Treasures in Heaven – Matthew 6:19-34
Where is Your Treasure? – Matthew 6:19-24
“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal. But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness—how deep is that darkness! “No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money.
How many of you have ever watched those TV shows about people who hoard? I have to admit, I use to watch a show called Clean House starring Niecy Nash. The premise was to help a family de-clutter and transform their home into a space they could live in. What really fascinated me was the difficulty people had letting go of their clutter. Niecy would have a “therapy” session to help them get rid of the stuff that had imprisoned them. During the great depression many people became pack rats and hoarders and my grandparents were no exception. When my grandmother passed away, my father and I went to clean the house. We found so many things still in packages and duplicates (sometimes even triplicates) of several items. Every scrap was kept and put in boxes, drawers, closets, trunks… Recently, we all experienced hoarding (maybe you were one). Items like toilet paper, flour, dried milk, cleaning products and hand sanitizer, to name a few, could not be found. The fear of running out of things really caused a panic that was even worse then an impending hurricane or snowstorm. It shows that all of us have the hoarding gene in one way or another.
Jesus says Don’t collect for yourselves treasures on earth. Those things will rust, fade, wear out, break, or get stolen. Instead, collect treasures for heaven. Nothing is going to destroy those things. And here it is again – the theme of the sermon on the mount – where is your heart? I never noticed until now how many times Jesus talks about the heart in this sermon. This time, Jesus is taking issue with our love for stuff. The real question is, what do we value. Do we value the stuff, or do we value God? Do we hold on to things or do we hold on to Christ, who is our salvation?
Now, the next portion of the scripture doesn’t seem to fit with the theme. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, then your whole body is full of light. If your eye is bad, then it is full of darkness. Knowing it had to somehow fit, I had to ask myself, what would good or bad eyes have to do with possessions? As I began to research, I found another passage that had my answer – Matthew 20:1-16. I will give credit here to John Piper and the Desiring God website for this connection! This is the parable of the Vineyard Workers and it goes like this: The kingdom of heaven is like a vineyard owner who goes out early in the morning to hire workers. He contracts workers for a denarius for the day. Later on he finds other workers and hires them. Still later in the day, he finds other workers and toward the end of the day he finds even more. At the end of the day he pays everyone. The first workers get their denarius for the day’s work. No surprise here. But then, all the other workers also get a denarius. The first workers complain. I mean, that’s not fair. They had worked all day and these other guys only worked part of the day. But the vineyard owner replied, “Friend, I’m doing you no wrong. Didn’t you agree with me on a denarius? Take what’s yours and go. I want to give this last man the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my business? Are you jealous because I’m generous?” The Greek translation is this: Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with what is mine? Or is your eye envious because I am generous. In this parable, Jesus is asking – the question: is your eye good or bad? Do you see generosity, or do you see unfairness? Do you see compassion, or indifference? Do you celebrate someone’s blessing, or is your vision obscured by your own indignation? Is the money more important than God’s desire to be magnanimous. When God’s mercy and generosity becomes less important than our desire for more stuff, then our eye is bad and full of darkness.
Ouch!! God is stepping on my toes. I do find myself at times upset that someone might get more than they “deserve”. I’m going to have to readjust my attitude. How about you? I hear it all the time, even from my believing friends. They are upset that someone might get more than they should on welfare. Bothered that an illegal immigrant child might be fed a free meal at school. Mad that their taxpayer’s dollars might go to help someone “undeserving” go to a free medical clinic. I think we’ve all begrudged people in this manner. We focus on ourselves and what we are losing, or being “cheated” out of. We lose sight of what is really important – being lights in this world. When we are consumed by possessions and not by a passion to see God’s kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven, then our eyes are bad. Instead, let the light in and see God at work in this world moving in people’s lives with mercy that none of us really deserves.
This leads to the next section of Jesus’ sermon. No one can be a slave to two masters. You can’t serve God and money. When your eye is bad, only darkness surrounds you and you’re unable to see God. Only good eyes can see. The desire for money and possessions can blind us to those treasures that we should be seeking and storing up. Treasures like the blessings in the first part of the sermon. Treasures that come when we are the hands, feet and voice of God and see lives change and people draw closer to God. Treasures that come when we give out of a heart of love for God. Treasures that come when you truly forgive and truly repent. These are the treasures that do not rust or spoil. They last forever as God’s kingdom comes to earth as it is in heaven.
Don’t Be Anxious – Matthew 6:25-34
“This is why I tell you: Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they? Can any of you add a single cubit to his height by worrying? And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you—you of little faith? So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the idolaters eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
I can say for sure, Covid-19 and these last few weeks of protests have caused a lot of anxiety. We’re worried about our future. About where the next paycheck, or unemployment check might come. Worried that we might get the virus. That new jobs might not be available. That we can’t pay for the car, the house, or put food on the table. These are not trivial worries – not like worrying that toilet paper might once again be unavailable. On top of this, there’s the constant worry things are going to change forever. BTW – they are. Nothing will ever be the same again. Jesus says, don’t worry. Worrying won’t add anything to your life.
A few years ago, my husband and I went to Israel. We flew in on Shabbat – BTW, don’t do this as there’s no public transportation after about 4. Instead of the train route I had carefully planned out, we ended up taking a taxi. When we got into the hotel I discovered I had dropped my wallet in the backseat of the now departed taxi. All our money, except what my husband had on him, and our credit cards were driving away into the black night of Tel Aviv. Talk about anxiety. I was beside myself with anxiety. I even got a migraine because I was so anxious. But not my husband. He was as calm as could be. Now, for those of you who know us, your going HUH??? Did you guys just switch bodies or something? Yep, my husband is usually Mr. Anxiety and I’m the calm one. But he looked at me and said, it’s going to be okay. God has this and we’re going to be alright. And he was right, God performed a few miracles. First miracle. A stranger, hearing our plight, came up to us and gave us 50 shekels. Second miracle. Between that and the money my husband had, we had the exact amount for dinner and to pay what we owed on the hotel. Third miracle – you might want to sit down for this one – we called the taxi company who contacted the driver. He found my wallet in the backseat of his taxi. After dropping us off, he had picked up at least 2 dozen other passengers and not one of them discovered the wallet that was sitting in plain sight. This has been a lesson I have never forgotten. To drive it home, one day, we were on the Mount of Olives having a picnic and we noticed the sparrows picking up everyone’s crumbs. They never had to worry about their next meal. Talk about the Bible coming to life!
God wants us to seek first His kingdom and seek His righteousness. He says worrying about what tomorrow will bring won’t get you anywhere. Except for maybe a migraine, an ulcer, heart palpitations, loss of hair… God says, I am Adonai Jirah – the Lord the Provider. I will make a way. I will feed you, cloth you… provide for you. Oh church, we need to believe that right now. There are people in need. Can we be a part of God’s provision for people, just like that stranger was for us in Israel? Can we walk people through this time we are in with grace and mercy? There are a lot of fearful and fed up people. There are a lot of angry people. Instead of seeing them as belligerent or troublesome, can we show them love and understanding? Can we be the calm assurance they need, just like my husband was for me. We can walk through this time with one another – side by side. Don’t be anxious about anything. God’s got this.
Questions to Ponder
1. Where are you laying up treasures?
2. How is your eyesight? Are they filled with light, or darkness? Do you see generosity or unfairness?
3. What is your anxiety level these days?
4. How can you be a part of God’s provision for people around you right now?
5. How can you be the calm assurance someone might need – walking with them side by side in this time?
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