This is the manuscript of the sixth sermon in the "Listening To Heaven's Infallible Teacher" series from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew Chapters 5-7.
Scripture
Matthew 6:25-34 NIV “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Text:
Matthew 6:33 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Introduction
Many years ago, in an effort to boost circulation, the St. Petersburg, Florida, Times ran clues to a treasure of two hundred dollars that had been buried somewhere in the greater St. Petersburg area. Two thousand people gathered in front of the newspaper building on the day the final clue was printed. During the next thirty minutes, several unusual things happened. A half dozen people were injured in automobile wrecks. A number of women passed out in the crowd gathered in front of the Times office building. Four people had to be rescued from waist-deep mud. And the stakes on a building site were torn up by a crowd in its mad search for the hidden treasure. In retrospect the newspaper stunt was a big success; circulation had increased 5 percent.
In a very real sense, the lure of gold can become a mania. A popular American pastime is the effort to get something for nothing. The search for the good life is often an all-controlling interest. Frequently it leads to all sorts of unusual behavior, some of which is pathetic, humorous, or tragic.
Since Jesus knew this to be so, he dedicated much of his time to the human search for the good life. Christ saw men and women losing their souls in their effort to discover things that would make them happy. In the Sermon on the Mount, he dealt with this subject in a direct manner. He said that the good life is a life of wise investments, unwavering loyalty, and simple trust.
I. The good life is a life of wise investments (Matt. 6:19–23).
Matthew 6:19-23 NIV “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
Why is the good life a life of wise investments? Because the things we live for determine the direction of our lives. The great philosopher Spinoza said that the three things people want most are honor, riches, and satisfaction of lust.
A. Treasure on earth.
The truth is that most of us are not piling up treasures on earth. We hardly have enough to pay our bills, our taxes, and fulfill our financial obligations to family and community.
In this passage that I just read however, Jesus was not so much concerned with the amount of money we have as he was with the direction of our lives and the quality of our daily existence. Jesus realized that our attitude toward things, regardless of the amount we might have, determines the direction of our souls and the destiny of our lives.
The point is that whenever we depend on money alone for security, life has a way of eliminating any level of security. Jesus contends that these are unwise investments.
In Jesus' day, rugs and garments and tapestries were some of the goods persons hoarded and relied on for financial security. All of these things could easily deteriorate or be stolen.
There is the true story of a homeless man who had died in abject poverty and was buried in a pauper’s grave in New York. Several days after his burial, the city officials discovered a fortune of more than $500,000 belonging to the old man in a Brooklyn warehouse vault. His life and death is reminder of the futility of placing our trust in things.
B. Jesus said that we should make investments in heavenly things. We should seek treasures in heaven.
But how can we lay up treasures in heaven? How can we make wise investments? We make these wise investments when we invest in acts of forgiveness, understanding, and love. We increase in our richness toward God when we turn away from deeds that are shoddy and cheap and wrong. Deposits are made in the bank of heaven in our name when we live with courage, love, faith, and hope. Whenever we live this kind of life, we accumulate wealth that will last forever.
Jesus made a statement in verse 21 that most of us fail to understand: “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
It is important that we realize that he did not say where your heart is, there will your treasure be. He said that where your heart is there. He was simply saying that where we make our greatest investment is where we have our most interest. Your heart and interest may not be in a particular project or program, but when you invest heavily in it, you become vitally concerned with its outcome.
A good life is a life of wise investments. So "store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
II. The good life is a life of unwavering loyalty (Matt. 6:24).
Matthew 6:24 NIV “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
There is nothing intrinsically wrong with wealth. What is wrong is putting wealth before God or, more than that, making wealth our god.
In this passage Jesus is not advocating poverty but priority.
Matthew 6:33 NIV But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
This is no prohibition against wealth, but it is an admonition to get our priorities in order.
Divided loyalties make for disturbed minds and confused goals. Divided loyalties cause all kinds of physical and mental illnesses. Study of modern medicine and psychiatry underscore in a striking way the truth of these words of Jesus that “no man can serve two masters.” When we attempt to serve multiple masters we are caught in the middle every time.
How can we develop a life of unwavering loyalty? How can we be careful not to attempt to serve two masters?
Here’s the answer
The answer is in Paul’s statement in Philippians
Philippians 3:13 NIV Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
In one of my favorite scenes from the movie "City Slickers," Curly, the hard-core cowboy, and Mitch, the greenhorn city slicker (played respectively by actors Jack Palance and Billy Crystal), are riding along a trail engaged in an interesting conversation about love, life choices and other existential issues.
At some point Curly turns to Mitch and says, “Do you know what the secret of life is?” Mitch replies, “No, what?” Curly holds up his index finger and says, “This!” One thing.
