Series: Stewardship,
Message: Testing Your Investment Strategy
Topics: Money, Investments, Masters, Heart
Text: Matthew 6:19-24
Date: Nov. 27, 2011
Pastor: David McBeath
(A portion of this sermon is based on an outline by Brian Bill of Pontiac Bible Church)
INTRODUCTION
A recent survey suggests Americans are more cynical today than ever before. We don’t trust politicians or the economy and most are suspicious of the church. One of the bad raps that churches have today is people have the impression that they’re always asking for money. I know this survey rings true because as I am sitting at Karma Café working on my message, I overhear a lady talking about her church. She is complaining, complaining about her church always asking for money!
All of this reminds me of a story about a Mom who was hysterical because her son, Jimmy, had swallowed a quarter. As soon as she saw what happened, she turned to her husband and screamed for him to call a doctor. He picked up the phone, but instead of calling the doctor, he decided to call his pastor. Needless to say, the wife was upset and said, “We don’t need the pastor! We need some medical help!” To which the husband replied, “Hey, our pastor can get money out of anyone!”
Again, I want to put you at ease. My goal is not to try to pry money out of you this morning. You can breathe a sigh of relief and quit looking for the exits because we’ve already taken the offering! If anyone is uncomfortable about a sermon on money and stewardship, it is definitely me. The last thing I want to do is contribute to the impression many have that the church is primarily concerned with money. I know it may look self-serving for a pastor to talk about stewardship and giving that is why I am so uncomfortable with the topic. But money is a spiritual issue and needs to be addressed first and foremost because the Bible has more to say about money that almost anything else.
PREVIEW
This is the third in our series on Stewardship. Two weeks ago we learned that God wants us to view our work as worship, and last week we learned that we can be thankful that God provides everything we need to accomplish his purposes. This week we are going to look at Matthew 6:19-24 and discuss principles for making the best investments possible. We will learn about God’s command for investment and 5 Tests that will guide us as we invest in what He has commanded.
TEXT
With this concept in mind, let me read our text for this morning. Please turn to Matthew 6:19-24. Follow along as I read:
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money."
THE COMMAND
If you will look at the first half of verse 19 and the first half of verse 20. Here is what they say: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth… …But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” These phrases are both imperative. That means they are a command. What we learn about investing is this: God commands us to invest in heavenly things not earthly things.
It’s interesting to think about these verses and the command contained in them right after Black Friday isn’t it? Recently, I watched a man on the street interview with people standing in line on Thanksgiving Day waiting to be the first into the stores. You know what surprised me? People were giving up Thanksgiving with family, sleep, comfort…etc to get things! As I listened to the interview most of them were not getting gifts to give away at Christmas but treasures to store in their homes immediately. Now, I am not saying Black Friday is bad. We bought our kids presents on a pre-Black Friday Target Internet deal. Jesus isn’t saying that we can’t have material possession, own property, get a good deal on Black Friday, or save for the future. However, Jesus is forbidding the selfish, self-centered accumulation of goods as the major end of life. The ultimate question is this, what is your primary investment strategy? Do you primarily invest in earthly things or heavenly things?
5 TESTS OF A HEAVENLY INVESTMENT STRATEGY
To help us determine and develop a heavenly investment strategy, I believe we can identify 5 Tests from this passage that will help us guide the investment of our time and money. But before we do, I want to go back and put this passage into context.
This portion of Scripture is from Christ’s Sermon on the Mount which is all about the Kingdom of Heaven coming near and what that means for Christ’s Kingdom People—you and me. Matthew chapter 4 verse 17 says that Jesus began to preach, “Repent (Turn Around) for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” Jesus is saying, “Don’t follow the world’s way of doing things, follow my Kingdom way because my Kingdom has and is coming down. It is breaking into your world with my birth. I am King Jesus!
Just a little later Jesus tells us to, “Pray that His Kingdom will come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” This appeal is followed by His teaching about how to make this happen. One of the ways we make Christ’s Kingdom come to earth is when we follow his command to invest in our treasures in the Kingdom of Heaven instead of earthly things.
Durability Test
OK, now the 4 tests that can help guide us into better Kingdom investments. Test one is the Durability Test. Look at verses 19 and 20. Jesus says we need to invest where things don’t rust, decay, get broken, or stolen.
Two weeks ago we celebrated my son Gavin’s 7th birthday. Now, what I am about to say, I say with tremendous sarcasm. We celebrated at every parent’s favorite place: Chuck-e-Cheese. We had coupons and got a great deal on tokens. I think each boy received about 50. They played games, and played games and earned tickets to redeem at the Chuck-e-Cheese store. We encouraged them to pool their resources, pool their tickets together and get something that would last.
Did they do it? No! Do you know what one of them decided to get? It’s every parent’s favorite toy: a cheap whoopee cushion! (Are you sensing my sarcasm again.) They sat on it one time and it broke. It didn’t even make that wonderful noise they wanted it to make! (You know what noise I’m talking about---Boys I tell ya!)
