We can only seek after one thing. God wants us to seek after his kingdom and righteousness. He will provide our needs.
You know money has a grip on us when we hear songs about it.
‘Money makes the world go round’, sang Liza Minelli. ‘Give me money, that’s what I want’ sang the Beatles, and Rolling Stones, and Joe Cocker, and the Doors. Abba sang, ‘Money, money, money, must be funny, in a rich man’s world.’ Or ‘That aint workin thats the way you do it, Get your Money for nothin and chicks for free’. That was Dire Straits.
Gambling is all about money. In our new online world, we’ve got every type of betting available on our smart phone. And don’t forget the traditional ways people can bet. It is where all the men are, in the pubs, in the TAB. Every form of gambling is available: casinos, horses, greyhounds, TAB, Powerball, lotto, scratchies, soccer pools, pokies, betting on the footy, on the cricket, on two flies crawling up a wall. The government loves gambling, of course, because it's a voluntary tax people line up to pay!
And why do people do it? Is it the colourful lights, the sounds, the smells, the desire for victory? Is it the adrenellin rush, the thrill fed by the risk or the hope for a shorter day and an easy way? Is it the high roller lifestyle or the desparate last roll of the dice? Or is it simply addiction, that you get hooked and can’t get out?
But it is easy for us to point out gambling as a desire or lust for money. But there are more acceptable faces for greed and money lust. And it's a fine line between greed and just doing life. We live in this world and need money. Is my credit card usage greed, or is it OK, just wisely using the system? What about my desire to earn more money, expressed in going for the overtime, or the second job, or the promotion or hard work that necessarily reduce time for family and church? Is that working hard, and good, and what the bible approves of? Or is it greediness, and what the bible disapproves of?
Our society is all about money. This passage too is all about money. Jesus looks at our greeds and our needs. He says to us to forget about our greeds, and he will look after our needs. And so Jesus commands us to have only one treasure, only one vision, one only boss, and only one worry.
First, we are called to have only one treasure. Verses 19 to 21:
19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (NIV)
Jesus is a good investment adviser. He wants us to have secure investments. “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth” Why not?
Firstly, it doesn’t last. Moths eat it. Rust destroys it. Thieves pinch it. You crash it. Your friends lose it. Fashion condemns it. Banks foreclose on it. Stock markets correct it. And when you’re dead, others waste it.
But secondly, worse still, it fills our hearts. We think we can have both. A little earthly treasure and a little heavenly treasure. A balanced portfolio, we think. You don’t want all your investments in one basket!
But no, our hearts are men. They can only concentrate on one thing at a time. The earthly treasure takes over, sooner or later. We go into debt for it. We do overtime struggling to keep it. We argue with our wives over it. We get divorced because of it. And when its too late, we realise there is no space left in our hearts for the kingdom of Christ. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Notice that Jesus is not against treasure accumulation of itself. Jesus commands us to hoard treasure, but it needs to be the right type of treasure in the right bank. We need to hoard heavenly treasure.
So get up, accumulate, invest, hoard, work hard, work smart, get your money working for you. Do all those things the motivational speakers say, but do it for the acquiring of the heavenly shares and treasure. Lets invest in heavenly treasure. As Paul says, 'Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord, for you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain'.
But how do we buy heavenly treasure shares? Paul puts it this way:
Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19 NIV)
Are we rich in good deeds? Are we generous? Are we willing to share? That's how you make your heavenly treasure deposits.
Jesus changes the metaphor in verses 22 to 23:
The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good[1], your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad[2], your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness? (NIV)
Literally, Jesus says, ‘if therefore your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is evil, your whole body will be full of darkness'. It is not so much good eye versus bad eye, but single eye versus evil eye. Now to be single-eyed is not to be a cyclops, or to have a monobrow. A single-eyed person is single-minded, with a one-track mind. And the evil eye is not the look that could kill. It is greed. It is failure to be generous. Jesus uses the same expression later in Matthew 20:15.
‘Or are you envious because I am generous’. (NIV)
Literally, ‘or is your eye evil because I am good?’
