Treasures in Heaven - Pt. 1

Sermon Introduction

Have you heard of the game called Minecraft?

For those of you who haven’t, it is what they call a “Sandbox Game”. Meaning, there isn’t really a predetermined goal...

In contrast to this, most video games like Super Mario for example, the goal is to save Princess Peach

In Tetris, the goal is to clear as many lines as you can...

In a Sandbox Game, there’s no goal… Players have the freedom to interact with the world of the game as they see fit...

And in Minecraft in particular, what you have is a world where you can mine blocks… which are you raw resources, and buid… whatever you want… it’s a treasure trove of posibilities...

You can build simple houses, a model of the Titanic, or even entire cities… whater floats your boat...

So, here’s the thing about Minecraft… It might seem like a simple child’s game… But it is the number one best selling video game of all time, by a huge margin...

It has sold 300 Million copies… in comparison, th next best selling game is called Grand Theft Auto V, which has sold 190 Million copies...

Not only that, but this Minecraft remains incredibly popular, despite being released in 2011...

In 2023, it averaged 140 million monthly active players… Just think about that for a moment, more than 3 times the population of Canada plays this video game every month.

And now, if you’re thinking… a game that popular and that successful… well, it must have made someone rich!

And you’d be right… The game’s creator, a Swedish man named Markus Persson sold the game to Microsoft in 2014 for 2.5 Billion dollars...

Again, just to give you an idea of what that means… Facebook bought Instagram for just 1 Billion dollars in 2012… And Google bought YouTube for 1.65 Billion dollars in 2006…

Markus Persson became insanely wealthy from Minecraft… which would generally make you think that he’d be happy...

And yet, just a year after the purchase, he tweeted this… “The problem with getting everything is... you run out of reasons to keep trying, and human interaction becomes impossible due to imbalance.”

This is probably what he meant.. about relationships he tweeted this: “Found a great girl, but she's afraid of me and my life style and went with a normal person instead.”

It’s no wonder then that he also said this... “Hanging out in ibiza with a bunch of friends and partying with famous people, able to do whatever I want, and I've never felt more isolated.”

Now, I know that it may be hard to feel sorry for a billionaire… but at the very least, we should recognize from Markus Persson’s experience that the riches of this world really doesn’t bring the happiness most people think it will.

And yet, this is still what people strive for, it’s what people dream about…

Well, maybe it’s not everyone wants to be a billionaire, but you know what I mean… those little thoughts… “Wouldn’t it be nice if...” I had a million dollars.. Or a nicer car… or a nicer house…

Everyone has these thoughts… The question is, where do those thoughts lead?

For most people, unfortunately, it leads to despair… despite living in in one of the wealthiest places in the world, in the wealthiest period of history...

This quote is over a hundred years old now, but it still rings true when you look at the world around us.

Talking about America in the 19th Century, Ah-LE-XY DE TO-KE-VILLE wrote: “A strange melancholy oftentimes haunt the inhabitants of democratic countries in the midst of their abundance”

Brothers and sisters, because the riches of this world can lead to despair, we must treasure Jesus Christ.

Scripture Introduction

The larger context of the passage that we read earlier is that it is part of the first of Jesus’ five major blocks of teachings found in the Gospel of Matthew...

Most people know this block of teaching as the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matthew chapters 5-7, and from which we get what are probably some of the most well known teachings of Jesus Christ...

For example, the sermon opens with the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:3-12… And also, The Lord’s Prayer is part of this block of teaching in Matthew 6:5-13...

Now, we’re actually going to be covering most of the content of the sermon in our next series which will start February… Although we will be doing it from the perspective of the Gospel of Luke… not Matthew... But there are a lot of overlap, I won’t go into much more detail on the background right now.

The important thing to note about the context is that the sermon on the mount consists of Jesus’ main teaching about Ethics.

If I had to choose just one verse to summarize the whole sermon, the best one would probably be Matthew 6:33, which again, is one of the most famous teachings of Jesus Christ… “33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

The Righteousness of the Kingdom of God here on earth, is basically the main topic of the sermon as a whole...

And our passage this morning, turns specifically to possessions.

And as I had already meantioned, it teaches us to treasure Christ in three ways...

