Two Treasures

Good morning. It's so good to be with you all. Before I jump in this morning, I have a very random kind of question. I know a lot of people don't carry cash on them these days, but I need like $60. Does anyone have any cash? Sue's got me right here. Sweet. Thank you, Sue. I don't have change, but a hundred will work. Sue, thank you. I think we can close in prayer. It's been a great service. No, thank you, Sue. I appreciate that.

Well, good morning. My name is Kyle. I am one of the pastors here on staff. Wow. Kind. Very kind. Thank you. I am the college young adult pastor, so I have the privilege of working with our hub community. You heard a large majority of them sitting over there. So if you're here and you're 18 to 29 and you are not connected with us at the hub, we would love to invite you to come and be a part of our community. We worship together on Thursday nights. We also are launching our soul groups in the fall. We do fun activities. This is a picture from last week. We had a pickleball tournament and costume contest. It was a whole, just a great time. And I just want to invite you. So if you're 18 to 29, come be a part of this community. We would love for that to happen.

And if you're not 18 to 29, be encouraged church. God is doing such amazing things in the life of these students. As Mark mentioned, we have baptisms this week. We are seeing more students come to faith. We're seeing students grow in faith and really just fall more and more in love with Jesus and hungry to worship Him. And it's amazing. So there is hope for the next generation of the church. I promise you that. I'm just privileged enough to get to see it every week on Thursday night and when in relationship with them. But yeah, you should please be encouraged and keep praying. We appreciate all the prayers and hub folks. Love you guys. Proud of you. And yeah, I'm thankful to just get to be a part of this ministry that God has allowed me to be a part of. And so just want to give you that update.

I also want to introduce you to a few other people I'm very proud of in my life. And that's my family. This is a picture of my wife Jessica and I. Jessica is my partner in ministry. She is such a supporter and just teaches me so much about faith and what it looks like to walk with Jesus. And then our kids, Lucy and Owen, they are amazing and such a gift and also teach me a lot about God and His love for me. And so I just wanted to show you guys them. So if you see us around campus or in town, please say hello to us. We'd love to get to know you a little better.

Well this morning I get to jump back in to a series that we've been going through this summer called The Jesus Way. And The Jesus Way, we've been looking at Jesus' teaching known as the Sermon on the Mount. And some of you have been with us most of the summer but maybe some of you have missed it. So what I want to do is I want to kind of set the scene and kind of get us caught up to where we're at. Because here's the deal. It's called the Sermon on the Mount because Jesus kind of goes up onto a hillside and he starts to speak to his disciples about what it looks like to follow him. What it looks like to walk with him or live the Jesus way.

But if we're not careful, if we don't know the context, it's easy to think he's speaking to the twelve people. But look at what it says here in Matthew chapter 4. This is right before the Sermon on the Mount. It says, "Large crowds from the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and the region across the Jordan followed him." Why does this matter? Well, it helps to give us a better picture of what's going on. Jesus is not just speaking to twelve disciples. Jesus is speaking to his twelve disciples with a large crowd in earshot. And this description tells us that this was a diverse group of people.

This description leads us to assume that in the crowd there were religious elites, that there were Pharisees and teachers of the law, but also maybe less religious or those who were deemed sinful. It tells us that there are people who were powerful and had authority and rule and then there were outcasts. It's also fair to assume there was rich and poor, sick and healthy, and everyone was there listening and maybe for different motives. Some of them trying to catch Jesus in a trap, some of them because they needed hope and they heard about this teacher.

And Jesus starts in with his teaching and he starts saying things that make people's ears perk up. He says things like, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And that's offering hope to some people. But then he goes on and he says things that maybe ruffle some feathers as well. He says things like, "Don't think that I've come to abolish the law and prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them." And that would upset a few people in that crowd. And then he continues on. He starts addressing the Jewish tradition and some of the Old Testament law and he says things like, "You've heard it said, don't murder, but I tell you don't even get mad or angry with your brother and sister and call them fool."

He's kind of raising the bar saying, "If you want to live the Jesus way, if you want to walk with me, you're gonna look different than the people around you." It's not about just checking the box of these rules. And how many of us here this morning church know that we're called to still look different than the world around us. And it's not just Jesus isn't just saying what not to do, Jesus is also saying it's all about keeping your focus and attention on the Father. He addresses things like prayer, right? And fasting, he says, "Don't do it for the applause of men. Do it to honor God." And he says things like, "Give to the needy and pray for your enemies." He's kind of elevating the bar of what it looks like to be a disciple.

