Heart in Heaven's Treasure

Intro

Today I become the cliche! We are talking about money.

Some steriotype Churches as always talking about money. If you are here and visiting today, we don’t frequently talk on giving. This is my first sermon in a year of preaching on giving.

Never the pastors favorite topic to preach on, but it is in the text we are in.

This is why the sermons are expositional here.

Lets chat for a minute about expository preaching.

First, the main point of the text is the main point of the sermon. This is in contrast to topical preaching where i have an idea in my head and then i go to the text trying to say that idea. Second, we preach section by section, not cherry picking passages. This good for us as a body for multiple reasons.

A) I don’t have to be stressing about what to preach every week. When I finished last weeks sermon, I already knew what this weeks sermon was going to be about.

B) I don’t get to be a hobbiest preacher. Even if my passion is eschatology or tea-totalling (they are not) I don’t get to preach these topics every sunday. I preach what the text that day says.

C) We as a congregation get fed from a variety of topics but with the same theme of the book. If Matthew’s theme is living as kingdom disciples, we are going to look at this many different ways and squeeze the text to fully grasp this idea. ,But we will also be fed from the whole council of God, all the scriptures.

D) I also don’t get to skip things that make us uncomfortable. The text forces me to preach on difficult topics that step on toes. Today is giving. My character, i would love to skip this topic.

E) We as a congregation cannot blame the preacher for preaching on a specific topic. “The pastor heard I ate 3 lobster rolls and now this Sunday he is preaching on gluttony!” Sorry, this was the next verse in the passage. I am not singling anyone out.

To show us where we are at, we have been in the sermon on the mount and understanding what it looks like to follow Jesus. Jesus’s primary concern has been inward hearts that want to please God affecting the way we interact with God and with people.

In the rest of chapter 6, Jesus is going to give us choices. Today, he is saying we can choose one of two things, God or Money. And then next week, in verses 25-34 He’s going to again say we can choose one, God or anxiety.

When I was growing up, and my dad was on work trips with the military, My mom used to love taking us kids to Baskin Robins 31 flavors. We would go and get to wonder at all of the many types of Ice Cream and flavors. My mom, didn’t need 31 flavors because she always got the same exact flavor every time. Jamocha Almond Fudge. Which is interesting because she doesn’t like coffee or chocolate. But for me, I could always get it down to two options, but had the hardest time choosing between the final two options. And for a kid, this small decision felt like a decision that had major life impacts. Mint Cholcolate Chip, Or Bubble Gum? Both seem good, and my heart wants both of them, but I could only choose one.

Much of life becomes this way I think. When presented with lots of options, we can usually get it down to two choices. It’s decerning between the two that is really hard for us.

As Erika and I make decisions for the house we are restoring, we don’t struggle working through the first 15 choices, but when it gets down to 2 choices, we have a hard time.

Today, Jesus is going to be narrowing down our options to just two. There are a lot of things in the world that want our heart, but Jesus is giving us two choices. God or Money.

While this seems like it should be easy, Jesus wants us to reflect on our heart and actions to better understand this choice.

MAIN POINT: Kingdom disciples take action in giving to ensure our heart’s focus is on heaven.

I. Choice of Two Treasures v19-21

First today, we see the choice between two treasures. The Choice of Two Treasures.

This section begins with Jesus in verse 19 saying “Don’t lay up for yourself treasures on earth.”

Another way this could be said is “Stop storing up for yourself.”

Jesus gives this reason: these earthly treasures are not secure, are temporary, and susceptible to negative things happening.

For a time period when clothing was highly valued, a cherished possession, a way of showing status, Jesus says you can’t keep it safe from moths and things that eat clothing.

For items that are not clothing, they cannot be protected either. They can rust. Some believe rust means “eaten by bugs.”

If Jesus was speaking to Mainers, he might say rust, mildew, and mold will destroy everything.

In an effort not to pay for a storage facility, we are storing a lot of stuff on our deck while we remodel our house. Noticing how damp things were getting, we moved a lot of our stuff into the basement where we thought it would be safer. A few weeks later, we went down to get something and everything was covered in mold. The bad kind. While some things like plastics and metals could be treated, much of the organic things were lost. Working through this was tragic and a lot of the stuff we looked forward to putting in our new house we had to put in the trash. It was a good reminder for us that the material possessions we have are temporary.

And then, even if it is something that rust and moths cannot destroy, everything material that we have is vulnerable. People can steal it. I might be able to stop the process of rust, and stop the process of moths, but I can’t stop theft.

Even if i keep the rust and bugs off my posessions, it can still be stolen. Theft is imminent and unexpected. I might have it today, and someone can steal it at any moment.

