One of my favorite quotes of all time comes from the pen of C. S. Lewis. He writes, “Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”1
No doubt Lewis is right. We are indeed too easily enticed by the meager reward that this world offers and willingly bypass eternal blessing. Perhaps no greater evidence of our ambition for reward being too weak is the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:19-24. As we saw in 6:1-18 last week, prior to this section of text we’re looking at this morning, Jesus spent a long while speaking of the fact that if we perform our righteous deeds in order to be seen by men, then the reward we get from men seeing us and exalting us is all the reward we’ll get. However, if we perform our righteous needs not to be seen by men (doing them in secret), then God, who sees what we’re doing in secret, will reward us.
Now, you would think that would be enough. If you do things to be seen, you get the reward of man’s praise, but if you do things not to be seen, then you’ll be rewarded by God himself. As Lewis would say, it’s like holding up making mud pies in the slum on the one hand and a vacation at the beach on the other. That is, this should be an easy decision. We should easily find ourselves longing for God’s reward to come over man’s praise in this life.
But in reality, we might find our hearts still struggling. After all, we can sometimes be so drawn to the treasures that this world provides, can’t we? If we’re not drawn to the reward of man’s praise, we may find ourselves drawn to money, possessions, houses, vehicles, etc. And Jesus knows this. Therefore, after holding out for us heavenly reward in 6:1-18, he uses verses 19-24 to tell us explicitly that we must not seek after and store up earthly treasures but should pursue laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven. In fact, I think a good summary statement of this text we’re looking at this morning is: As followers of Christ, we must make sure that we’re living in a way that shows that we value heavenly reward above earthly treasures.
If you remove the explanatory phrases from verses 19-20, that’s in essence what you’re left with: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” The rest of these verses provide reasons why this is how the follower of Jesus Christ should live (or what we should do). And that’s going to be the flow of my sermon outline this morning, showing you the reasons why we should live this way.
But before getting there, I think it’s helpful to articulate clearly what Jesus means by his command: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, . . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven.” After all, Jesus doesn’t explain in these verses precisely what he’s talking about. He basically assumes his hearers understand. But being removed from the time Jesus spoke these words by a couple thousand years and in an entirely different culture than first century Palestine, perhaps we can’t make the same assumption about our own understanding. So, let’s take some time to make sure we all understand this basic command.
First, when Jesus says do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, I think we’re a little more comfortable with understanding this aspect of the command. He’ll mention that moths and rust can destroy earthly treasures and thieves can steal them. Therefore, Jesus is commanding us not to live our lives with the aim of simply acquiring money or possessions that are ultimately not going to be lasting. That is, don’t make the aim of your life simply seeing how many possessions you can acquire or maybe how many nice possessions you can acquire.
After all, this is how the unbeliever lives, isn’t it? The unbeliever thinks this world is all there is, so he will often make his pursuit simply to obtain all the treasures he can in this life. If he can have the nicest house, car, clothes, library, or bank account, that is his quest. Jesus says that this shouldn’t be the quest of his followers. Rather than storing up treasures on earth, we should instead lay up treasures in heaven.
But this one is a bit harder. What does Jesus have in mind? How do we lay up treasure in heaven? Well, first, we recognize that there are degrees of blessing in eternity. Jesus will say that the one who is servant of all here will be greatest in the kingdom, for example. And to suggest that we can do something to store up treasure in heaven suggests that we can do things that store up little treasure in heaven or do things that store up much treasure in heaven. So, that’s the first thing we need to recognize.
Second, we should remember that what connects this section where Jesus talks about treasures with what he’s just said is the mention that when we give, pray, and fast in secret, our Father who sees us in secret will reward us. This mention of reward is what nicely connects to Jesus’ teaching about treasure, as we’ve already noted. This should suggest to us, then, that if Jesus mentions this on the heels of telling us to live lives giving, praying, and fasting, that Jesus is saying that we store up treasure in heaven by doing righteous deeds, like giving, praying, and fasting. I think that’s fair to say.
However, I also think that Jesus has in mind righteous deeds with special regard to how we use our money. I say that for three reasons. First, in Luke 12:33b-34, we find this same teaching of Jesus where he says, “Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” As you can tell, this is Luke’s record of this same teaching from Jesus. However, in Luke’s record, he actually notes an action specifically prescribed by Jesus for providing oneself treasure in heaven. Luke tells us that Jesus started this teaching saying, “Sell your possessions, and give to the needy” (Lk 12:33a). Here, we see a particular emphasis on generosity, on giving.
The second reason I think that Jesus has in mind particularly how we as his followers use our money is that the whole section of teaching we’re looking at how to do with money, treasure, or possessions. This section ends with Jesus saying, “You cannot serve God and money.” And even verses 22-23, which seem a bit hard to understand at first glance, I think have to do with being greedy and being generous, as I’ll try to show in a bit.
