Would you join me at Matthew 6 - starting at verse 19.  We are beginning a new section of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount - what we’ve been studying together over the past few Sundays.  As you are turning or swiping let’s make sure we’re together on how verses 19 to 24 fit in the big picture of what Jesus is teaching.

Jesus began His teaching by declaring that those who are usually seen as spiritually alienated from God - those who think of themselves as being hopelessly separated from God - they’re blessed.  Blessed because God has reached to us - brought the reality of His kingdom - a restored - healed - God forgiving our sins - God with us in the day to day stuff or our lives relationship - God has brought Himself and His kingdom to us.  A huge invaluable blessing.

Jesus taught that each of us is created and called by God to live lives of great significance and purpose.  Wherever we may be living our lives - at home - at school - at work - in the community - wherever and in whatever role - student - teacher - parent - child - boss - employee - whatever role.  In Christ - we are the salt of the world.  In Christ - we are the light.  Each of us is created and called to live our lives in such a way that God may be glorified and we experience His blessing.

Which begs the question… How?  How do we live like that - blessed - with God glorifying purpose - living God’s way in the day to day stuff - in the drama - of our lives?

Which is the practical side of what Jesus has been teaching.  How do we live life God’s way - blessed and purposefully God glorifying.  Jesus teaches - that life must come from our hearts - from the core of who we are totally surrendered to God.

Jesus has been helping us to look at our hearts.  To get past any strange ideas we may have about our own righteousness - that somehow by our own efforts - just trying harder - doing all the stuff of Christianity - that somehow we can live that life that God has created us for and called us to. 

Jesus has given us examples like murder and adultery and divorce - six examples from Old Testament law that outwardly we may be doing - patting ourselves on the back for how we’re living.  But Jesus tweaks those examples - talking about anger and lust and pride and our attitude towards God - showing us that while outwardly we may be living righteous at the heart level we all struggle to be righteous. 

Jesus teaches about justice being an opportunity to go the extra mile - to outrageously love our enemies as God has loved us.  Which in our self exalting - self preserving - culture we struggle with.  Jesus helping us to look with honesty at what’s really going in our hearts.

In chapter 6 - Jesus asks the penetrating question:  What is in your heart?  What really motivates you?  Why do you do what you do in your relationship with God?  At the bottom line - at heart level - is our motivation for why we do what we do about us or God?

Which is where Jesus is going in the section we’re coming to this morning and next Sunday.  Jesus asking the question:  At the heart level - Who really is the master of your life?  Who are you really serving with your life?  You?  Or God?

Verses 19 to 24 are pretty familiar.  Let’s read them together - refresh our minds - and then we’ll unpack what Jesus is teaching here.

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 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.

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.

Bottom line:  We have a choice.  A choice of who to serve.  Jesus gives us two illustrations to help us think through that choice.

Illustration number one is about treasure - wealth - what we possess.  A choice of lay away plans - where we’re storing treasure. 

If we store treasure on earth - Jesus reminds us - stuff deteriorates.  Even our investments - 401k’s - stocks - bonds - we have no absolute guarantee it’ll be there when we retire.

The words “thieves” and “steal” come form the same Greek word “klepto” - which is where we get the word “kleptomaniac” -someone with an insatiable compulsion to steal.  Stuff gets ripped off.  Its part of the way the world operates.  With stuff on earth there are no guarantees.

In contrast - if we store treasure in heaven it will be there when we get there.  Guaranteed.

Jesus’ point is verse 21 - a heart choice issue.  Where your treasure is that’s where your heart will be.  Have you chosen to focus your heart on what has real - guaranteeable - eternal value?

Illustration number two focuses on vision.  Pun intended.

We’ve heard this?  The eyes are the window of the... soul.  Which may be true.  There are scientist who’ve identified certain characteristics of the iris that they say give an indication about a person’s personality.

To the Jews - the eyes were like the heart - the core of our emotions and sensibilities and intentions and morality - the bottom line of who we are.  Look into a person’s eyes and you can see what’s going on in their heart.

Point being that if we’re focused on God then probably our heart is focused on God - meaning full of God’s light.  Which is a good thing.  Right?

In contrast - if our vision is messed up then probably our heart is messed up.  Meaning if we’re focused on the stuff of this world - maybe even focused on ourselves - then probably our heart is going to be full of darkness - meaning morally and spiritually we’re in serious trouble.

Which is where the world is apart from God.  Thinking we’re all so enlightened.  From a humanist perspective who needs God?  Even if He or she or it may exist.  And yet - apart from God - we’re the blind leading the blind over a cliff.  Apart from God - morally - spiritually - we’re toast.

Which is a choice for us - of loyalties - of attitudes - of what to focus our hearts on - of where we desire to go in life and who are on the journey.

