Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” [1]
It is important to know where we’ve come from in order to know where we’re going, especially when Jesus calls us to invest our hearts.

Back in the 1860s, our nation was recovering from a bloody mess, the Civil War, a war between brothers. Out of that time of pain and loss, the church was also trying to rediscover where it belonged and where it should place its treasure. Let me take you to Broad Street in Philadelphia. There stood a church, Grace Baptist Church. You might not recognize it now, because it’s no longer visible in the way it once was. It wasn’t grand or ornate, it was humble, more like an old earth tent. But it was a beacon of hope in a city that had seen so much heartbreak. The pastor of that church was Dr. Russell Conwell, a Bostonian called by God to serve the people of inner-city Philadelphia. He knew how important the Bible was, not just because it told the story of where God’s people had been, but because it showed where we need to go. From that he decided to invest his treasure in the children, precious, wandering, aimless children running through the broken streets of a war-torn city. Dr. Conwell opened the doors of the church and invited the children to come, and come they did, by the hundreds! So many, in fact, that the church couldn’t hold them all. Lines of children stood outside, longing to hear the stories of Noah, Moses, Abraham, all the stories that shape faith and life. The pastor’s heart broke each time he saw children turned away. Among those children was a little girl named Hattie May Wyatt. One day she told Dr. Conwell, “I believe that God will raise up this church so that all the children can come and hear His Word.” The pastor was so moved that he lifted her up, carried her inside, and made sure she found a place among the crowd. Just a short time later, Hattie May fell ill with diphtheria. At only eight years old, she died. Before her death, she had been saving money in a small, worn purse, fifty-seven pennies. Her mother gave those pennies to Dr. Conwell, saying, “This is for the building of a church big enough for all the children.” At her funeral, the pastor told Hattie’s story. The church was packed, standing room only. He shared her vision, and by the end of the service, people had given $250 in her honor. That was the beginning of something remarkable. Piece by piece, gift by gift, Hattie May’s fifty-seven pennies became the foundation for buying property and building a church that would eventually give birth to a school, then a college, and later a university.

Today, if you go to Broad Street, you won’t find Grace Baptist Church. What you’ll see instead is Temple University’s Performing Arts Center, the “Owls.” Even though the story of Hattie May isn’t told there anymore, if you look closely at the stained glass, you’ll still find an image of Christ being baptized in the Jordan River, with an owl perched in the tree beside Him, a quiet reminder of where it all began. Friends, churches can grow and churches can disappear within just a few decades. That’s why Jesus’ words matter so much: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” When He told His disciples not to fear, but to give freely, He wasn’t talking about bricks, mortar, paint, or even air conditioners. He was talking about the heart of the church, its soul. A church only exists as the living body of Christ when its people carry His story into the world.

We’ve been rebuilding our church, repairing walls, fixing structures, preserving this place in the aftermath of a hurricane nearly a year ago today. But if all we do is tend to the building, we’ve missed the point. We must also build hearts, minds, and souls. Otherwise, we risk becoming just another performing arts center, losing sight of Christ’s call. If you walk down our hallway and see the history on the walls, you’ll notice that the church has always been rebuilding. One renovation after another, one restructuring, one recovery, God has always sustained His people. He continues to call us to invest, not in brick and stone, but in His mission. Just like Hattie May standing at that church gate, we must pray for space, not just physical space, but space for people to know God, to hear His Word, and to discover His love.

We still have that space. We can still gather. We can still sing, worship, and praise. For such a time as this, God has given us this mission. So I ask you, “where is your treasure?” Where is your heart? May our treasure, like little Hattie May’s, be found in Christ and may our hearts follow Him always.

[1] Luke 12:32-34
[2] Luke 12:34
[3] Hebrews 11:1