The Disciple's Ambition

Introduction

Ambition:

What are you striving for in life. When Heather and I attended Bible School, there was an ambition statement engraved over the entrance of the student doors.

Enter to learn, go forth to teach.

We have an ambition in our church.

It has been written across the door as you leave.

Go and make disciples.

Ambition is not wrong. It is good to have ambition. As disciples of Christ, Followers of Christ we need to look at our Ambition as Christ would define it.

For those of you who have not been here, we have been going through the sermon on the mount. It is a series of teachings of Jesus Christ found in Matthew 5-7

We are calling this series as Living the sermon on the mount in modern times.

Each week we have been watching through drama, watching various characters as they deal with the weekly topics. Our main character, Hank, will not be making an appearance as last week’s lesson has drawn him away to spend the day fasting and praying.

Stay tuned next week as he will be coming back.

Let’s pray

If you remember last week we looked at the first part of Chapter six and discovered what Jesus described how we are to live out our devotion to him and for other to see.

We will discover in today’s passages that He is now looking at our Ambition.

The ambition of a disciple is divided up in two parts. Our heart and Our head.

Let’s read the first verses.

Matthew 6:19–21 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 Treasures of the Heart

Jesus first addresses his disciples, the followers of Jesus in the question of treasures

Treasures of the heart.

They come in various forms. Some are quite obvious to us, while others are very subtle. The obvious ones although we can recognize them quickly, Jesus has to address them because we don’t deal with them. The Not so obvious treasures are the ones that are most dangerous. They often have the greatest hold on our lives. They like a wood tick, have buried their head directly into our heart and feeding off the direct source.

Many have taken these verses and only defined them in the contest of material possessions. Things in which we own.

I am often amazed at the business of storage rental units. They always seem to be busy.

I did some searching and found out reason why they are successful.

Run out of space at home Moving house Renovating Baby on the way Tools Garden furniture and machines Gap year Working away Empty nesting University students in summertime

With that ever growing list, we have stuff. If you don’t believe it, try moving.

Is this what Jesus is really talking about? Our stuff.

One of the worst stores to visit is a dollar store. If you walk down the rows and rows of stuff, it can’t be all bad, its around a dollar.

What about garage sales?

It has always been my favorite pastime. To go around on a Sat morning and visit the various Saturday morning sales. Looking to see if I can find that special something.

Having the opportunity to live is five provinces over the years, it is amazing the different rules and expectation of these sales.

Sk & Man. They start in the early morning.

Ontario, if you were not out by 6:30 you missed all the good stuff

Alberta, one street sale began at 9:00 am sharp. When the bell rang, each neighbor opened there door at the same time.

Here in BC, still learning the pattern.

Needless to say, we have stuff,

But is that what Jesus was talking about in this passage?

It comes down to the ambition or purpose.

The treasures of the heart.

As I have said before, as a disciple of Christ who is seeking to know God, while being transformed into the image of Christ, his or her ambition will be to have the right heart.

Jesus describes that there are two ways. The way of the world or the way of His Kingdom dwellers. Again, there is no dual citizenship.

Jesus tells us that we are on a visitors visa, just visiting.

Did you notice the word.

The ESV states Lay up

The NIV Store up

Petersen in his paraphrase writes,

The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language Chapter 6

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars.

The greek word used, is defining it as the act of storing up or stockpiling for later use.

The idea is that these things are for a future event.

Jesus points out that our ambition to gather things should be things that have value for the future.

He alludes to the heart.

Simply put for you and I,

Do we seek out things that will develop our heart for God or for us.

So what does Jesus really mean for our lives. How are we to store up things for heaven?

Earthly Stuff

The first thing we must look at is what is considered earthly stuff?

May I suggest it is not only physical things. That is the quickest and easiest to look at but it is much more.

If your goal in life is to acquire more and more stuff, you will never be satisfied.

They all have a life span.

How many tools does one actually need, well then again.

How many swatches of material does an quilter need? Just one more?

How many books, DVD, Apps, Video Games, collector cups, collections.

You see they all add up to just one more.

“Not only is there an element of decay in these thing; it is also true that we always tend to tire of them.” - Jones

We need to see them for what they are, rental stuff.