Jesus’ bottom line summary comes in verse 24:  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.

Point being - behind the choice of where we’re laying up treasure or where our lives are focused is really the more basic heart choice of who we’re really serving with our lives.  Put simply:  Divided service is not service.

A person can work for two employers - hold down two jobs.  But Jesus is talking about masters - the essence of slavery - ownership.  Either we’re serving God with whole hearted single-eyed devotion or we’re not.  Any attempt on our part to divide our loyalties - to partially commit - to define discipleship - servanthood - obedience - to attempt to define the Lordship of Christ - the mastery of God over our lives - to define that slanted towards us - falls short of how Jesus defines true devotion to God.  What it really means to serve God. 

Are we together on what Jesus is teaching here?  True devotion to God - to really be a servant of God from the heart outward - requires all that we are - undivided loyalty.

Which prompts a hugely uncomfortable question.  Yes?  At the heart level - Who really is the master of our life?  Who are we really serving with our life?  Me?  Or God?

Thinking through how we can answer that question - processing what that may mean for us as we live our lives out there - would you turn forward with me to Matthew 19.  (Matthew 19:16-30)

Jesus has traveled down from the Sea of Galilee - to a place just east of the Jordan River.  While Jesus is teaching there - Matthew 19 - verse 16 - a man runs up to Jesus - kneels before Him - and asks, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

By reading through Mark and Luke’s record of this event - we know that this man was probably a rich young aristocrat.  He’s very wealthy - powerful - a man of influence - able to buy and control anything he wants.  He’s probably a member of some ruling council - a mover and shaker - upwardly mobile.  This wealthy young man has been listening to Jesus’ teaching - and about what it takes to enter the Kingdom of God - and he senses that there’s something he doesn’t possess - something that Jesus offers that he desires.

Jesus answers Him - verse 17:  “What do I need to do?” - “Keep the commandments.”

The man asks, “Which ones?”

Jesus answers - verse 18:  “You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and , You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Commandments that focus on personal relationships - that focus on the attitude of our heart towards others.

The young - without hesitation responds:  “All these I have kept.  What do I still lack?”  Impressive.  Since the point in a young Jewish boy’s life when he became responsible to live by God’s commandments - he’s been obedient - lived morally excellent.  Which of us could say that?

He’s been sincerely seeking the Kingdom of God.  And yet he admits that there’s something still lacking.  He’s tried everything religiously - outwardly - that he knows how to do and he’s still come up short.  He doesn’t have what Jesus is teaching about.  He’s looking for that last key thing to do - outwardly - that will open up to him eternal life.

Jesus observing him and his answer - speaks to him in love,  Here’s a man who has the qualities which make it possible to enter the Kingdom.  He’s obedient.  He’s teachable.  But, Jesus has one more thing to say to him. 

Remember these words?  Verse 21:  “Go, sell what you possess and give to the poor; and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”

Jesus hits the nail on the head.  When the man heard that he went away sorrowful.  Why?  Because he had a lot of possessions.  Even more so - he also knew, at the words of Jesus, that no matter how greatly he desired life in the Kingdom of God - to live life God’s way - blessed - he had to surrender everything - everything he controlled his life with - to have it. 

Do you see the choice?  Treasure on earth verses treasure in heaven.  Hold onto my possessions verses letting go of it all and following Jesus.  Do you hear the question?  Who’s your master?  Who are you serving?  What’s really going on in your heart?  

Let’s be honest.  What makes us uncomfortable here - where this hits our hearts - is the thought of Jesus asking us to sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor.

Let’s be careful.  Jesus isn’t asking us to sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor.  That’s what Jesus asked this young man - an instruction that focused on what was really going on in his heart.

Jesus may ask us to sell everything we have and give the proceeds to the poor.  Which - as we think about how uncomfortable that may or may not make us feel - is hugely indicative of where our heart is at.

Are we together?

Verse 23 - Jesus says to His disciples:  “Truly, I say to you, only with difficulty will a rich person enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.”

Jesus is either talking in hyperboles - the point being huge difficulty.  Its possible.  But hugely difficult for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.

Verse 25 - when the disciples heard that - the huge difficulty - they were astonished - saying, “Who then can be saved?”

The common understanding of the day was that if you were wealthy you were blessed by God - ergo - you were living rightly before God.  God blesses righteousness with wealth.  The poor are less righteous and so less blessed.  Point being - the wealthy had it in with God.

The wheels are spinning the disciple’s minds:  If the rich can’t get in then we - the poor - are in serious trouble.

Let’s be careful. 

