Intro – Bucket lists. Do you have one? The term was made popular by a 2007 movie with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. Their 2 characters meet in the hospital where they’re both being treated for terminal cancer. One of them is working on a list of things he wants to accomplish in his life before it’s over. So, they go together on an adventure to do all the things on their “bucket list.” I wouldn’t recommend the movie, but it did promote a certain movement that is still around – writing a list of life goals to be achieved before you die.
Get on the internet and there are websites devoted to the whole bucket list concept. Many of them are a kind of “how-to” place – to help you write a bucket list for your life, which I find to be an interesting phenomenon. It’s almost like people need help figuring out something interesting to do with their lives.
Most of them are all about ME and being able to tell someone else what I’ve done. The basic message of all of them is that you should set goals to do interesting things in your life.
All of them carry one very important realization: We’re all working with limited time. We all will one day die. That’s why they’re called “bucket lists.” It’s the things you want to do with your life before you kick the bucket. That’s an idea from Scripture to start with…
Ephesians 5:15-16
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.
Right here at the start of a new year, I think it’s fitting to talk about making the most of your time. And that could include making your bucket list, with a biblical perspective.
Here are some vital bucket list items from Scripture that we’ll be talking about through February:
• Invest in What Matters
• Figure Out What’s True
• Get Uncomfortable
• Say What Needs to Be Said
• Walk Where You Can’t See
• Get Right With Someone
• Prepare to Die
Today is really the foundation for the whole series. You can take this one subject and all the others fit under it like it’s an umbrella. It’s in Mt. 6.
So, I’ll be referring back to today, especially because I’d like these next 2 months to be an on-going project. At the end of this series, I want us to celebrate what has happened because we’ve taken these to heart. I’m thinking “Kick the Bucket Sunday” Feb 26th!
Jesus is preaching the SOM. He’s giving perspective on material things in this section where He says
Matthew 6:19-24
You may not have expected investment advice this morning, but maybe when Jesus spoke these words His audience wasn’t expecting it either!
This first part is a comparison of a…
Shaky investment vs. Can’t Touch This!
I can still remember MC Hammer, 1990, in his baggy pants, singing “U Can’t Touch This” and making a little music history. So, I borrowed from MC Hammer this morning!
Jesus invites us to consider the difference between treasures on earth and treasure in Heaven – a really weak investment against an investment that can’t be lost.
• (What happens to stuff on earth)
Like any good financial advisor, Jesus points out the characteristics of treasure on earth that make it a poor investment
It’s temporary all on its own
Financial gurus push the importance of diversifying – that’s an important strategy of investment. It means you spread out your wealth, rather than just have it all in one place. Don’t just buy stock in Apple. Also invest in bonds and in non-tech companies and in precious metals. Why do that? It’s assuming that something horrible may happen. It’s assuming that some of your wealth may go away – the stock may crash, the annuity may lower, the 401K may become just a 401. So, you diversify. That reduces the odds that you’ll lose as much. That’s the best we can do with stuff here – spread it out so we won’t lose as much when things don’t go well.
Psalm 39:6 Man is a mere phantom as he goes to and fro: He bustles about, but only in vain; he heaps up wealth, not knowing who will get it.
Proverbs 23:4-5 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.
Jesus assumes about stuff on earth that it can’t last. Something’s going to eat it. It’s like the contents of the refrigerator in a house with teenagers! Something’s going to eat it. It may be worms. It may be rust or corrosion, but no matter what it is, it will happen.
Ill – Speaking of eating, truffles are a rare and expensive underground fungus that has to be hunted out with specially trained dogs or pigs. It’s the most expensive thing you can eat, besides gold leaf. In 2010, a 2.5 lb truffle sold for over $417,000. 6 years before that, Enzo Cassini, a restaurant owner in London collaborated with clients to buy what was then the 2nd largest truffle on record, 1.9 lbs, for what would be around $47,000 today. Celebrities from around the world were buying in to eat a micro shaving of the fungus. It was on display for a few days while people from around the world came just to view it. Then, head chef Andy Needham locked it up in a refrigerated safe for 4 days. When they took it out, they found it had gone bad. It rotted. Truffle experts of Florence heard about the unhappy fate of the expensive truffle. They asked for its return and organized a solemn burial, complete with poetry reading, in the grounds of an historic castle in Tuscany, not far from where it was originally found.
