Treasure
The events of this last week have really made me think about life. Friday, I did a funeral for one of my greatest encouragers in the congregation. Saturday we will welcome the community in for dinner and candy. Sunday is Reformation Sunday. Monday I will be saying God bless you to every trick or treater that comes up to my porch. All of this while I prepare for All Saints Sunday this coming Sunday. It’s a day when we remember those who have passed into glory, and we thank God for the church we have received.
Life and Death.
All of this came together for me in a Facebook post celebrating one of my top 5 songs turning Twenty. This isn’t a “pump me up” song, or a “you can do it” song. This is one of those self-reflection, stare in the mirror songs. On November 5th, 2002 Johnny Cash released the last album of his life. On the album was the song a cover of the song Hurt. The song is mournful and haunting. A song looking back at life and asking the question “Was it worth it?” And as powerful as the song is, the music video is pure art. The video shows Johnny Cash, in his final days, sitting in a closed and soon to be condemned museum that bore his name. Through out it, almost as a memory, are clips of his movies, and his wife, and his children. A young vibrant man in his prime. An old man who asks, “What have I become?” As he closes the piano, you can feel a life close as well…
The Bible warns us. In Matthew 6:21 we are told where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. It practically begs us: “store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.”
This world will try to sell you a lot to be happy. It will distract you up until the very end. At the end you will be left with a kingdom of dirt…surrounded by dirt….and under the dirt.
That isn’t what God wants for you. God made you to be in an eternal relationship with Him. In His kingdom of glory. He wants to wipe away every tear and remove every hurt. So, with all due respect to the Man in Black, you sang an amazing song…. But I am going to let Nancy Holden have the last word in this devotion. She left a healthy pile of notes behind, and practically planned her own funeral. Despite knowing she was losing herself; she smiled and placed these words at the end of her letter/obituary;
Nancy knew her last days on Earth would be the ultimate blessing of her life. No enemy was ahead, death was defeated. She praised God! She had lived long enough to know who was ultimately in control. It is her prayer that each of us comes to know that blessing and hold onto it in their own life.
“What Have I Become?” Hurt or Heaven? It’s good to step back once an awhile and ask the hard question. Stand tall people of Hope. God loves you, cling to that Old Rugged Cross.
- Pastor Dan