The whoopee cushion did not pass the durability test. It was not a good investment for my boys! They were living in the moment and wanted the pleasure a cheap prank could provide instead of something nice like a little basketball could have provided for the long haul.
In this section of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus encourages each of us to invest in things that are durable and will last for eternity, not in earthly things. Let’s face it, two things happen to the earthly things we own. They break and decay or they disappear.
Do you remember going to your grandmother’s house, opening a drawer or a closet to be greeted by the wonderful smell of mothballs? I do! Man they stunk! In Jesus’ day, clothes represented a large investment and the best clothes were made of wool. No matter how good the clothes, moths would often eat right thru them.
If our things don’t decay, break, or rust, …they disappear. In Christ’s day valuables were often buried in a field or hidden in a brick wall. Back then thieves would literally break into walls and dig up yards as the searched for valuables to steal.
There’s an old Jack Benny joke in which a mugger accosts Benny and says, "Your money or your life!" There’s a brief silence, and the mugger says, "Well?" Jack Benny says, "Don’t rush me. I’m thinking, I’m thinking!" Thieves will always come, and they will not always be so patient. They may not give you much time. I love the way Clarence Jordan says it: "The thieves don’t always poke a pistol in your ribs. Most of our assets are not taken with a pistol but with a pencil—just like that." He’s right, just look at what has recently happened with your investments in the stock market. If your portfolio is anything like mine there has been serious erasing going on!!
Yet, the most serious thief we face is death itself. You can be sure that, in the end, death will take it all. Several years ago, construction workers were laying a foundation for a building outside the city of Pompeii. They found the corpse of a woman who must have been fleeing from the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, but was caught in the rain of hot ashes. The woman’s hands clutched jewels, which were preserved in excellent Condition. She had the jewels, but death had stolen it all.
That’s the bottom line in life. Worldly treasure is not a wise investment because you can’t take it with you. According to Jesus, these earthly things even necessities like clothes are not durable, therefore not a good investment in God’s economy! A good investment is in things that last forever. To help you invest in heaven as Christ command’s you will need to take the durability test.
From my understanding there are only two things that meet these criteria: People and the Good News of Jesus. What are you doing to invest in People and the Gospel? If God puts it on your heart to invest in our church on a regular basis, I guarantee you will be making an eternal investment in people and the Gospel! Investing in our church is a durable investment, because our mission is to make disciples who love God, love others and make more disciples, and our church’s vision is to transform and restore our community with the Good News of Jesus, 1 life at a time.
Bank Test
The second test Christ gives us to help make better Kingdom investments is the Bank Test. We need to ask, which bank is going to give me the best return on my investment? Since earthly treasures are unstable and insecure, Jesus challenges us to make long-term investments that are permanent and guaranteed. Deposits made in the First Bank of Heaven will not decay or disappear. Jesus said don’t bank on earth instead store up treasures in the First Bank of Heaven!
The average life cycle of a dollar in the United States is 18 months. It gets exchanged so many times that it gets worn out. Even if you keep it crisp and new, it’s a poor store of wealth, because we have this thing called inflation. If you hang onto a dollar too long, it’s not going to be worth a dollar any more. In a couple of years, it’s not going to buy what it could buy today.
The economists of this world tell us: We have to put the dollar to work. We have to invest it so it yields a return, because if we don’t, it’s going to lose value. The financial planners say: We have to think long-term with this dollar. Don’t think about what it can buy today. Think about what it could yield for us 20, 30, or 50 years from now. Put it to work and don’t touch it. Find a good fund and leave it there. Don’t try to time the market. Don’t move it around, or we will end up losing it. According to the economists, if we’re fortunate, over time this dollar is going to yield us 10 or 15 or 20 percent. Then, we will be able to retire and play golf day in and day out in The Villages of S. Florida
Instead of listening to these financial planners, I want us to envision investing this dollar in the kingdom. Let’s say there is a corporation called Jesus Christ Inc., and let’s say we invested one dollar in this company the day it went public—which was Christmas Day, A.D. 0. Imagine we invested one dollar in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and over time it yields modest returns of six percent interest compounded annually. Two thousand years later, we would have 720 quadrillion dollars! (That is a lot of money from 1 dollar! I don’t even know how many zero’s would be behind that!)
In Jesus’ book, the financial planners of this world are not having us think long-term enough. Thirty years? Fifty years? No, that’s not even close! We should be asking what’s going to happen in 3,000 or 5 million years? You see Kingdom investment continues to reap reward for eternity!! We have to start acting and living like people who are going to live forever. If we bank it here on earth, we won’t get much of a return, and it won’t last us much beyond our lifetime. If we want to follow Christ’s command to invest in the Kingdom of Heaven, we have to take the
Bank Test.
The Heart Test
Next, Jesus gives us the Heart Test to help make better Kingdom investments. Look at verse 21. It says: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Is anyone in a Fantasy Football League? I’d like to be, but I’m not! And I’m not for a reason! …I don’t have time. According to Colin Cowherd of ESPN, "More than 27 million players play fantasy football. They spend an average of nine hours a week (during football season... playing fantasy football)." That is a considerable investment. But what I hear from everybody that plays is this, it makes Football season more enjoyable. Their heart is much more into the season. Why? Because, on paper they have an investment in a team, and players, and coaches.