Who knew that fungus would, well, rot? Too bad! I just thought there are few things more ironic than that story to point out that material stuff doesn’t last forever – all on its own, even, it doesn’t last!
But beyond that…
It’s always going to be affected by other peoples’ actions
Jesus also talked about how thieves steal things. It literally says they “dig through and steal.” That’s because walls in that day were made from mud or sun-dried bricks and a thief could actually just dig through the wall. The Greeks called burglars “mud-diggers.” Today, the materials have changed, but the problem hasn’t.
No matter what you do, the stuff of earth will always be affected by what other people do. Your identity will be stolen and some guy in Uzbekistan will buy a computer with your name in CA. Your new car will get keyed in the parking lot. Someone will help himself to your cellphone. Your house will be robbed. The odds of something like this happening to you in Rockford this year are 1 in 25.
So, what do you do? You lock it. You hide it. You insure it. You carry it with you. You set an alarm. You take all kinds of measures to assure that stuff doesn’t get stolen. What happens? Someone steals it.
Wouldn’t it be great to find an investment that’s guaranteed never to lose? Wouldn’t it be great to have a security system that guarantees you’ll never lose your stuff? You know, something where you can say without a doubt, “You can’t touch this!”
That’s why Jesus said to make investments in Heaven. Because here’s…
• What happens to stuff in Heaven
It’s unshakable
Hebrews 12:26-29 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." The words "once more" indicate the removing of what can be shaken--that is, created things--so that what cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
God wanted us to know and to remember that this world and all that’s in it is going to be “removed.” The only things that will remain will be the “unshakeables.” No moths, no rust, nothing to make things rot or pass away. And…
No one will take it away
There’s only one kind of investment guaranteed to be burglar-proof.
Martha was busy fixing lunch. Her sister Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet, hanging on His every word. Martha was busy and stressed, and in her eyes, Mary was lazy. “Lord, tell her to help me!”
Luke 10:41-42 "Martha, Martha," the Lord answered, "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her."
The one needed thing – her attention to her life before Jesus – wouldn’t be taken from her. No one could take away what she had invested in that day.
It has been one week since 55 people committed to reading or listening through the Bible this year, and since 73 committed to reading it every day this year. How’s that going so far? You know, the time you devote to that each day, time that someone else might say was wasted, has been invested in the one thing in life that’s really needed. It’s now in a place where no one can take it away.
Investing where it matters is the one way to be sure that your life won’t be a waste!
It’s the only way to be sure that what you throw yourself into won’t just go away. If you’re an investor, if you’re thinking about retirement, if you don’t like waste, I’d think that would be of great interest to you.
Jesus didn’t leave it there. He said there’s more to this than just keeping what you invest. There’s also what it does to you as a person inwardly. You see, Jesus isn’t interested in just getting a bunch of people to be wise and moral. He’s looking to get a bunch of people who are that way because they’ve been changed on the inside. Investing in what matters also…
It gets your heart in the right place
It would be great if we could make sure your heart was always in the right place. But, there’s a problem with your heart, and my heart…
Jeremiah 17:9
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?
Have you ever used the phrase, “My heart’s just not into this” or, “His heart’s just not into it”? What does that mean? What does it look like?
• At a job, it means someone’s not doing his best.
• In a relationship, it means someone’s not really interested in making it work.
• In a meeting, it means someone’s distracted and not giving it attention.
• In a choir or a band, it means you might be playing or singing the right notes, but that’s as far as it goes.
• In parenting, it means you’re not really concerning yourself with the future of your children.
• If you’re a leader, it means you’re content with mediocrity.
• If you’re a follower, it means you’re willing to let someone else carry the load.
• In your spiritual walk, it means that someone’s not really giving God the place He deserves in life.
That’s what we call “not having your heart into it.” Not a pretty picture. Yet Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment starts out “Love the Lord your God with all your [heart]”!
What we all need is some way to help get our hearts in the right place. That’s part of what Jesus is telling us how to do here.
