Matt 6:19-21
"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Like many of you, I have been watching the rising and falling of the stock market this week.  I am not a person who particularly enjoys "playing the market" or anything like that.  I don't know enough about how it works.  Really, I don't want to take the time to learn, either.  However, I do have my pension invested, with some experts keeping an eye on it... I know I probably lost thousands if not tens of thousands earlier this week.  So much for retiring!
As I have listened to folks this week, speak with concern about what will happen to their retirement funds, I couldn't help but think of what Jesus said.  I think it is important to plan wisely for retirement and all of that.  In Jesus' day one planned for retirement by making sure one's children were well taken care of because the kids were the retirement fund.  In our day, it doesn't work that way.  Jesus doesn't forbid us laying away for retirement... what he does is discourage us from putting our trust in what we can save up... I don't know if he had any inkling of the stock market and its volatility, but he did understand about storing in a barn and the realities of having the barn burn down, or bugs get into what has been stored, making it useless.  Those would be the equivalent of the barn burning down.  So much for the future plans.
As I said, Jesus is not forbidding the planning and preparing for one's future.  He is cautioning against putting one's trust in one's own preparations.  When it is all said and done, we are called to put our trust in God.  When the stock market dropped, I must admit a short panic on my part.  A close friend of mine confided that in one day he lost $45,000 dollars of his retirement, meaning he has to work two extra years before he can retire.  GULP!
My panic passed quickly, however.  I began to remember that the same God who has watched out for me in the past, will continue to watch out for me in my future.  I know I can trust God with all of it, not just to delete my past sin, but to provide for my rocky future.  What a great God we have!
Remember, things can always go wrong with our human plans and preparations, but with God it "all works to the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes." (Rom. 8:  28)
Grace and Peace
Pastor Bill