If Jesus was talking to our culture today, he might say “where stock markets can crash.”

Even the investing that we do, and put our hope in, is vulnerable to an economic crash anytime. We cannot predict when the next one will happen and we could loose everything.

While this appears maybe depressing at first, to think all this material stuff i have is vulnerable and can be quickly taken away, Jesus is attempting to show us a better way.

Jesus is showing us a better way to reorient ourselves that is more glorifying to God, and also better for us.

Don’t be discouraged, Jesus is showing you a better way for your heart and life!

We see that in verse 20.

Jesus says to lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, an eternal treasures that cannot be taken from us by the world.

This is how all kingdom disciples are meant to be living. But the hard thing is the world is telling us the opposite. Having all the stuff and toys is highly valued. Having a huge 401K is maybe the greatest accomplishment promoted by our society.

Consider the beatitudes. We are meant to be satisfied in God and his righteousness, not the things of this earth. If we have been created to enjoy God, then we should stop pursing things of the earth!

In verse 21, we see Jesus give the greater issues here. It’s the heart. What you treasure shows your heart.]

Is your heart treasuring God and his kingdom or is it after the world? Jesus is saying to check your credit card statement and bank statement to find out where your heart is.

There is a change that happens in in verse 21, the pronouns go to a singular you, while in 19-20, they were plural.

Yes, this is what the collective of Jesus’s kingdom disciples value. But verse 21 emphasizes the individual responsibility you have to consider what your heart treasures.

When Jesus mentions our heart here, it is more than feelings and emotions. Our heart is what we center our lives on. What our longing is for. What we pursue.

One thing i would like to point out is that wealth is not evil. Jesus speaks a lot of wealth. He doesn’t condemn having wealth. Rather Jesus condemns a heart that is focused on wealth. Having wealth is neutral, but our posture towards it is not neutral.

While the wealthy person might have more wealth and material to put their heart in, the poor person also needs to heed Jesus’s warning.

Some of us in the room might be thinking “if moth and rust and a thief take the $50 dollars in my bank, so be it!” But in the way we pursue material possessions, we also need to check our hearts.

Also, it is good for us to consider a few points regarding treasures of earth. Some earthly treasure is good. providing for our families. 1 Timothy 5:8 “8 But if someone does not provide for his own, especially his own family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

The Bible talks about how it is good for us to make provisions for the future. Proverbs 6:6–8 “6 Go to the ant, you sluggard; observe her ways and be wise! 7 It has no commander, overseer, or ruler, 8 yet it would prepare its food in the summer; it gathered at the harvest what it will eat.”

What we must consider is that making provisions for the future is good, but we should not use that as a justification for our greed.

Also, its good for us to remember God has created this world for us to enjoy. Paul warns timothy against some who will not want you to enjoy physical parts of life as a God given gift. 1 Timothy 4:3–4 “3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is good, and no food is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.”

A few verses later in Timothy, Paul tells him 1 Timothy 6:17 “17 Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment.”

We see God wants us to enjoy what we have been given.

So how do we hold these things in tandem? Enjoying what God is given, and not storing up treasures on earth?

John Stott says “Jesus is forbidding the materialism that ties our hearts to the earth.”

If you are asking what Materialism is, here is a deffinition:

Materialism: Matter is the fundamental reality, and a personal attitude that prioritizes material possessions and wealth over spiritual values. 

The first century Jew saw God’s blessing through financial gain and materialism. This would be consistent with the prosperity gospel that is promoted today. To see wealth or good living as a sign of spiritual righteousness.

We can let this thought creep into our minds if we are not careful. That if we are well off or in a season of plenty, that God must be blessing us and rewarding our spiritual righteousness.

And if we are going through hard times, we think that maybe God doesn’t like us, or we are sinning, or we must not deserve God’s blessings. But this is not how we should think. We should see God’s blessing not in abundance, but rather in dependence upon him.

We certainly want to ask the why behind storing up treasures on earth. Why do we care about materials and money?

Some might be financial gain, it might be security, it might be personal esteem or making ourselves feel better. It might be a greater way to have independence and rely on ourselves. It might be a sign to others of our power and authority because of our wealth. We might love the pleasures of life that come with this stuff on earth.

We spend our money on toys and entertainment, thinking it will satisfy. Upgrades and hobbies that make us look like we have our lives together.

But Jesus is telling us that we have set our sights too small. CS Lewis says this:

It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

CS Lewis says that we are content playing in our mud puddles when a grand vacation at the beech is being offered to us. Jesus is telling us that the mud puddles we think are satisfying don’t compare to the treasures of heaven being offered to us.

