Living with Less

Call to Worship

Revelation 4:1 NIV

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

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We are invited, like John was, to “Come up here,” and encounter God.

——

To all who are weary and in need of rest

To all who are mourning and longing for comfort

To all who fail and desire strength

To all who sin and need a Savior

We, Moraga Valley Presbyterian Church, open wide our arms

With a welcome from Jesus Christ.

He is the ally to the guilty and failing

He is the comfort to those who are mourning

He is the joy of our hearts

And He is the friend of sinners

So Come, worship Him with us.

Scripture Reading & Reader

Scripture Reader:

Matthew 6:19–20 NIV

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

Post-Scripture Prayer

Pray.

Body of Sermon

Good morning! Grab a Bible and turn with me to Matthew 6! We’re going to be in a little chunk of scripture in the most famous sermon in the world: the Sermon on the Mount.

This is where Jesus announces the ethics of His Kingdom, the sometimes counter-intuitive ways for people to thrive. I don’t know if anyone else does this, but I place the Sermon on the Mount right in the Middle of the Wisdom Literature of the Bible, — and the Wisdom Literature in scripture are books like Job, and the Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon — these are the collection of writings for what it means to live well in the world — what it means to live the good life we know we could be living, but aren’t.

Today we’re going to talk about the practice of simplicity — the idea that less is more, and that if we want to live the good life, the life we know we should be living, it will mean that we can’t love everything the same way. I might even say that simplicity is making room for God.

Your heart, which is the seat of your desires in the Christian life, has a limited capacity for what it can desire, and not all of our desires are weighed equally.

Which brings us to where we are in Matthew 6.

This chunk of scripture is a classic war of loves: treasures on earth or treasures in heaven?

And we think, “Oh! That’s easy! I’ll choose treasure in heaven,” because blah-blah-blah — that’s fine, Christian lip service, but Jesus says that because He knows better, and He knows better because we don’t choose treasure in heaven, we choose treasure on earth.

John Stott called this the durability of two treasures — which one will last?

Let’s look at Matthew 6:19-20 together.

Matthew 6:19–20 NIV

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

First, in verse 19 — it starts with a command from Jesus, He has a very clearly delineated line of thinking here, which He explains later at the end of verse 24 where He says. Matthew 6:24

Matthew 6:24 (NIV)

“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

The church is to always be single-minded in its devotion to Jesus. Nothing is complimentary with Jesus, there’s no Jesus + anything else. The sole recipe is one heaping cup of Jesus, and you bake at 350 until the Bread of Life is done.

When Jesus begins with “Do not” in verse 19, this isn’t a joy-stealing command in an attempt to control you, it’s an invitation to be free from something that once it gets a hold of you it can’t be tamed.

In verse 19, the command comes back to that idea of durability — which is going to pass the litmus test of depreciation and deterioration?

Do you remember the show, “Whose line is it anyway?” It was the Game Show hosted by Drew Carey where he would always introduce the show as the show where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter.

It’s not a good feeling to figure out that what we’re leveraging our lives for may not matter, where it will depreciate to nothing, and potentially waste away. Specifically, Jesus is talking about what John Stott says as the “selfish accumulation of goods.”

It’s the Western belief of gimme-gimme-gimme, more-more-more… what some have named as consumerism, which is just our preoccupation for more.

Jesus says this is a spiritual problem, a heart issue, He calls it. Some of the issue we have with this topic, is we don’t know where the issue is.

We work hard. We’ve made sacrifices. We like to enjoy a nice vacation, a great bottle of wine, and we’ll put it on the black card and pay it off every month.

Jesus isn’t a cosmic killjoy. He doesn’t want you to stop laughing, stop enjoying, stop glorifying Him in the gifts He has given us.

Dallas Willard said that God is the most joyous being in the universe. This is the exact reason why He has given us stand up paddle boarding, Lake Tahoe, and Cabernet Sauvignon — in that order.