WTCW… We Prioritze Eternity

We treasure Christ when we prioritize eternity

Matthew 6:19–21 “19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Now, this first part of our passage, hardly requires much comment… It starts off in verse 19 with something that just about everyone in the world can grasp...

The treasures of earth don’t last forever...

Every single thing that we own… everyhintg… will be left behind when we die.

Now, certainly some people have tried to bring their treasured possessiosn with them… for example, the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs contained things that they thought htey would need in the afterlife...

Clothing, jewelry, make up, furniture, art, even food and wine…

And yet, what happened?

We dug them up right? Although, actually first they were robbed…

Probably the most famous pharaoh’s tomb that most people are familiar with, King Tut… most scholars believe was robbed at least twice long before our archaeologists their hands on it and put it on display in our museums...

These people were burried with their earthly treasures, and now those treasures are scattered in museums all over the world..

We can’t take anything with us when we die...

And we leave behind can be stolen or will just rot away...

So what can be done? Well, the alternative course verse 20, Matthew 6:20 “20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Heaven is where you can have treasures don’t rot and can’t be stolen… And of course, if heaven is your ultimate destination… then those treasures can’t be left behind on earth either...

Very simple concept of course… the difficulty is in discerning what these heavenly treasures are… Thankfully, we are provided straightforward guidance about this...

1 Timothy 6:17–19 “17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

A couple of comments...

First, we are the rich in this present age… This scripture is exactly for us.

Second, let’s not take this teaching too far… I’m not calling for everyone to sell all their posessions and live in poverty… God has given us good things for our enjoyment…

Of course always with the caveat that it is ultimately for his purpose and his glory… 1 Corinthians 10:31 “31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”

Third, the clear teaching of scripture is… good works and generosity is how we store up those treasures in heaven...

Now, I’ll be straight with you… the main point of this whole sermon series is provide you teaching about giving… particularly about giving to the church… aka, Tithing.

And we will get in to more of the specifics about that in the coming weeks.

For now, what I want to do is lay down a solid foundation for our thinking about giving...

That foundation is in laying up treasures in heaven...

Which lead us to the final verse of this section… our most important motivation for laying up treasures in heaven… Matthew 6:21 “21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Again, this is so straightforward, it’s so intuitive, it hardly requires any comment… What we treasure… that is where our hearts will be… That’s what we will think and care about… that’s what will consume us.

Which brings us to our next point...

WTCW… Set Our Eyes On Him

We treasure Christ when we set our eyes on him...

Matthew 6:22–23 “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, 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 in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

Now, this is a bit of a strange passage in our context when we first look at it...

It seems out of place… Although clearly it is part of the teaching about posessions… The reason why seems strange is because the meaning of these verses hinges on the meaning of an idiomatic phrase from the first century...

Which is, “Your Eye Is Bad”, from verse 23.

This idiom means to be stingy or jealous…

And with that meaning in mind, it fits quite well into our context...

Verses 22-23 is an extension of the the teaching to lay up treasures in heaven...

Don’t be stingy, and don’t be jealous of others… Which of course is a warning that we get multiple times in scripture...

For example, James 3:16 “16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”

Proverbs 6:34 is even “34 For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge.”

Isn’t this so true? How many Korean Dramas have jealousy as the root cause of the conflict… How many movies? Stories?

It doesn’t take much to convince people of the destructive power of Jealousy...

And so, the verse 23 says… If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

How terrible is it to consumed by jealousy?

And yet, sometimes we just can’t help it… Jealously is like a bug that bites us when we least expect it...

So what is the antidote to this?

This is the other part of this verse that is a little hard to understand, because a word play and idiomatic phrase is involved...

Matthew 6:22 “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,”

The Greek word that is translated as “healthy” is ἁπλοῦς and it means to be sincere, or straightforward…

And the best way to understand the meaning of this phrase is to compare it to what it is being contrasted to...

If having a bad eye means to be stingy and jealous… then to “have a sincere eye” is the opposite...

And the opposite of stinginy, and even jealousy when you really think about it… is generosity.

Hebrews 12:1–2 “1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

WTCW… we are devoted to Him

Matthew 6:24 “24 “No one can serve two masters, for 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 God and money.”

Colossians 3:1–3 “1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”