Things That Matter (Matthew 6:19-24)

If we were to conduct a poll on what are the biggest hindrances to authentic Christianity in our society, I wonder what people would say. Perhaps they would mention love of pleasure. Of course, all pleasure is not wrong unless it is one’s goal in life. Many people live for the weekend because that is the time when they imagine they will become happy, and they look forward to escaping from the drudgery of life, as they see it. And there are what Peter calls the pleasures of sin, which no Christian should get involved in.

What else would be regarded as hindrances? Some might say that changes in our society caused by people of other faiths coming to live in our country is dangerous because they can influence people and turn them away from Christianity. Of course, such a response forgets that true Christians will not become followers of religions that don’t exalt Jesus. In fact, the arrival of such people is really an opportunity for evangelism, so we cannot say that their presence is dangerous at the moment.

Another potential hindrance is the dramatic growth in secularism, which is influencing all kinds of changes in our society. Within the last few years, Christianity has almost disappeared from public life and it is generally assumed that a sane person would never believe in the Bible. Of course, real Christianity lost its influence decades ago. Now evangelical Christians and churches are on the fringe, excluded from expressing their faith, except to one another. No doubt, the rise of secularism makes it harder to be a Christian. Still, it is the response of Christians that will indicate whether or not secularism is a hindrance. If it succeeds in getting us to be silent, then it is a hindrance.

What did Jesus say in this sermon would be a hindrance to authentic discipleship? In the verses we are going to consider, he mentions a focus on accumulating possessions as being a hindrance. Our version mentions money as the problem, but since people in the first century did not live with much money, the word means more than cash. Rather, Jesus refer to things. At first glance, we may wonder why he decided to speak about this issue at that time. I suppose the answer is obvious. We live in a world where it is impossible to escape from things. It looks as if materialism in a first century form was regarded by him as dangerous for his disciples, and no doubt its twenty-first century form is also dangerous.

In the sermon on the mount Jesus deals with many issues connected to discipleship. We have noticed the characteristics of true disciples (the Beatitudes), the effects they have in the world (salt and light), the focus on heart change within them, and the method of practising spiritual disciplines (secretly in the presence of God). We would not be too surprised at Jesus mentioning them. The next two topics – things and worry – might surprise us. Yet they have something in common and that is that people like to hold on to both.

Biblical examples

It is important to observe that Jesus does not say that it is wrong to have possessions, but he does say that it is possible to have wrong ideas about them. After all, there are many rich believers in the Bible whose lives are commended. Abraham, Job, Joseph of Arimathea and Philemon are such examples. So it is not the actual possession of things that are the problem.

To illustrate this, we can think of two rich people that Jesus met. One was the rich young ruler, a man with some desires to follow Jesus. Yet when he heard that Jesus demanded authority over the rich man’s possessions and what he should do with them, the rich man preferred to keep his wealth for himself. The other individual was Zacchaeus, a man who certainly loved money before his conversion. But he met Jesus and became a disciple, and the first thing he did was to start giving money to the poor and repaying what he stolen. Jesus was delighted and called him a son of Abraham, the rich man.

Or we can think of other contrasting examples, this time in the Book of Acts. One is Barnabas, a rich man from Cyprus, who sold a field in order to help those in need. It is not surprising that other Christians called him the son of consolation because he helped many. In contrast to him, there was Ananias and Sapphira, who pretended to give money to the Lord’s cause, but who actually kept it, and were judged severely for doing so.

The point I am making is obvious. Some used their possessions wisely and became a blessing to people they helped. Some kept it for themselves and lost out. And that is what Jesus says here when he says that his disciples should not lay up treasures for themselves on earth.

Obviously, for some people, the accumulation of possessions becomes the priority of their lives. Sadly, they are never satisfied with what they have. Even more sad is the fact that they are going to lose them all. We know that is the case. How much does Carnegie have now? Moreover, even when they have earthly riches, they worry about what is going to happen to them and to their possessions. Having a lot does not always mean having a lot of comfort or a lot of pleasure. It can mean a lot of stress.

Jesus does not want his disciples to have no spiritual treasure when they die. Yet they will only have such treasure if they engage in certain activities throughout their lives. He takes the example of people who strive for earthly riches and says to his disciples that they should show as much interest in accumulating heavenly treasure.

