Theology for the Acquisitive Culture
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and decay destroy, and thieves break in and steal. But store up treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor decay destroys, not thieves break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be." Matthew 6:19-21 (see also, Luke 12: 33-34).
I've consulted three Bibles and all three use the term "treasures."
Curious.
I think most Biblical commentaries would agree with The Jerome Biblical Commentary, which emphasizes that the important thing in this verse is that the Christian is supposed to place his or her emphasis on heaven. I'd agree.
But still, Jesus tells us to "store up treasures in heaven." Unless this term is accepted solely as poetic (to parallel Jesus's criticism of hoarding), there must be "treasures" that we can store up there.
So what are they? How do they work? And in a culture where acquisition is the number one goal of life, might the concept of acquiring heavenly treasures have intuitive appeal?
Much of the analysis, of course, depends on one's understanding of the after-life. Is there Purgatory? Are there gradations in heaven?
As a preliminary matter, I would be highly hesitant to apply the popular misunderstanding of Catholicism to the issue: It is not a matter of saying as many prayers as possible, so you can store up days and years out of Purgatory. There are serious problems with such beliefs, including some that strike at the very core of Christ's act of redemption.
I also reject any notion that prayers or good works somehow can be stored up in heaven for use later, like a batch of coupons to be redeemed when we get there for entrance into celestial shows and restaurants. Heaven, by its definition, is for the perfect. If all are perfect, there will be no gradations of treatment or enjoyment.
So what's my answer?
I think the concept must revolve around Purgatory. Although kindly acts and prayers don't earn us years out of Purgatory, they do give us the disposition to accept heaven.
Heaven is open to everyone, but only certain people will enjoy it there. When asked by my young daughter Abbie what heaven is like, I told her, "No one really knows, but we do know this: It's where you get to do whatever you want and you're perfectly happy." She said, "What if someone wants to do bad things while they're there?" And I told her, "That's the rub. The only people who can be happy in heaven are those who want to do things God's way. Those who want to do other things–the vast bulk of us, who prefer sinful things–simply wouldn't dig it, and because heaven is the place of perfect happiness, we won't fit there. God denies no one heaven unjustly. He simply doesn't let in the people who wouldn't enjoy it there. He's not going to let them in and force them to enjoy it."
I think that's the key to understanding the treasures we store up in heaven. By doing the right and good things, we mold a disposition that will like it there. Everyone time we visit the elderly or give alms, we become the kind of person who will like heaven.
This assumes, of course, that we do such things with the right disposition. There is a chance that we could pursue such things with a wholly selfish or warped type of spirituality. It's a type of spiritual gluttony, and it's seriously worse than physical gluttony. If we do things with a greedy type of disposition, the type that would knock down an old person in order to reach an older person so we can hold the door open for him, we're on the fast track to bankruptcy.
And that's the real problem with hoping to frame a theology out of Mt. 6: 19-21 for the acquisitive culture. The disposition of acquisition and the disposition needed for heaven are wholly different.
Paradoxically, we can acquire heavenly treasure–the disposition to like it up there–but we cannot set out with that disposition or we'll not attain it.