Here is the principle we can learn from this: Our hearts generally follow our investments. Let me say that again: Our hearts generally follow our investments! We will always care about what we put our time and money into!
Anyone ever been in a penny pool? That might be an Indiana term, so let me explain. Back when I was in High School it seemed like the whole school bet a penny on each Big Ten college basketball game. Anyway, I won my lunch on several occasions while betting a penny on IU basketball. Even with just a penny invested, it made the game a whole lot more dramatic and interesting. You see my heart followed my investment.
Let me ask you this question. Where is your heart? Is your heart primarily on earthly things, earthly possessions? …Are you frustrated because you find your heart thinking more about clothes, or electronics, or cars, or vacations, or homes, or retirement portfolio’s, or good food and dining experiences than the things of God? If that is the case let me give you this simple suggestion. Take some of the money and time you are investing in those things and begin to invest it in God and his kingdom, heavenly things. I guarantee the more you invest in God and the Kingdom of heaven, the more your heart will be drawn to him and what he wants you to do with your life, because our hearts follow our money!
Eye Test
So we have the Durability Test, the Return Test, the Heart Test, and next we have the Eye Test to help guide our investment in heavenly things. Look at verse verses 22-23. Jesus says:
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
What I think Jesus is saying is that we will invest in what we have your eyes on! We will invest in what we have our eyes on!
When I was little, 7 years old, my Dad got me a 1 pump Daisy BB gun. It was awesome. I used it all the time. I’d throw cans into the river and see how many holes I could put in it before it floated out of range. But my dad had a wonderful Marlin .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle with a scope and a magazine that held 16 or 18 rounds. As soon as I got my BB gun, it caused me to put my eyes on my Dad’s real gun. You know what I did? I saved all my money for 2 ½ years in this Barney Rubble piggy bank and when I was 10 years old, I bought a Marlin .22 just like my dad’s. I invested in what my eyes were on.
What we keep looking at determines the direction of our investment. Why do you think retailers keep getting their Christmas advertising and displays out earlier and earlier? Why do you think Black Friday, has now become Black Thursday with many stores opening at 8 or 10 pm on Thanksgiving day? Retailers understand this principle!
C.S. Lewis once said suggested that if we fix our eyes on heaven and we will get earth thrown in, but if we fix our eyes on earth we will get neither. If we want to make a better Kingdom investment we have to take an Eye Test. Are our eyes on God or are they on earthly things?
Master Test
Finally, if we are going to get better at following Jesus’ command to invest in heaven and not earth we need to take the Master Test. Look at verse 24.
No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
In his book How Much Is Enough? Hungering For God In An Affluent Culture author and Founder of Bread for the World: Arthur Simon writes about Bryce and Ellen, "a couple in their mid-thirties. They have two sons and a daughter, and on Sundays the family attends church more often than not.
Bryce manages about twenty people in a medium-sized accounting firm. He receives a good salary and is on a path that he believes will eventually move him into the circle of company executives. So, he goes to work early, often stays late, and usually works some on weekends.
Ellen has a part-time job with a public relations firm, which allows her to manage the kids and take care of the house. None of this is easy, but it has enabled them to buy a house in an upscale neighborhood and a lot of recreational hardware, including a ton of toys, a couple of Hi-Def. TVs for the children’s rooms, and a boat. Bryce and Ellen already talk about one day taking early retirement and moving to a place where they can enjoy year-round outdoor sports. Though deeply in debt, they are able to make timely payments and take pride in contributing in dollar amount ’more than most’ to church, which at 2.5 percent of their income is about average for most church members."
Now that you’ve heard this story, let me ask, “Who do you think is there master?” Use the test’s we’ve talked about so far. The durability test: Will the majority of their investments last for eternity? How about the Bank Test: Are they banking in heaven or on earth? The Heart Test: Where is their heart: Work? Promotions? Things? Or Advancing the Good News of Christ’s Kingdom? Remember our hearts follow our investments. Finally, The Eye Test: What do they have their eyes on, what are they looking forward to?
Simon, the author, continues, "They would be astonished--probably offended--to have anyone suggest that Money is their master and that they are beholden to [money]. Yet their plans and dreams, and the dreams they are nourishing in their children, are overwhelmingly directed that way." How about you? I don’t ask to get more of your money for our church. I ask to help you follow Christ’s command to lay up treasures in heaven.
Now compare Bryce and Ellen with the man in this story: A tax officer asked an old man to declare his wealth. The Old man declared his riches like this: A mansion in heaven; Everlasting life; Peace that passes all understanding; Joy unspeakable; Divine love that never fails; A crown of life; A faithful wife; Healthy, Happy & obedient children who follow after God with all their heart; and friends that love me with the love of God. The tax officer closed his book and said: “Truly you are a very rich man. But your wealth is not subject to taxation.” Why because he has stored up treasures in a different kingdom, the kingdom of heaven. Where will you store your treasures?
Let’s Pray!
Baptism
