Hearts that Treasure Heaven (Matthew 6:19-21)
Here’s Sunday’s message from Matthew 6:19-21. You can check the audio here.
I didn’t have the best days Sunday and Monday of this past week. Now to be clear, our Gathering here was great. Aaron did a terrific job rounding out the Lord’s Prayer. The day with the family at home was fine. Hey, the Chiefs - of course - won. No surprise there. But I heard something troubling about my other - I’d say my main - sports love that put me in a pretty fowl mood.
Not even two days after beating Arkansas in football and becoming bowl eligible once again, I read Sunday on PowerMizzou.com that our leading receiver had entered the transfer portal, that he’d be taking his talents elsewhere. Now I already knew this was going to happen. My son’s friend - who works in the locker room - had already leaked that information to us. But regardless, the reality hit me in the gut. And really got me down. Not just about the future of our team. But what was happening to this sport I’d loved since childhood. Now players could just leave and run after the highest bid. And I follow the team without the big piles of cash. And it left me sad. And even mad. Couldn’t we celebrate the win - even for a week? It could be I’ve spent a bit too much time thinking about Mizzou football.
Well, my start to the week illustrates what we see here in this text. But before we flesh it out, think with me about where we find it in God’s word. We’re slowly walking through the book of Matthew. We’re in the middle of Christ’s famous “Sermon on the Mount.” What comes just before this passage? In chapter 6, verses 1 through 18, Jesus warns against hypocrisy. When we do our giving and praying and fasting to impress those around us - instead of out of love for our Father above us - we choose a fleeting, earthly award over one that’s from heaven and lasts forever.
Here beginning in verse 19, Christ warns of the perils of idolatry. Of turning to things that won’t last, the things of this earth. And the dangers of trying to make them our reward. We see these familiar words, today in verses 19 through 21. There is a warning. And there’s a reason for that warning. Let’s jump right in.
Watch Your Investment
Jesus tells, first, to watch our investment. That’s in our first two verses, 19 and 20 of Matthew 6. And there, Jesus tells us something we can’t do, as well as something we must pursue. Hear verse 19. This is what we simply can’t do. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.” We can’t afford to make the wrong investment.
Now let’s not get confused. Jesus isn’t condemning earning an income. He’s not ruling out earthly possessions. He’s not outlawing all saving. Or any enjoyment of His gifts. He’s telling us not to get our hearts wrapped around them. And make them our primary investment in this life.
He’s ruling out the selfish accumulation of stuff. An overly extravagant lifestyle. He’s telling us not to get too comfortable here on earth. To put put our hope in the things of this age. Why’s that? Those things won’t last. They wear out. They break down. They decay. Or they get stolen. Back in Christ’s day, people lived with far more awareness of how transient everything was. Life was far more volatile, much more dangerous.
We don’t feel it quite as much today. We fool ourselves. But inflation can spike. And there goes the retirement. We can fight off thoughts of death. But one day, a hearse will drive us away. And, as they say, there won’t be a UHaul behind.
Now there are preachers today that will tell you that God wants to bless us with wealth. And that a prosperous America is what we all really need. But they go directly against what Jesus says here. He says all of that stuff will one day be gone. And we shouldn’t spend our days racking it up.
Jesus is in step with the preacher in the book of Ecclesiastes. All that stuff is vanity. It’s like a vapor. It’s transient. It’s temporary. Laying up earthly treasures will let us down. As Job once put it, naked we come out of the womb. And naked we’ll one day return (Job 1:21).
But what does Jesus say we must pursue? Verse 20 again. Jesus says, “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Invest in things that last. Things that will outlast this life. And bear fruit for eternity. Loving our neighbors. Giving to the poor. Caring for God’s church. Laboring for justice. Suffering for Jesus. Sharing His gospel.
Not grabbing after money and stuff. And hoarding it all for ourselves. But sharing it with others. And living as a blessing. Not just with our actual treasure. But with our time and talents, too. As John Stott puts it, to “‘lay up treasure in heaven’ is to do anything on earth whose effects last for eternity.”
