The Flash! – March 6, 2014

One of the passages read each year on Ash Wednesday is from the sermon on the mount where Jesus proclaims: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:21)   The wisdom captured in this verse is timeless and true: treasures are a compass for the heart, for we offer them for the things that matter most to us.

This wisdom is no less true of communities, nations, and, of course, congregations.  Over the course of three months we collected coins for our Change for Christ ministry.  All of the funds received are being deposited into our Continuing Education Fund, which supports Hanover youth who are pursuing education beyond high school.  As of this writing $337.50 has been collected, and it’s still coming.  Through this ministry our treasures have spoken: our heart is with our young people.

But it gets even better, for like the ashes of Lent
What Comes Around Goes Around…

Praise God, our current young Saints are learning this lesson.  This weekend members of our youth group will take their hearts and bodies to Box City, a fund raising event that supports Family Promise, the group we work with to house homeless families.  On Saturday they will sleep overnight in boxes on a gym floor in a church.

Of their own volition they also decided to support Operation Warm, a Philadelphia-based organization that provides winter coats for children.  Last Saturday the youth baked the day away and on Sunday offered their tasty treasures during the carnival fellowship time.  When it was all over they had raised $375 that will be offered to Family Promise and Operation Warm.  Imagine it: our youth used their treasures to create more treasures, and then by giving them away showed the world where their hearts are.

In this season of ashes may our lives reflect what we most treasure in our hearts.