THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT (part 16) Matt. 6:19-24
Suze Orman in her book, “9 Steps to Financial Freedom” writes, "When I was 13, my dad owned his own business—a tiny shack where he sold chicken, ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs, and fries. One day the oil that the chicken was fried in caught fire. In a few minutes the whole place exploded in flames. My dad bolted from the store before the flames could engulf him. Then my mom and I arrived on the scene, and we all stood outside watching the fire burn away my dad’s business.
All of a sudden, my dad realized he had left his money in the metal cash register inside the building, and I watched in disbelief as he ran back into the inferno before anyone could stop him. He tried to open the metal register, but the intense heat had already sealed the drawer shut.
Knowing that every penny he had was locked in front of him about to go up into flames, he picked up the scalding metal box and carried it outside. When he threw the register on the ground, the skin on his arms and chest came with it. He had escaped the fire safely once, untouched. Then he voluntarily risked his life and was severely injured. The money was that important.
That was when I learned that money is obviously more important than life itself. From that point on, earning money—lots of money—not only became what drove me professionally, but also became my emotional priority."
That's pretty sad, isn't it? But many people live that way; their priority in life is material prosperity. There's a phrase used to describe someone who was wealthy, "well off". "He's well off". Another is, "well to do". "They come from a well-to-do family". You might hear these terms describe someone who was materially wealthy but what about those who are spiritually wealthy? As we'll see, Jesus wants us to focus on building up a storehouse of heavenly treasures. When we get to heaven, some are going to be more well off than others. Those who have stored up treasures in heaven will truly be 'well-to-do'.
1) Worldly treasures vs. heavenly ones (19-21).
Matt. 6:19-21, “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."
To qualify, Jesus isn't saying it's wrong to have material things. Some could take this as Jesus saying we should all be taking a vow of poverty and forsake any accumulation of worldly possessions. He's not saying that. The key word here is treasures. The idea of storing up earthly treasures isn't talking against having a savings; that's wisdom. It's talking about unnecessary hoarding. It's talking about being a selfish miser. We can have a savings, but are we also seeking to be generous with some of what we have?
A treasure can be money or gold or anything valuable. Treasure is also a verb meaning cherish or adore. Therein lies the issue: what do we cherish; what do we idolize? I'm not talking about just being fond of something or taking good care of it or spending time on it. I'm talking about taking it to an extreme and being obsessed about it.
Talk about antiques and collectibles. I'm not saying it's wrong to collect things but at what cost are we doing so? How much time do we spend on our worldly things? If one of our collectibles got broken, lost or stolen would we consider it the end of the world? I'm not saying it shouldn't affect us but we can put way too much emphasis on things; perhaps to the point of neglecting more precious treasures like people or God.
"Where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal". Jesus highlights one of the reasons not to put so much emphasis on accumulating material treasures. Material things break down; they get old and worn out. Eventually you have to put more money into it to keep it looking new.
And then you have the thievery aspect. Thieves target the places where they expect to get a better pay out for the risk they're taking. The more you have the bigger the target you are. And the more worries you have too. You're either worried about keeping what you have or you're worried about someone else getting it or you're consumed with getting more. It's not worth it.
Prov. 23:45, "Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle." We can wear ourselves out physically or mentally trying to get more; it's a vicious cycle. Here today-gone tomorrow; easy come-easy go.
Jesus said we're to build up treasures in heaven where they can't be destroyed or stolen. There are things more precious than money or gold or antiques. The treasures of the fruit of the Spirit, the treasures of salvation, knowing the word, wisdom, the gospel, serving others.
Jesus said what profit a man if he were to gain the whole world yet forfeit his soul. That tells me the most precious treasure is salvation. When a person forfeits their soul for the sake of worldly treasures they have made an eternal compromise. So when we share the gospel and help someone come to Christ, that is a most beautiful treasure. And when we can help someone who has wandered from the faith to come back to Christ, that is one of those heavenly treasures, too.
"Where your treasure is there your heart will be also". One of the ways to determine where our treasure is has to do with our level of giving. 2nd Cor. 9:6-7, "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver."