Our gospel can’t be corrupted or stolen. Listen to how the apostle Peter puts it:
1Pet. 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pet. 1:4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,
1Pet. 1:5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
What’s the inheritance? The kingdom of heaven. And the King himself. And that won’t get blown up when interest rates rise. Unlike those treasures on earth, these riches are secure.
Now we’re entering into the most materialistic time of the year. And as we think about applying this passage, I want to call you into a couple of practices, a couple of rhythms that should characterize our lives. The first is simplicity. Yes, that involves not having unnecessary things. But it also means having focus, intentionality. Not being burdened, distracted by the things of this world. But able to give ourselves fully to Jesus and His mission. Simplicity.
Maybe you have a storage shed full of junk. Maybe you have a few too many hobbies. Or you’re on social media in five different ways. And you need to let some of it go. So you can focus on Jesus. What might He be calling you and I to give up so that we can fully gain Him?
Here’s a second practice: generosity. Maybe you’ve heard of a movement called the Advent Conspiracy. It’s a group of believers that have banded together around four values during the Christmas season. Worship fully. Spend less. Give more. Love all.
How can we worship Christ - while not giving into all the consumerism and materialism? How can we share with those around us - and especially those who are marginalized? How can we push against and undermine all the consumerism and materialism that we see? You should check out their website. And wrestle - you and your family or roommates - with this question. In this season that’s all about getting more and more, how can we flip it on its head and give? What might the King lead you to do here in Advent?
You may have heard the name Randy Alcorn. He’s written a book entitled The Treasure Principle that comes right out of this text. The main principle is this: “You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.” We can choose to lay up treasures in heaven. That principle sums up what we see here today.
But then he gives six keys that fit with this principle. And they’re so good:
God owns everything; I’m His money manager.
My heart always goes where I put God’s money. (And that’s the point we’re coming to next.)
Heaven - the new earth, not the present one - is my home.
I should live today not for the dot, but for the line. (In other words, not for this moment here on earth, but in light of eternity!)
Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
Here in Matthew 6, there’s this main point God wants us to see. Watch where we invest our money and possessions. But I think there’s a bigger principle at play, as well. What are we about? Are we people who live to build His kingdom? Or something else?
All of those other things disappoint. No, she will not complete you. That extra income will only make you want just a little bit more. I can rage about college football players running after cash. Their talents have just been used to make others rich. But here’s what I really have to reckon with. If my team gets all the players and wins all the games, that still won’t give me joy. If we knock off kansas on Saturday - and we’re going Kylen, Merry Christmas - and even if we win a title one day - that still won’t last. Flipping through TikTok will never fill that void. Not even getting a million views. Pinterest won’t make you happy. It won’t last Playboy certainly won’t.
I love music and guitar, and a few years ago, through a generous gift from my dad, I was able to buy a nice Martin guitar that I’d long wanted to buy. I got it home, and I don’t even think I’d had it for a couple of days. I was sitting on the couch. I was playing it with joy. And in walks one of my kids. I think it was near Halloween. And he had one of those suckers, those “dum-dums,” in his hand, and he threw it as hard as he could my way. And of course, like a heat-seeking missile, it hit the top of that guitar. And it left an indention.
Now, of course I can see it. But it isn’t noticeable at all if you’re not looking for it. But it upset me. Later on, I was telling this to Bobby, and I said, “I think God was trying to teach me something.” And he said, I’m pretty sure, “Yeah, I think God was pretty much throwing that sucker right at your guitar.”
Scholars have pointed out that the command in verse 19, “Do not lay up treasures,” could really be better translated this way: “Stop storing up treasures.” What might God be saying to you? What might He be wanting you to stop? What could be be hurling your way? And are you willing to listen? He wants us to live to build His kingdom. To watch our investment.
Your Character Is At Stake
That’s the warning Jesus gives. Let’s turn to the reason Jesus gives. He says, second, our character is at stake. Listen to verse 21 again: “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” I love the way one teacher pictures this. You’re walking through a field. You’re trying to reach a destination on the other side. If you picture a tree on that field’s edge, and you keep walking in that way, and you don’t get distracted, you’ll reach your destination at the end. But if you take your eyes off that tree, you’ll no doubt find yourselves soon off course.
