[Pentecost+24] "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Matthew 6:21 (NRSV)

On Sunday, Molly reminded us that Jesus' familiar teaching is often misunderstood in reverse -- that we think it means that where our heart is, that's where we'll put our treasure; but that actually what Jesus' statement seems to say is that where we put our treasure, our heart will follow.

Do we believe that?

What do we think constitutes our "treasure"?

As we kick off stewardship season, we tend to think of money, but that certainly isn't the only way we can give to something. And I would argue that for those of us with economic privilege, money is perhaps the easiest thing we can give -- the thing least likely to have a significant impact on directing our hearts.

I didn't tithe this year (I pledged, but not ten percent), and I'm aware that I'm much more financially comfortable this year than I often am as a result -- but I also know from past experience that I can afford to tithe ten percent without hurting financially. Not that I'm saying your tithe is supposed to hurt -- but I can set up an auto-debit and then basically never think about the money I'm giving to the church for the rest of the year, and that doesn't seem a very effective way to direct my heart.

In her sermon on Sunday, Molly suggested that, "Your valuables are a scout, the canary in the coal mine, for your vulnerable heart." For me, what's more effective in that than giving money is giving of my time and investing in relationships. I might not be so sure at the beginning -- I have a lot of things I could be doing with my time, and people can so often be disappointing -- but often I find myself valuing what I've invested in ... and not just due to cognitive biases that lead me to justify investments I've already made, but because over time I come to recognize value in these things that wasn't immediately obvious to me at the beginning.

That said, there's an oft-quoted line: "Every dollar you spend . . . or don't spend . . . is a vote you cast for the world you want." How we spend our money certainly matters -- both because the people and organizations that do work that we value have bills to pay, and also because how we direct our money is connected to how we direct our hearts. The decisions we make are cumulative, and we often identify ourselves based on choices we've made.

If I'm reading my Interlinear correctly, this word translated "treasure" means approximately "placed into tomorrow." Which is a nice segue into stewardship season: What sort of tomorrow are we building?

What about you, Beloved?

Do you think it's true that your heart follows your treasure? What have you found to be the most effective kinds of treasure for effecting that trajectory?

Are there other things this text brought up for you?

You're invited to continue the conversation in the comments. (As always, you're welcome to comment anonymously/pseudonymously if you prefer.)