Listen to me on this… if anyone says that “things” — whatever that may be — are inherently wrong, then they don’t understand a Heavenly Father who gives good gifts to His children.

He’s merciful. He owns all things. He delights in sharing it with us. These things — homes, toys, experiences — are meant to be stewarded well. They come from God, they belong to God. It would be incorrect to think that anything belongs to us.

In 1670, the Puritan John Flavel said these words:

Know for certain that the Lord records all the mercies that He ever gave to you, from the beginning of your life to the end (Mic 6:5). Yes, they are exactly numbered and recorded for the purposes of accounting, and your account will be commensurate. — And he quotes Luke 12:48 “Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required.” — You are only stewards, and your Lord will come to take an account of you. Therefore, for you who have so much of this world in your hands, how great an account must you make? What witnesses will your enemies be against you on that day if you have made no better use of your earthly resources?”

Flavel is making the case that He believes God is merciful and gracious, and He wants us to make the most of the mercies and graces that He has given us.

If you own a second property, use it as a way to bless others — non-believers included. If you have lots of financial resources, ask God for wisdom on how to use it and who to bless with it. If you have a membership at a Country Club, go use it. If you’re a world traveler, make every opportunity to make strangers into family while you’re there.

So… what’s the heart issue?

Jesus says in verse 24, “No one can serve two masters.”

The exact reason why polygamy is a bad idea.

Randy Alcorn explains it like this, “Everything material we have, including money, is either a tool or an idol. If we fail to use it as a tool for God’s intended purposes, it mutates into an idol.”

The issue is because we are made to worship something, and we frequently choose the wrong thing.

Treasures on earth are fruitless to worship… nothing comes of it. There’s no value. There’s no meaning. There’s no happiness, or sense of the good life, that we’re going to find in what Jesus calls “earthly treasures.”

When we were living in Arkansas, I was at the DMV and ran into a guy from our church. We were chatting and I asked him, “what’d you come in here for? He goes, ‘I’m here for the second greatest day of boat ownership! First greatest day was when I bought the boat, second greatest day is today because I’m selling the boat!’”

I think what he meant is that it had become a sore spot in his life. It brought all sorts of grief.

In 1 Timothy 6:9-10 Paul talks about the grief that the wrong kind of worship can bring.

1 Timothy 6:9–10 (NIV)

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

Grief upon grief… “pierced themselves with many griefs.”

Accumulation for the sake of accumulation is like compounding grief.

The heart issue is that we don’t understand the damage we’re doing until after the damage is done.

Jesus says there is a different kind of treasure, though. Again, this is the practice of simplicity. As I said a couple of weeks ago, a practice is where we align ourselves with God, and when we do, God often does something miraculous and transformative in our midst — He ends up making us into people who reflect Him more and more.

I like how John Ortberg makes the distinction of training versus trying. We don’t try, or try harder, to align our lives with God; rather, we train ourselves to align with God. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, “train yourself for godliness.”

If you’re going to run a half marathon, which I don’t know why you would, you don’t just decide on Friday night that you’re going to enter the race for Saturday.

You find a training plan, get fitted for a great pair of shoes, stretch accordingly, build your pace and distance over months, change your diet and recovery, run with a friend, listen to podcasts about running, buy short shorts, and buy stock in Hoka.

Do you see what I mean? It’s a re-orchestration of your life.

Jesus’ response to treasures on earth, is the re-orchestration of your life around treasures in heaven, things that pass the durability test — they won’t depreciate or deteriorate.

I’m convinced, because I think Jesus was convinced, that the treasures in heaven are far less in amount than the treasures on earth.

What can we take with us when we go to Jesus?

I think it’s several things, and unfortunately, Jesus doesn’t say. He doesn’t just give a neatly detailed itinerary of what to bring to heaven with you… but I think scripture points out, at least, these three eternally durable attributes:

Our character

Our knowledge of Jesus

Our plus 1’s

We are cultivating a character that will be fit with worship for Jesus eternally. This is our inner life, a life that is mapped after Jesus. This is the long term working out of our integrity, our joy, our faith, our hope, in Jesus.

