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2001
22nd April (pm) - A Christian's Savings
MATTHEW 6:19-34

We live in a world where there is an abundance of material wealth. We live in a world where we are encouraged to satisfy the needs of our physical well-being. Harvest time reminds us that we have plenty, that we lack for nothing, in our part of the world. Let me read you an extract from the current issue of Tear Times: Her gentle spirit shines through the horror of her appearance. Zewdie Tamirat's eyes are swollen shut through malnutrition and her delicate skin is no longer able to mask the skeleton beneath. She attempts a smile as she stands by her father's side in the village of Ordie, 260km south of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Brushing away flies from her face, the young girl stands attentively as Tamirat Abayie explains how three years of crop failure have left his family facing starvation.

Such a contrast of material possession surely makes us uncomfortable. For we should not be allowed to bask in our material abundance, all the while ignoring the plight of the poor in our world. It confronts us with a choice. What should be our attitude to our material wealth ? Jesus confronts this sort of choice and three others in our reading from Matthew 6. In these verses, Jesus confonts the choices we have to make concerning our physical and spiritual well-being, and at harvest-time, when we reflect on our material abundance, it is appropriate for us to confront these choices. In each choice Jesus places the alternatives before us, and with each alternative or choice we cannot sit on the fence. But how shall we make our choice ? Jesus helps us to make our choice by pointing out the folly of the wrong way and the wisdom of the right way. And as we shall see right at the end in the fourth choice, if that is made correctly, then there is no problem over the other three.

CHOICE # 1: A question of treasure (19-21)

This is a choice between two treasures, treasure on earth and treasure in heaven. If our object in life is to accumulate treasure, we shall probably want to concentrate on the kind which will last and can be stored up without either depreciation or deterioration. Imagine an investment scheme whereby there was continual growth. The flucuations of the stock market and the economy did not affect it. To such an investment, I am sure you would be attracted. Jesus is contrasting two types of investment or treasure. One is affected by the flucuations of the stock market and the economy, it disintegrates through inflation or devaluation or an economic slump, the other type of treasure is not affected by these things. Which would you choose ?

Do not store up treasure for yourselves on earth, ... but store up for yourselves treasure in heaven ... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

It is important that we understand what Jesus does not mean, and what he does mean in these words. For that helps us to make our choice. We must also allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. Jesus is certainly not forbidding possessions in themsleves. Nor is Jesus forbidding making provision for the future. In Proverbs 6:6-8 we read Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest. Apart from the amazing fact that a seemingly insignificant creature like an ant, is used to teach those created in the image of the creator, the implication here is that the believer who makes no provision for his or her family is worse than an unbeliever. Also Jesus is certainly not encouraging us to despise, but rather to enjoy, the good things which our Creator has richly given us. Paul reminds Timothy to encourage people to put their hope in God, who richly provides good things for their enjoyment (1 Tim 6:17).

Jesus in these words is pointing out the danger of the selfish accummulation of material wealth: extravagant and luxurious living; the hardheartedness which does not feel the colossal need of the world's underprivileged people; the foolish fantasy that a person's life consists in the abundance of his/her possessions; and the materialism which binds our hearts to the earth. Laying up treasure on earth, is not being wise, it is rather being covetous. And we can be covetous over almost anything - our career, our family, our home, our hobbies, our sporting prowess, our intellectual prowess, our image, our material possessions, the abundance of our wealth.

Remember the parable of the rich fool in Luke 12. Remember he had a particularly good year in his harvest, but when he saw his abundance, he first of all did not acknowledge God's goodness to him. Secondly, when he saw his abundance, he became greedy or covetous, and thirdly as a result of his greed, he became slothful or lazy. The 16th century playwrite, Christopher Marlowe once wrote, excess of wealth is the cause of covetousness. The farmer's heart was where his treasure lay, and he discovered that when it came to the crunch, he was in fact very poor. American writer and pastor Bill Hybels observes, he had invested his time and energy in storing up a mountain of riches, but he had invested nothing in what mattered most, and he stood before God empty-handed. Earthly treasure does not last. Job was so correct in his obversation, naked I come from my mother's womb, and naked I shall depart (1:21).

So says Jesus, heavenly treasure is incorruptible. But what does it mean to lay up treasure in heaven ? It is do anything on earth whose effects last for eternity. Jesus is not teaching us that by our works we may be saved, for in the sermon he is addressing disciples who have received the salvation of God. John Stott says that to lay up treasure in heaven refers to such things as these: the development of Christlike character; the increase of faith, hope and love (all of which remain said Paul); growth in the knowledge of Christ whom one day we shall see face to face; the active endeavor 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.

