Untitled Sermon (4)

Image : Marie Kondo “Tidying Up” on Netflix a few years back on focusing on how to declutter life. She went viral for how she was focused upon moving our perspective off of materialism and clutter to things being more tidy, sparking joy, and living life purposefully.

It’s a wonderful thing to have a clean home, an organized life, and purposeful living. The reality is though as much as we can aim and desire to have a clean home life gets real.

Need: Maria Kondo, recently came out with a new statement and perspective. In 2021 she had her third child. Instead of keeping things tidy she “gave up on being tidy” as three toddlers were winning over the clutter of the home.

We may be coming from similar places, when we look at our stuff, we may have given up in trying to keep control of it or perhaps we are discovering what we really value.

The world as it used to be based on all material items, our homes, our banks, our items, but with the acceleration of internet we now live in a digital and even post-digital world.

We no longer count items, we count likes on social media. Views on streaming. Number of skins in Fortnight and Minecraft. We count the number of text responses and comments.

Instead of things being local, we have phones that make the whole world local.

In a few moments I can give to the church, update on the war in Ukraine, read a politician’s speech, see the latest score, and ask my wife what she wants for dinner.

Instead of giving up, we may have given in to something we didn’t realize was there from the age of Paw Patrol craze to wondering what in the world is a Paw and why is it patrolling anything.

We ask ourselves.

What to do with my stuff? All this digital, material, actual stuff.

As an Upside-Down Kingdom person who recognizes we have been given many resources our money, our stuff, our time, our relationships, our ambitions, our worry, and how we live.

While the world around us is constantly saying consume less, or better, or more depending on which advertisements hit you on the way home.

I’m sorry for the new paw patrol ones you are about to get.

Jesus has a different perspective instead of looking at the world and being like them with our stuff, digital or physical.

He tells us to Look up, not look down or around for our answer.

Our Text - Matt 6:19-24, Matt 6:19-24 is found on page 5 of the pew bibles, for those online I’m using NASB at Matt 6:19-24

Subject –

Preview – Upside Down Kingdom which Jesus calls us opposed to our own kingdom. Two treasures, two visions, and two masters.

Jesus shows that what we do with our stuff is we first challenge our way of thinking and attitudes towards our stuff.

Second, we challenge our attention and perspective about our stuff.

Finally, we challenge our ambition and the purpose of our stuff.

19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

“Do not store”, in the Bible this is worth highlighting and circling because this is what we call a Command or Imperative. It can be read “Stop storing”

Jesus reveals what we are to do for with our stuff, but we have to be careful with what Jesus is not revealing.

He is not revealing a portfolio management strategy of how to manage our wealth.

He is not making claims about rich and wealth in salvation.

He is not against 401k’s or retirement plans.

Jesus is taking all of scripture especially the OT and wisdom books like Proverbs 13:22 “A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children”

Some like to call this the holy tensions of Scripture, that it takes the reality of two wisdoms to both reveal and confront us.

Jesus is using the holy tension that on one hand we are called to prepare for our future in finances.

What we want is let the Word reveal to us what to focus on and it shows us where we should not focus

“ Do not store up for yourselves” Jesus is challenging our selfishness and misplaced values.

It is not wrong to possess things but it is wrong for things to possess us.

Our treasures on earth can range from anything from a plastic toy to affirmation from others, bank accounts, material items, or anything that you treasure. Even relationships of family and friends are temporary, all of these are perishable.

Jesus is warning we will find no security in our stuff but rather.

When we store for ourselves we are falling into the danger of too much. Instead of trusting God, we are losing trust in him by going towards insecure greed.

We aren’t storing up for wisdom, we are storing our insecurity.

The point of life in an Upside Down Kingdom is to store up for the world to come, that’s not items and affirmations and accomplishments it’s v. 20

20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven

The treasures of heaven are storing up for a love for God, not a love of self.

We focus on whatever is good and eternal significance.

It means to use all that we have for the glory of God and all other things we hold loosely.

All that we have means our words we speak to each other, the way we love people or fail to love them by affirming sin in their life, forgiving each other, praying, focusing on justice.

Treasures I haven is not some kind of wispy “be nice to each other”

Its faith in action and things worthy of God in his coming kingdom.

We can’t fix the world by our actions but we definitely can make it worse when instead of focusing on justice we focus on ourselves and our own perspective.

Instead of provision for others, we focus on what we can get instead of what we can give.

People don’t dig holes because they want to move earth, they dig for a bigger purpose or practical work.

We aren’t to be kind to others because ‘it’s good’ but because it is in these activities, we see truly what God’s Kingdom is to be.

Critics will accuse Christians of not caring about this world because we are going to this ‘other world’

Some end of times groups have given away their pets because God’s going to take them away from this world and the time never came.

This isn’t treasures in heaven, in fact we are to be the opposite.

Because we are so invested in loving what God loves, we are to love justice more than the world around us because God is Just.

We are to love life more because God is life.

We are to love well because God is Love.

This isn’t escapism or run away leave your pets, this is treasure what God treasures that’s how Jesus continues in.

21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Money, wealth, and affirmation changes the heart, Jesus is not saying put money into things that matter to you but what you treasure will end of controlling you.

The Heart is the key word here.

To discover the heart is the discover the treasure.

In Jesus day the heart is much more than an organ that pumps blood. It is the center of personality, we use the phrase heart vs mind, emotion vs logic.

