The Best Place to Bury Treasure

How many of you grew up playing pirates? What was it that pirates always did? What were they searching for?

Buried treasure!

How did you find the buried treasure? You had a treasure map! How did you know when you got there?

“X” marks the spot!

This morning, Jesus is going to teach us some incredible truths about buried treasure.

In fact, he has already been laying the groundwork for it. Jesus has been working masterfully to weave a theme throughout everything we have seen in chapter 6.

You may have picked up on it, as we have seen over and over where Jesus said, “Your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you” (4, 6, 18)

Those who are doing what they do for people to notice get all the reward they will ever receive in the way people respond to what they do.

On the flip side, though, those who obey out of a humble heart, only doing what they do so they can honor the God who is their king, will be rewarded for what they do.

Both groups are receiving some kind of reward, and Jesus is going to pivot to have us think of that reward in terms of treasure this morning.

In fact, you could say that in these verses, Jesus giving us a treasure map. This treasure map helps us see where we are burying treasure.

There are three questions we can draw from this passage that, if we answer honestly, will tell us where we are burying our treasure, and what kind of treasure it will be.

Will you allow God to show you what kind of treasure you are working towards, and where you are burying it?

If so, follow the treasure map to find where X marks the spot in your life this morning.

Let’s read what Jesus had to say…

The first question that moves us along our treasure map this morning is…

1) Am I living for passing success or permanent glory?

Right off the bat, Jesus confronts us with a tough question: Where are you storing your treasure?

In verses 19-20, he gives us two locations where we are storing up treasure: either on earth or in heaven.

He commands us clearly not to store up treasure on earth, but to store treasure in heaven.

Here, Jesus is tying in what we have already talked about throughout chapter 6. Some folks, who Jesus has called hypocrites, are living for earthly rewards.

They are giving or praying or fasting in ways that make sure everyone knows how good they are, and Jesus said that the notoriety they get is all the reward they can expect.

That is storing up rewards on earth: seeking after success, notoriety, or material things in this life.

Before we lean into this idea a little further, stop and take a look at the things Jesus said they were doing: giving, praying, and fasting.

Are those things bad or good? Good things!

Even good, God-honoring deeds that are done for the wrong reasons are going to result in the wrong kind of treasure that is buried in the wrong place.

The hypocrites were obeying God because of what they thought they could get out of it.

For some, it was to be respected, loved, or even feared by others.

It may also have had the idea of material wealth with it, because those were usually linked in their minds in those days.

When the Pharisees would have heard Jesus talking about God giving out rewards, they would have immediately thought about stuff. It was common in those days for people to believe that if I did what God told me to do, I would have all the stuff I would ever want; that he would bless me materially.

To different degrees, we often think the same thing today: if I am honoring Jesus, then God is going to bless me with money and things.

Here’s one of the main problems with that: stuff doesn’t last.

Jesus points out that all of the material items we have won’t last. Either they will decay through natural processes (like moths and rust), or they will be stolen.

Think about everything you own. Everything you have worked hard to by—is it going to last? Every vehicle you have rusts, every house you have falls apart.

Ever had anything stolen? We have had items stolen from us on at least two separate occasions. It’s no fun!

We are all aware that stuff doesn’t last, so why do we still live for it?

Think about it! What are your priorities? What’s the most important thing for you? Why do you work so hard? Is it so you can have the latest and greatest and nicest?

Give it a week! It will be broken, outdated, or replaced!

By the way, this doesn’t just apply to physical items. As Jesus is transitioning into talking about money and possessions, keep in mind what we’ve talked about with reward.

Do you know who won the gold medal in the 400m dash in 2016? How about who won the NCAA Basketball Tournament in 2015? Who was the top fashion designer in 2015? Who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018?

You may be able to tell me a few of these, but seriously, who cares? What does it matter? After all the streamers and the bottles of champagne are gone, the speaking engagements wane, the endorsement contracts stop, and yesterday’s heroes get replaced by someone else who steals their spot.

Let’s bring it closer to home: Who was employee of the month at your job this month three years ago? Who made it into the National Honor Society in your high school?

Whatever you are living for, if it’s not for Christ, it is passing success that will quickly fade.

However, there is another way to live. Look at what Jesus says in verse 20…

How do we store up treasure in heaven?

Instead of living life for my passing success, I live life for his permanent glory.

Storing up treasures in heaven is living a life to make God famous; declaring through my priorities that Jesus Christ has saved me, changed me, and can do the same for you. It is living life like a citizen of his kingdom, cultivating the attitudes we looked at in the Beatitudes, striving to obey God from the heart like we looked at in chapter 5, giving to the poor, praying in a God-honoring way, seeking him through fasting, and everything else you can think of.

My job, then, isn’t about providing me with what I want; it’s about providing for my family’s needs and using the excess to make him famous. It’s viewing my job as a way to honor God by working like he does. It is also a platform for me to share the Gospel with other people, and as I do God-honoring work, I am pushing back against the effects of sin and the curse around us.

God didn’t give me a family so we can have the right stick figures on the back window of the minivan, but so God can use me as a dad and my wife as a mom to teach our kids how He wants to impact the world through them.

Life is an investment, not in myself, not even in doing good things so I get credit, but living my life to make God famous; to declare to everyone I see how incredible He is.

Jesus says that where you are focus is reveals to everyone where your heart is.

If you are gaining notoriety and wealth and treasures for yourself, your heart is selfish, corrupt, and you are wasting your time, talents and treasures. It will fade, it will get taken away, and you will be left empty.

