Investing Wisely

Introduction: People are always telling me I need to plan for the future.

A lot of time we are talking about retirement. Or an emergency. Buying a house.

Amanda and I have 3 girls which means we have to save up for 3 weddings.

Mia is 4 years away from college so as much as I’m hoping for scholarships. I have a feeling we are going to need to be prepared.

We have to make plans if we want to take vacation. Make reservations. Book travel.

Put in for time off at work. Prepare your job for you to be away. Planning to be off is one of the reasons why so many people fail to take advantage of their time off.

Planning for your team to let you down.

And we all know that failure to plan is planning to fail. We almost never accidentally achieve our goals.

Even our church has to plan. In our church we call this strategic planning. Budget. MOPs.

We have to make sacrifices now if we want to be successful in our future plans.

But how many of us truly sit down and plan. We really like to wing it.

Now some of you may have thought when you read the sermon title today that we were going to be talking about investing. Like you were about to get the Dave Ramsey talk.

That’s not what I or Jesus have in mind as we continue our study on the sermon on the mount.

But beyond our money and possessions, how many of us actually think about what’s really important to us.

As Jesus often does, He reminds us that what we treasure often reveals the condition of our heart.

If we treasure Christ and our future eternal life with Him and the rest of the Saints, then our life here on earth is going to look very different from those who only treasure earthly things.

Transition to the Text: Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew 6:19-21. We return to our study of the Sermon on the Mount. Prior to Easter we had just finished Jesus’ teaching on how we ought not practice our righteousness before other people, but for an audience of one. We looked at giving, praying, forgiveness, and fasting.

In Matthew 6:19, Jesus shifts to talk about treasure. And again we learn that this is a heart issue. Because what you value determines where your heart is.

Jesus says it this way….

Introduce:

Big Idea: For where your TREASURE is, there your HEART will be also.

Read: Matthew 6:19-21

Matthew 6:19–21 ESV

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.

Big Idea: For where your TREASURE is, there your HEART will be also.

1. Treasure on EARTH is FLEETING. (Matthew 6:19)

Explanation: Jesus tells His disciples and us…do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth.

And He gives us the reason why.

It’s fleeting. It’s perishable. And prone to the covetous eyes of sinful people.

You can put all of your time, energy, and effort into amassing treasure and it can be gone in an instant.

Moth and rust can destroy it. A thief can break in and steal it. Or something that we often don’t like to think about, we can die and as they say, you can’t take any of it with you when you are gone. on’t appreciate the hard work that made it all possible.

Illustration: There was a movie that came out on Apple TV this past summer that was pretty bad despite an all star cast. It’s called the Fountain of Youth and it’s about a eccentric billionaire who is dying of cancer and has written a blank check to a treasure hunter to find the fountain of youth so that he can extend his life.

But there was an interesting conversation with a kid in the movie. The kid, Thomas, asks Owen Carver, “How rich are you?” He said, “very.” The kid asks, does it start with a “B?” And he says, “yes.”

But then the boy asks the most important question of all, he says, “Are you satisfied?” To which Owen say, “No.”

And that’a the problem with treasure. You’re never satisfied with the accumulation of stuff. The more you have the more you want.

And then what happens to it after we die?

And sure we want to leave it to our children. Make sure they are taken care of. But historically, the children of ridiculously wealthy people don’t fair all that well. They may do well financially, but their hearts are unwise.

Solomon talked about it like this:

Ecclesiastes 2:18–21 ESV

I hated all my toil in which I toil under the sun, seeing that I must leave it to the man who will come after me, and who knows whether he will be wise or a fool? Yet he will be master of all for which I toiled and used my wisdom under the sun. This also is vanity. So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometimes a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil.

Now here is the crazy thing about this…Solomon was talking about his son Rehoboam. He knows that his son is unwise. And Rehoboam proves to be incredibly unwise and squandered what David and Solomon had built. Within a few months of becoming king, Rehoboam lost nearly the entire kingdom.

And by the time Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the line of David was practically living in poverty.

Application: The point is that earthly treasure is fleeting. Because it is made of stuff that is not eternal.

Gold and silver. Palaces and houses made of stone and wood. Nothing is built to last.

Thieves will break in and steal what you have treasured so much and built your life around.

I was thinking about this the other day. Some of us collect things. From books to baseball cards to our thrift store finds. Coins and stamps and beanie babies.

Sadly so much of our treasure will be dropped off at goodwill because it won’t be valued by others as it was by you.

Treasure on earth is fleeting.

2. Treasure in HEAVEN is ETERNAL. (Matthew 6:20)

Explanation: Lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven.

Admittedly, this verse has been misused by certain ministries and leaders to guilt people into giving to their ministry. But I will say that money is a part of this and we can’t get around that. But treasure is more than money.

In this life we all have 3 things that are valuable. Though some value some parts over others.

Time

Talent

Treasure

Time: How do you spend your time? Do you work all the time trying to make more money? Do you spend all of your time doing hobbies? Are you a perfectionist and spend way to much time trying to make everything perfect.

Do you waste time? Do you budget your time? Do you have enough margin in your life that are able to account for things that come up?