And here this morning we're gonna dive into Matthew chapter 6 starting in verse 19 as he's gonna continue on with this idea of keeping our focus on the Father. And so if you want to open up your Bibles we'll be in Matthew 6. We're gonna read through it all together, once all together, and then I'll kind of go back through and break it down. But we're gonna be in verse 19 and we're gonna go through verse 24. This is what Jesus says, "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves will break in and steal. But store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is there your heart will be also." I don't know if you're a note taker, I would underline that phrase, "Where your treasure is there your heart will be also."

And in verse 22 he says, "The eye is the lamp of the body. If the eyes are good," or maybe some of your Bibles say healthy, if you want to circle that word, that's important, "your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eyes are bad or unhealthy the whole body will be filled with darkness. If the light within you is darkness how great is that darkness? No one can serve two masters." Another key verse, "Either you will hate one and love the other or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." This is God's word. Will you guys pray with me?

Lord, thank you for this opportunity. God, I pray that you open our hearts to what it is you have for us this morning as this is something that applies to all of us. God, I thank you for your Holy Spirit. I thank you for what you're up to already in this room through this service and through the worship this morning. God, I pray that you would speak through me to communicate your truth and draw us closer to you because of it. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen.

Now the passage we just looked at, this section of Jesus' teaching is it's fairly simple kind of to understand. Jesus is really making kind of one point here and it's kind of flowing right out of him saying, you know, "Keep your focus on me. Don't live for the audience around you but keep it about me." But I want to caution us this morning because the temptation is to tune out. To read this passage and it's a temptation for most of us to say, "You know what? I get it. I already know this. I already give to the church or I support this ministry or I do this or I do that." Or to tune out because we're like, "Well, I actually, I'm having a hard time. I'm living paycheck to paycheck and so this is for me maybe down the road but not right now."

And I want to caution us against that temptation because if we think that Jesus' message here is just another money talk, I think we're missing it. I think Jesus is talking about something much deeper and much richer, no pun intended, than just money. I think Jesus is teaching us what it looks like to find absolute freedom in him when we surrender everything. I think it's a message about our hearts. And so I want to look at what Jesus says. He kind of breaks his teaching up this portion into three sections and again each section he uses two opposing ideas, right? So first he says there's two treasures and then the second one is he says there's two eyes and then in the third section he says two masters. And with each of these he's elaborating on the same point but kind of sharpening the tip here, right? He's making it clearer and clearer with each section.

So I'm gonna start with the first one and we're gonna spend the most time here as Jesus is kind of introducing this idea and then they'll get shorter as we go. But first let's start with the two treasures. Again this is what it says in verses 19 through 20, "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal but store up for yourself treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and thieves do not break in and steal." So right away Jesus says there's two different treasures. There is earthly treasure and there's heavenly treasure. And Jesus is identifying that the earthly treasure here it's something that's temporary. Whereas the heavenly treasure that's something that will last us. It's everlasting.

What he's doing is he's making this comparison and he's speaking to one that will fade and one that won't. And when it comes to earthly treasures what's he talking about? Like what kind of stuff is earthly treasure? He's speaking of what do we value. It's not just money. He's talking about all of the things on earth that we value. He's talking about materialism. He's talking about power. He's talking about money. He's talking about popularity or whatever we see as meaningful and valuable on earth. But when he's referring to the heavenly treasures what Jesus is referring to is Jesus is saying prayer, time with the Father, relationships and looking to the people I knew with kindness and love. Basically the heavenly treasure is all of the stuff Jesus has been talking about in his sermons so far. Those are the things that are heavenly treasures.

And what Jesus is saying is the earthly stuff again moth and rust will destroy it and thieves will break in and steal. It will fade. But if we invest in the things that are of God those are the things that will last, right? Now I want us to notice here Jesus does not say earthly treasure is bad. I think this is a common misunderstanding that people think oh well yeah according to the Bible money's bad stuff is bad we can't have it. That's not what this is saying. Jesus is not saying that. We often hear I believe it's 1 Timothy 6 where people misquote this verse. The verse says the love of money is the root of all evil. And what do people say? Money is the root of all evil. But that's that's not what it says. It's talking about when we hold our stuff our earthly treasures with higher value than we ought to. That's what it's talking about.

