Matthew 6:19-34
“Real Wealth”
By: Rev. Kenneth Emerson Sauer,
Pastor of Parkview United Methodist Church,
Newport News, VA
www.parkview-umc.org
The Bible is the church’s book. It was written and preserved by the people of God. Through the Spirit, the Bible speaks a living Word to the people of God.
There it is. This is our book.
What are we going to do about the passage of Scripture we just read from it?
“No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and Money.”
Jesus talked a lot about money, and He didn’t talk about it because He was a greedy preacher or a church fund-raiser.
He talked about the issue because He knew how money can compete for our primary allegiance to God.
So what are we going to do with this passage of Scripture?
The word Jesus used for Money is the Aramaic word Mammon.
“You can’t serve God and Mammon,” Jesus says.
Mammon means “accumulated resources.” Mammon means “stuff,” as in, “We have a lot of stuff around here.”
Or “Please go into your room and pick up all your stuff.”
Or closer to the point: “You cannot serve God and stuff.”
How many of us have a lot of “stuff”?
How many of us have a garage full of “stuff” ?
How many of us have a closet full of clothes and yet we still scan the pages of a catalog looking for more?
Do we stand taller when someone admires our fancy new wrist watch?
When we earn some money do we go and blow it on a bunch of things that hang around the house?
Then…when it comes time to decide what we will put in the offering plate on Sunday morning…
…do we look at our VISA bills…
…and decide that we can not give at least ten percent of our income to God due to our addiction to possessions, our hunger for money, our attachment to things that must be fed over and over again?
Because stuff has become our god!
Have we found the truth of this passage in our own lives?
“You cannot serve both God and stuff.”
This is not a threat, but a comment on life that speaks its own truth.
A lawyer, who had spent his life accumulating vast amounts of wealth through frivolous lawsuits was on his deathbed.
He told his wife, “When I die, I am going to take my money with me.”
“How in the world are you going to do that,” asked the wife.
“I have a plan,” the lawyer replied.
“I want you to grab two of the biggest pillow cases you can find, and go down to the bank. Have them open my account and stuff those pillow cases full with my cash.”
“Then, I want you to go up into the attic and hang those pillow cases to the ceiling. When I die, I’ll grab them on the way up!”
The man’s wife did what he had asked.
Some time after the man had passed away, his wife went up to the attic to clean up a few things.
While in the attic, she saw that those two pillowcases—filled with cash—were still hanging from the ceiling, just as she had left them.
“Darn,” the woman snapped, “I knew I should have put that money in the basement!”
We can’t take our money, our mammon, our stuff with us…
…and yet we guard it as if it were the most important thing in the world…
…as if it were, so to speak, our very salvation!!!
Let’s ask ourselves this question: “If I were to receive a million dollars tomorrow, what would I do with it?”
What comes first to our minds?
Yes, we must think about food and clothing, but we shouldn’t think about them first.
In verse 33 of our Gospel Lesson Jesus tells us “seek first [God’s] kingdom and [God’s] righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”
This does not mean that if we seek God’s Kingdom first we will become millionaires…it means that if we seek God’s Kingdom first…
…the basic necessities of this life will be taken care of by God.
Put Christ first, and everything else will fall into place.
Do we have that much faith?
Do we trust God enough?
A church member was having trouble with the concept of tithing.
One day he revealed his doubts to his minister.
“Pastor, I just don’t see how I can give 10 percent of my income to the church when I can’t even keep on top of our bills.”
The pastor replied, “John, if I promise to make up the difference in your bills if you fall short, do you think you could try tithing for just one month?”
After a moment’s pause, John responded, “Sure, if you promise to make up any shortage, I guess I could try tithing for one month.”
“Now, what do you think of that,” mused the pastor. “You say you’d be willing to trust in a mere man like myself, who possesses so little materially, but you couldn’t trust your Heavenly Father Who owns the whole universe!”
The next Sunday, John gave his tithe and has been doing so faithfully ever since.
Every one of us are accountable to God because God has given us everything we have.
