Setting the Right Trajectory

Good morning

If you are a guest, my name is Stefan, I am the preaching pastor here at Harvest

And it is good to be back together after last weekend when we celebrated Good Friday and the resurrection together

But this week we are jumping back into Part II of our series in Matthew

So go ahead and take out your Bibles and turn to Matthew 6

As you turn there…

If anyone were to ever ask you what the greatest trilogy of movies is… There is only one right answer

[And no, it has nothing to do with Star Wars…]

The greatest trilogy in the history of the cinema was the Lord of Rings

And before they were movies, they were books written by J.R.R. Tolkein

And central to the plot of the story is the Ring of power that corrupts the heart of whoever possess it

And there is one character who is obsessed with the ring - Golem…

But before he was Golem, he was a hobbit named Smegol, who, upon finding the ring, treasured it and it consumed him

and it changed him into a grotesque, troubled creature.

Why?

He treasured the ring in his heart and it altered the trajectory of his life

[Hook] Tolkien knew what he was doing when he wrote that character

He knew that our hearts are prone to treasure the wrong thing

And when we do, it will alter the trajectory of our lives

And we will become people we never meant to become

And we will do things we never intended to do

Because we treasured the wrong thing in our hearts

And so it sets the wrong trajectory for our lives

And as Gospel people in Phoenix, AZ in 2025, we as a church family need to keep the right trajectory, not veering off course

And this can only happen if we treasure the right thing

And Jesus is going to show us how to do that

So let’s give these words our full attention

Matthew 6:19–24 ESV

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 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! “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.

These are God’s words for us as a church family

Big Idea: The treasure of my heart determines the trajectory of my life. [6:00]

Whatever I give my heart to will be the thing that pulls me toward it in this life

If I treasure material wealth, the pursuit of material wealth will mark my life

If I treasure relationships, maintaining those relationships will determine the direction of my life

If I treasure God’s word and his way in my heart, my life will look like it

What we have to do is intentionally set our trajectory as a church family by treasuring the right things

We live in a time where there is more wealth available and we live in a place where we enjoy more material comforts than the world has ever seen

And we would be foolish to think that we are unaffected by that

No, we are actually in great danger of treasuring the wrong things in our lives precisely because they are so readily available.

[Bridge Question] How can I make sure that I am treasuring the right things so that my life goes the right way?

And we are going to see three requirements for a heavenly trajectory…

3 things, that if we are prioritizing them in our lives, we will know that our trajectory is heaven.

A heavenly trajectory requires…

Treasuring permanence over possessions (19–21) [9:00]

I don't know if you have ever heard the phrase don't be so heavenly minded that you're of no earthly good

Whoever came up with that phrase got it wrong

It is actually the inverse: do not be so earthly minded that you are of no heavenly good

Do not be so focused on this world, treasuring the possessions of this world, that your life has no eternal and heavenly impact.

Instead of treasuring possessions, we should treasure those things that are permanent, that are lasting, that are eternal.

And Jesus is going to show us in versus 19 and 20 what it looks like

Matthew 6:19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal…”

When he says, “Lay-up” and treasures, that is actually the same word in two different forms

Store up things that are stored up

Think about a storehouse - you put things in there that you want to preserve because they are most valuable to you

You put food in a pantry to preserve it

You put money in a safe to protect it

The common denominator in whatever you are storing up is that it is so important to you that you want to make sure you preserve it

And Jesus warns not to store up things that are earthly…

Why?

Because they are inherently temporary

He says "where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal”

Moths destroy fabric, rust destroys metals, food spoils, outside forces take what you have saved

Markets turn down, homes lose value, investments don't pan out

And if we are living our lives, treasuring possessions that are inherently temporary we will get to the end of our lives and realize we have nothing of true, lasting worth

But look at the contrast in v. 20

“but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Treasures on earth, things the world values, are inherently tangible and therefore inherently temporary

Treasure in heaven, things that God values, are inherently intangible and are therefore inherently permanent

Because God is eternal, when we value what he values, we treasure what is permanent.

So the question that we have to ask is, "what does it mean to lay up treasures in heaven?”

And in that question, there are really two questions:

How do we lay them up? Store them?

What are the treasures?

So, first question: How do we lay up treasure in heaven?

As I say so often, the best interpreter of Scripture is Scripture

So we should let Jesus tell us what he means by simply going to a couple of different passages

So turn first to Luke 12 (starting in v. 15)

Luke 12:15–21 “And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.” ’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be [possessions that are temporary]?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God [permanence].”

I want you to notice: the contrast that Jesus gives here between treasure on earth and treasure in heaven

It is a contrast between material treasure versus relational treasure

The rich man is a fool because he built up ample goods for himself, but he is poor toward God

He worked hard for temporary possessions

He neglected the permanence of relating to God

You see, the richness that God mentions in v. 21 is a richness through relationship, not through possessions.

