Tuesdays with Dietrich

Day 6 of Lent, and Bonhoeffer's question before us is one that I have frequently puzzled over, whether it's me asking the question of myself, or someone else trying to figure out this delicate balance. "Where is the boundary between the goods I am supposed to use and the treasure I am not supposed to have?" 401k's? Savings accounts? The expensive hobby? The beloved but unnecessary car? The lake house? What is it that I'm not supposed to have? And how in the world am I supposed to figure that out? I really do trust God, but I know that I'm also called to exhibit a high level of financial responsibility. Where do I rely on God? And where is it okay to rely on the things that are relatively trustworthy in this world?

Where Bonhoeffer lands is central: Everything depends on the heart, on you. I could be a person who has very little, materially speaking, and yet still be completely worried about and preoccupied with even the little that I have. On the other hand, I could be a person of enormous resources and means, and simply see all that I have as an extension of my heart and my life of faith -- stewarding the resources in my purview with the right levels of trust, gratitude, and responsibility. "It's not a matter of size."

Hopefully the point is clear: It's about the heart, and those things that we predispose ourselves to look to and draw from in situations of both need and gratitude. In Lent, we are trying our best to look inward, so that when we look out, we see God rightly as the only thing, the only One, worthy of our greatest trust.

"Goods are given to us to be used, but not to be stored away. Just as Israel in the desert received manna daily from God and did not have to worry about food and drink, and just as the manna which was stored from one day for another rotted, so should Jesus' disciples receive their share daily from God. But if they store it up as lasting treasure, they will spoil both the gift and themselves. The heart clings to collected treasure. Stored-up possessions get between me and God. Where my treasure is, there is my trust, my security, my comfort, my God. Treasure means idolatry.

But where is the boundary between the goods I am supposed to use and the treasure I am not supposed to have? If we turn the statement around and say, What your heart clings to is your treasure, then we have the answer. It can be a very modest treasure; it is not a question of size. Everything depends on the heart, on you. If I continue to ask how can I recognize what my heart clings to, again there is a clear and simple answer: everything which keeps you from loving God above all things, everything which gets between you and your obedience to Jesus is the treasure to which your heart clings."

- from his book Discipleship

Scripture to consider:

The eyes of all look to you,

and you give them their food in due season.

You open your hand,

satisfying the desire of every living thing.

The Lord is just in all his ways,

and kind in all his doings.

The Lord is near to all who call on him,

to all who call on him in truth.

-Psalm 145:18

Prayer for today:

Lord, may my true treasure be knowing you and following you. May nothing stand in the way of your love for me and my love for you.

Amen