(By the way, you don’t have to be the richest person or the most famous; this is a heart attitude that creeps in at all levels).

If, however, you are using everything you have materially and everything you are and do for His glory, you are laying up treasure in heaven that cannot go away.

The first question that reveals our treasure is this: am I living for my passing success or God’s permanent glory?

In case that doesn’t pinpoint it specifically enough, He gives us further truth that allows us to ask a second question:

2) How well can I see?

For the next hint as to our treasure and its location, Jesus gives us a picture of which I am all too familiar. Read back through verses 22-23...

How many of you wear glasses or contacts? I have worn glasses since I was in the 2nd Grade and contacts since I was 16. Without them, I am blind as a bat.

Many of you, as you have grown older, have dealt with cataracts and glaucoma that have caused blurred, foggy vision.

There are some, though, whose eyes are so malformed or diseased that even glasses can’t correct them.

Jesus uses that picture as an analogy for what goes on inside a person’s heart.

When your eye is diseased, nothing looks right. If it’s bad enough to cause blindness, you won’t see anything at all.

So what does that have to do with treasure? I’m glad you ask.

Jesus is pointing out that the Pharisees – the guys living for earthly glory and fame, who don’t get that God’s law starts with the heart—have messed up eyes. They can’t see correctly.

Paul says this a different way when he says to the Corinthians,

1 Corinthians 2:14–16 CSB

But the person without the Spirit does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated spiritually. The spiritual person, however, can evaluate everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. For who has known the Lord’s mind, that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ.

Jesus is saying that those who just live for earthly treasure, whether notoriety or stuff, are showing that they are natural men—their eyes are completely dark, and they can’t understand what’s right.

In contrast, those who are storing up treasure in heaven by living for God’s glory show that they get it.

Those who get it, who, like the Beatitudes talk about, have recognized their utter need for Christ and see that they can’t measure up, they get it! The ones who think they can live a good, moral life and make God happy on their own are blind, totally full of darkness.

So here’s the question: Does God’s Word make sense to you? I am not asking about whether you understand and could write a position paper on every detail of every corner of theology.

When we look at spiritual truth, does it sorta make sense to you, or are you still trying to figure it out on your own?

When you hear that Jesus died on the cross and was raised from the dead to take your penalty and give you his life in its place, does that make sense at some level, or does it just sound like nonsense?

If you don’t understand core truths like this, and you don’t know how they apply, you need to check your eyesight.

The second hint as to where your treasure is is this: How well can you see and understand the things of God?

You won’t get it perfectly at first, but there should be some level at which you understand.

There’s one more question for us to ask as we look at where our treasure is:

3) Who am I serving?

Listen to verse 24 again...

I know that, in our current cultural context, talking about slaves and masters can bring up deep hurt due to our history as a nation.

However, this is the picture that Jesus uses. In fact, he says here that all of us are serving someone or something.

Think with me for a minute about the life of a slave. Does a slave have freedom to do whatever he wants?

No; he has to be available at a moment’s notice to do what his Master wants.

What if a slave had more than one master? You may have had a very mild taste of this at work or at home. Ever had more than one boss? This one asks you to do something, and on your way to do it, the other one says you have to do something for him.

Maybe your kids are asking you for help on their homework while your husband is asking you when dinner is going to be ready? Perhaps your one professor scheduled an evening Zoom call to offer help on the upcoming project, while your already have a 10-page report due tomorrow. Maybe your kids want you to watch the grandkids tonight, but you were supposed to be cleaning out your garage?

There’s a tension there, and if it continues, it will result in resentment towards one or the other boss. One of the bosses will always be encroaching on your time to do what the other has asked.

Jesus applies that picture to our struggle with treasure: If you’re living for your success, you aren’t going to be able to live for God’s glory. He’s going to interrupt your plans; mess up your timetable, and you’re going to resent, even hate him for it.

However, when you serve him, you shut out the master of self and stuff. You can’t go after all the things you want because you’re already serving one master—there isn’t time or room for anything else.

Believe it or not, there is incredible freedom through this.

When you are focusing on serving God and honoring him, then you don’t have to obsess over maintaining your reputation or even the everyday cares of life. In fact, Jesus is going to build on that next week in the passage we will see.

There is tremendous freedom when we serve Christ as our Lord, leader, master, and boss, because we don’t have to be the ones to define ourselves or make a name for ourselves or keep up with the Joneses or anything else.

My purpose in life becomes clear, although it still isn’t easy: I am to do whatever God sets before me today in the strength he supplies, knowing that I am living for treasure that I will receive after this life.

That is why Peter would start off his letter to believers who had been scattered and persecuted this way:

1 Peter 1:3–4 CSB

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.

I would encourage you to spend some time this week in that first chapter of 1 Peter. It has some great truths that flesh out our understanding of our hope and our treasure.

So, then, looking back through these questions: where does the X land on the treasure map of your life?

Are you living for passing success or permanent glory?

How well do you see and perceive what is going on around you?

Ultimately, who are you serving?

If they land on a fading treasure on earth, you need to examine your heart to see if you have ever truly come into the kingdom of God and been saved.

Remember, Jesus was willing to lay aside his pursuit of what was rightfully his—glory, honor, and everything the world could offer—so he could save you from the empty pursuits.

Instead, he took the penalty of all our worldly pursuits and died to offer us the treasure we could never have obtained on our own.

If you know you have been, then what do you need to adjust so you can live for God’s glory and a lasting reward instead of passing success?