So taking this passage, we can say that laying up treasure in heaven means investing in how I relate to God

It isn’t about what I have but who I have

So let me ask you: What did you invest in this week? Where did your time go? Where did your energy go?

Was it aimed at things that are temporary, that the world says you should want?

Or was it aimed at things that are permanent, that God says you should want?

When I am motivated by a desire to treasure God and what he wants, I am seeking true, real, permanent treasure.

And knowing that I relate to God has a direct impact on how I act in the world and how I view my possessions.

So let’s go to the next passage in Matt. 19:16-22

Matthew 19:16–22 ESV

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” He said to him, “Which ones?” And Jesus said, “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “All these I have kept. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Notice: The condition for having treasure in heaven is not on what he does, but what he is willing to let go of. (v. 21).

What is Jesus getting at here? Is he saying that to follow him everyone has to sell everything they have?

No, what he is doing is he is putting his finger on the thing in this man’s life that the man loves the most and Jesus is asking, “Do you really want to follow me?”

For everyone one of us, there is something our lives that we are tempted to love more than Jesus

And the mark of the Christ follower who has set a heavenly trajectory is that they are willing to let go of whatever Christ would call them to

So the question you have to ask yourself is: What is that thing in my life?

What is the thing that I am holding on so tightly to, that I am in danger of storing up here on earth?

For some of us it is money

For others it is relationships

It might be a house

It might be your retirement years

When I am fixated on treasure in heaven, I will say, “Jesus, if you want me to let this go for your mission in this world, so be it

Because I treasure you more.”

So if we put the Luke passage and this passage together, what does laying up treasure in heaven look like?

Laying up treasure in heaven looks like loving God to the point that I am willing let go of anything in this life in order to take hold of him more.

D.L. Moody puts it this way: “He is no fool to give up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.”

So what it the permanent treasure that we are storing up?

Just drop down in Matt. 19:27-29

Matthew 19:27–29 ESV

Then Peter said in reply, “See, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.

The treasure is two-fold

First, for those who loved Jesus more than this world, there will be reward for them

Jesus speaks of this in multiple parables and Paul writes about this in multiple places as well

But Second, the treasure is eternal life.

We don’t inherit eternal life through what we do… but what we do does reveal if we truly believed in the first place

And Jesus is saying here in Matt. 19 that it is the willingness to let go of the things of this world that reveals that your heart really does belong to him

True faith in Jesus results in a change of my priorities and a change of my trajectory

Which leads us back to Matt. 6… so go ahead and turn back there

Matthew 6:21 “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Remember, that word treasure is the same root word as “laying up” or “storing up”

We could reword this to say, “Wherever you are investing your energy to store up for yourself, that is where your affections truly lie.”

Jesus is saying, “Therefore, treasure heaven - Treasure God’s way and God’s mission

Treasure what he wants for your life, even if it costs you the things you have

Because then your heart will be there

And the treasure of my heart determines the trajectory of my life

Now, i want to make sure you understand what I am saying:

The point is that it isn’t wrong for you to have money or have things

It is wrong for your money and things to have you.

It is a poor trade to value temporary possession more than you value the mission of God in your life and in the world.

It is right to view our money and possessions as a means of obeying God and advancing his mission in our world.

And if God calls me to let go, to give away, for the sake of his mission, I do so gladly, because I treasure him.

And you and i can be confident that our lives are on a heavenly trajectory when we treasure permanence over possessions.

Pursuing focus over fragmentation (22–23) [27:00]

Matthew 6:22–23 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 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!”

To get out what Jesus is saying here, we need to first look at the imagery that he uses and then ask why that imagery is nestled between the statements before and after

So first let's look at the language he uses here

The eye is what you perceive the world around you with but it is also what you use to fixate on things

And whatever I fix my eyes on, whatever I fix my gaze upon impacts what is going on inside of me

Also, how can you see most clearly?

You can see most clearly when there is the most light

Lava Tubes in Flagstaff

No light - Absolute darkness

When I look where there is no light, I cannot see clearly

What Jesus is saying here is that if you will fix your gaze upon things that reflect the kingdom of God it will affect your whole life

But if you fix your gaze on things that are not in line with the kingdom of God, it will also affect your whole life

“if your eye is healthy, [meaning you are focused on the right things] your whole body will be full of light [meaning you will see clearly how to live], but if eye is bad [meaning you are focused on the wrong things], your whole body will be full of darkness, [meaning your whole life will be lived wrongly]”

That's what the imagery is communicating

How do we make sense out of that imagery given its context?

In the context, he is talking about what you treasure

So he is making a point about what you fix your eyes on and what it reveals about your heart.

When I am focused on what God wants, I see the world clearly and my life is lived rightly

He says if your eye is healthy - If you are looking at the right things and looking at them in the right way, God’s way, your whole life will be healthy.

But when I am fixated on things of the world, I don’t see clearly and my life won’t be healthy

And I will live a fragmented life.