I would say that most of us don’t consider how much time we spend on certain things? But I’m confident that there is something in your life that is neglected right now and it’s probably not your job.

Spend time with your family; your spouse; your kids. Go on a vacation. Spend time with God. Jesus seems to be as busy as anyone ever was, and He always made time to pray. Go on a mission trip. Serve in the community.

Stop wasting time on things that don’t impact eternity. Just like a budget for money, you need to budget your time. And some of us are already in massive time debt to our spouses, our kids, to God, and to the health of our bodies. Pay off your debts to those you love.

Stop living to work and start working to live. Your job can be a powerful tool to make an eternal impact when you stop seeing it as your identity and start seeing it as the means of funding your your heavenly mission.

Start seeing how you spend your time as an investment. Invest your time for heavenly purposes.

Talent:

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Everyone here has something to offer. You are talented because God created you for a purpose. There are talents that you are born with and Spiritual gifts that you are given at the time of your conversion.

You may be a talented singer and talented in numbers. You might be an artist or a great teacher. You may have certain expertise in computers or construction. Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

And then there are Spiritual gifts given to build up the church. Every day we use our talents and expertise in our jobs. Spiritual gifts can also be used in your career outside of the church. But they are primarily meant to build up the church.

1 Corinthians 12:7–11 ESV

To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

Romans 12:5–8 ESV

so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Invest your talents and gifts for heavenly purposes even if it gains you nothing.

Treasure: Money. The thing we don’t like talkings about. But the truth is Jesus talks about money more than anything else. Money is a huge problem for many people. Money can become an idol both when have it and when we don’t.

We tend to think money will solve all of our problems when it can often create more.

Now I do not think that God has called us to poverty. I think there are a lot of passages in scripture that are misused to say you need to sell everything you own and gift it all to the poor. I don’t see anything in scripture that says that is normative.

But we need to shift the way we think about “our money.” Scripture many times refers to us as stewards. So it’s not our money, it’s God’s money. We steward it and will give an account for it.

We should live wisely within our means. We should as much as possible be debt free (I don’t think of a mortgage as debt, because you own the asset). We should live in such a way that we (and our spouse) aren’t constantly worried about money. We should endeavor to leave an inheritance for our children and grandchildren:

Proverbs 13:22 ESV

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,

But we should live in a way that we are always generous. We should be generous with our church. We should be generous with those in need. But we should prioritize our giving to make an eternal impact.

Illustration: One of the best ways to know whether our time, talents, and treasure our making and eternal impact is by making a plan…a budget if you will.

Hopefully all of us have a budget for our money so we know how we are spending it. Categories of fixed costs, regular expenses, needs, wants and of course we need to budget to be generous.

But do you have a budget for your time? Do you know how you are spending your time? Fixed costs of sleep, work, ministry commitments? But what about time with your spouse? Kids? Aging parents? Vacations? Mission Trips? Service days?

A budget for your time is called a calendar. How often do you look at it?

Talents are a little different. But have you ever sat down and thought and prayed about what you have to offer the kingdom of heaven? What are you good at? How are you gifted? What types of expertise do you bring to the table?

Are you using those talents and gifts to make an eternal impact?

Application: We are called to invest our time, talents, and treasure into the kingdom of heaven. But many of us may not know where it start.

Many might have a financial planner to help with the money portion. And even they can help you make room in the budget to be more generous. But many of us could probably use help knowing how we can budget out time and where we can use out talents.

If that’s you, I would love to help you develop a spiritual plan for your time and talents. And we have other people here who would love to do the same.

But it starts with admiring that you need help. Our default is always laying up treasure on earth. It takes a pretty massive transformation to start looking at your life with a heavenly perspective.

And it starts with this….

3. Remember WHERE your HOME is. (Matthew 6:21)

Explanation: Matthew 6:21

Matthew 6:21 ESV

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

Now on the one hand, as Christians, we recognize that this Earth is not our home…at least not as it is now. Our home is on the other side of this life in eternity with Jesus.

So if that is our home, we should have a mindset that we we want to invest our time, talents, and treasure for our true home.

And really want it comes down to is our home is about family. And when you are a part of the kingdom of heaven you are a part of a big family.

We should be investing time, talents, and treasures to serve God’s kingdom so that

1) our family is taken care of now and

2) we bring as many people with us to heaven as possible.

Think about this, when the Bible talks about giving to the poor and taking care of the poor, it primarily has the family of God in mind.

In the OT it was all about the nation of Israel.

In the NT, especially Acts, it’s all about the church.

Galatians 6:10 ESV

So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

As a church we have a responsibility to make sure that the people in our church are taken care of first before we give anything to anyone outside the walls.

Now should be give money to the poor outside the church? Yes and no. It’s best to give money to organizations that work directly with the poor. I always strongly urge people to never give money to people you don’t know standing on the corner. It’s a misappropriation of God’s resources because they could use it to buy things that violate God’s word.

