Essentials Of The Faith / Sunday Morning Sermon Series / The Sermon On The Mount
Raising The Bar With Wise Investments 3/09/08
Message: ‘Raising the Bar with wise investments’
Text: Matthew 6:19-24
Introduction: Describe for me, if you will, someone who’s successful? What do the lives of successful people look like?
· Live in a large home
· Own or at least lease expensive cars
· Have lots of money
· HD plasma 50” TV
· Have an I Phone
· Dresses very well
· Important Job
· Highly educated
· Well respected and admired
Success is often described in reference to material possessions… things. But…what do things say about us?
ILL: Someone once said ‘Money talks…it says good-by’ (J David Hoke)
But money and possessions/things say much more than that and it has to do with the heart.
True success in God’s eyes has nothing to do with the size of your bank account, the kind of car you drive, or the town you live in.
True success has everything to say about the condition of your heart.
Background: Our attitude toward money, possessions and things is a barometer of righteousness. Which is why Jesus said if we want to live in His kingdom, our righteousness must surpass that of the Pharisees…
Righteousness = right living before God.
· The Pharisees in Jesus’ day believed the Lord materially blessed all who were faithful to God…(Sounds like the Health, Wealth and Prosperity Gospel of today)
· Since it was their right the Pharisees were intent on amassing huge treasures on earth.
Unfortunately, the Pharisees and modern day ‘name it claim it folks) misunderstood God’s blessing because they had poor spiritual vision.
· They misread and interpreted Scripture to promote what they wanted it to say.
· And they coveted with their eyes money, possessions and success and it placed them in further spiritual darkness.
· They became slaves to the master of greed
· And their desire for wealth, material possessions and success distracted them from faithful service to God, their true Master.
Explanation: The truth is…there are many modern day Pharisees who spiritual vision is darkened because they seek blessing from God in the form of money, material possessions, admiration and success rather than being content and satisfied with the greatest blessing of all…the very presence of God in their lives.
Here’s the big idea friends
The presence of God in our lives
is our greatest, most valuable
and sought after treasure.
Transition: Open your Bibles to Matthew 6:19 (pg. 741 in the Bibles under the chair in front of you) For it is here we’ll discover that we raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives with wise investments.
I. The choice between two treasures. Matthew 6:19-21
Background: In Matthew 6, Jesus mentions two huge temptations we all face and struggle with as Christians. These two temptations distract and pull us away from the satisfaction and contentment found in a close relationship with God the Father.
· The first temptation common to us all is doing good things to get noticed and to receive praise from others. The examples Jesus gives are charitable deeds, public prayer and fasting. The temptation is to do these good things in order to be noticed and to be seen as being very religious.
· The second temptation common to us all is being short sighted. We look to find satisfaction and contentment in temporary things instead of what we already have in our relationship with God.
Transition: We’ve already examined the first temptation and found that while charitable deeds, praying and fasting those things are good and right to do, they’re not to be done to being attention or honor to ourselves.
Instead, charitable deeds, prayer and fasting, must direct attention and bring honor and glory to God…alone!
So, let’s see what Jesus says about this second great temptation common to all Christians.
Read: Matthew 6:19-21
It’s not hard to picture what Jesus is warning against here. The Bible gives us clear examples of those who store up treasures here on earth rather than in heaven. For example:
· Achan (found in Joshua 6 and 7) God told the Israelites to attack Jericho but not to keep any treasure for themselves. Instead they were to bring it all to be consecrated to the Lord. Where was Achan’s heart? Well, he decided to store up for himself a little of the treasure he had fought for. Because of Achan’s sin of disobedience and greed, Israel was defeated in their next battle and Achan was killed.
· Rich young ruler (found in Matthew 19) This man came to Jesus and asked how he can obtain eternal life. Good question, and Jesus was the right person to ask. Jesus told him to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor and follow him. Where was his heart? You can tell by his reaction: he left sad…and w/o eternal life, because he was so distracted by his great wealth that he was unable/unwilling to see Jesus as his Savior.
Where’s your heart? Look to where your treasure is.
ILL: A mother was hysterical because her son Jimmy had swallowed a quarter. She turned to her husband and screamed for him to call a doctor. So he picked up the phone, but instead of calling the doctor he decided to call his pastor. The wife was upset and said ‘We don’t need the pastor, we need some medical help!’ To which her husband replied ‘Hey, our pastor can get money out of anyone!’ (Brian Bill)
I want to put you at ease right away. My goal is not to pry money from you this morning. You can breathe a sigh of relief because we’ve already taken the offering.
Instead, I want you to search deep within yourselves and ask
· Am I basically and usually earthly minded or heavenly minded?
· Am I normally investing in eternal things or in the here and now?
Where’s your heart? Look to where your treasure is.
The problem Jesus is addressing is our perception of happiness, satisfaction and contentment in life. Track with me on this.
· We give our time and energy to accumulate material possessions and financial wealth.
· The reason we do this is because we’ve bought into the lie that material possessions and financial wealth with make us happy, bring us satisfaction and long lasting contentment.