John Moseley believed the dividing line between giving sparingly and generously is the tithe. I hadn't thought of that before he said it but it makes sense. People will say the NT doesn't talk about tithing so I don't have to do that. We're not under the law anymore, we're under grace. Paul said to give what's in our hearts. Okay, but that's not meant to release me but challenge me.
Under the law I had to give 10% whether I wanted to or not. Now, under grace, I am challenged to see where my heart is at. Will I give sparingly (less than 10%) or will I give generously (more than 10%)? Where our treasure is there our heart will be also. If my treasure is in the accumulation of more stuff, then I will excuse myself from giving or giving very much.
However, if my heart is more focused on the kingdom then not only will I be focused on giving but it will be a joy for me. And not only in the offering plate but to causes and ministries that help people and make a difference spiritually and otherwise. Is my treasure in seeing people's lives changed for the better? Is my treasure spending time with people? Are my treasures the things that Jesus treasures?
2) The eyes have it (22-23).
Matt. 6:22-23, “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!"
"The lamp of the body". You know the phrase, "the eyes are the window to the soul". Some believe this phrase originated with this verse. We are very visual; our eyes take in a lot. Think of a window. The clearer it is, the more light that can shine through. The more dirty; the less light. Also, if a window is tinted not much light is going to get through.
Another phrase is, "looking at things through rose colored glasses". This means looking at something unrealistically; making it out to be better than what it really is. We can do that when it comes to worldly things; make them out to be better than what they really are. We need to see clearly and with the right perspective.
"If your eyes are bad/good". Have you ever heard of someone giving another person the evil eye? We know it as looking at someone in anger or disgust. It was also known as a type of curse. The evil eye was around back in Jesus' day; yet it meant something different.
Adam Clarke's commentary, "An evil eye was a phrase used among the ancient Jews to refer to an envious, covetous man; a man who complained or grumbled at his neighbor's prosperity, loved his own money, and would do nothing in the way of charity for God's sake. Jesus converts this meaning and uses the sound eye as a metaphor to point out that simplicity of intention, and purity of affection with which men should pursue the supreme good."
This is found elsewhere in scripture. In the KJV, Prov. 23:6 starts out by saying, "Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye". Other translations use the phrases, envious eye, selfish man and stingy man. Therefore, if your eye is bad, ie: envious, selfish, stingy, evil, then you will be full of darkness.
If your eyes are good. Other translations word this as, 'if your eyes are sound', and, 'if your eyes are clear'. So it gives the impression of the difference between a person with good vision vs. poor vision. If my eyes are good, I will see things clearly and in focus; they will not be blurry.
Sometimes the things of the world look too good and so we perceive them to be worthwhile to chase after. But our vision isn't good. When we're focused on worldly treasures then our spiritual eyes are out of focus; we don't see things as clearly as we should.
Before it gets stored in our hearts it's seen with our eyes. We see something, we want it, we pursue it; we get it-we treasure it. When we covet something we store that desire in our hearts and it creates a burning within us. We fixate on it and we obsess about it. This is the darkness that overshadows the light.
If we have the light of Christ and allow something to hide that light; if we allow some form of darkness to overshadow the light, then how great is that darkness! It’s one thing to have nothing but darkness in you. But it’s worse when we have the light of Christ in us and instead of letting it shine through we allow the darkness of the world to overshadow it.
We hide our light behind the shadow of evil. We have to be careful that the trinkets of the world don't overshadow the treasures of heaven. So, if the eye is good, if the eye is focused on the things of Christ, then the light of discernment and clarity will fill us and allow us to make right priorities and decisions.
3) Which Master will win out? (24).
Matt. 6:24, "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."
If you have the KJV it will say, "you cannot serve both God and mammon." What is mammon? Mammon is a word that means riches. The Syrians used it as the name given to an idol worshipped as the god of riches. Then it came to be used for worldly things altogether.
We cannot serve both the God of heaven and the god of this world. You can't have God as your master and yourself too; one of these are going to win out. There's only room for one on the throne. Saying we can love and be fully devoted to two masters is like saying a man can love and be fully devoted to two wives. Anyone would want the one they love to be devoted to them completely; if they weren't they would feel cheated. So it makes sense for Jesus to say that trying to love the world and God won't work. That's why Jesus didn’t say, “store up some treasures on earth and some in heaven”.