Someone once wrote: “We honor God by first giving to Him from our paycheck. In doing so, we acknowledge His ownership of everything before we enjoy any of it ourselves. Whatever your income, give a portion to the Lord first. He will be honored and glorified by your trust.”
Walter Goode was sitting in my office one day discussing how he was able to put God first in all he did.
“When I get my paycheck at the beginning of the month,” Walter told me, “The first thing I do is lay aside my tithe to the church.”
“Then I pay my bills.”
“If I have enough money left over, I will spend it on things I want.”
“If I see that I won’t have enough money left over, I will go without some of the extras that month.”
That’s what it means to live a life fully dedicated to Christ.
How many of us are unwilling to put a few bucks in the offering plate…because things are tight this month…but if there is a movie we want to see…a dvd we want to rent…a restaurant we want to eat at…
…we will find the money to pay for it?
It’s about choices, isn’t it.
And it’s about priorities.
“No one can serve two masters.”
We have freedom of choice.
We are given the shrine of liberty.
Every invitation, every warning, every condemnation, every regret, every approval infers that we do have an unimpeachable power of choice.
In our passage for today, our freedom of choice is narrowed down to two things—God and Mammon.
Jesus taught repeatedly that we must choose between two masters…
…we are to be sheep or goats…
…figs or thistles…
…we are to choose between right and wrong…
…the world or the Father…
…the broad road or the narrow road…
…time or eternity…
…heaven or hell…
…yes, we must choose.
What is our Center?
What or Who is our Lord?
If we choose not to serve God first, we see the results all around us.
In not serving God first, we spend more money for jails and hospitals than for decent homes, lifting up the poor and oppressed, being the light and salt of the earth.
It is a precarious thing to be half in the world and half in the Kingdom of God…
One scholar suggests: “Do not touch Christianity unless you are willing to seek the kingdom of heaven first. I promise you a miserable existence if you seek it second.”
But, is that not, what so often, so many of us do?
We seek pleasure first, and find nausea.
We seek safety first, and become paranoid.
We seek profits first, and find murder.
Martin Luther once wrote, “My conscience has become free, and that is the most complete freedom. Therefore I am a monk, and yet not a monk; a new creature, not the [world’s], but Christ’s.”
That, my friends is true wealth.
That is treasure in heaven…
…real freedom…
…real peace…
…real life.
We are the Body of Christ called United Methodists who meet at 912 Briarfield Road in Newport News, Virginia…
…we are people who send missionaries, and ourselves, into the world, to live as servants for Christ.
We are the Body of Christ who minister in more than 100 United Methodist colleges and universities, as well as support 13 theological schools to educate our pastors.
We are the Body of Christ that bears each other’s burdens by reaching out in times of need and disaster.
We are the Body of Christ connected together.
We do more than express a concern for the worker, the sick, the poor, the aging, the impaired, the oppressed, the unsaved.
We struggle together to help.
We are Christ’s Body on this earth.
We are called to make disciples of all nations, to baptize persons in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost…
…we are called to work in the world for the salvation of all!!!
This is what we are about, and if we are going to be able to do what God has called us to do…
…we cannot serve both God and Money!!!
The choice is ours to make.
One Sunday morning a pastor encouraged his congregation to consider the potential of the church.
He told them, “With God’s help we can see the day when this church will go from crawling to walking.”
The people responded, “Let the church walk, Pastor. Let the church walk.”
He continued, “And when the church begins to walk, next the church can begin to run.”
And the people shouted, “Let the church run, Pastor. Let the church run!”
The Pastor continued, “And finally the church can move from running to flying. Oh, the church can fly! But, of course, that’s going to take lots of money for that to happen.”
The congregation grew quit and from the back someone mumbled, “Let the church crawl, Pastor. Let the church crawl.”
It’s up to us.
God has given us so much.
We have so much potential.
Where will we store our treasure?
Who will be our Master?
We cannot serve two.
Let us bow our heads and pray together John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer:
I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed by Thee or laid aside for Thee,
Exalted for Thee or brought low for Thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Thou art mine, and I am Thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