Heavenly reward is not something that can be measured. Store up treasure in heaven by belonging to and living out the priorities of Jesus’s kingdom. We can apply this principle generally to all of our lives, but specifically here, in regards to our resources. And I think we see in verse 24 that Jesus’s focus is money.

Do you want your heart and resources to go to things that will last 70-80 years, or would you rather your heart and resources to be used for the billions of years of eternity? This is the choice Jesus is telling us to make. Live and Give for a few decades on earth, or an intinite amount of decades in eternity?

The success of the kingdom, and the itinerant lifestyle of Jesus’s disciples, depended upon the support of those who divest themselves in something other than themselves. But supported ministry work. Certainly Jesus had a mindset that he and others would depend upon support in their full time ministry to others.

So it is today. The offerings given through our church go to continue the work of God’s kingdom here in our area. So when considering what you are giving to, stop only focusing on the here and now in your life, and consider giving to the kingdom of heaven through the church. This is not the only way we have to be generous, but certainly one application.

II. Choice of Two Eyes v22-23

Then we see a choice of two eyes. We see this in verse 22-23. This is an odd illustration for us.

Matthew 6:22–23 “22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If then your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is diseased, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!”

This is an odd an messy analogy Jesus uses here.

There is a word play in the original language in healthy and diseased. The word for disease is the same word as Evil used at the end of the Lord’s prayer. The eye is diseased by the evil of materialism.

The word translated in the ESV as “healthy” is a one time occurance word. But from other greek literature, we see this word mean more naturally generously, liberally, sincerely, straitforward, single.

The King James translates the word healthy as “Single.” Single or single minded. Without distraction.

The light and darkness theme often show the spiritual condition of our souls. This darkness light theme through the whole of scripture. Think of Genesis 1 when God speaks light into the chaos of darkness. Think about the last chapter of Revelation when we will experience overwhelming light and there will be no more darkness. Think of Jesus in John chapter 1 coming to be light into the darkness. And what darkness did he come to be light in? The darkness of our hearts.

Themes of darkness and light reflect our spiritual condition.

Think about how the eye is the light of the body, showing us where we are to go. Light a lamp lights the path before us, the eyes show us where to go.

Light is necessary for our bodies, and the condition of the eye affects our bodies.

If our eye is good, it becomes a conduit that fills our heart with the light of God’s treasure, affecting the way we live our lives.

The final comment of verse 23 is literally, the darkness...how GREAT!

This is a comment about how disoriented the spiritual life of the undisciplened person. If your focus is divided, partially on earth, and partially with Christ, how distorted you view will be.

Think about driving at night. Some of our vehicles don’t have automatic lights on right? You have to manually turn them on. I have been driving away from the church in the dark, and because of the street lights, you don’t really know your lights aren’t on. And then i get to the road going to my house, 24 or the 201, and quickly see the darkness....how great!

I can’t see anything! I need the light before me fixed on God’s kingdom and then the decisions of my life are made clear.

When Erika and I baught her sequoia, we had a 2.5 hour drive home, and it was just starting to be dusk. I had the headlights on the wrong setting, and they were turning off and on, confusing me and other drivers. And then trying to figure it out, I was distracted in this new car!

Think about trying to continue to drive like that. I would be squinting, sweving to stay in the lines, Is that the line? no thats the line! braking and hitting the gas because of a turkey on the road or a dark object that i thought was a turkey. Is that a deer? no maybe that is a deer. Do i need to turn now? do i need to turn later? Do I need to hit the gas? Do i need to brake, my driving looks chaotic and is chaotic.

But if i take time to pause, turn my lights on, then continue to drive, the path before me is lit. I move with confidence and surety knowing what is before me.

So it is with heart’s treasure. If my heart is unsure of what it wants, and i go between two things,

I need to pause, assess, turn by focus to the kingdom of Christ, then make decisions in light of that.

Life that is not focused on God’s kingdom is lost in spiritual darkness.

One indication of our spiritual health is our generosity. In this whole discussion, when we confronted with the idea to give, is our heart feeling constrained and do we with our mind, grip our finances tighter? Is our natural response to the topic of giving to be opposed? Or is our heart and mind concerned with how we could give more generously? How can I live in a kingdom way more with my resources and what God has given me?

When we see a need in the community or hear about a need someone has, what are we driven by? Do we move on because our eyes focus on ourselves, or is generous living our response because our eyes are generous in singleminded sincerity?

III. Choice of Two Masters v24

Last today, we see the choice of two masters. We see this in verse 24.