Finally, I think Jesus has in mind how we use our money in particular simply because of logic. You and I make money. We may make more or less than our neighbors, but you and I make money. And if we’re commanded not to use our money simply to store up more and more and nicer and nicer treasures on earth, then that requires in contrast that we are generous givers with our money. I mean, I don’t think Jesus is prescribing burning or eliminating our money by some means. And if we’re not going to burn it, and we’re not going to use it to gain more and nicer possessions, then the only alternative is to be generous in giving it. Thus, I think that the means by which we obey Christ’s command to store up treasure in heaven is by doing righteous deeds of obedience before God, especially being generous with our money, providing for those in need and the advancement of the kingdom. Jesus wants us to be a people who joyfully and freely decide to use our income not to store up greater and nicer possessions here but to live righteous lives, pouring our money into the righteous work of advancing his kingdom, and thus storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven.
Now, because Jesus is the Lord and we are his disciples, that should be enough, right? He said it; we do it. However, in the kindness and gentleness that we consistently see in Jesus’ teaching to those who follow him, Jesus provides for us explanation for why this is good for us to obey his teaching. And that’s what I want us to see as we walk through the rest of this text. Why should we be a people, as Jesus’ followers, who don’t store up treasures on earth but treasures in heaven? Jesus gives us four reasons that I want to note this morning:
This is Jesus’ first reason he gives us in the text. He says in verses 19-20, “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.”
No matter how great or how plentiful the possessions we have here in this age, they are all temporary. Paul states very clearly and straightforwardly in 1 Timothy 6:7, “We brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.” Jesus mentions the destruction that moths and rust can do, or the fact that things can be stolen. And perhaps you’ve been in the disappointing end of that. Lili and I opened a box of winter clothes when we lives in Louisville, only to find that some moths had found that to be a comfortable haven for them and our winter clothing, and they destroyed much. But even if they’re not destroyed or stolen in our lifetime, at best, our possessions will last our lifetime, and that is so utterly tiny in comparison to eternal riches.
Let me try to put this in terms that might grip us. Have you ever seen one of those gameshows where someone wins like fifty dollars, and the person is all excited. And then the gameshow host says, “Now, you can keep that fifty dollars, or you can give it back for a chance at winning . . . a million dollars!” Obviously, no one keeps the fifty dollars, right? I mean, unless the odds are really bad (like the lottery), you’ve got to take this chance, right?
Well, now imagine that same scenario, but instead of the gameshow host saying, “You can keep that fifty dollars, or you can give it back for a chance at winning a million dollars,” he instead simply says, “You can keep that fifty dollars, or you can give it back and we will give you a million dollars instead.” That is, no chance, no risk. Just give back the fifty, and you’ll get a million dollars. Any sane person would give back the fifty dollars, right?
Well, what Jesus is holding out to us is even better than that. After all, that million dollars can only buy stuff that you’ll have at most for the 80, 90, or 100 years you live. Jesus is saying, instead, give up what you can’t keep anyway for treasure that will last forever. Now, wouldn’t we say that any sane person would choose to give up what he can’t keep anyway in order to get something more valuable that would last forever? Of course we would. Well, that’s the choice that lies before us as we figure out how we want to handle our money. We can keep it and use it to store up treasures here where moths and rust will destroy it, where thieves will steal it, and where it will remain when we die. Or, we can use our money to pour into work of advancing the Lord’s kingdom, and be storing up for ourselves the reward of eternal treasure that will never go away. So, that’s reason number one: earthly treasure is temporary, and heavenly treasure is eternal. Second:
Jesus said it this way: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (v. 21). Let’s break down this statement a little bit. The reason Jesus refers to our hearts is because our hearts guide our lives. For example, when Proverbs 21:1 says, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will,” the point of the proverb is that by controlling the direction of the king’s heart, the Lord controls his actions because we follow the direction of our heart in what we do, say, and think. The heart steers us.
So, Jesus, building on that understood reality, wants us to see that there’s something that controls our lives, namely, where our treasure is. This means that your treasure controls your heart which controls what you think, say, and do. And if your treasure is in earthly possessions, then these things will begin to control your life. You’ll make decisions based on what will help you accumulate more and better earthly treasure than what will bring your greater heavenly treasure.
Let me lay this out in terms of jobs. In our society, because the average person is simply about seeking earthly treasure, there is a basic, understood rule that you are to do whatever will bring about the greatest income or bring about the greatest opportunity to use that income for treasure. Therefore, if you are in a place where you are investing in your local church, making disciples, supporting the ministry of the church through your financial giving, etc. but are offered a higher paying job that will take you away from all of that, you’re obviously supposed to take that higher paying job. I mean, it’s not even supposed to cross your mind not to do this. This, I think, is an example of how treasure controls our hearts, which controls our actions.
This is why I would love, instead, to have great numbers of people over the years this church exists who will take jobs in areas mainly driven by how they can build up and advance the work of the Lord’s kingdom, first and foremost. And this is only going to happen if we are a church full of people who are seeking treasure in heaven rather than treasure on earth. That’s the second reason: where you seek to have treasure will govern how you live your life. Third:
That is to say, it’s not as if seeking earthly treasure will only cost you heavenly treasure because you’ll fail to give generously towards the Lord’s kingdom. It will also have a corrupting influence on your life as a whole, revealing itself in sin.
