For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"

- Matthew 6:16-23

Over the past week, we have read from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Beginning with the Beatitudes, or blessings, we then moved to Jesus' teaching to His disciples that they are the "salt of the earth," and the "light of the world." Expanding on the statute against murder, Jesus taught about inciting hatred and damaging relationships; and using the powerful imagery of parts of the body, Jesus taught about guarding our thoughts and discerning what we keep in our minds, choosing what we dwell upon. Next He expanded upon the statute regarding justice, and taught true righteousness. And finally, He taught about prayer, and spiritual discipline, religious practice. He gave us the prayer which begins Our Father in heaven.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." In every teaching on spiritual discipline, Jesus preaches against hypocrisy. In the divine economy, the whole notion of how God relates to us and we in turn relate to God, there is the important understanding of heavenly realities, what lives in secret, the life of faith. Fasting was and is an important religious practice; as we move toward Lent we begin to consider the purpose of discernment, making choices, not being led by our passions alone in life, but understanding ourselves and being free enough to choose what is best for us and our spiritual lives. Fasting is a means of learning such discipline - and we also fast from sin, from dwelling on the thoughts Jesus has taught do us no good, leaving aside the things we're better off without - not having as a part of ourselves. But here, He speaks about the inner life and its reality: our relationship with God. The whole point of fasting is to cultivate that relationship. My study bible says, "For the one who fasts, the compassion of God outshines physical discomfort: joy overshadows sorrow."

"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Here we have the "nuts and bolts" of spiritual economy, the relationship we have with our Source, the Father in heaven. There is a spiritual reality that lives not in some far away place we call heaven, but with us in the here and now. And we store treasures there that properly belong to this realm that is such a basic and essential part of ourselves, without which we do not truly have life. The treasures we store in heaven are those things that are the fruits of a spiritual life, of a life lived in relationship to the heavenly things, to our Father in heaven and all that is in His name. We create real values, true treasures, by living such a life. And it is again a teaching against hypocrisy: with what do we fill our true lives, that which is within us? What do we love? We have to make a choice.

"The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" The eye is the spiritual eye of the heart and mind. How do we perceive? Are our "eyes" working as they need to? How we perceive, then, determines the health of all of what we are, our souls, our being. Jesus is talking about the care of the heart and mind, the true center where we decide what we love, what we treasure in life, what is essential and most important. It is the care of this, then, that is the primary point of our existence and the choices we make in life. With what instrument do we perceive? We are lost or found depending on that "eye" and its health.

Jesus' teachings today emphasis our inner lives, the power of that "eye" that is within us for perception. Is it healthy or darkened? My study bible says, "We all understand the value of light in our lives. As the eye is the lamp of the body, so the mind (Grk. nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul: it illuminates the whole inner man." Most importantly and consistently in today's reading, Jesus teaches us the power of the "hidden" - the reality that is within us. We are not just beings made for show. It is not the opinions of others that determine who and what we are -- it is the opinion of the one relationship we need before all others, that of our Father who is in the secret place. And it is this central reality, the secret relationship with the Father in the secret place, the inner life, that determines all of what flows outward from it -- just as the lamp of our inner lives illumines the whole body. How do we dwell in this place? How do we understand the true relationship to the Source of all light? Jesus gives us the ways to remember God, to live that relationship, and to cultivate our "eye" that is full of light. To grow treasures in heaven is to cultivate that life, to be aware of what we dwell upon, what we seek and love in life first and foremost, above all. It begins with that place within ourselves, with the Father in secret.