In Jesus day the heart is the mind, emotions, and will all be coming together as the physical, spiritual, center of who we are.

God wants our heart, not our wallet. Giving is not God’s way of raising cash, its God’s way of raising kids.

Every time I give, I am giving away selfishness and insecurity but more than what I give is the what our hearts treasure.

To see life isn’t about how much we get but how much we can give and surrender.

Something that I struggled when I was reading this passage was wring this is “How though, how do I lay up the treasure and how do tell where our heart is?”

How do we really do this practically?

If I asked you “What significance of value and sense of identity do you place in your phone?” I would expect a lot of confused looks

But if I asked you “What would you feel if you lost your cell phone?”

Panic. Outrage. Anxiety. Depression. Frustration. Loss.

Cell phones are not just pieces of metal but they have become outward actions of our identity, value, and treasures.

Cell phones, video games, bank accounts, 401k, cars, relationships, media platforms, we don’t have to ask what significance we have but what we feel if we lost them.

Each of us has an answer, whether it’s a favorite toy or a treasured heirloom.

Jesus is not calling us to lose our possessions, but surrender our attitude towards them and our belief that these things will make us complete. It’s all about surrender and once we release our attitude Jesus goes after our perspective and attention.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

In the last area Jesus answers what do we do with our stuff, we give it to God in attitude and stop storing on selfish things.

Both the eye and the heart play similar roles in this passage.

Finger illustration – focus up with me. Let’s have some fun. Put one finger in front of you and other on top. Focus on finger and back. Finger and back. Focus on finger. Now pull them apart.

That’s dual focus. That’s trying to focus on two things at once.

When our eyes are focused on the right attitude and perspective of looking up and being part of the Upside-Down Kingdom with Jesus, we see clearly.

But when we take our eyes off and try to find other focuses.

How much focus should we give to our stuff?

If its anxious attention, you aren’t trusting in God you are trusting in your ability to cover insecurity.

If it’s too much, it’s just greed.

If it’s too little, you are lazy and slothful.

Simply we are called to a single purpose, to focus on God in all things.

If you are anxious about the future, do not worry as we will talk about deeper next week.

When God is the singular purpose, our work comes from a place of succeeding and edifying others.

We are to succeed at our work, and we are to win at home.

Some of us need to be God purposed work because our good work validates our ability to witness.

To dismiss something, pastor work is not better godly work.

God focused work is godly work.

A godly banker who compassionately and purposefully cares for their customers is a good thing.

Others of us need to be better spouses because sacrificial humble marriages.

Others of us need to be better friends by giving permission and invitation to be one.

One of the most treasured things we can give currently is our undivided attention.

Give your undivided attention generously.

Jesus this entire time has been building an argument of what to do with our stuff.

First, we are to focus our attitude on where our heart is, but the reality is we may realize today it’s not where it should be.

Second, he says focus our attention, not on only family friends and work but rather to put our attention first on but what do we focus on when we give our family, friends, and work focus.

Finally, Jesus goes after our ambitions and our masters.

24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

God and wealth. It’s an age-old debate of how do we work with our stuff if God is asking us to release our stuff.

It’s the cynical “if God is so rich why do we need to give to him”

Because it’s not about God it’s about what we serve. God isn’t say give him money, he is saying give your heart.

Because our heart defines our master.

When we attempt to keep our stuff, our attitudes, and our ambitions from God, we give it to Mammon.

This term “wealth” in Bible times it’s called Mammon.

Mammon means “what one trusts in”

Mammon is the false god of believing that by storing treasures on earth, by keeping wealth to yourself, to hold on tightly to our material or digital wealth, means we shall be safe.

We live in a world that is all about keep mine and me protected. Keep my power, keep my wealth, keep my influence, it’s all mine and I am god of my kingdom.

The reality is though we aren’t doing this from places of greed in our own mind, it’s usually insecurity and fear to keep what may be lost.

David Foster Wallace an atheist writer challenges this perspective

“In the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship—be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles—is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. And when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you.”

Everybody worships

We try so hard to create heave on earth and to throw Christianity in to enable our so-called good life.

Jesus is not calling us to poverty, he is calling us to trust.

To trust him in the midst of our stuff, digital or physical. We end up making a master of our stuff.

When technology has distracted us to the point that we no longer examine it, it gains the greatest opportunity to enslave us. - Dyer, John

When we consume without thinking, we don’t find ourselves free we find our time, our energy, and our effort enslaved to something that will give you no more high than escape.

To bring this to us.

Because at the end of the day what do we do with all our stuff.

Ask ourselves, what do we most fear to lose? If we lost it what feelings would it bring for us?

What are we doing with our time, is our perspective on the next pay check or financial milestone or test or release, or can this be used as an opportunity.

There is nothing wrong with finding rest in our stuff, any good thing can become a wrong thing when it becomes our only release.

Both adults and kids have meltdowns when the thing that is precious to them is threatened or may be lost, this is an opportunity to go after asking ourselves what we truly value.

The reflection and application “What do I fear to lose and how can I start giving it to God in laying up the treasure, focusing vision on Him, and making God the master?”

Is it our phone, relationships, work, emotions, anxiety?

If we find ourselves in places where anxiety and worry start appearing because whatever we find our treasure is may be something more significant, I hope you join us again next week when we talk about worry and anxiety in Matthew 6.