And the problem is is if we misunderstand we think Jesus is teaching that money and stuff is all bad this leads to a couple dangers. One it leads to a place of feeling guilty. I had a friend growing up who loved the Lord but he grew up in a home where his dad worked hard had his own business and they were pretty well off and he became a Christian and he struggled with this idea because he said I don't think I get to go to heaven because I grew up with wealth. And I had to explain to him that's not what it's saying. It's talking about when we value our wealth above everything else. It also leads to judgment judging other people. Oh they have more they just must not be as holy as me. Look at those people just soaking in all their wealth all their stuff. Or it even can lead to foolishness. Oh money's bad so I just don't even want it. But God wants us to be wise with what he's given us right? What he's entrusted us with. God wants us he's the giver of every good gift and so he says it's not bad to have stuff use it wisely.

The problem is when we find our security in our stuff in the stuff of the earth the earthly treasure. And we see this again and again in celebrities and even two weeks ago Jared spoke here and he talked about people who won the lottery and just how that stuff doesn't satisfy them right? We have quote after quote of how it's my life doesn't feel any more meaningful. It actually feels a little empty. When you rely on your stuff it will not satisfy. That's what Jesus is saying. Earthly treasure is not something that's going to last. Jesus wants us to invest in something that will. And so we all can understand the difference between spending on stuff right and investing in something. For example if I if I'm buy a new shirt I might be like I like this shirt. Brings me some like I'm joy and it's cool I like it looks good. But by day three I spoke coffee on it and I'm like dang it I stained my shirt. So I'm begging my wife try to get this out I don't know how to do this. Or maybe I snag it on something and we tear it. Or maybe I outgrow it. Or better my wife shrinks it. I don't outgrow much it's just my wife shrinking all of my clothes. But it loses its excitement after a while because I just spent on something and it faded right?

Whereas we all know the basic understanding of an investment is you're you're putting emphasis and energy and effort and money and time into something that will grow in value or hold its value throughout time right? That's the difference between spending and investing. Because if we spend our life on earthly stuff my time treasures talents. If I if I'm spending that just on the stuff of this earth it will let me down. It reminds me of a story of a father who had three adult sons. And the three adult sons they were pretty successful well off but the dad was sick. And so he calls his sons he says why don't you come over for dinner they come over they're sitting there and he says guys I just I feel like my time is coming to an end and I have a dying wish and they're like okay dad you're doing great. He's like I know I'm gonna keep fighting but I just have this feeling and I want to say this before the time comes and that is I want when I'm buried I want you guys to each give me $20,000. And they're like huh? He's like yeah I want to be buried with $20,000 from each of you. And there I go okay dad and sure enough their dad's intuition was right. And he a few weeks later they're at his memorial service.

And the first son walks down the aisle to the open casket and he looks at his dad and he's he's emotional and he says dad I love you I'm gonna miss you so much. We're gonna miss you and he reaches in and he grabs $20,000 cash he puts it in the casket with his dad and the second son comes walking down just sobbing and and he gets there and he's like dad you went too early we're gonna miss you I love you I love you. And he leans down he hugs his dad and he reaches in he grabs $20,000 cash and he places it in the casket. And the third son comes walking down and also grief stricken and he just looks at his dad he says dad thanks for everything you taught me all the wisdom you imparted on me and just everything we're gonna miss you so much. And he reaches in his pocket and he gets a check for $60,000 and he puts it in grabs the $40,000 cash and heads out the door.

And it's a funny story because we all know the dad doesn't need the money what's he gonna do with it? And the younger son is smart enough to know he can't cash that check but don't we kind of live like that like we can take the stuff with us? We put so much importance and emphasis on the stuff that actually will let us down. So a good question for us this morning church is are we investing our life or are we spending it? Jesus continues by urging us in verse 21 he says for where your treasure is there your heart will be also. And I want to stop here for a minute because I think this struck me I get this backwards usually. Usually I think the things I care about is what I'm going to give towards right my time energy efforts talents all those things I'll give towards what I care about but Jesus is saying no no what you actually care about or invest in that's where your heart's gonna go.

He's saying if we focus on the earthly treasures the finances the resource the earthly pursuits and endeavors then our heart is going to get all wrapped up in that stuff. Whereas if we focus on him and keep our focus on what what God says matters if we focus on those things God honoring things then that's where our hearts will be invested. I want to be clear God does not need your money but God does want our hearts. God doesn't need our stuff. He desires my heart my whole heart. He doesn't want to drain us of our resources he wants us to experience freedom that comes when we surrender it all.