So these two verses are about priorities and money as well. The single-minded person, with kingdom vision, is filled with light. But the greedy person, with the evil eye, is filled with darkness.
So we can only have one treasure, and one vision. And we can only have one boss. Verse 24:
No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and money. (NIV)
Notice the choice Jesus offers. It is not whether the master is God or me. It is whether the master is God or Money. If we choose money, it is the master, not us. We are going to be servants, either way. It is a matter of who we choose to serve.
There is real danger here. People who used to come to churches I’ve been a part of have stopped coming, and no longer come, because of the mastery of money. Some have wandered from the faith, piercing themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10). Remember the parable of the sower and the seeds that fell amongst thorns? Why were they choked out? Wasn’t it because of ‘the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, the desire for other things’ (Mark 4:19). We cannot serve both God and money.
And so, because we can only have one master, one vision, and one treasure, Jesus commands us to have only one worry.
Few of us, I think, worry about food and clothes. In Australia we have the best food on earth. We have social security. We think our food comes from the supermarket, not from God. We can buy our clothes from the op shop if we need to. So our worries tend to be higher up Maslo’s heirarchy of needs, things like our emotional desires or about our egos.
But Jesus is now talking about basic needs. He talks about needs not greeds, things that we cannot survive without, food and clothes. And he tells us we need not worry about them. We need to worry, but not about them. He demolishes our many worries to set up his one worry.
Notice he is not saying, ‘Don’t worry about working for food and clothes’. No, Paul says ‘If a man will not work, he shall not eat’ (2 Thessalonians 3:10). We are to keep away from idle brothers. But he says ‘don’t worry about food and clothes’.
He gives six reasons, six arguments for people of little-faith, why we should not worry about our needs.
First, in verse 25, our lives and bodies are more important than food and clothes. Think about it, if God gives us the most important, our lives and bodies, won’t he also give us the less important, food and clothes for them?
Second, if God cares for animals and plants, how much more will he care for his children! The birds get three square meals, verse 26. The flowers are wonderfully dressed, verse 28. How much more will he feed and clothe us?
Third, worrying about our life is useless, anyway. Verse 27, ‘Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?’ How very productive our worrying is! Worrying makes our lives shorter, not longer! Worrying about going bald means you lose more hair! It is counter productive.
Fourth, you’re in bad company worrying about food and clothes. Look over your shoulder, and see whose there with you in verse 32. The pagans run after these things. Pagans don’t know God. Aren’t we supposed to be different from them?
Five, verse 32, your Heavenly Father knows you need them. He made us. He knows what we need. He is our Father. He gives us what we need. And even if earthly fathers aren't worth the name, your heavenly father is a generous provider.
Six, worrying about tomorrow is useless. Verse 34, Don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. What can we do about tomorrow’s problems, real or imagined? Nothing. As Kung Fu Panda teaches us, Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That's why we call it the 'present'. Be in the now, focus on the now, and today, the time in which we can do something.
Lets give these worries the boot: food, clothes, tommorrow. Let those who are perishing run after them. Jesus wants us to worry about something more important. This is our one and only worry. Verse 33:
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (NIV)
Here is a command with a promise. Don’t run after your greeds, and I’ll give you your needs. You seek God’s kingdom and righteous, and you get all this - your needs - and heaven too!
What is this righteousness that we are to run after? You already know it. That’s what Matthew Ch 5 is about!
This is the righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees (Matthew 5:20). It puts to death mind murder. It puts away lustful looking. It reconciles us together. It makes our ‘yes’ yes, turns the cheek, goes the extra mile, lends freely, loves enemies, prays for persecutors, forgives. It works secretly, sincerely and seeks perfection (Matthew 5:48).
This is worth worrying about. This is worth hungering for (Matthew 5:6). This is worth being persecuted for (Matthew 5:10).
Brothers and sisters, lets go for this. God will take care of everything else.
[1] Lit, a 'single eye', or sound, healthy, clear, generous, liberal.
[2] Lit, 'evil eye': cf Matthew 20:15, also Deut 15:9; where the expression means envious, greedy.