When you are able to help give food either groceries or a meal from a restaurant. Pay a specific bill directly to the creditor. Give a gift card for gas. Pay for a hotel room to get off the streets for the night. Drive them to a shelter. Ask what they need and meet that need directly. But giving money often gets us off the hook but Jesus wants us to go further.

And also know, you can’t help everyone. But do for one what you wish you could do for everyone.

But whenever we give to the poor, we must also share the Gospel with that person. We must meet both physical needs and Spiritual needs. And meeting the physical needs will often open the door to meet Spiritual needs.

Talents: Use your talents as well. One of the clearest ways is to take your professional expertise and use it to build bridges to the kingdom.

Musical missionaries is a clear example of this. People who work in the medical field often go to other countries to meet the health needs of people and then as they are serving in that way they are sharing the Gospel as well.

Illustration: In 2019, the first time I went to the Philippines, Harrison was with us and while there was no plan to do any medical stuff, he found himself in a situation where there was a young man limping and had been for a long time. His leg hadn’t healed. Harrison was able to take him aside and work with him. He also gave him some exercises to do to build strength in his leg.

A few months later, Harrison got a video message from him and it was him walking without a limp. The young man was grateful for Harrison.

Teachers in our country can go to another country and teach English as a 2nd language.

I’m not a big fan of construction based mission trips since often going to build a church, a school or an orphanage takes away from work that could be paid to workers there. And something you may not know but a lot of the buildings that are built by short term missionaries have to be fixed by the professionals anyway. So let’s just send money.

I’m always amazed when David Quitevis tells me we can pay the professionals in the Philippines to build a church building for around $10,000.

But as I’m sure you already get, when it comes to all of this time is the biggest factor.

Most of us do not leave enough margin in our lives to build relationships for the kingdom.

We just don’t budget our time well.

And guess what to do what God has called you to do, you are going to have to cut out some stuff.

Now, you have to sleep. You have to go to work, but I’m amazed how many vacation hours Christians leave on the table.

I was just having this conversation with my Uncle. He works for a big WM Firm back east. He gets 6 weeks of vacation. He’s nearing retirement and was telling me that he regrets not using his vacation. They came out for a week to see some national parks. He didn’t check his email until the last day. He said that His office was still there and the business went on without him.

The truth is that in the unfortunate case of your death, it’s likely that a job listing will be posted before your obituary. So invest your time wisely.

Use your vacation/PTO days for vacation and go on a mission trip.

Application: Again, if your home is where your heart and your treasure are, then what are you living for?

It really comes down to this?

Response: WHAT is your TREASURE? Where is your HOME?

Summation:Big Idea:

For where your TREASURE is, there your HEART will be also.

1. Treasure on EARTH is FLEETING. (Matthew 6:19)

2. Treasure in HEAVEN is ETERNAL. (Matthew 6:20)

3. Remember WHERE your HOME is. (Matthew 6:21)

Closing Illustration:

First of all, know that treasure on this earth is fleeting. So don’t lay up your treasure on earth.

Make sure what you truly treasure is being laid up in heaven.

First of all, we need to treasure Christ above anything else.

Matthew 10:37–38 ESV

Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

If you don’t want Christ above all else, heaven is probably not your home.

But secondly, heaven is too good to keep to yourself. Be about bringing others.

Do the work of an evangelist. Be an inviter. Be a discipline.

Obviously it starts with your family. The greatest investment you can make with you time, talent, and treasure is in your own family. A prominent pastor once said, “Your greatest contribution to the kingdom of heaven may not be something you do, but someone you raise.”

Give sufficient time to the discipleship of your kids. Have family worship, prayer, and Bible study.

Men, be the spiritual leader in your house. Pray with your kids. Pray with your wife especially.

Lead them to the Word and to the cross.

If you don’t have time…make some changes today. Give up that hobby. Find a new job. Nothing is more important than this.

Ephesians 5:25 ESV

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Some of us as husbands wouldn’t give up a Saturday of golf for our wives let alone our lives.

Be sacrificial in all things.

Now on the other hand if you are lazy and refuse to work and thus cause your family undue financial stress. Put your laziness or death and go to work.

But you might ask, what possibly does it matter? I’m just one person?

When I was in seminary they would tell us young aspiring and very naive pastors to be, “You will greatly overestimate what you think you can do in one year at a new church, and you will greatly underestimate what you can do in 5 years.”

The same is true of us. We greatly underestimate what God can do in and through us over the course of our lives. Not in the big acts, but in the small everyday mundane moments of obedience and faithfulness to God’s Word.

The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago. The 2nd best time is today.

So if you have to make some changes in how you invest your time, talents, and treasures, make a change today.

Schedule time for something.

Choose to give up something.

Choose generosity always for God loves a cheerful giver.

It’s time to take a look at your investments.

But if you are finding that you are outside of the kingdom of heaven, what’s keeping you from putting your faith in Jesus and start laying treasure in heaven.

It’s free! But it will cost you everything.

It’s worth it.

We’d love to talk with you about how you can take the next step in giving your life to Jesus.

Join a Bible study or Life Group.

If you haven’t been baptized, we do baptisms the last Sunday of every month and we’d love to add you to April 26.

Only one life will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.

Let’s pray.