Storing heavenly riches

How do they do so? A simple but correct answer would be to say that they engage in the various features that Jesus has already mentioned in this sermon. By doing them, his disciples will store up treasures in heaven. So we can think about that briefly.

The first example is almsgiving. Who were the people helping when they gave alms? Usually it was their fellow Jews. They were helping those that they knew were depending on God to meet their needs. I think Jesus expects his people who have assets to help those of his people who do not have any. This is the thrust of his parable about the sheep and the goats. In that parable, Jesus speaks about feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and so on. He even says that when they did so, they were doing it to him, a reminder of the union that believers have with Jesus.

This does not mean that they should not give to other needy people. Jesus on one occasion told a parable about inviting guests to a feast. He said not to invite those who can invite you back but to invite those who cannot. Then he said that if his disciples did this they would be recompensed at the resurrection of the just (Luke 14:12-14).

The second example was prayer. We saw last time that one feature of the Lord’s Prayer is to pray about the progress of God’s kingdom. As far as praying about people is concerned, there are two options. We can pray for those we know and we can pray for those we don’t know. Imagine standing there at the Day of Judgement and discovering that your prayers brought about the conversions of people in other parts of the world. Perhaps on a certain day, you found yourselves wanting to pray for people in a certain place, and then you forgot about it. But on the great day you discover that on that previous day many people were converted, and that Jesus brought them to conversion through a preacher or whatever method, and that he did not do so until he had led you and others to pray about it. I suspect that Jesus does not lead us to do such a specific thing unless we are in the habit of praying earnestly for the progress of his kingdom everywhere. Such types of prayer are an incredible way of storing up heavenly treasure.

Of course, they are not only types of prayer connected to progress in the kingdom. Another way of growth is personal spiritual development. We pray about such matters in ourselves, but we also pray about things that we see in other people. I would suggest that is one reason why God reveals such details to you. Have you ever wondered why other people don’t see an issue in someone that is obvious to you? God is giving you an opportunity to store up heavenly riches by praying for that individual and his or her defect. Of course, you should not mention it to them by saying something like, ‘I am praying about your bad temper.’ Such a way of speaking is probably a statement of pride. But just take the matter to the heavenly banker and wait to see how much treasure has been laid up.

If we stay with the items mentioned in the Lord’s Prayer, we will see that one of them concerned the willingness of Christ’s disciples to forgive one another. Forgiving in this way is an expression of brotherly love and it is the case that deeds of brotherly love will be rewarded. Jesus said that if a disciple gives a cup of cold water to another disciple he will be rewarded (Mark 9:41). There are many other ways of showing brotherly love, and they will all produce treasure in heaven.

The third discipline that Jesus mentioned was setting aside time from legitimate things (fasting) in order to enjoy the presence of God. When someone does that properly, Jesus told him or her not to hide the joy. Imagine the effect that a happy man has on his contacts. Many of them are looking for happiness in earthly treasures, and he is showing them that greater joy is found in knowing God. And the more he does that, the more treasures he has in heaven.

Love of possessions indicates selfishness

The opposite of storing heavenly treasures is not so much the amassing of earthly treasures but the collecting of earthly treasure by someone for himself. In other words, he is selfish and his self-centredness expresses itself in ongoing covetousness. Such a person only lives for himself. In doing so, he has made himself a slave – of money. Because he already has a master, he cannot serve God.

Love of possessions indicates spiritual darkness

Jesus uses an illustration to highlight the problem. He says that the eye is the lamp of the body by which he means that what we look out affects our body. If our eye looks at evil things (earthly treasures), it will make us spiritually dark. But if our eye looks at good things (heavenly treasures), it will give us spiritual light. I suppose he is indicating that those with the wrong attitude lose spiritual vision.

Love of possessions is un-Christlike

After all, when it comes down to it, who had, or has, the most possessions? The answer to that person is Jesus because he is the heir of all things. He can look at everything each of us has and say about them, ‘They actually belong to me.’ But what does he do with all that he has? He uses it for the benefit of others. That is what is meant by grace.

Love of possessions means we are not stewards

A basic question that each believer has and each of us has is, ‘Why do I have what I have?’ That question is not confined to possessions, of course. The answer is that Jesus has made us stewards of what we have and we have to use it for his glory.