Our hearts will always be in the place where our treasure is. What is your treasure tonight ? Is it the things of this world which are corruptible and temporary, or is it the things of heaven, which are incorruptible and permanent ?

CHOICE #2: A question of vision (v 22-23)

The choice or alternative turns from two treasures to two conditions. The contrast is between a blind person and a sighted person, and so between the darkness and light in which they repsectively live. Almost everything the body does depends on our ability to see. We may use our hands to cook, but we need our eyes to see where we are putting the ingredients.

Jesus says the eye is the lamp of the body. This is not literal of course, yet provides a useful metaphor for the teaching of Jesus. A sighted person walks in the light, while a blind person is in darkness. The eye here is the equivalent to the heart. To set one's heart on something and to fix one's eye on something are one in the same concept. In Psalm 119:10 we read I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. And then over in Psalm 141:8 we have the same idea expressed differently; But my eyes are fixed on you O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge. So here in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus passes from the importance to having our heart in the right place to the importance of having our eye healthy and sound.

So we may say: just as our eye affects our whole body, so our ambition affects our whole life. Just as in the physical sense our eyes give light to our bodies, so a singleminded ambition to serve God and others will give meaning to life and throw light on everything we do. Conversely, just as physical blindness leads to darkness, a selfish ambition (to lay up treasures for ourselves on earth) plunges us into moral darkness. It makes us intolerant, inhuman, ruthless and deprives life of all ultimate significance. If our ambition is to serve God, then we may say with the Psalmist from Psalm 119:105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

It is all a question of vision. Remember Charles Dicken's 'A Christmas Carol'. Ebenezer Scrooge was a man obsessed by the accumulation of wealth. What was the result ? A mean spirited, miserly, hated person. The lives of his tenants were of no significance to him. All that mattered was his wealth. Because for Ebenezer Scrooge, a person's life consisted in the abundance of his material possessions. Scrooge's vision was clouded by the false god of materialism. This can happen to us also, and when such a thing like this happens we lose our sense of values and our whole lives are thrown into darkness and we cannot see where we are going. It is interesting to observe that in biblical thought an 'evil eye' is a measly, miserly spirit, and a 'sound' one is generous.

But, if our spiritual perspective is correctly focused, then our life is filled with purpose and drive. Focusing our lives on matters of spiritual significance provides us with the right perspective in life, for then we are paying attention to the things of God and his Son Jesus Christ. How are your eyes tonight ? Are you choosing to walk in darkness or in the light of God's glorious grace ?

CHOICE #3: A question of worth (v24)

Jesus goes on to explain that behind the choice between two treasures (where we lay them up) and two visions (where we fix our eyes), there lies an even more fundamental choice between two masters (whom/what are we going to serve). In the contest between whom/what we are going to serve, there is a straight choice between God and mammon, or money as it is translated in the NIV. Mammon is a common Aramaic word for riches. It is similar to a Hebrew word signifying something in which to trust.
In other words, we either serve God, or we serve other things we trust. It is a larger concept than mere money. And Jesus points out no-one can serve two masters. It doesn't work that way. There is no third alternative.

Some people who disagree with this teaching of Jesus miss the point. The image here is of slave and slave-owner, not employee and employer. While it is possible to work for more than one employer, and many people do, sometimes to make ends meet, sometimes out of greed, it is impossible to be the property of two owners. A slave cannot be the property of two owners. Single ownership and fulltime service are the essence of slavery.

Therefore if we are fooling ourselves into thinking we can quite successfully serve both God and mammon, then we have given into mammon and we have forgotten, the first and most important of the Ten Commandments: I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods before me. We cannot hedge our bets. To attempt to share one's loyalty between God and mammon is to have opted for idolatory.

Who or what is worth serving ? That of earthly, temporary worth, which will turn us into Ebeneze Scrooge like characters, or Him of heavenly, permanent worth, who gives us the ability to see the reality of things, him who is a light for our path and a lamp unto our feet ?

Our heart will be in the place our treasure is. Our treasure will relfect the sort of vision we have in life (walking in the light or in darkness). Our vision, where our heart and eyes are focused, will reflect whom or what we are serving.

