Real Treasure, Not Stuff

But…

In 1984, there was a “mocumentary” comedy called “This Is Spinal Tap,” that followed a fictional English heavy metal band called “Spinal Tap” on a concert tour in the United States. One summary of the movie said that, “The film satirizes the behavior and musical pretensions of rock bands,” or, in other words, it make fun of how these rock bands act and perform.

One particular scene in this movie shows guitarist Nigel Tufnel showing filmmaker Rob Reiner his collection of guitars and particularly one of his amplifiers. In this scene, Nigel is explaining that this special amplifier of his “goes to eleven” on its volume dials, while all other amplifiers only go to ten. The dialogue goes:

Nigel Tufnel : The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi : Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel : Exactly.
Marty DiBergi : Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel : Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi : I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel : Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi : Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel : Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
Marty DiBergi : Why don't you just make ten louder and make ten be the top number and make that a little louder?
Nigel Tufnel : [pause] These go to eleven.

This scene is funny because of its ridiculousness, but also because it shows Nigel’s inability to grasp something pretty simple. Nigel is holding on to the number eleven as though it is better than anything, even though the number dial on the amp doesn’t really matter. And after the suggestion that ten could be the top number, Nigel takes a long, awkward pause, as if it’s just breaking his brain, and all he can muster in response is “These go to eleven.” (Treat yourself to the full scene here)

Isn’t it funny how we get stuff stuck in our head isn’t it? Nigel couldn’t conceive of how he could be the loudest metal rocker out there without having an amplifier that goes to eleven.

In the sermons from the last two weeks, we have been looking at Jesus’ encounter with the rich young ruler and with Jesus’ teaching of the Twelve after the ruler goes away sorrowful, because he could not earn the Kingdom of heaven, by his good works or because of his wealth. And in last week’s sermon, Jesus taught the disciples that anyone who loved their possessions (whether they were wealthy or poor) or thought that their works could save them, couldn’t enter the Kingdom.

But even after Jesus explains that works have nothing to do with gaining the Kingdom, Peter says, “See, we have left everything and followed you,” and in Matthew’s account of this passage, he records Peter asking, “What will we have?” (Matthew 19:27). In other words, “But surely our works have saved us. So, what will we get?” Or in other, other words, “These go to eleven.”

The disciples, and so many of us, are fixated on what we do or have not done for Christ in order to win our salvation and in order to “get things” in the Kingdom. It’s as though, even though Ephesians 2:8,9 says, “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works(!!!!) so that no one may boast,” we can’t help but to still think that our works do something to save us. And we can’t help but to think that when we earn our salvation that any inheritance that we get, all of the stuff that comes with the Kingdom, are somehow earned by us.

The real truth, though, is that what we value as important is all wrong. It isn’t about stuff, it’s about a Person. The real treasure is knowing that God has loved us so much that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life. In this Kingdom, we will see our King face to face and to gaze upon Jesus, to see the scars on His hands, feet, and side, and know the One who gave up everything to rescue us. There we will see what true love looks like. That will be the real treasure, not stuff.