3. The Poverty Of Riches Series

Check out the book "The Upside Down Kingdom" by Donald Kraybill

https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Down-Distinguished-Professor-Emeritus-Kraybill/dp/1513802496/ref=sr_1_2?crid=226Z0R7BQKLQ3&keywords=donald+kraybill&qid=1669518981&s=instant-video&sprefix=donald+kraybill%2Cinstant-video%2C182&sr=1-2-catcorr

The Poverty of Riches

-We’ve been talking for four weeks about the Upside Down Kingdom of God.

-How everything that Jesus did was upside down and backwards from the world he lived in.

-He didn’t say what people expected, or do what people expected, and he didn’t fit the preconceived notions they had of the Messiah.

-And it wasn’t even close!

-In many ways Jesus was a disappointment for his own people.

-They wanted someone who’d take up arms, and fight against Rome but Jesus said, “love your enemies.”

-They wanted someone to fight to create a strong nation, and he said, “my kingdom is not of this world.”

-They wanted someone who would fight for their rights, but he called us to lay down our rights.

-They wanted someone who’d usher in a season of prosperity, but he came in poverty and mainly worked among peasants.

-In many ways Jesus was a disappointment to his people and in some ways he might feel like a disappointment to us.

-Because oftentimes he wants the opposite for us of what we want from him.

-Today we’re looking at Matthew 6:9-34 if you want to follow along on the screen or the app.

-Quick side note: we’ve started putting our attendance and giving in the message notes each week for those who are interested.

-Let me begin by reading the whole passage, and then we’ll walk through it together.

19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal.

20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.

23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.

25 “That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?

26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? 27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

28 “And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, 29 yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. 30 And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?

31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.

33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

-When we read passages like this we tend to look at them through the eyes of American people in 2022.

-And this passage is absolutely relevant to us. We’ll get to that in a few minutes.

-But there is some context to what is being said here that I’d like to go over with you.

-When we study the Scripture we have to remember that context is king.

-What it means to us is only relevant when we understand what it meant to the original audience.

-In this instance, the original audience was a crowd of disciples gathered on a hillside. And he brings up the issue of money.

-One thing non-Christians and Christians both hate about church is our conversations about money.

-But Jesus talked about money more times than he talked about heaven and hell combined.

-He wasn’t afraid to talk about it, and neither should we.

-One author points out that “economic issues were central to Jesus’ vision of the new kingdom.” (Kraybill 99)

-But not in the way that people often think:

*Jesus didn’t preach against money, he preached against greed.