We can grow in our knowledge of Jesus, and I think knowledge should grow us in our love for Jesus, and so when we see Him face to face, we shouldn’t be surprised, it will be like seeing an old friend.

We can grow our plus 1’s in heaven… I have a friend who told me once, “my goal is to see heaven crowded.” I want to make sure as many people as possibly can hear the gospel and respond to the gospel.

Simplicity is seeing that less is actually more in the Kingdom of God.

We re-orchestrate our lives around the heavenly treasures.

This morning I would be wrong if I preached a sermon and invited you to decrease your wardrobe by half, cut your calendar commitments by two-thirds, and turned off your phone so you could hear God once in a while — I would be wrong if I didn’t say that before we go off training ourselves for the right kind of treasure, that the root of all of this is in some way related to our belief about the sufficiency of Jesus.

Is Jesus enough? Isn’t that the core question behind the practice of simplicity? Can He really give me the joy, the fulfillment, the life I’ve always wanted?

When we use the word sufficiency, what we mean is that sufficiency is when all of our needs have been met.

Colossians 2:10 (NIV) says…

and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.

There is nothing lacking in Christ, and there’s nothing lack with Christ.

I said earlier that we can’t love everything the same way, that not all of our desires are weighed equally — but none of our desires promise what Paul has just said about Jesus.

If we look at that portion of Matthew 6, where Jesus talks about money and worry, our desire for the life we want isn’t found in an accumulation of more, and more doesn’t satisfy the deepest needs we have. In Matthew 6:33, Jesus says…

Matthew 6:33 NIV

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

At the center of simplicity is Jesus, who is everything we need.

I want to help us live lives of simplicity, because I think there’s actually more in less.

I want to give you a framework and I want to give you an opportunity to respond.

A Framework for Simplicity

Matthew 6:21 (NIV) says:

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We have to align our treasure with our heart.

I want to give you Three R’s for Simplicity, and no, they are not Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle. That’s for the environment.

The Three R’s for Simplicity are:

Reduce, Rearrange, and Refocus

I think these are better understand in questions.

Does it need to go?

Does it matter?

Where is Jesus?

When we REDUCE, we’re asking the question: Does it need to go? Is this a distraction? Is it a help or a hindrance? It requires an honest inventory of your life, but there’s freedom on the other side. It will require you to say NO to some things. On the inverse, remember this, every yes is a thousand no’s. You’ve already said yes to Jesus, so you have a thousand no’s.

When we REARRANGE, we’re asking the question: Does it matter? And if it does, how much? The two biggest things that require arrangement are TIME and BUDGET. Where and how do I spend my time? Where and how do I spend my money? Again.. what matters most?

When we REFOCUS, we’re asking the question: Where is Jesus? If He isn’t at the center, He needs to be — and if He’s starting to be, how can I get closer?

Reduce, Rearrange, and Refocus. Does it need to go? Does it matter? and Where is Jesus?

I also want us to respond this morning… I think many of us are living overburdened lives that it’s complex for us to live simply in Christ.

I want to make Jesus my number one priority this morning. We’re going to reduce our burdens so we can be full in Christ.

In just a second, I’m going to invite us to stand and we’re going to hold out our arms in a posture of readiness and reception, and we’re going to give them away to Jesus.

Why don’t you go ahead and stand with me this morning and we’ll start to prepare ourselves.

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I want to invite you this morning to get rid of the distraction. It might be your over-commitment to your schedule. It might be of sin that you feel like is consuming you. Come and let go of where you’ve not made room for God.

Come and ask Him for more. More of Himself, more of His presence, more of His power.

I’m going to invite you down front where you can pray, and respond.

If you need prayer, we have four people available up front for prayer. We just ask that it’s men with men and women with women.