Look at what he says next he says in verse 22 through 23 the eye is the lamp of the body if your eye is healthy or good we're gonna come back to that word the whole body will be filled with light but if your eyes unhealthy or bad your whole body will be filled with darkness if then the light within you is darkness how great is that darkness. So again Jesus sets up two comparisons talks about two eyes and he says there's a good eye and a bad eye or a healthy eye and an unhealthy eye right and he says if your eyes are healthy it brings light if your eyes are unhealthy it brings darkness. Jesus here is reiterating the same point that he made in the first section but I think he's adding a little texture again he's sharpening the point a little bit because he's saying it's not just something that's gonna pay off in the long run it is but it's also something that will be meaningful and matter in your life today.

Let me explain the word for healthy or good here in the Greek is this word haplous and this word by definition means single or simple focus so Jesus again is reiterating he's saying look if you keep your focus on me on God honoring things he says it will bring light and I think it's so true it's what he was just talking about with the treasures but I was reading a commentary by a guy named N.T. Wright and and he is a New Testament scholar and this is what he says he talks about self-control of our physical eyes which makes so much sense as I think about this this is what he says he says we should take care of what we actually look at where do your eyes naturally get drawn to are you in control of them or do they take you and your mind and your heart wherever they want.

I want you to think about this what N.T. Wright is saying is is that Jesus is pointing to the reality that we can get distracted by physically letting our eyes wander to everyone else comparison social media if only I had that thing or if only I could go on that vacation if only I had that life then everything would be better he's saying we need to be told how many of us know we veer towards what we focus on. I'll illustrate it this way I in 2010 I bought a Honda Elite scooter that's 80 cc's of raw power it was mean you guys I would always do this thing to the motorcyclist as I passed them and they would just shake their head no not the same if you drive a Honda Elite I'll do it to you one day but I don't have a scooter anyways well beside the point when I first got my license to drive this I had a hard time with left-hand turns from a stoplight and it sounds funny but but all of us know on a two-wheel vehicle you don't turn like this right you lean but when you lean going from a stop you got to accelerate in order to make a turn and I was always afraid what if I accelerate too fast and don't lean hard enough and I end up in the side on the sidewalk or in the bushes or what if I lean too early and I haven't accelerated enough and I fall over or I go into the opposite lane that would be bad.

And finally a friend of mine who rides a motorcycle was like dude you are way overthinking this he's like when you're at the stoplight look at the lane you're turning into the middle of the lane look at the crosswalk find a spot there stare or stare at that point and go when the light turns green you accelerate your body will follow what you're looking at and that is what Jesus is saying here he's saying don't fall into the trap of comparing with everyone else because you're gonna get all caught up in it you're gonna become envious and jealous and and it's going to be dark that's not a way to live that's darkness you're distracted you're caught up in the wrong stuff.

But what's also fascinating about Jesus's use of this word haploose good or healthy eye is it has a second definition the second definition is generous it means having a generous eye and I think Jesus intended both meanings. I think Jesus saying yes it's about keeping your focus on me and in keeping from distraction and and looking to me in all areas your life but I think he's also saying and with the stuff I have given you I've entrusted that to you to steward well to be wise with it and to be generous with it to hold it loosely not to treat it like this is my stuff for me to own but this is God's gift to me and I'm gonna use it to glorify him.

You know it's it's like the hundred dollars that Sue gave me before the service some of you have been thinking about this hundred dollars the whole service like seriously he did pocket that right and he still hasn't brought it back up what does he need that for you know who's least concerned about the hundred dollars Sue because Sue knows it was never hers to begin with that I gave it to her before the service started and I said Sue when I asked for money can you volunteer now she's told me she might skip out and go to the bathroom and pocket it no I'm joking Sue didn't say that she would never do that but but you guys get the point it's a whole lot easier to give something away if you don't see it as mine and Jesus is saying a good eye being generous with the stuff that I even trust you with is not viewing it as your stuff at all it's God's stuff that he has allowed me to steward and when I live that way I can be wise with his stuff I can take care and be responsible for the things he's entrust me but I also can be generous with the stuff and give it away and when we do that it says it will lead to light.