I’ve talked about this before. Here we go again! Let’s look at it…
Matthew 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.
“For where is the treasure of you, there is also the heart of you.” When Lk records these words of Jesus, he has almost the exact same thing. Your treasure is first in the list. Your heart is there, also.
Jesus didn’t make a mistake. He said that your heart is where your treasure is.
Where you leave food on the counter, there are also ants. Where Batman is, Robin also is. Where there’s lightning, there’s also thunder. Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.
There’s a little town in northeast IN called St. Joe – population about 460, total land area just over ¼ a square mile. It’s the home of Nucor Steel, Sechler Pickles, and the annual St. Joe Pickle Festival. I wouldn’t know or care much about St. Joe, IN, but the fact is my heart is partly there. It’s there because 28 years ago we moved there and began our first full-time work in ministry. It’s there because we invested our lives in the lives of the people there. It’s there because in Riverside Cemetery, right next to the road, a teddy bear-shaped headstone bears the name of 2 of our sons. We poured our lives into that community and church for 4 years. So, today, part of my heart is in a little jog in IN Hwy 1, north of Ft. Wayne called St. Joe.
In little ways, parts of our hearts are scattered across IN, OH, MO and other places today. We make deposits of our treasure in life, and because of it, our hearts are there also in one way or another.
Your heart is somewhere too. It’s where you have put your treasure. Where is that, I wonder?
I want to challenge you to take an honest look at your heart location today.
Should it be where it is? Is your heart first given completely to God, and then set on things that will last forever? Or is it all tied up in places and things here that can’t possibly last?
It may be that your heart is somewhere it shouldn’t be. Remember, it’s “deceitful above all things and beyond cure”. Who can understand it? It’s quite possible that it needs to be moved today. And I hope that if you see that, you’re also thinking, “What do I need to do to move it to where it should be?”
The answer is to invest in what matters. Put your treasure where it needs to go, and your heart will end up in the same place.
Investing your treasure in the right places will help your heart be where it should be.
There’s basically one issue at stake here today. It’s what Jesus boiled it down to. When all is said and down, where you put your treasure, and where your heart will also be, all depends on whom you will serve. That’s…
What this all comes down to: Whom you will serve
Matthew 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.
That’s really the issue here. Whom will you serve – stuff, or God?
The word translated “money” here is capitalized, because it’s an Aramaic word for “wealth” personified – kind of like the US used the symbol of Columbia to personify the nation. So, wealth and all its attraction, gets a name: Mammon.
I’ve watched people serve themselves by trying to satisfy some craving. We call them addictions. I watched from a distance as a guy turned to alcohol as his main help in life. He eventually lost his job, and his house, and his 2 kids, and his health – all because he repeatedly made the choice to use his treasure in life to feed his own appetites. As a result, that’s where his heart was. It cost him dearly before he finally came back around. Alcohol can be a very selfish companion.
You cannot serve both God and wealth. That’s not a command. It’s not good advice. It’s a mathematical fact about life. 1+1 cannot equal 1.
For several weeks, we’re going to be talking about your bucket list. That list, written by you, becomes a list of goals to direct your plans for the future. My goal is for this to be more than just a new year’s resolution that a few people take on. I want to also challenge our SS classes, our small groups, our study groups, to make this a 6-week project starting this week. Like I said at the beginning, today is foundational to this whole series. I want to challenge you to decide on a way to invest in what matters, to make that a project, and to complete it before the end of February. So, that project could be any one of thousands of things. Just pick a specific way that you’re going to invest in something that will last forever – a treasure in Heaven.
Then, there’s a place on your bulletin notes to write that in.
To start my “Bucket List,” here is a specific way I’m going to invest in what matters:
That’s for you – to help you remember to get onto this, starting today. If it’s an idea for your SS class or your small group, take it to your group as soon as you can. If it’s for you personally, then start planning it out. Otherwise, SS teachers and small group leaders, will you help your groups come up with a project for the next several weeks? Make it something that can be accomplished and reported.
February 26th, I’d l want you to be able to share with the church family how God has helped us invest in what matters. Let’s kick the bucket of mediocre living on down the street a few times, OK?