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.”

Jesus has been doing opposites this whole time. Diseased and healthy, good and evil. Single minded and split. Light, Dark. Earthly, heavenly. And now the contrast of two masters, God and money. Love and Hate for them.

The point of these opposites is you have to choose one. You can’t go between them or love both of them.

We think in this era, we say to ourselves, i can serve two masters. I have multiple employers! But we want to understand this in context. This says master, as like a slave owner. Don’t read modern day employment into the text, and also don’t read early American Slavery into the text. This was indentured servanthood. You might have a great debt, or suffered a great loss, so you would commit to one master. To serve them fully an entirely. You couldn’t belong to two, just one. If you had a great debt, you would choose one.

We don’t want to have chonological snobbery here and say “How dare Jesus promote slavery!” Rather, we see that Jesus is using an illustration that the people of his day would have understood.

You all know we have two girls. One of them can choose very easily, one cannot. One of them, when trying to choose between two things is just overwhelmed. Even over simple decisions like picking a favorite dress. She can’t figure it out and will spiral out of control, and then go through a bunch of doubt and anxiety. The other girl, does not struggle with decisions at all. Even before you finish the question she is pointing at her choice or answering your question. And if you disagree with her choice, she will be livid. Her choice is final and you better not disagree or help her. She knows. And then she will fight for it. She is single minded in her decision making, and then her life is sure because of it.

Jesus is saying we can’t live this way between two things. Our life follow the decision we make. And we must pick one. Choosing both is not choosing Christ but choosing ourselves still.

Remember, money is not evil. But money can either be used for ourselves or for God’s kingdom. God must be the first and primary.

If we are confused on which one we serve first, or doubing which one we serve first, we are doubleminded and unstable.

The world tells us to focus on our career, moving up the ladder, meeting your goals, the 401K, the bigger pay check. But Jesus is asking what are we serving? Earthly things? Ourselves? Or God?

It’s not a sin to have money, even to save money, but it is a sin to serve it.

When we consider what we are serving, maybe ask yourself what do we think about most? What do we worry about more than anything? What is it we know we cannot be happy without?

If our allegiance is to God, then our wallet and bank account follow. We give generously because we trust that God will take care of us.

Beyond the Walls (Grace and Growth)

If you are here today, and do not know Jesus, when we consider what treasure is, you have a choice to make. Will you commit your life to the eternal kingdom of God, or to temporary things in this world?

When we think about giving, God was generous in a way that we do not deserve. We have all sinned against God, we have all done bad things, broken God’s law. We might not want to admit it, but we have all lied, not acted in perfect love to others, had evil thoughts, thought lustfully about another person, put other things in our life above God.

But God so loved the world that he GAVE his only begotton son, that whosoever believes in him, should not perish, but have eternal life.

This is the good news. This is the gospel. That God sent his son to die on a cross, take your punishment, your sin, your shame, and nail it to the cross. And then he rose from the dead to show us power over death and bring us new life. Jesus came to show and give us abundant life.

Abundant life is being offered to you today. Will you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Please come and talk to us if you have not yet made this decision, your eternity is at stake.

If you are saved, what are you serving? God or Money?

We might consider sacrificial giving. Being willing to set aside extras in our lives that serve ourselves, so that we have more to be generous with others. The subscriptions in our lives we don’t need. The coffee shop spending we do. We can free ourselves of some of these so that when we hear of opportunities to help others, we are free to do that!

I’m going to talk to the home team for a min. The ones who regularly attend.

While not the only application, offerings are a natural application of this text when we consider a generous heart of heavenly treasure.

I don’t know who gives, that information is only known by our treasurer and she keeps that info private. But if you do give through the ministry of Hope Church, thank you. You are furthering kingdom work here in our area.

Lets think about the heart being our giving with the specific applicaiton of offerings.

How can the way we give reflect our heart’s priority? Do we give the first part of your pay check for the church and kingdom work here, and then the rest to meet the needs in your life. Or do we give God the left overs after we’ve spent the rest on ourselves ?

If you are wondering how much to give, We do not hold to the 10% tithe of the old testament. Mike has done a whole study on this. We do not see a percentage as mandated in scripture or a command. We would encourage you to as the scriptures teach to give generously and freely and cheerfully and faithfully from your heart. I would encourage you to pray and ask God to lead you to how you can treasure his kingdom with your heart through your giving.

Lets bow our heads and close our eyes as we respond to the text.

Thank the Father for showing us the greatest example of giving through his son Jesus.

Pray and as Jesus to change our hearts to prioritize his kingdom over our own.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help us live generously this week.