Treasure

I’m sure we have all heard a story about someone who gets a call from an attorney informing them that their long-lost distant aunt left them millions of dollars.   What a shock to suddenly learn they are the recipient of such huge wealth. 

    Most of us have probably played the game of “What would you do if you inherited 20 million dollars?”   We usually say we’d help some people, set up a foundation, and buy some stuff we want.   We act as if such a windfall like that would make us really happy.   However 70% of lottery winners are bankrupt within a few years.  Many are depressed or have huge family problems after this big win.  

     So what if there is something else that we desperately need and we already have? What if there is something far more valuable than temporary riches?

One of my favorite poems was written by the ancient Persian poet Hafiz:

~With the Moon~

“Admit something;

Everyone you see, you say to them, “love me.”

Of course you do not do this out loud,

Otherwise

Someone would call the cops.

Still though think about this, this great pull in us to connect….”

    The universal deep need of every single human soul is to be seen, to be loved, and to connect.  We were made for it.   So it’s not material stuff that will really settle our hearts.    

      However, since many of us have left church and religion we have substituted our negativity about God with concepts like energy, the universe,  a philosophy, or spirituality.  Sadly all of these images lack any personal connection to us.  We are just one of billions on an impersonal dog-eat-dog planet.  

     An impersonal universe of energy has no capacity to love us, to commune with us, comfort us, or encourage us. 

     I have deduced after being on this planet for over seven decades that being human is a very difficult journey. Relationships, finances, health, and children (the list could be much longer) are often sources of discouragement, despair and deep pain. 

      So we tend to numb ourselves in the money chase, the perfect body chase, the most possessions chase.  We tune out with alcohol and drugs, work and sex, more possessions and chances to be acclaimed.   These are all drugs that we use in an attempt to fill the aching hole in us that can only be filled by love. The treasure we have and need is right in front of us, but we miss it.

     Jesus told several stories to help us know how invaluable this Treasure is.  

    In one, a man bought a whole field and dug up every square inch to find the treasure.  In another, a woman lost a coin and then emptied her entire house and swept everywhere to find it.  There is a Treasure we all need and it has already been given and it’s worth more than anything. In each case Jesus is teaching us that the Treasure He gives is invaluable. 

      Jesus constantly taught us that He was God’s very personal presence among us.  His  name “Emmanuel” means “God with us”.  He taught us that as he was leaving the planet he was giving his Holy Spirit to be in and with us. 

     In John 14 Jesus says, “God will provide you another Friend so that you will Always have Someone WITH you.  This Friend is the Spirit of Truth.” 

     Later in the same chapter Jesus says, “I am IN my Father, and you’re IN Me, and I’m IN you.”  

     This Treasure is better than getting a call from the attorney saying you’ve been given a huge windfall.  Imagine, knowing you are never alone, and that you actually have in you the the source of all wisdom.  You have inside of yourself the great LOVER. You are always heard and comforted.  This treasure is not “out there” somewhere.  It is not an impersonal universe.  This Treasure is God’s Spirit, and God can’t be much closer than IN you.  And, imagine this Treasure is not something you have to work for. 

     Notice Jesus calls His spirit our Friend.  This implies intimacy and connection always.  This is not an impersonal energy, philosophy, or universe.  This is a God who is about connection and love.  This is a God who laughs and cries with you.  This is a God who comforts you in all the hard and sad inevitabilities of life.  This is a God who never never never leaves you.  This is a God who speaks your language and invites you to relationship whether it be in a bar, on a hike, at your job, or at home with your kids.  

     There is one catch to all this, however. In order for us to actually experience this relationship requires that we be still enough in our minds and hearts to hear God. I find that I can make my environment quiet, but my mind is still full of noise.  Practicing being present in the moment, meditation, and mindfulness allow the noise to be turned down.  Unfortunately for us, God speaks in a very quiet voice and, we live in a culture that drowns us in noise all the time.  Hardly a minute goes by that we are not watching something, listening to something, or talking to someone.  But, taking a deep breath, turning off the noise and being still creates a space in us to actually hear the loving, guiding, comforting voice of God.  

We were simply not made to do this difficult journey of life alone.  

     The last thing Jesus said to us as He was leaving this planet was: 

“I am with you ALWAYS, even to the end of this age.” 

(Matthew 28:19).  

     So, if a lawyer called me today and told me I had inherited millions of dollars, I’d be happy, but that treasure would pale to the treasure of the actual, personal, relational, God living inside of me.