What would it look like if all of our possessions where viewed as not ours but God has given them for us to rent, to use for a limited amount of time.

Would that change the way in which we strive to gather and stockpile stuff.

Would it change how we cherish this stuff?

What are some other earthly stuff.

What about fame, recognition, status.

Is there a danger in seeking after, storing up these earthly conditions. This is what the world will shove down your throat. The world highlights and showcases that who we are in the world counts, it matters and you must do as much as you can be be on top.

I remember once going to a concert to hear Micheal Card. As with any other concert, they bring in local talent or “lesser known” talent to fill in time before the real guy comes out.

We are mildly entertained as we wait for the highlight.

At this concert as one of the raw talents was on stage, singing, and in the back out walked a musician who picked up a guitar and began playing in the background to support this musician. The song ended, we clapped, then were amazed as the singer said, let’s give it up to Micheal Card, who have finished playing in the background and was walking off the stage.

Seeking recognition was not being stored up, rather supporting another.

Earthly stuff is anything that will perish over time.

The treasures of the heart cannot be found in things that will perish.

Decay is not in heaven. Our ambition is to first remove those things in our lives that affect our heart after God, then and only then are we removing the Earthly stuff from our lives.

Jesus then moves onto what we are to focus on.

Matthew 6:22–23 ESV

“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!

Our Focus on the Heart

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. A Question of Vision (22, 23)

All this is factual description. But it is also metaphorical. Not infrequently in Scripture the ‘eye’ is equivalent to the ‘heart’. That is, to ‘set the heart’ and to ‘fix the eye’ on something are synonyms. One example may be enough, from Psalm 119. In verse 10 the psalmist writes: ‘With my whole heart I seek thee; let me not wander from thy commandments,’ and in verse 19, ‘I have fixed my eyes on all thy commandments.’ Similarly, here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus passes from the importance of having our heart in the right place (21) to the importance of having our eye sound and healthy.

What attracts your attention. Are those things that are pleasing, that bring you pleasure the ambition of your christian walk?

What are our eyes focused on.

With the heart and the eyes used as the same, what we see will affect our heart.

The treasures of the heart are governed by the things that we allow to lure us into their grasp.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 2. A Question of Vision (22, 23)

It is all a question of vision. If we have physical vision, we can see what we are doing and where we are going. So too if we have spiritual vision, if our spiritual perspective is correctly adjusted, then our life is filled with purpose and drive. But if our vision becomes clouded by the false gods of materialism, and we lose our sense of values, then our whole life is in darkness and we cannot see where we are going. Perhaps the emphasis lies even more strongly than I have so far suggested on the loss of vision caused by covetousness, because according to biblical thought an ‘evil eye’ is a niggardly, miserly spirit, and a ‘sound’ one is generous. At all events Jesus adds this new reason for laying up treasure in heaven. The first was its greater durability; the second the resulting benefit now on earth of such a vision.

So we must ask ourselves, are we seeing clearly.

If our goal is to treasure our heart and keep it on the right path that God expects for us, can we do this alone.

This is one of the reasons in our definition of a disciple the

“in the context of community” is so important.

When our vision for the things of God become out of focus, it is the ones closest to us that can come along side us and help us to correct our vision.

Jesus points out that the the bad eye, the bad heart is full of darkness.

Matthew 6:24 ESV

“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.

The Master of the Heart

Jesus ends this last section with a warning.

It is stated in a rhetorical sense with a strong comparison.

Love and Hate

Devotion and Despise

When our calling as disciples of Christ is to be Christ centered, there is only one way.

Notice this master of the heart is in the hands of the servant.

It is our choice as to who will be your master.

Who will control your heart?

Folks if the lure of this world is taking a hold of your life. If you feel that the things of this world, the earthly stuff is drawing you in, take warning. There will come a time where you must choose.

Notice God doesn’t say you have to give your money away, but have you fallen to the desire money can bring.

Serving God or serving the money.

Both have the same heart response.

The more you desire and seek after money, the world and all that it offers, the more you will find it doesn’t satisfy. It will only have a hold on you and will begin to grow and master you.

The opposite, the better choice, is to serve God. The more you seek after him, the more you desire him, love him, the more your heart will grow toward him.

