"Every now and then we enjoy a moment void of doubt and full of mystery, when we're overwhelmed with humility yet stunned with possibility. Moments when we realize with every one of our senses that God stands alone. "No one—no mate, no child, no preacher, no teacher, no ruler, no principality - no one is like You." Nothing is quite like suddenly realizing that nothing is like Him." Beth Moore

Yes, Lord, I WANT that! But I don't want EXPERIENCE more than I want relationship. I want to know You, to love You, to walk with You, to hear You speak to me. Why can't I hear You? Are You not speaking or am I not listening? What scripture do You want me to find? Can You direct me there please?

"For which cause also I suffer these things; but I am not confounded. For I know to whom I have believed, and I am certain that he is mighty to keep that (which) is taken to my keeping into that day." 2 Timothy 1:12 (Wycliffe)

What of my daily life am I entrusting You to send into eternity for me? What things last? What should I be concerned with? Should I try to store up treasures in heaven, or should I simply strive to do Your will? Maybe that's minutia but it seems different in terms of motivation. I don't want to be greedy for treasure, but I think the only treasure that lasts is doing Your will and loving others. Is that true?

"Life is good. And life is hard. And everything you have and everything you are will be taken away from you. Except . . . except, says Jesus, “treasure in heaven.” But what is “treasure in heaven?” I have often wondered about that. Wondered, I suppose, because there is something about the phrase that rubs me the wrong way. “Treasure in heaven” - it sounds too much like the justly ridiculed pie-in-the-sky or buying one’s way into eternity. But this was silly and quite stupid of me, because in the gospels the meaning is very clear. “Treasure in heaven” consists of all those things which you yourself have given away, all those parts of yourself which you have extended to others in service and in love. That is what “treasure in heaven” is, and that means that in the sight of God the only things that you and I really have are the things that we have given away, the only moments in our lives that are real and true are those moments when we have extended ourselves, so to speak, for others.

This is not a minor part of the teaching of Jesus. Again and again we hear him refer to treasure in heaven. And, as he sees it, that heavenly treasure is not unrelated to our earthly treasure and to that treasure which is our selves. The generosity and love which is part of our life in this world is what will endure in the heart of God, and God’s heart is heaven. And there, in the heart of God, we find and will find our treasure in heaven. To give is in fact to receive.

For the life of God and the heart of God consist precisely in giving and receiving. There are few things we are able to say about the inner life of the Holy Trinity. The mysterious reality of the Godhead is infinitely beyond our reach. One thing, though, that has been revealed to us about the life of God is this: that it is a dynamic of giving and receiving. Each person - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - giving up self in love to the other. Each person - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - receiving self in love from the other. To give is to receive in the life of God, and when we give of ourselves we are connected to God’s life. When we give of ourselves we are grounded in what is real and true. And what we give is cherished in God’s heart, cherished because it is the human expression of that dynamic which is God’s life - a life quite literally of love.

And that too is part of the reality of salvation: giving and the freedom which allows us to give. There is an account in St. Luke’s Gospel (19:1 – 10) which is an almost startling contrast to what we heard last week from St. Mark about the rich young man. Luke’s story is about a tax collector, Zacchaeus. A tax collector – a rich man, but hardly a righteous man. Tax collectors were known for their duplicity. Even so, he was a curious man and, being short, he climbed a tree to get a view of the wandering rabbi who had just arrived at his town. And Jesus, seeing him in the tree, invited himself to dinner. At table Zacchaeus was filled with joy at the presence of Jesus - not sorrow like the rich young man - and he made a vow. “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.” Salvation, in the person of Jesus, came to Zacchaeus’ house and it freed him. It resulted in joy. It resulted in repentance. It resulted in giving. It resulted in the joyful ability to give. Jesus, and therefore treasure in heaven, salvation active in the world and in a human life, giving and the freedom to give." SERMON PREACHED BY THE REV’D ALLAN B. WARREN III

OK. I get it. Thank You for so eloquently reminding me again that I am self-focused. And for speaking to me in an obvious way. I don't want to belittle that! What an amazing reality!

SO. I ask You to show me opportunities to give of my self and the stuff You have given me. I suppose I give of myself all day to my kids and hubby, but how deeply do I give? Do I give only what You give me, or do I truly delve deep and experience true sacrifice? I don't feel like I've been living in ANY way sacrificially... Is that TRUE?

Encourage and empower and motivate me to give sacrificially. There really isn't a greater joy than giving. Thank You Lord for the indescribable gift of Your Son. His sacrifice allows me the freedom to choose to make my own sacrifices. His sacrifice allows me to live. His sacrifice allows me to enjoy Your presence and Your plan. His sacrifice was the means to the Ends You set in place from the Beginning. My sacrifice is the only way to fully participate in those Ends. Sacrifice of my will to Yours, my life for Yours... It's actually really all Yours anyway. The time I give is only what You have allotted to me, the stuff is only what You have given me to give away, the love is only what You have given me to use on everyone around me, the children are to be sent out into the world a contribution to Your kingdom... What will You give me today to give away? Let my eyes not be blind and my ears not be deaf to Your will!

Thank You Jesus - may You be the only thing in my life I take for my own.