When we focus our attention and power on a single object, we discover strength that we never knew we had. But when we cannot decide on our goals and priorities, our life becomes weak and we can become paralyzed in any effort to move forward.
Jesus said in Luke 17:32, “Remember Lot’s wife.”
Lot's wife was a good example of divided loyalty.
The Bible says that Lot was a righteous man.
2 Peter 2:7-8 NIV and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
So his wife would have known of or actually known God, but she apparently had also fallen in love with the things of Sodom. She had to make a decision. She knew or knew of God, but she also wanted Sodom. Finally, the day of decision came.
Genesis 19:17, 26 NIV As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!” But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Her divided loyalty brought misery and ultimately destruction.
We must settle once and for all who is the master of our lives and where our loyalties are. Once that decision has been made, we can experience the good life that comes through a life of unwavering loyalty.
John 10:10 NIV The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
III. The good life is also a life of simple trust (Matt. 6:25–34).
The opposite of trust is fear and worry. We may worry about what we will eat or what we will drink or what we will wear or what will happen tomorrow. Jesus’ solution was simple trust in God. In
a) Jesus used God's care for creation to make His point.
Matthew 6:25-31 NIV “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
He reminded his listeners that the birds of the air are cared for, the flowers of the field are clothed, and even the grass is not forgotten. Jesus' point was that Since God cares for these, he surely cares for those who are made in his image.
A little poem sums this up beautifully:
Said the sparrow to the robin,
“I should really like to know
Why these anxious human beings
Rush around and worry so.”
Said the robin to the sparrow,
“Friend, I think that it must be
That they have no heavenly Father
Such as cares for you and me.”
—Elizabeth Cheney
b) We are reassured in our trust because God knows our needs. (vv. 32–33).
Matthew 6:32-33 NIV For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Jesus was not arguing in this passage against planning, saving, or working. He does not want us to neglect our responsibilities, and he was not advocating idleness.
Certainly we must consider what we will eat or what we will wear or our state of health or our future. But we must never allow these things to become an obsession. If we do, they will become a burden to us, and we will find ourselves continually anxious and fearful. How can we avoid being anxious and fearful? The answer is simple yet profound. We can be assured that God both knows our needs and will supply them, so we can be reassured by the knowledge that God is aware of all our needs.
c) Simple trust lives one day at a time (v. 34).
The Living Bible translates 6:34, “So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow too. Live one day at a time.”
This is not an admonition to avoid facing life seriously. Rather, we are being told that troubles can best be met by dealing with them one at a time. We are assured that God will grant the strength required for the troubles of tomorrow when they come just as he provides that strength for today.
Much of our anxiety about tomorrow will subside when we realize that many of today’s difficulties are not permanent. An elderly minister was once asked to quote his favorite Scripture verse. His reply came without hesitation, “And it came to pass.” Then he explained that through his many years he had come to realize that difficulties and wars and debts and burdens to humankind do “come to pass.”
Too often we feel that the adversity of today or the problems that we fear tomorrow will be with us forever. In our effort to live one day at a time, we must never borrow trouble from tomorrow. Our worries are always about the future aren't they? We worry about surgery we may never have, a child who goes wrong but in time turns out well, or enemies who eventually become our friends. Insurance companies have gotten wealthy by insuring people against fear of future disasters that never happen.
Conclusion
Cecil B. DeMille told how, many years earlier in his life, he was commissioned to write a play that later became The Return of Peter Grimm. The story concerned the continuation of life after death.
DeMille went on to share how he drew inspiration for that story from a water beetle on a lake where he was canoeing. He was reading and resting and searching for an idea. As DeMille looked down at the water, he saw a small water beetle that crawled up on the little boat, stuck its talons into the woodwork, and died. DeMille said he simply left it alone and returned to his reading. The sun was hot, and about three hours later he looked up from what he was doing to see the little beetle parched, with its back cracking open. He watched, and out of the back of the dead beetle he saw a new form with wings emerging. DeMille said it was a most beautiful dragonfly, reflecting the many colors of the rainbow. Then the dragonfly began to move its wings and lift itself from the boat. It flew farther in one second than the water beetle had crawled in hours. For a moment it hovered over the lake just a few inches from the water with the beetles below. They were totally unaware of its presence.
DeMille flipped the shriveled remains of the old water beetle’s husk from the canoe into the lake. It quickly sank into the mud-covered bottom. Other beetles crawled awkwardly to see what it was. Then they backed away from it. DeMille asked, “If God does that for a water beetle, don’t you believe he will do it for you and me?”
2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Sermon Audio
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