CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST

March 1, 2009

25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373

http://www.blakehart.com

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to: Virgil Oller (4^th), Jimmy King, Anita White (5^th), Leo Bricker (10^th) Muriel Mearns (15^th), Bobby Cruthirds (18^th), Mary King (19^th), Logan Gradney (20^th) Pat Henderson (22^nd)

TREASURE HUNT

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

For about three decades, we in this country have had it pretty good. While there have been some problems like the housing bust in the Houston area in the 1980s and the savings and loan problem of the same time, we have enjoyed prosperity. However, it now appears that the economy is in trouble. Some look to blame someone for it, others choice to ignore it, and still others try to fix it, and disagree on how it can be fixed if at all.

In recently headlines, because of the downturn in the economy we have be informed that church attendance is up in some areas. Should we be surprised at that? Self-made men have found out that they need help. God through Moses warned Israel that when they had conquered the land, produced crops, and had peace, they needed to be careful not forget that it was God who accomplished this, not them. When we look at the roller coaster ride of Israel’s history, we see that when things were going well, they forgot God, but when things got really bad, they called on the name of the Lord (see Judges). Finally, they decided to reject God as King and to find a man to be king like the nations around them. There were faithful and unfaithful kings throughout this period leading eventually to Babylonian captivity. Keep in mind that before the fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians, the prophets were crying peace even while the Babylonian army was marching closer.

What can we learn from this recent increase in church attendance? One thing is that some have seen that the idols of their own creation have been failures. The stock market went down. Banks closed. And government, the biggest idol of all, could not prevent that no matter how hard they tried. The money gods were nothing more than paper. Gods of our own making have become nothing more than confetti. People have laid up for themselves treasures on earth that are decaying. When the Accuser tempted Eve in the Garden - “you shall be like God” - that was the greeatest temptation to humanity that has been used over and over. Losing a Judeo-Christian perspective on life has caused the problems we see today.

Now you might think that I am opposed to people returning to church. I’m not. Actually it can be a very positive thing. Coming face to face with the fact that we are not God and that we need help is a step in the right direction. Of coarse there might be some expectations of attending church that are misleading. The health and wealth gospel has misled many into believing that with enough faith one can be rich in material terms. This is just another example of an idol set up in the name of God. Trying to get something out of God for self-gratification is placing the emphasis on me and on my importance rather than God.

Self-gratification makes us think that we are so powerful, so awesome, that people will look up to us because of what we have done. Then we can boast in our cars, houses, clothes, or whatever we think is important, gods created in our image. We become like what we worship. This however is an illusion; we are just deceiving ourselves.

Yet there can be good things coming out of this increase in church attendance. Past downturns have had positive effects. People have come to the realization that they are not a god nor are they self-made people. It is through God that they have been blessed. They have come to realize that they need to give thanks to God for what He has done. Sometimes we need things taken away to realize what we really have and what is really important.

History will help us here. In the early history of our country, with all the resources before the founders, society became complacent and immoral. Out of that came two revivals that historians call The Great Awakenings. Preachers preached and people responded to the good news of Jesus. Out of this came powerful influences that changed the direction of the nation. In the 1850s, another economic downturn caused some businessmen in New York City to come together in prayer that led to conversions and change. Texas State University found that in each recession cycle between 1968 to 2004, evangelical churches grew fifty percent faster than during better times (1).

Finding peace in Christ means destroying our idols. Now we can voluntarily do it or God can do it for us. So Jesus statement can become questions for us. What is our treasure? What do we treasure? What do we worship that we become like it? If we worship God, then we realize that God has blessed us richly in many ways for which we should be thankful. But as David said in his prayer in 1 Chronicles 29, the creation belongs to God; that everything in it is His, and we are to use it to His glory. That means money, power, fame, and anything else should be used to His glory, not mine.

Do we really need things to find self-worth? You want to be first, Jesus said, then be last and servant of all. Do you want to be seen of people? You will have your reward but not from God, Jesus said. Rather we should not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing. You see, what is really important is not what others think, but how God sees us and how we see our relationship with God. Living like Christ is a challenge to all of us because it means that I must give up what is important to me to serve Him.

We have an opportunity now to speak to people about what is really important. We can reveal the gods they have depended on and show them that those gods are really nothing. Only life and peace can be found in Christ. So are you on a treasure hunt?

George B. Mearns

(1) Mark Early, Church Growth in Tough Times, 1/7/2009, www.breakpoint.org