowded into the stately nave on this wintry, blustery day, evidenced by heavy coats and books everywhere. The young pastor called the ushers to the pulpit area in preparation for the offering. As hundreds sat with bowed heads and the choir completed a short offertory it was suddenly very quiet. The young pastor paused dramatically and prayed: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Amen!"
"God With Us"
As the majority dug and reached for their envelopes, with some digging through heavy clothing in a rapid search, a few had given no previous consideration to the offering until that moment. In a rear row, a solitary figure, a middle-agaed man in a gray business suit found himself in a quickly developing dilemma; a fast check of his wallet revealed a five and a fift-dollar bill.sFor many this would pose no problem as the old five-dollar bill philosophy has been with many churchgoeers for years . . . too many years. Our well dressed man, however, was not your average donor. His training and his religious heritage had developed more along the lines of $20, though he had long felt he should return more, as God had indeed prospered him. But, $50? He heard the ushers working their way back as he hastily viewed the two bills in his wallet. Which one, his heart was saying, which one, as his mind was closing on the five-dollar bill as a practical decision.
The young pastor's words resounded in his mind . . . treasure, heart, treasure, heart. Out of somewhere, as the usher now had reached his row, perhaps from beyond, he sensed his hand on the fifty, as he heart tripped more heavily, there, now it was done.
But why? He had never acted so impulsively in church before, having carried his accountant's training and logic with him to church in the past. Now his heart really started to beat rapidly, but with a new sense of excitement accomplanied by a warm feeling of dedication quite unfamiliar to him. Somewhere under his heavy coat he felt a trickle of persperation, then a tear formed in his eye, but what really surprised him was the tingle he felt in his heart.
As he worked his way to the young pastor's outstretched hand at the door, he felt an inner peace he never knew before and a sense of commitment taking over. He tried to pass it off as a brief and minor emotional event, yet a glowing warmth remained with him for days, and he noted an improved attitude and feeling toward sharing and giving.
Strange, you think, and maybe not really significant at all? Perhaps, but remembe the young pastor's words from Luke 12:34: "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." It is spiritually significant that when you return a proportionate share of your possessions to Christ, you are returning a significant portion of yourself. Christ wants this faithfulness from you.
With love to each of you, I am . . .
Your friend
and Pastor,
The Rev. Terry D. Clark