If we have running water, a roof over our heads, clothes to wear, food to eat and some kind of transportation - even if it’s The Bus - we’re in the top 15 percent of the world’s people for wealth.  Every Sunday we gather in this building - worth plus or minus about $1 million - park cars out side worth thousands of dollars - spend hundreds going out to lunch - live in millions of dollars worth of homes.  Is that what it means to blessed by God?

Isn’t there kind of a hidden assumption with Christians in America that if we follow God things will go well for us materially?  Let’s be careful what our presumptions are - especially if we assume getting saved means living a certain American lifestyle. 

Wealth is not the evidence of righteousness.

Jesus’ response?  Verse 26:  “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Salvation.  Life in the kingdom.  God makes it possible.  God’s grace.  Jesus on the cross.  We choose to turn God’s possibility into an impossibility because we choose to follow ourselves - not Jesus.

Wealth - possessions - treasure - our own self-sufficiency - are barriers - obstacles - that we get our hearts focused on - that we stumble over - that we put between us and God.  That we start thinking is about us as the blessed designated end user rather than God’s blessings through us to others. 

Wealth that we find hugely difficult to let go of.  To surrender.  To sell.  In order to follow Jesus.  To let go of in order to give mastery of our lives over to God.

Still together?  Hang on.

Verse 27.  Peter comes up with this award winning statement.  “See, we have left everything and followed you.  What then will we have?”

For hundreds of years in the Christian church, almost from the First Century, men and women have taken vows of poverty, given away everything and become monks and nuns and priests and hermits.  Some gave away everything and went around as beggars.  Does that mean that they have the type of surrender that Jesus is teaching about?

The disciples, in a moment of arrogance, remind Jesus of how they’ve left everything to follow Him.  Their claim is to servanthood - by acts of outward righteousness - poverty.

“Look at how sacrificially we’re living.  We’ve given up everything and followed you.  So what do we get for all of our sacrifice?”

Jesus rebukes them with a reminder that no matter how surrendered they may think they are pride and self focus still reign in their hearts.  The reality - even the disciples have still not surrendered their lives to God.  How easy is it for us - like the young man - like the disciples - to think that we’re serving God when we’re still serving ourselves?

Look at Jesus’ bottom line - verse 28:  “Truly, I say to you, in the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”  What is worth treasuring - real wealth - comes to those who have followed Jesus.

How do we follow?  Verse 29:  “And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands, for my name’s sake will receive a hundredfold and will inherit eternal life.  But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

To follow Jesus means leaving our houses - our brothers or sisters or fathers or mothers or children or lands.

Let’s be careful - that doesn’t mean we must do this.  It means that when asked, we will do this.  In our hearts we’ve already surrendered these to God.  In our hearts we’ve already sold and given to the poor. 

Meaning - our position in heaven isn’t determined by our prominence now - our position in the community being determined by what we possess now - what we’re hanging on to - wealth now.  Some of us may be last in line here.

What we possess in heaven - real wealth - our position in heaven - our just being there - is determined by God - who sees what really goes on in our hearts.

What does it really mean for us to let go of what we possess and follow Jesus?  Where the master of our hearts really is God?  How does Jesus define what it means to follow Him?  What could that look like for us as we follow Jesus out there in Mercedland.  

Verse 29 is a starting point.  But Jesus said a number of uncomfortable things about what it means to follow Him - He being our Lord and master - we being His disciples - His servants.

In Luke 9 a man comes up to Jesus and says, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”

Jesus tells another man, “Follow Me.”  The man tells Jesus, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.”  Jesus tells him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Another man tells Jesus, “I will follow You, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”  Jesus told him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”  (Luke 9:57-62).

Are we together?  Jesus’ definition of “follow Me”:  Become homeless.  Let someone else bury your father.  Don’t take time to say good bye to your family.   

Jesus said, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate - in the original Greek that word “hate” means “hate” - and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple… point being:  anyone of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.”  (Luke 14:25-33)

What if God told us to sell our houses - to down size?  Or sell our cars?  To drive around in a used Yugo or something?  Or maybe have no car at all?  What if He told us to give away all but a few items of clothing?  Or, sell off our nest egg and invest differently in His ministry?  What if God told us to completely change how we’re living?  What if following Jesus meant leaving family and friends and everything we count as comfort and heading off alone to some unpronounceable place?

In John 12 - when Jesus was preparing His disciples for His coming death on the cross - Jesus tells the disciples:  “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will my servant be also.  If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”  (John 12:26)

The implication here is that to serve Jesus means following Him in death.  That’s the life God honors - blesses.

Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me - if anyone wants to follow Me - let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.  For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”  (Luke 9:23,24)

A cross is a brutal - blood stained - torturous - instrument of humiliation and death.  Which is exactly the image and reality that Jesus is calling us to.  You want to follow Me?  Follow me in death.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer - in his book “The Cost of Discipleship” - Bonhoeffer writes this:  “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.  It may be a death like that of the first disciples who had to leave home and work to follow him…  But it is the same death every time - death in Jesus Christ, the death of the old man at His call.  Jesus’ summons to the rich young man was calling him to die, because only the man who is dead to his own will can follow Christ.  In fact every command of Jesus is a call to die, with all our affections and lusts.” (1)

Are we tracking with Jesus?  Following - service - being a disciple of Jesus -  means giving up everything - our possessions - our family - our life - everything.  Total abandonment.

How easy is it for us to rationalize that Jesus must be saying something different than what He’s really saying?  To take the Jesus of the Bible and tweak Him into a version of Jesus we’re more comfortable with.

Have you heard this?  “We missed you at church on Sunday.”

“Well, we had company from out of town.”

“Okay, so…”

“Well, they don’t go to church.”

“So…”

“So we didn’t want to leave them by themselves.  Thought it might be rude.  A bad testimony.”

“So, telling them how important God is to you and then staying home from worship demonstrates what…?”

Or maybe this:  “My son - or daughter - had a game.” 

Like that game is more important than worship or serving God.  What are we teaching our kids about abandoning ourselves to God - the Lordship of Christ - if we say that God is the most important thing in our lives - except when it comes to sports.  Or, there was a birthday.  Or, there was an anniversary - or a reunion - or a whatever.

Maybe you’ve heard this:  “Can’t make it to church on Sunday.  It’s my only day to rest.”

Please don’t shoot the messenger.  We’ve got four kids and family and a life that happens outside of Sunday morning.  We also struggle with what Jesus is saying.

So, let’s be honest.  Ultimately the heart level issue here isn’t about the guy up front on Sunday morning but about each of us individually following Jesus.

We fill our lives with so many commitments and obligations - busynesses - so many events and activities that we “must” be a part of - that our kids “must” take advantage of - otherwise we won’t be good parents - so that we’ll be well thought of - so that we don’t miss opportunities.  Running 25/8/366 - so that God gets the left overs of our time - our talent - our treasure.  We’re so busy with really important stuff - what is wealth here - so busy that we struggle to find time to serve - to do Bible Study - to pray - to disciple or be discipled - to share the gospel - to follow Jesus.

Ultimately, who are we serving?

David Platt - in his book “Radical” writes about our temptation to redefine Jesus - to somehow lessen the implications of what Jesus is saying.  To make Jesus into “A nice, middle class, American Jesus.  A Jesus Who doesn’t mind materialism and Who would never call us to give away everything we have.  A Jesus Who would not expect us to forsake our closest relationships so that He receives all our affection.  A Jesus Who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, He loves us just the way we are.  A Jesus who wants us to be balanced, Who wants us to avoid dangerous extremes, and Who, for that matter, wants us to avoid danger altogether.  A Jesus Who brings us comfort and prosperity as we live out our Christian spin on the American dream.” (2)

Ask yourself - is it possible that the church in America is not taken seriously because we do not take our commitment to God seriously?  Is it possible that a generation is walking away from Christ because we’re not walking with Him?  Is it possible that the church in America is dying because we’re not dead?

Maybe we’re missing something crucial in what it means to follow Jesus at a huge - perhaps eternal - cost to our families and friends.

Jesus told His disciples:  “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  (John 6:53,54)

Isn’t eternal life something to be treasured?  Life with God now and forever?

What Jesus calls us to is to death - so that the only life we can possibly live is His.  He becomes the very basis - sustenance - direction - for our lives.  Which bottom line is what it means to be a slave.  Our life is not ours.  Its His - our master’s.

Which is the beginning of where true wealth comes from.  The life God honors.  That God blesses.

When we begin to cry out to God - with intense longing - realizing our inadequacy and failure - crying out, “God how can I be freed from all this?”

When we can agree with God that we’re desperate for what He offers us in Jesus our Savior.

When we begin to grab hold of the reality that life with God isn’t possible unless God creates His life within us.

When we begin to realize that even absolute surrender to God isn’t possible without God accomplishing that surrender within us.

When we can come to the point of surrender and say, “I have nothing to offer.  I’m even incapable of surrender.  God help me!  I’m yours.  Please take control.”

Then we begin to be at that place where we’re open to God to will and to work within us - to command the life that God calls us to live - that He blesses - that testifies of Him.

Matthew 6:25 - Jesus’ bottom line - the choice before us:  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.

Question:  In your heart - who are you serving?

_________________________

1. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship, Macmillan Publishing Co, 1977, page 99.

2. David Platt, Radical - Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream, Multnomah Books, 2010, page 13