It’s not wrong to obtain worldly goods. God gives us material things to enjoy. But where is our heart; what are we serving? We can have money, we can have things, but do they master us, do we find ourselves obsessed and consumed by them? Our heart can’t be 50% geared toward self-gratification and 50% geared toward Christ-glorification.
If we’re Christians but our eyes are fixated more on worldly things instead of heavenly things then the light of Christ within us is shrouded in darkness. And how great is that darkness since we have the light of Christ in us yet we choose to pursue the lusts of the flesh? We can’t be 50% Christian and 50% worldly; it won't work. We might think we’re totally devoted to Jesus but the light of Christ will reveal if we’re trying to live a double life.
Heb. 13:5-6, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” "Be content".
There's the key. Not that it's always wrong to improve our situation but we need to be content in our current one; otherwise we'll be consumed by our pursuit of more. Paul said in Phil. 4 that he learned to be content in any situation whether he had a lot or a little.
"God has said, never will I leave you." This doesn't seem like it goes together. What does God never leaving or forsaking me have to do with not loving money and being content? Sometimes the love of money isn't about greed; it's about worry and fear. If we look at money as our security blanket then we're not trusting God; we're putting our faith in money, not him.
If we're afraid that if we lose our wealth or possessions then we're doomed then we aren't believing in the ability of God; we're not leaving room for what he can do. In Matt. 7 Jesus tells us not to worry about material things. He said don't chase after these things; God knows you need them. He told us to seek first God's kingdom. If we seek heavenly treasures God will give us the earthly things we need.
Think of what he did for Solomon. In 1st Kings 3, when Solomon was getting ready to take over as king, God said he could ask for whatever he wanted. Solomon chose wisdom and discernment to govern God's people. God commended him because he didn't ask for something selfish like wealth. And God said because he did that he would give him the riches he had not asked for.
When worldly things are not our focus, God is more likely to give them to us. He knows whether or not we can handle them. Who will be our master? If we're driven by greed, worry or fear, our master will be our boss who demands that we work on Sundays. We're afraid of losing hours or our job so we do what we're told.
Our master will be the casino who beckons us to try to hit it big. Our master is our materialism when we run out and buy the new thing we can't live without; the thing that everyone has and we need one too so we can feel good.
But, if our master is Jesus, we won't look to anything else for fulfillment or self-worth. Money won't be my god. I won't put my faith and trust in my assets; they will not be my security. I won't be driven to be in pursuit of these things. I will be content with what I have and if I'm to have more, I will let God lead me to acquire more.
My pursuit and priority will be the kingdom of God and whatever God desires for me. I will find my value in him. I will love and serve Jesus, not money or anything else this world has to offer.
We have to ask ourselves-what are our chief pursuits; where do our passions lie? What excites us, what drives us; what motivates us? If what excites or fulfills us the most is money, material things or the praise of men then we have too much focus on the things of this world. But if what brings you the greatest satisfaction are the things money can't buy and the things that only God can provide then I'd say your priorities are in order.
CONCLUSION: One of the early church fathers, John Chrysostom, lived in the 5th century. One day he was brought before the emperor and commanded to renounce Christ. The emperor threatened him saying if he would not renounce Christ he would be banished from the country forever—he would be separated from his father’s land for the rest of his life. John responded, “You cannot. The whole world is my Father’s land. You cannot banish me.”
The emperor then said, “Then I will take away all of your property and treasures.” John replied, “You cannot, for all my true treasures are in heaven.” The emperor then said, “I will send you to a place of absolute solitude where there is not one friend for you to talk to.” John said, “You cannot, for I have a friend that is closer than a brother to me. He is my elder brother, Jesus Christ, who has promised to be with me always—to the very end of the age.”
In anger the emperor then said, “then I will take your life.” John said, “You cannot. For my life is forever hidden in Christ with God.”
The emperor tried to persuade John by going after all the worldly things he felt John would hold most valuable. But he didn't consider the fact that John's focus and priorities would be on his heavenly treasures, not his earthly ones. May we have the same principles and priorities. Let's strive to build up heavenly treasures.