CHOICE #4: A question of ambition (v25-34)

Jesus in this part of the Sermon on the Mount has laid before us a series of choices, a series of stark alternatives. If we choose wisely in each of those matters, then the final choice we have to make, will fall naturally into place. We are ready to make our choice with regard to our life's ambition. Therefore I tell you, says Jesus, do not worry about your life ... or about your body ... But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness.
It is interesting to observe that Jesus recognized people as seekers, which differs little from the society in which we live. Modern people are seeking that which is real and authentic, and we, armed with God's Word and our own Christian testimony, can help them make the right choices, and so guide them to having the right ambition in life, to seek first the kingdom of God and of his Son Jesus Christ.

Once again Jesus simplifies the issue greatly. He is basically saying, look to become engrossed in material comforts is a false preoccupation. Such a thing is unproductive, although it might produce ulcers, such a thing is unnecessary, because our heavenly Father knows what we need, and such a thing is unworthy, because it betrays a false view of human beings and human life, reducing human existence to a mere physical existence. In other words to have a preoccupation with the world's Trinity of cares, (as John Stott refers to them), i.e. 'what shall we eat ? what shall we drink ? what shall we wear ? is to be misguided.

Again we must be careful what Jesus is not saying here. Jesus Christ neither denies or despises the needs of the body. He knows us better than we do, and earlier in this chapter, he has just taught his disciples to pray give us this day our daily bread. An exclusive preoccupation with food, drink and clothing could be justified only if physical survival were the be-all and end-all of existence. Sadly for many today, that is how they live, so they lay up treasures on earth, their vision is clouded in darkness and they trust other things rather than God. There spirits are crushed and strangled by the thorny cares of the world. So Jesus tells us to not worry about these things, although in extreme circumstances like famine, the struggle to survive must take precedent. But in ordinary affluent circumstances like ours, to be preoccupied with and anxious over such things is to betray the totality of what it means to be a human being.

Again Jesus is using the natural world to teach us a lesson. He uses birds as an illustration of God's supply of food and flowers as an illustration of God's supply of clothing. Consider God's providential care of the world. Martin Luther once wrote You see he is making the birds our schoolmasters and teachers. It is a great and abiding disgrace to us that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow should become a theologian and preacher to the wisest men. The harvest abundance reminds us that God is caring for that which he created and teaching us the value of such material things. The grass, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire. How much more valuable are we who are created in the image of the One who has ordained the seasons and providentially cares for the world.

But I hear some of you saying, what about the third world, and the hunger and starvation in the world ? That is a valid question. Over twenty years ago John Stott made an astute observation; One important point should be made, namely that the most basic cause of hunger is not an inadequate divine provision, but an inequitable human distribution. Remember the parable of the rich fool. He had more than he required, but he got greedy. We live in a greedy society, where we have more than we require, and we pamper our lives with material abundance. So we do just sit and wait for food to fall into our laps - we acknowledge God's goodness to us, by co-operating in his creation, sowing and harvesting, working to provide that which we need for daily life.

To be preoccupied with the mere physical life is a false ambition. Jesus leaves us with true or Christian ambition, God's rule and righteousness. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Ultimately there are only two ambitions in life. The ambition which focuses on the self - my comfort, my wealth, my status, my power, my abundance, or the ambition which focuses on God, his name, his honor, his kingdom, his will. This is the ambition which Jesus wants us to consider. Is this your ambition ?

But what does it mean to seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness. It must surely mean to desire as of first importance the spread of the reign of Jesus Christ. Such a desire will start with ourselves, our personal, public and professional lives. It will mean evangelistic responsibilites toward our relatives, colleagues, friends and neighbours. It will mean a concern for the global missionary witness of the church. It will mean a desire and prayer for the day when God's kingdom will come it all its power and glory. Your kingdom come we pray.

What is your ambition ? You who are Christian parents, what do you desire most of all in life for your children ? I would hope it is the desire that they become first and foremost disciples of Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to seek first God's righteousness ? In part, it most certainly means to be salt and light in a world of darkness. It means to project kingdom values into the society in which we live. It means to challenge the gross inequitable distribution of wealth in our world. Seeking first his kingdom and his righteousness may be said to embrace our Christian evangelistic and social responsibilities.

And when we seek first his kingdom and righteousness, we begin to see the true nature of our material abundance, our lives are spiritually and therefore properly focused, and we shall be serving a master worthy of our allegiance.

Life is full of choices, we must learn to choose wisely, to lay up treasure in heaven, to walk in the light, to serve God, and to seek first his kingdom and his righeousness, by faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

AMEN!