The true treasure of the heart is when the earthly stuff, the focus of our heart and what we allow to master are heart all point to Christ.

These things will be imperishable, everlasting and enduring. They cannot be taken away from us, and in fact, they will be far more rewarding than any possible thing, person, fame or glory can be obtained here on earth.

Folks, Jesus realizes that we are in this world, walking in a foreign country, living our lives in devotion To God and and at the same time our ambition is to be Christ centred. It doesn’t mean we remove ourselves from this world, if this would be true, we would all be in a monistary, as monks.

No, Jesus is telling us that we are to treasure our heart, protect our heart so that it is one characterized by God.

The second treasure that Jesus speaks to is the treasure of the mind

Matthew 6:25 ESV

“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

The Treasures of the Mind

Therefore: Jesus begins this section after clearing up our understanding of the heart.

Therefore- How are your treasures of the mind?

We will look at three aspects of the treasures of the mind. The first is the fascination with the worldly worries. Secondly, how we are to focus our mind, and finally, what is Jesus telling us about mastering the mind.

Worldly Worries

The mind is a powerful part of our body that can, when life comes crashing down, control a negative part of our body. Jesus begins speaking to people to us about how we are to handle our worries.

If you would allow me, I will be speaking in generalities.

I truly believe that Mental illness is real. Many people have issues in this area that fortunately are being studied today and there are means as to receive help in this area.

If you are struggling with mental illness, please, talk with a medical professional about ways in which to treat what you are suffering with. It is not all a spiritual issue. I can testify to this as I have seen it up close and personal within my own extended family.

In general, worldly worries are those things in this world, that keep us up at night.

It’s living out the treasures of this world and its expectation and holding them in our mind.

God doesn’t say, don’t save, don’t plan, don’t prepare for the things to come, rather don’t let them become the center of your mind. Your thoughts your anxieties.

Do not be anxious

Our Focus on the Mind

Jesus begins a long list of things that we could focus on.

six times he uses the word Anxious

Your life in regards to nourshment

Your time

Your clothing

Our situation: Speaking out our worries

the future

Jesus lists all of these with a counter argument that the birds, the land, the richness of Solomon is in no comparison of the provision of the almighty.

Jesus was asking them to focus on Him

The worries of this world with be put in the proper perspective are of

no comparison of the provision of the almighty.

Jesus ends the long list of potential worries with this text. An all too famous text

Matthew 6:33 ESV

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

The world used for seeking here is a verb to describe:

To seek to look for to desire

The first thing that should be the focus of our mind is that of Christ Kingdom. we need to focus on the day when Christ’s kingdom will ruler here on earth.

The Master of the Mind

How then can we master the mind to be that of Christ.

What should our ambition be as a disciple of Christ in mastering the mind.

Stott puts it this way.

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount b. True or Christian Ambition: God’s Rule and Righteousness

When this is genuinely our dominant ambition, then not only will all these things … be yours as well (i.e. our material needs will be provided), but there will be no harm in having secondary ambitions, since these will be subservient to our primary ambition and not in competition with it. Indeed, it is then that secondary ambitions become healthy. Christians should be eager to develop their gifts, widen their opportunities, extend their influence and be given promotion in their work—not now to boost their own ego or build their own empire, but rather through everything they do to bring glory to God. Lesser ambitions are safe and right provided that they are not an end in themselves (namely ourselves) but the means to a greater end (the spread of God’s kingdom and righteousness) and therefore to the greatest of all ends, namely God’s glory. This is the ‘Supreme Good’ which we are to seek first; there is no other.

Conclusion

What do you treasure in your heart, in your mind.

Are they the same things that God treasures for us?

The Message of the Sermon on the Mount 1. A Question of Treasure (19–21)

It seems rather to refer to such things as these: the development of Christlike character (since all we can take with us to heaven is ourselves); the increase of faith, hope and charity, all of which (Paul said) ‘abide’;2 growth in the knowledge of Christ whom one day we shall see face to face; the active endeavour (by prayer and witness) to introduce others to Christ, so that they too may inherit eternal life; and the use of our money for Christian causes, which is the only investment whose dividends are everlasting.