Well what does that mean? Well I think a few things. I think one I think it's speaking to this idea of seeing clearly be illuminating a path of my focus is on Jesus I think it's gonna help me know where I'm going and also I think it's talking about being more joyful. I think Jesus knew that it would lead to more joy in your life when you live generously and with a focus on him. I was reading a book this week called love let go and it's by Laura Sumner Truix and Amalia Campbell and they noted that a study was done at the University of Notre Dame their academic center of science the science of generosity and they linked generosity to happiness and this is what they say and I quote generous people are more likely to be happier and healthier they're not only less likely to be depressed but they're more likely to live with a deep sense of purpose and it makes so much sense and Jesus is speaking to this he's like you want light in your life this is the way to live keep your eyes on me don't be distracted don't compare don't be envious and with the stuff I have given you steward it well hold it with the loose grip you willing to give it away if needed and if you don't if you live the opposite way the eyes are bad your heart will get so caught up in the stuff and you will be lost you can get lost in it as someone once put it there's nothing wrong with having stuff the problem is when your stuff has you.

Look at what Jesus says next as he kind of drops the big idea in Matthew 6:24 he says no one can serve two masters either you will hate one and love the other or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. Now the word for money here in some of your Bibles might say mammon and and mammon is this word that that was used in the Hebrew and we really didn't have a great translation so some Bibles translated it to money but really the word mammon is a word that really is speaking to material wealth and all these things but as I was studying this week I was blown away because I've always just understood mammon to be materialism but I was studying and reading and Tim Mackey of the Bible project kind of made a tie to two things that I never really caught and that is the word Amen you guys we all know the word Amen Amen means I'm in agreement with or this is trustworthy and this is the same root as this word mammon it's saying when we look to anything else and say it's trustworthy.

You see what Jesus is saying here he's saying there are two masters right he's saying there is God and there is mammon God and anything else anything else that gets idolized in our lives put in my place and he's saying you can't serve both you have to choose one. I think of a story I have a friend Charles and Charles when his son was a toddler he said that he was obsessed with cars like this these are I took these from my son he offered them generously he was like dad hands open no but I these hot wheel cars and he said my son was obsessed as a two-year-old with with hot wheels he had these two hot wheels and he just loved him he went everywhere you go to the store he had the hot wheels he got in the bath hot wheels went in the bath too if you went in the crib to go to bed you couldn't pry him out of his fingers he was obsessed and to a point where my friend was like at first it was cool he liked cars but then I was like we need to figure something out is getting a little insane he's obsessed with these things.

And so Charles thought I know what I'll do I'm gonna get him a better gift I'm gonna just I'm gonna I'm gonna stoke him out I'm gonna go I'm gonna get a remote control car it's gonna blow his mind and sure enough Charles goes out and he gets remote control car and he comes back if you're a if you guys all remember as kids when you see a remote control car you're like what he said his son's eyes lit up and he walks over and he's looking at the car and he's so excited about it and then Charles says I really just blew him away when I started driving it it moves on its own and I showed him that I'm controlling it and Charles said I went to let my son drive the remote control car for the first time and guess what he couldn't do it why? Well he still was clenching the two cars and his little two-year-old hands couldn't clench the cars and hold the remote and get the finger to control the thing.

I think Jesus is saying here there are things in our lives that are gonna distract us and pull us away from God and we are going to start to grab them and hold them and worship them they're gonna start to compete for the rightful place of God in your life and if you're not willing to surrender those things you'll never be able to step into what I have for you next and it's better it's better it's it's his goodness we can trust him he is the only thing worthy of our trust it's why I think Jesus says later in the sermon on the mountain Matthew 6:33 seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be added to you.

And so a question for us to consider this morning is who or what am I serving what things have a grip on my heart because here's the reality God wants your whole heart not a divided heart it's not gonna work he wants us to surrender everything and when we do that church when I fully can live just trusting him and in saying God I know you care about me and you're guiding me I want to honor you with everything that is when we can live the Jesus way. Pray with me.

God thank you for this morning again the opportunity to worship together worship through music again the amazing talents of people here but also God worship through your word and the studying of your word I thank you that you have allowed me to be here this morning and to share what you've put on my heart God we all need this message because every day there are things that compete for for my heart and they compete with you God and I know only one of them will last and that's my relationship with you I know that only one of them will bring light to my life and God I also know that I can't have both I thank you for your unconditional love your mercy for me when I screw this up and I just pray over us as a church that we can fully live lives of surrender to you that we can offer you our whole heart so God help us this morning to just focus on you and give you everything as we close in Jesus name. Amen.