Church bulletin
Collecting things can make for an interesting pastime. While I don’t collect anything myself, I do admire a collection which has taken time and effort to assemble. Collections can be a useful way for items to be preserved for future generations. There was a show on the ABC I would watch occasionally called The Collectors; often more interesting than the collections were the eccentrics who did the collecting. On another level, serious collecting seems to be undertaken by people who really don’t have much else. The dedication and money needed to obtain rare items means collecting holds a significant place in their life.
The Bible indicates that there is a type of collecting which all people are engaged in if they don’t know Christ. Romans 2:5, “But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God”.
The word “treasuring” means amassing; storing up; collecting. Just as people on that TV show opened the door to their collections of tea pots, Japanese robots and every other conceivable thing, so the Lord reveals another type of collection. What is it that those outside of Christ collect? They are collecting the wrath (anger) of God. Further into this verse, the apostle calls wrath “the righteous judgment of God”. Many people are amassing a treasury of which they know nothing about. It is not a conventional collection actively pursued, but one built as a consequence of sin. All their lives they have been working away at it and adding to it. One day this great collection of wrath will be poured out upon them.
Maybe you could warn someone. Those outside of Christ are not innocent, but they are ignorant. Paul says, “How will they believe upon Him (Christ) if they have not heard” (Rom 10:14). Perhaps you are the one to tell your neighbour, colleague, or relative of the damning collection that is theirs and what Christ has done to take it away. This collection is worth losing! They may not come to church to hear a sermon but they may listen to you.