Or, if you’re biking along a cliff - say that you’re over on the MKT by the river in Rocheport - and you keep your eyes focused on a point in front of you, right on that path, you’ll end up making it to safety. But if you focus too much on the scenery or keep looking over to your friend, you might just find yourself in danger.
You see, where we focus, what we give ourselves to, will determine what it is we become. Where we end up. At our destination or in the ditch. Our focus shapes our heart. As Alcorn puts it, “My heart always goes where I put God’s money.” Where we invest our treasure - but also our time and talent - that determines what kind of people we’ll be.
Think about social media and what it does to our hearts. Our the effects of spending time looking at pornography. Or reading about politics and sports all day long. Those things become our loves. And they consume our lives. They become our identity. They’re what we’re all about. They shrink and darken our hearts.
But it also runs the other direction. When the Bible talks about the heart, it’s not just talking about the cardiac muscle. But it’s also not just talking about our emotions. As D. A. Carson explains it, the heart is “the center of the personality, embracing mind, emotions, and will.” It’s impacted by our past. But then it impacts our future.
Think of it like a circle. Or maybe a spiral - that heads downward. Our focus shapes our heart. But then our heart determines our future. Our hearts that become materialistic, that are obsessed with sex or news or fashion, then continue to run that direction and look for those things even more. And they’re never, ever satisfied. And they spill out in fruit that hurts ourselves and others.
Think of celebrities that get caught in a scandal. Their apologies aren’t apologies at all. “I’m sorry that I offended you in some way.” Come on. But then they try to distance themselves from what took place. “That mistake I made - it’s just not who I am.” But actually it is. You can be forgiven. You can be changed.
But as Jesus puts it, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Mt. 15:19). Our investment shapes our character. And out of our character comes fruit - either good or bad.
Jesus gives the reason for His warning here: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” What we give ourselves to determines our character. And God wants us to be people who live to reflect our King. But that comes in the small things. In the little decisions. Not always in the big breakthroughs. But in the minute by minute choices. Where will we invest? Those things form our hearts.
Author James K.A. Smith says that we’re driven by our desires. And our desires are shaped by our practices. He argues that our shopping malls are cathedrals to consumerism. And as we enter them and shop in them and eat in the food court and hang out with our friends, those little practices are shaping our hearts - and discipling us into consumerists. Now, in the same way, there are practices we can participate in that form us into kingdom citizens.
With that in mind, I want to call you to a couple more rhythms. First, let’s take solitude. Now that’s hard to come by, in today’s world, right? But if we want to have our hearts shaped by His grace, if we want to reflect the life of our King, we are going to have to get away from all the noise. We have to find a place - some space - where we hear from our King, in His word, and where we talk to Him in prayer. We spend all of this time, scrolling on our phones, finding things we can buy. But we take very little time, to hear what God says. We spend hours of our day, reading articles about politics. And then we wonder why our hearts are dry.
How might you need to change heading into 2023? How can you make that kind of space in your life? Be sure you grab one of our Field Guides as you walk out today. It’s been designed just to help you in that. To help you connect with God. You can get a digital version, as well. What might God be asking you to adjust, so He can work on your heart?
Now maybe you say you just don’t feel like it at all. And you’re not sure how you’ll ever change. Well, hear verse 21 again: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” We can’t just wait until our hearts somehow happen to change. We change our investment. We lay up treasures. And then we trust that our hearts will follow.
Here’s a second thing: fellowship. Now this may seem to contradict what I just said. But we also need each other so much. I just finished up John Krakauer’s great book Into The Wild. Check it out. Or even watch the film. They’re both good. But this guy tried to leave everything he knew and go to Alaska and get in touch with nature and soak it all in. But he had no one to share the sunsets with. No one beside him to enjoy the mountain views. And he ended up dying, because he swallowed the wrong seeds. We are meant to experience community in this life. It’s meant for our joy. But also to keep us from danger.
As we come here and add our voices to the songs. And open up our Bibles and hear God’s word. And share in the meal up at this table. And call out prayers and give out hugs. And fill up our coffee cups and catch up with our brothers and sisters. Those practices shape our hearts. They mold our desires. And they protect us from driving off the cliff. God uses others to make us about His kingdom, to make us look like our King.