When I am trying to love what the world loves, but also live the Christian life, my heart is fragmented because I am giving pieces of it to multiple things

I then live a disintegrated life

But when I pursue focus, fixing my eyes on God’s will for my life and his mission in the world, it changes the way I view my whole life

And it changes the way that I use what God has given me.

I no longer see my resources and my money and my home and my car as purely for me to enjoy

But I see what God has given me as a means of living faithfully according to his will and his mission in the world

So I would encourage you to consider when your time, spending, and energy toward various things this week says about what your eyes are fixated on

If you feel like you aren’t seeing clearly, if you feel conflicted, if you feel pulled in all kinds of directions, it is likely because of where your eyes have been looking

Fix your eyes on God’s mission and you’ll see clearly

So you can live confidently.

Third requirement for a heavenly trajectory

Choosing loyalty over luxury (24) [33:00]

Jesus makes a common sense, logical statement in the beginning of verse 24

v. 24 “No one can serve two masters”

The word serve there is the term that was used for slaves in the first century in Rome

So when Jesus says “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”

The audience would have said, “Well, yeah… of course.”

Because it would be logically impossible to have two masters

You would simply have to pick one and be devoted to that master

This is true of all kinds of things in life

You cannot work two full-time jobs at the same time and be equally present for both

You cannot be in two relationships at the same time and be fully committed to one of or the other person - by definition of being multiple relationships you are not being committed

It's what Jesus says at the end of verse 24 that would've come as the shock

“You cannot serve God and money.”

This is not a statement about choosing poverty or wealth

This is not saying, “You can have God with nothing else or “You can have money without God”

Poverty is not the mark the of godliness

And riches are not the mark of evil

I have known many godly wealthy people and many godless poor people.

No, This is a statement about allegiance

Which one gets your heart - God or money?

Which one gets your devotion - God or money?

Which one gets your worship - God or money?

Really, this is a reframing of the first commandment - “You shall have no other gods before me.”

Because whichever one I devote myself to, I will see the other one as a servant to it

If God has my heart and my devotion and my worship, I will see money as a servant to him and I will seek to use whatever material wealth I have for his purposes and his mission and his glory

If money has my heart and my devotion and my worship, I will see God as the provider of material comfort for me and I will turn my relating to him into a transaction

One commentator puts it this way:

Matthew Exegesis

When love for money grows, one’s love for God diminishes until it more closely resembles hatred or spite than the love that is truly due to God. This principle calls for a decision. Since a person “cannot serve both God and money,” he must choose between the two. To choose transient earthly treasures over God would be the epitome of foolishness.

The fact of the matter is that when money is in charge, God’s authority becomes optional.

When I am devoted to simply increasing in wealth, I will choose to compromise God’s word whenever it is profitable.

But the opposite is also true: When I am devoted to God, I will choose to let go of whatever would prevent me from honoring him with my life and my wealth.

Does this mean you can’t have a nice car or a nice house?

Maybe… if having those nice things takes your heart away from God

Or maybe not… if you view them as a means of honoring him, because he has your loyalty.

Just ask: What motivates me?

Nice things?

Or God’s glory?

When we choose loyalty over luxury, we can be confident that we are on a heavenly trajectory.

[CONCLUSION] - Truncate if out of time

Really, the issue of setting the right trajectory comes down to priorities

What are the priorities in my life the direct where my life goes.

And the mission of God in our church family, in our community, and around the world has to be a priority for us as a church that is faithful to God’s mission.

And making it a priority requires proactive planning.

Back when Jeannie and I were first married, we didn’t make giving to the mission of God a regular part of our finances.

We always said we couldn’t afford it

But I was in one of my first seminary classes and I remember my professor said “Giving to God’s mission is a lot like having a kid…If you wait until you can afford it, you’ll never do it, because you can never afford it.”

As I reflected on what he said, I realized that the reason why I felt like I could never afford giving to God’s mission is because I left it until the end of the budget.

For us it was a matter of priorities and those priorities needed to change so that we could intentionally and actively steward what God had given to us for his purposes in our lives, our church, our community, and the world, all in the name of his mission.

So from that day forward, giving to God’s purposes moved to the first line of our budget, and it has stayed there ever since.

Prioritizing kingdom work with the resources that I have to offer will always result in fruit that would have otherwise not happened.

This does not mean that if you prioritize the kingdom in your finances that God will make you rich financially. That is a lie from the pit of hell that is meant to get people’s attention off of Christ and get it onto their own bank accounts.

No, the fruits of prioritizing the kingdom in our finances is that the gospel goes forward in new places and in new ways

Churches get planted

Lives are changed

Souls are saved

And God is glorified

This church has planted churches across the southwest and across the globe

We have a church Moldova, India, and we are preparing our spanish church plant to reach the spanish-speaking community

You know why? Because people treasured the mission of God more

May it always be at Harvest Bible Church that we:

Treasure permanence over possessions

Pursue focus over fragmentation

Choose loyalty over luxury

A we set a heavenly trajectory because we have treasured heaven.

Amen.