We are going through the series called Learning to Live Like Jesus. The series focuses on the lengthy passage from Jesus known as the Sermon on the Mount. It’s basically contained in three chapters in the book of Matthew, 5, 6 and 7. We’ve been through chapter 5 where Jesus gave us a pretty good outline of what it’s like to live as a citizen within the kingdom of God. As we began chapter 6, we looked at some of the obstacles to living within the kingdom of God that is here right now. The obstacle, such as the need to be seen when he performs spiritual practices such as service, prayer or even fasting. Today, we are going to see another obstacle. The obstacle is to focus on earthly treasures at the expense of heavenly treasures. What I’d like to do is what we’ve been doing all along, have someone stand up and read the passage from Matthew 6:19-24, ideally from the New International Version. (Writing read here.)
As you can see from the first line, this passage is all about treasure. He begins by saying: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” Now, we don’t know exactly what Jesus had in mind when he spoke of earthly treasures. However, we can speculate what kinds of articles it would be if he were to speak these words to us today. Already when we think about that trailer, we know that it will probably include things like gold and silver, jewels and artifacts. But it would probably also include things like our savings, our stock portfolios, our 401Ks. It would also include things like our cars, boats, and motorcycles and household items like computers and smartphones and clothing and even collectibles. All of these would be considered earthly treasures. We know that earthly treasures tend to change over time. The things we treasure change throughout the seasons of our lives. Things that we perhaps treasured a few years ago we now consider junk. The good news is that we know that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. It means that we have an ongoing market for collectibles and used items on websites like eBay and Craig’s List.
As a side note, a little add-on for the flea market we’re having this week. It is a University of Financial Peace that some of you are graduates of thanks to Andrew. We probably have more than 100 people who went through Financial Peace University. If you have graduated from Financial Peace, you can participate in the flea market with the only condition that you cannot take the money you got from selling your stuff to buy someone else’s stuff. That is the basic rule. If you are interested in that, there is information about it in their newsletter.
The reality is that things change in value over time. But in the long run, all things end up being practically useless, especially earthly things. That is why Jesus says: “Do not lay up treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.” We don’t have to worry too much about moths and rust these days, but we do have to worry about other ways things end up depreciating. You buy a new or used car, and within a few miles of driving off the lot, your car has probably depreciated by a few hundred, if not thousands of dollars. We know that happens with technology like computers. Today it’s six months or a year and your computer system might be outdated. Then you have the breakage of household items. Clothes go out of style. Unless you’re like me, I’d be perfectly content wearing the same clothes I wore in high school if Debbie would let me. Things lose their value. If we don’t have to worry about them losing their value through depreciation, rust, and moths, we do have to worry about thieves stealing them. That’s why there are entire industries that have stepped up to protect our stuff. It has firewalls and antivirus protection to protect our computers and data. You have credit cards that have chips to protect our credit. You have cameras and security systems to protect our things and our home. Even if we could somehow protect all of our stuff, even if we could protect our stuff from exposure to moths, rust, depreciation, and breakage, the reality is that when we cross over to the other side, wherever that other side is for you, all that you have stays on this side. You realize that right? Everything stays here. If you don’t believe me, the apostle Paul says it exactly to his friend Timothy when he writes “For we have brought nothing into the world, and we can get nothing out of it.” Someone once said that you don’t see U-Hauls in a funeral home. You have to leave all your things. As far as you’re concerned, your stuff has a big zero next to it once you leave this world. All. No matter what it is. The implication is that it’s a bit sad and morbid when you think about it. After you die and all the shared meals happen, what happens? The family gathers and they begin to divide your things. You get this. You get this. What they don’t like ends up in the trash. Or some of it ends up in a real estate sale or garage sale where you get pennies on the dollar for those things. It’s sad. It is a sad but true reality. When you leave this world, everything stays here.
That is why Jesus says not to get carried away by the hoarding of treasures here on earth. He does not last. Instead, he says, “But lay up treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not mine or steal.” This is a bit of a difficult passage to think about because, for one thing, we don’t always have a clear understanding of what heaven is, and therefore we certainly don’t understand what the treasures in heaven are. Depending on who you are, you may have a different perspective of heaven than someone else. Some people think that heaven is a distant galaxy far, far away and when you die, you somehow sprout wings and go to that place. Other people believe that heaven is just another dimension that is as close as your hand where there is a lot of activity there all the time and even right now. When you pass, you simply pass into that dimension that some refer to as the kingdom of God. Whatever you believe about heaven doesn’t really matter. What matters is the good news that since you know that things in heaven last forever, you don’t have to focus on storing things in heaven because you have this eternal spiritual safe deposit box available to you. It is as spacious as space itself and as timeless as all of eternity.
Can you say, what kind of things do I have to put in there? The problem is that Jesus does not give us an example. He doesn’t tell us what kinds of things they are, but we can probably be pretty sure that the kinds of treasures we’re going to have in heaven are the kinds of things that Jesus treasured while on earth, which really boils down to whatever. something that expresses the love of God and the love of others. We know that things that express love for God and love for others are often classified as good deeds and generosity. That is why Paul also writes to Timothy and tells him “Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. In this way, they will lay up treasures for themselves as a firm foundation for the age to come, so that they can lay hold of the life that is truly life.” So we know that good deeds and acts of service help us store up treasures in heaven. Beyond that, I think it’s anything that advances God and his plan to return all of his creation to him. That could mean something as simple as sitting down with a friend and having a cup of coffee and sharing your faith with the person. Bring that person closer to God. Or just prayer and encouragement for someone who is hurting or some kind of forgiveness and reconciliation. Those would be classified as treasures that would be stored in heaven. Jesus says don’t waste your time on these things on earth. Focus on the treasures that may be hidden but have this eternal and lasting value.
Jesus is concerned about the treasures you are storing, but not only because he is concerned about whether or not they will last. What he really cares about is the impact treasures can have on your inner life or what Jesus calls the heart. So he goes on and gives us a warning. He says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” The word heart like heaven is very difficult for us because it is a spiritual term. When you think of the heart, we know that it does not refer to the physical organ that pumps blood. Jesus is thinking about something in the spiritual realm. Specifically what some believe it refers to is the inner life that controls your decisions, your will, your affection. That’s what they think he means. Some people call the heart the executive command center of your life. We know that people with a good heart or a healthy heart usually make good decisions. When they encounter all kinds of situations in life, they usually respond in a good and positive way. When people with a sick heart encounter different situations, they end up responding sometimes in a negative way. Proverbs 4:23 speaks of the need to guard your heart because it is the source of your life. The condition of your heart determines what will sprout and sprout from you. Jesus is very concerned about where you put your treasures, what your heart is focused on.
That could be why he keeps comparing the sight of our heart with our eyesight. He goes on to say: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” We don’t usually think of the eye as a lamp, but it actually makes sense. The eye catches light and helps you navigate your surroundings in a good way. Likewise a heart. What he seems to be saying is that a heart that is focused on the things of God will receive the light of Christ deep within the person. Consequently, the person will make good decisions. Whereas a sick heart receives no light or only a little light, so the darkness invades the inside of the person and really permeates every area of his life. Thinking again of Martin Bayerle. He would probably be the first to admit that he was too focused on the sunken treasure. He affected her heart. He affected his family. He affected his finances. He spent time in prison. As a side note, I didn’t mention this on the first serve, but if you notice in the video, he had a patch over his left eye. I just plugged it into this…