Maybe you also feel like you just can’t change. You feel helpless. And things will always be the same. Then just ask for help. From the Spirit of God, yes. But also from your brothers and sisters.
Friends, here’s the problem with laying up treasures on earth. Yes, they disappoint. But they also distort. They’re like the ring - the ring of power - that Gollum gets in His grasp - in The Lord of the Rings. They change us - and not in a good way. We become what we behold. And these transient things turn us inward. They make us less and less human. But God want us to protect our character. And live and reflect the King.
As we pursue Jesus, He makes us beautiful. And He’s the treasure we so much long for. One day, we’ll make our way to the parables in chapter 13, and we’ll dig into what Jesus says about the gospel.
Matt. 13:44 The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
He is worth giving up everything for. Why would we try to gain all the things of this world - and give up what our soul was made for, who it so desperately wants? When we run after His Kingdom, we look more like its King. We become more and more human. He turns us into His image. And we shine for the world around us.
What could the LORD be saying about what You treasure? How do you need to repent? What needs to change? God wants us to live to reflect our King.
As I look around, I see a fairly young group. You can look at your parents, at people older than you, and you can think, “I want to be different. I don’t want my life like that.” Well, hear me.
If you don’t want to be a person that’s superficial, and that’s evil, start now. Begin in the small things. “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33).
You say you don’t want your life to go into the ditch, then guard your heart. As Proverbs 4:23 puts it, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Don’t be like the rich fool, that story Jesus tells over in Luke 12. He gets rich with grain. And he builds more barns. He resolves to sit back and enjoy, to “eat, drink, and be merry” all his days. And God says to this man this: ”Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?” And Jesus explains it all to us this way: “So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”
Idolatry and Anxiety - Oh My
Now laying up treasures on earth never brings joy or peace. They disappoint us. Things break down. Stuff gets stolen. But our pursuit of them also wrecks our lives. They distort us.
But there’s a bigger problem as we run after these things. Now, as I said at the beginning, this section of Scripture deals with idolatry. We exchange our Creator for the things that He’s created. We turn them into idols. And we fall before them. Worst of all, we dishonor Him.
Now, of course, most of us don’t bow before idols of metal or stone. But we serve false gods. We give our lives to them. And our hearts end up with them, too.
I began talking about what comes before this passage. But what do we see following? An extended teaching of Jesus on the problem of worry. Why are we so often filled with anxiety and fear? Because we’re focused on storing up treasures on earth. On accumulating and protecting those things. That can not last. Not on the stability and reliability of the King and His Kingdom.
Materialism is a soul-crushing religion. Trying to serve and worship stuff - warding off decay and fighting off thieves - it leaves us a nervous wreck. We try to ease our anxiety by somehow taking control. And it never works. And it just makes things worse. But in His sovereign arms, there is great peace.
Now so much I am today comes from my mom. I don’t want to disrespect her memory, for sure. But she was overly concerned with taking care of her stuff. Cleanliness superseded godliness - no doubt about that. And for that reason, she was an anxious mess. Because the things of this world - they just won’t last. And they sure won’t stand up to teenage kids.
The house was her focus. And dirt and disorganization were the enemy. And anyone that seemed to fight on their behalf. But now she’s gone. And all that effort was lost. And someone else bought that house - that house I grew up in - and it’s completely trashed. What Jesus says here is so true. All this stuff will all be gone. And what will our hearts become? What we give ourselves to determines who we will become.
But here’s the good news, the gospel, my friends. God has made us His treasure. We’re the lost sheep He’s run after, the lost coin He had to find. He takes people who run after the stuff of this world and miraculously transforms their hearts. He comes to people like Zacchaeus - like you, like me - to selfish, greedy, superficial, evil people - and He makes us new. That’s what Jesus does. He gives us a new identity. Sin then becomes NOT who we are. Let’s humbly climb that tree, so we can call out to Him. And let’s ask Him to turn our lives upside-down - or rather, right-side up. Let’s pray.