Matthew 6:19-34 with Matt Johnson
Eternal Treasures of the Heart
July 22, 2007
Intro:
Steve was the richest man I’ve ever met in my life. He was also the strongest Christian I’ve ever met. Steve is my moms’ cousin’s husband, but I always called him Uncle Steve. I met Steve for the first time at the time of my Grandpa’s funeral. My Grandpa was one of the largest influences in my life and my faith, and it was difficult losing him. Steve really took me under his wing during that time and a great friendship was born. I can remember riding in the car with him to go see a movie and we were chatting in the car. I was in sixth grade, and I remember him asking me “What do you want to do with your life?” I don’t remember specifically what I told him, but I believe it was something to d with sports medicine. He responded pretty quickly, “that’s cool… how are you going to glorify God in that job?” It was a question that stuck with me and still echo’s in my mind regularly. Later on I realized just how much money Steve and his wife Wanda had. Steve got in on the ground floor of a company called Pip Printing and they owned nine of these stores along the main strip of Pasadena California. When Steve and his wife retired and sold their stores, they were millionaires many times over.
Even now I hear stories of how Steve shared his faith through his job to his employees and customers and how he blessed so many people with his wealth. Steve passed away a few years ago from a painful disease which disintegrated his muscles until eventually he was unable to survive. In the last few hours of his life when Steve was in the hospital, he was being wheeled from the emergency room into a quiet room where he and his family could spend a few last moments together. With tears in his eyes from the pain of speaking, he looked up at the nurse that was transporting him and asked “Do you know my Jesus?” For Steve, there was nothing more important. Not his money, not his pain. I have never known anyone who has led so many people to Christ.
Ben Woods is the lead singer of a band called Slingshot 57. With his long hair, funky outfits from salvation army, and slightly quirky sense of humor, Ben is everything you think of when you think of Rock Star. But Ben is also one of the most intelligent Christian minds I’ve ever met and one of the most evangelistically focused men I’ve encountered. Slingshot has been around for many years now, and the band members have changed around him but Ben has remained a constant. His band is his ministry, and he takes it very seriously. Through his music he has an opportunity to reach out to a generation and a demographic of youth that greatly needs to know about Christ.
Ben also knows very well the not so glamorous side of being a Rock Star. Living on nearly nothing to fulfill his calling to minister through rock music. He may not know where next month’s rent is coming from, or how his wife Crystal and their new baby are going to be fed next week, but he knows that they’re serving God, and that God will take care of that stuff. In the time I’ve known Ben, I’ve never heard him speak about their finances with worry or doubt. I know they’ve had rough times. I know that at times it has seemed like continuing with this ministry would be impossible because of money. But through all of this, I know that He’s always confident that some how, some way, their needs will be provided for as long as He follows God.
Their situations are so different, yet both of these men get it. Live life investing in the eternal and let God take care of the rest.
Where are your treasures? Read Matthew 6:19-24:
***Treasures? What do you spend your time, finances, and resources to attain or sustain?
Treasures are more than just money, it’s whatever we hold on to tightly – that which we value greatly.
***What are Earthly Treasures?…
“Keeping up with the Jones’…”
It seems like we’re always “needing” something more. So and So has this… Ya know, that would be really nice to have too. The older you get, it seems like the more expensive the needs get. A flatscreen. A SUV. A Swimming Pool. A vacation home. A boat. Jetski’s… The list just goes on and on. Yet all of these “needs” are material. They’re made of things that will deteriorate over time. The elements will destroy them as they age. Their value is fleeting and provide only temporary pleasure and satisfaction.
More “noble” things…
North American churches spend an average of over 1 billion dollars a year on building projects. Outside of the use of the Jewish synagogue, the concept of a church building is not discussed in scripture at all, yet we’re commanded to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Don’t get me wrong, church buildings are not evil – but in the end they’re earthly. They’re going to deteriorate, be destroyed by the elements, and eventually become unfunctional and will be destroyed. If they become “treasures” then something’s gone greatly wrong in our priorities.
***What are Eternal Treasures?...
In 1 Timothy Paul says we can’t take anything with us. We came in with nothing, and will leave with nothing. A little later he says “they should be rich in good works and should give generously to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may take hold of real life.”
Sinbad & Layaway…
Pick out a bunch of outfits for gifts, and then put them on layaway. By the time they got them, they were out of style.
Heavenly layaway…
Eternal treasures are that which will make it to heaven. The things not destroyed here on earth. Relationships. People. Souls. Investing in these will last eternity. Your good works and the stewardship of your resources for these things will layaway treasures in heaven.
***Possessions and finances themselves not evil
Over in Luke 12, Jesus says, “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”
In 1 Timothy Paul says that the love of money is the root of all evil.
It seems clear that the possessions and money are not the issue. The issue an issue of priorities.
***Where’s your treasures?
We want scripture to say the opposite. Where your heart is, there your treasure will be also. But it doesn’t. Our heart will follow what we value and what we invest ourselves in. Billy Graham said, "Every person's checkbook is a theological document. It tells you who and what they worship."
Use your finances and resources for eternal purposes. Spend your money in such a way that it has lasting value, not fleeting enjoyment. Use your money and wealth for God. Investing in eternity means many things – use it to fund ministries, use it to feed the hungry, meet needs of the needy, use it to help other Christians, use it to open doors for ministry. Have an eternal vision with your finances. See your income and possessions as God’s, not yours.
***You can’t have it both ways…
Scripture says eventually you’ll have to choose – which is more important? God or possessions? You can try and balance your allegiances, but eventually it will come down to that choice.
Trust God to take care of the rest. Read Matthew 6:25-34:
Don’t worry about the necessities:
**Practical atheism
In our humanness and our sinfulness, we often let worry overtake our minds and hearts in such a way that we become practical atheists. This was a new term to me until recently – and yet it makes so much sense. When we worry about God’s provision, the things he’s clearly promised us as his creation, we are basically acting as though we do not believe in God’s existence. We live in such a way that we do not acknowledge God’s promises and live as though we really believe. We live as unbelievers, not recognizing God’s provision and his promises in our lives. It’s with the thought of worry that Jesus tells the disciples, “look around you, do you not see how lavishly God takes care of his creation around you? Even the raven, an unclean, disgusting sinful bird in the eyes of the Jewish community – even that is well fed and provided for. If that’s the case, how much more will God provide for those whom he loves in his creation.
**Doesn’t mean you don’t work
Birds build nests, search for food. They still work to survive even though they’re ultimately reliant on God.
**Don’t worry about tomorrow.
There’s more than enough going on today to be concerned with the events and troubles of tomorrow. Live in the now. Be fully invested now, in the day, in the moment, with God and let that be enough.
**Keep the kingdom first and everything else will be taken care of. It’s no coincidence that in the Lords Prayer just a few verses early Jesus instructs us to Pray for the Kingdom first and then for provision. It’s keeping priorities straight.
The passage is loaded with implications for our lives and our faith. It teaches us above all, that we should live life investing in the eternal and let God take care of the rest. Jesus says where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. It’s a call to go on a treasure hunt. A call to seek out treasure which will be eternal. A call to invest in that which will last into heaven. To invest in people, relationships, and souls. And if we do this, our treasure will be eternal. The type of treasure that will put our hearts right where it needs to be – Heaven.