So the requisite question is ‘How much will it take to make you happy? How much will it take to make you satisfied and content in life?’
ILL: Dr. John Maxwell is one of the world’s top Christian experts on money. Back when he pastored in CA he had a man in his church who came to him w/ a financial problem. He said, “I used to make $200/wk. and I tithed my $20 faithfully. But now I’m making 10 times that…I’m having trouble turning loose of $200 tithe. It doesn’t seem fair, when most don’t have to give near that. What can I do?” Maxwell pulled him to his knees and said, “let’s pray about it.” Then he prayed, “Lord, my brother here is having trouble obeying you. His problem started when you began blessing Him so much financially
…Lord, I pray
you’ll providentially bring circumstances into his life that will reduce his
salary back to where it used to be, so he can once again obey you!” He
jumped up and said, oh no, I can tithe, I can tithe!” (Jerry
Shirley)
The truth is…
· No one preoccupied with material possessions or financial wealth will ever have enough.
· No one consistently investing in today will take the time to invest in eternity.
Please don’t get me wrong. Having material possessions and financial wealth are not bad or wrong.
What’s wrong is:
· The distraction the desire for and the energy used to obtain and keep material possessions and financial wealth brings to the Christian life.
What’s wrong is:
· The belief that material possessions and financial wealth can bring happiness, satisfaction and contentment to your life.
What’s true is:
· The only thing that can truly make you happy, be satisfied and content…is the ever increasing presence of God in your life.
Let me step back and make something very clear.
Jesus is not talking just about money and wealth. He’s talking about stewardship…of your wealth…yes, but also of your time, your energy and your abilities. It is investing your life…that means your time, money, possessions, ability and energy, in eternal things…for God’s Kingdom (remember Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount is about how we live in His Kingdom.)
And by the way…everything belongs to God anyway. Your material possessions, your financial wealth, your abilities, even the energy to acquire those things. We’re just stewards of what God already owns and has entrusted us to use for His glory and eternal purposes.
ILL: Oh man, I’m sorry, I am so embarrassed. I told Kathy that I would her out for lunch right after this mornings worship and I don’t have any cash. Can someone give me $40.00? …..Thanks, I appreciate it.
What was I saying? Oh yea, the proper way to view our material possessions and financial wealth is that they’re entrusted to us by God to be used for his eternal purposes and glory. Everything we have belongs to Him.
Now, you might be wondering why ________ would just jump out of _____ seat and hand me $40.00. Why? Because it wasn’t _______ money. It was mine. I gave it to ____ before the service. _____ was just returning it to me.
Get the picture? Store up treasures in heaven is just giving back to God what He had previously given to us to hold for Him. Whether it’s money, material possessions, time, energy or abilities
…they all belong to God who gave them to us in the first place. And we should be as eager to return to God what He has given to us as _____ was eager to give me back the money I asked him to hold for me…
Jesus is implying:
· If possessions are your treasure, then you’ll keep them for yourself and use them now.
· If God is your treasure, you’ll be a good steward of His possessions until He wants them back. And you’ll use them for his glory and eternal purposes.
You know, Jesus tells us what happens when we accumulate material possessions and financial wealth and use them for ourselves.
Moth: In Jesus’ day, wealth was measured in part by clothing. The best clothes were made of wool. See where Jesus is going? No matter how beautiful and expensive your clothes may be, they’re susceptible to being destroyed by moths. Moths destroy what we work so hard to buy and hold on to.
Rust: In Jesus’ day metal objects weren’t made as well as they are today. They rusted quickly. Rust destroys what we work so hard to buy and hold on to.
Thieves: In Jesus’ day valuable were often buried in the dirt floor of the home. So thieves would break through the mud walls of a home and dig up the floor to steal the material possessions and money hidden there. Thieves steal what we work so hard to buy and hold on to.
Don’t say Jesus didn’t ward you.
But….what is done for God’s kingdom, with what God has entrusted to us will always bring happiness, satisfaction and contentment to us…as well as honor and glory to God.
Isn’t that better than the constant worry that what we have worked hard for will be taken away from us somehow. See how this is a matter of the heart…worry and fear fills our heart and robs our happiness, satisfaction and contentment.
Where your treasure is, there so is your heart.
To put it simply, Jesus is saying that your heart follows your money, your material possessions. Whatever you invest your money, time, energy and abilities in,
· That’s where your heart truly is,
· That’s where your passions lie,
· that, as we will see I a couple of weeks, is where you worship.
Conclusion
Being a biker, I have noticed that many of them attach their wallets to their belt loop with a chain. God connects our wallets to our heart. In other words,
· Jesus can look at our checkbooks, or register receipts for the last 30 days and tell where our heart truly is.
· He can look at out daytimers, our calendars, our ‘PDA’ blackberry’s and text messaging logs and see where our true treasure is.
When Jesus looks closely at your life and activities…what does He see? Where is your heart?
I want you to consider this week….and be honest with what you find. Is the presence of God in your life your great and most valuable treasure?
Ps. 73:25-26 says ‘Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.’
We raise the bar of spiritual expectations and actions in our lives with wise investments.