‘Humpty, do you ever think of treasure in heaven?’
‘You mean pie in the sky?’
‘Well, not exactly.’
I set to and thought what I do mean.
Mention of a hoard of treasure always gets our attention. Whether it is Aladdin venturing into one cave or the Count of Monte Cristo into another, we become enthralled, even though we know it is all fantasy. But wait a moment. Treasure in heaven is something that we find in the Sermon on the Mount – and most people, whether Christian or not, have a high regard for that. Well then, Jesus is recorded as saying, ‘…store up treasure in heaven …’ and he added that where our treasure is there will our heart be also (Matthew 6.19-21). His idea of treasure in heaven was no fantasy.
There remains a problem. How can we defer to one who tells us not to save? It is true that Jesus delighted in paradox and managed to get people thinking when he made gnomic remarks. We have to be aware of a dormant aspect of the Christian faith that came alive when liberation theologians like Gutierrez and Segundo in South America saw freedom for the oppressed as a vital down-to-earth component of the Gospel. No pie in the sky for them.
Worldly wealth is not everything. Wagner and Dostoyevsky were contemporaries. They were also gifted men. Both knew what it was to be in debt and to be in jail. We don’t remember that. We do remember their novels and music-dramas. They were beyond price. Serious evaluation has to notice such examples when we evaluate those who have bequeathed works of art, music and literature to succeeding generations.
We find a rich young ruler in the Gospels. He went away from Jesus with a heavy heart. This is not to say that we must prize indigence and despise wealth. However, we have to consider the Franciscans and their good-humoured contentment with the absence of property. But even if we always have to ask where a rich man’s wealth has come from, we have to act responsibly about the earth’s resources and the human ingenuity and effort that puts them to good use for all of us.
Perhaps pie is best left in the sky. We shall know about it one day. Meanwhile too much of it spells spiritual obesity. Too little spells deprivation. Maybe like the Greek letter pi it is just incalculable and we should be content with that. I shall ask Humpy what he thinks about it all.
ABOUT SWANMORE
St Barnabas, Swanmore, near Southampton may be without a vicar at present but it has a high-end magazine that covers everything that happens in the parish. Village heroes, Anglicans, Methodists, gardeners, naturalists and scarecrows figure prominently in the 44 pages well supported by advertisers and edited by Penny Clive. The magazine is published six times a year and is strong on pictures.
JUBILEE PROJECT
Also without a vicar is St Peter’s, Derby. It clearly means business with its Jubilee Project, offering debt and welfare benefits advice and listing in details what it can do.
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