I think this is the message of verses 22-23, but let me show you why. At first glance, it looks like verses 22-23 are a real change of subject. Verses 20-21 talk about treasure, verse 24 talks about our inability to serve God and money, and then verses 22-23 talks about healthy eyes, bad eyes, light and darkness. What is that about?
Well, I don’t think these verses are a change in topic. Rather, I think what’s going on here is that Jesus is using a common idiom of the day. By “idiom,” I simply mean something that is a saying that doesn’t mean what it literally says but refers to another reality. For example, when someone says, “Get off my back,” that person doesn’t literally mean for someone to get off of his back as if they’re physically on him. This is an idiom meaning “leave me alone.” Or when we say it’s time to “face the music,” we don’t mean looking in the direction of music (however one would do that); we mean “accepting one’s punishment or the consequences of one’s actions.”
Well, it seems in Scripture that to say one’s eye is bad is a reference to being greedy and ungenerous. For example, in Deuteronomy 15, the Lord is warning the Israelite not to be greedy or stingy in regard to his brother. Every seven years, debts would be forgiven in Israel. So, the Lord imagines a situation where your brother needs a loan, and you know that next year is the seventh year. In that occasion, the Lord warns against you being stingy and says in Deuteronomy 15:9 (literally), “Take care lest there be an unworthy thought in your heart and you say, ‘The seventh year, the year of release is near, and you eye be evil on your poor brother, and you give him nothing.” Or again, Proverbs 23:6 reads, “Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy,” but what the ESV translates as “stingy” is literally “whose eye is evil.” Or again, Proverbs 28:22 reads, “A stingy man hastens after wealth and does not know that poverty will come upon him,” but again the phrase “a stingy man” is literally “a man whose eye is evil.” Finally, and this one is perhaps most important to us since it’s in this very gospel of Matthew we’re studying, in Matthew 20:15, the owner of the vineyard says to one of the workers who complained about a man who worked very little getting a high wage, “Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?” But literally the phrase should be translated, “Is your eye bad because I am good?” Therefore, having a bad or evil eye seems to be an idiom for being stingy, greedy, and coveting.
On the other end, having a good eye means being generous. So, Proverbs 22:9 literally reads, “Whoever has a good eye will be blessed, for he shares his bread with the poor.” For this reason, I don’t think that Jesus is switching focus from money, possessions, and treasure in verses 22-23. I think he’s staying on topic. He’s saying that the eye affects the whole body, much like the heart. And if our eye is good (again here, I think an idiom) for being willing to give of our income and possessions toward the Lord’s kingdom, then our whole body will be full of light, meaning, I think righteousness. That is, if you’re bent on storing up treasure in heaven, then it’ll show itself in a life of righteous deeds. Your pursuit of heavenly treasure will translate into righteous works.
On the other hand, if your eye is bad (meaning you’re pursuing treasure on earth and are therefore greedy and stingy), your whole body will be full of darkness (meaning that it’ll translate into evil, unrighteous deeds). So, if your eye is supposed to bring in light into your body and instead brings in darkness, that is a terrible situation, Jesus tells us. That is, if we are driven by chasing possessions in this life instead of singularly focused on storing up treasure in heaven though honoring the Lord, it will translate in our lives into a life of sin. That is to say, chasing riches in this life is always accompanied by and produces more sin. Finally:
Jesus ends with an illustration about a slave with two masters. When push comes to shove, a slave will be forced to choose, and he’ll choose whichever master he most desires to please. Jesus says in the same way, you can’t obey the Lord and pursue earthly treasure. There will come points where you’re going to have to choose, and if you’re pursuing earthly treasure, you’ll choose not to obey the Lord. You simply cannot serve God and money. We may think we can, but ultimately serving God and serving money are mutually exclusive. You can only do one.
As we noted a few weeks back, a basic aspect to making disciples is to teach one another to obey all that Christ commands. Well, right here we see that he commands us to do righteous deeds, especially in regards to our money, using it to pour into the work of the Lord’s kingdom so that we might store up treasure in heaven rather than storing up treasure here on earth. And, in his kindness, he’s mentioned all kinds of explanations for why this is a good and right command to obey.
But we can mention one other can’t we? When we were enemies of God, storing up for ourselves wrath on the day of judgment, Jesus, who lived, died, and was raised for us, graciously opened our eyes to the gospel so that we might believe, be forgiven of our sins, and be spared God’s wrath on the day of judgment. Isn’t that alone worth the response of saying, “Jesus, all that we have is yours”? And even then, as we generously devote our income into the work of his kingdom – even then – he will reward us for doing what is only reasonable for those who have been redeemed. Therefore, let’s respond to this word this morning by first reflecting on and remembering what God has already provided for us in Christ as we now come to the table. Amen.