17 Jan 2010
Balanced: “Where’s Your Treasure”
January 17, 2010
Pastor Ben
For sermon outline, click here.
Where’s Your Treasure?
When two people get married, the husband and wife tend to divvy up certain jobs and responsibilities. And one of the roles that has fallen under my job description has been to be the “official painting/picture/artwork hanger guy.” You know…the guy who makes sure that things on the wall are properly placed, spaced and anchored. And in my 10 years of experience at this job, I’ve found what many of you have probably found too…the items that are the hardest to get right are the ones that have to be anchored at multiple points. Why? In order that they’re not crooked,They need to be “Balanced.”
And so what do you do? You get out the tape measure, pencil, screws, anchors, drill, and hammer. You desperately try to juggle all of them in the two hands that God created you with…while also attempting to make precise measurements at the same time. Was that 33¼” or 33¾”? Finally the screws are anchored. The picture’s hung. And the moment of truth has come: the moment that you take out the level and check for Balance. You hope beyond hope that the little bubble in the level doesn’t go too far to the right or too far to the left because that means we’ll have to drill more holes. But we hope that the bubble says right in the middle. Balanced.
I suppose there’s a different way to achieve Balance. It takes a whole lot less time and effort. Put the tape measure and pencil down and just eye it up. Do your best to guesstimate where the screws should go. What do you think about that plan? You know what I think? I think it’s the recipe for losing your position as “official picture hanger guy.” (Which may be good for you, but isn’t good for Balance.) In the arena of wall-hangings, Balance very very rarely ever happens by accident. Right? Well, let me transition to the arena of money and personal finances? Does God-pleasing Godly Balance in that arena happen by accident? Very very rarely too. Why?
We are inundated with so many different attitudes and perspectives about money. “It’s all yours so do with it whatever you want.” “You can’t afford what you want? Well, that doesn’t matter…just charge it. Worry about it later.” “Why plan or budget? God will take care of you. And if God doesn’t…well then the government will.” “Money’s a status symbol in which you find your worthiness and place in life.” “Lots of money means lots of stuff. And lots of stuff means lots of happiness.” But like with many things, just because the world believes something as being true, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. So, how do we know what to believe when it comes to money? How do we know whether we have God-pleasing Balance? What sort of “level” we can apply to the how we handle money? And…and why are we talking about this stuff at church?
Many that’s something you’re wondering about this morning. Lots of people get uncomfortable whenever the church begins to teach or speak about money. I suppose there are lots of reasons for that. One of them may be a bad church experience in the past. Maybe you’ve experienced a church which was high on pressure and guilt, but lacking in Biblical truth and Christ-centered Gospel motivation. To that I’d say, it’s possible that a church in your past has done a bad job of teaching about money. Remember God never makes mistakes. Churches sometimes do.
But maybe your being uncomfortable has nothing to do with a past church. Maybe you’ve just always felt that God and money shouldn’t be mixed. Money and finances are not a “God’ thing. They’re a personal thing. I know most of you pretty well, so I’m just going to be very direct with you with this morning. “No they’re not.” Money and finances are not just a personal thing. And here’s why I feel 100% comfortable saying that. As you read the Old and New Testament, God has said so much about money and finances and the material blessings that He has given, that it’s impossible to believe and teach the Bible and ignore what God says about this area of our lives. And because it is in the Bible, that’s why it’s so important for us to take time to listen to what God says about it. And maybe surprisingly here’s what we’re going to see, God’s plan for “Balance” in the area of money is much more than just what He wants from you. More than anything, God’s plan lays out what He wants for you. Like everything in the Bible, these teachings are meant to bring blessing and Godly Balance into our lives. Oh…and what kind of level will be using. God’s truth as found in the Bible. Let’s turn there now.
Today, we turn to a sermon that Jesus preached near the Sea of Galilee. Many of you may know it as “the Sermon on the Mount.” That’s because Jesus preached it to the people from the side of a large hill. e turn to a section where Jesus speaks to His listeners about real “treasure.” Read Matthew 6:19. With these words about “not storing up,” Jesus isn’t speaking against planning or saving or budgeting. The Lord encourages planning. The point that Jesus is making is one of emphasis. Don’t put your primary emphasis on the things of this earth. Why? The reason He mentions is that they don’t last.
Let me show you two pictures. This one’s of a beautiful Presidential Palace. It was designed by some important French architect and built in 1920 and is more than twice the size of the White House. This one’s a beautifully built Catholic cathedral. The crown jewel of their architecture. Does anyone know what country these earthly treasure can be found in? Haiti. That’s what they looked like a week ago. Here’s what they look like today just a few days after their massive earthquake. If it wasn’t the earthquake, someday sometime something else would have destroyed them. Because that’s the way it is with everything on this earth. Every treasure of this earth is temporary. The average lifespan for that TV that you really really wanted is 5-6 years. You car…10 years. On average, your favorite pair of blue jeans have a lifespan of 2 years. The latest fashion trend lasts about a year, but may be only a season. The life expectancy of a dog is 10- 12 years. The life expectancy of goldfish in the Blumer house is about 3 weeks. The average life expectancy of an American is 74 years. And the list could go on and on and on. Every single treasure of this earth that we strive after, or work hard for, or spend lots of energy on will eventually break, wear out or die. Jesus wants us to think about that.
He continues. Read vs. 20. Instead, Jesus says, the things that last forever, the treasures that we will enjoy year after year after year after year are the treasures we’ll have in heaven. They are treasures that we don’t win or earn, but that Christ has won for us. And those are the treasures that we should concentrate on, hold up and value the most. What are these treasures? Happiness and joy that no longer needs to wonder what earthquake this sinful world may bring our way. Peace of mind that no longer has to battle against sin and temptation. The constant fellowship and support of all of God’s family in heaven. An eternal existence with no pain. No sorrow. No crying. No death. Those are the treasures that do not break or ever end.
And then Jesus continues with this statement which strikes at the heart of today’s message about being Balanced with earthly treasures. Read vs. 21. You see, Jesus has just spent a couple of verses talking about money and wealth and stuff. But Jesus’ point wasn’t really about pieces of green paper with pictures of dead presidents on them. His point was really about what? Your heart. You see, when it comes to the money and earthly treasure that God has given us, the real issue is not that God wants your stuff. I mean, what’s He going to do with your stuff? He’s already got what you have. In fact, everything you have is already His anyway. God doesn’t want our stuff, He doesn’t want your stuff to get you. God tell us what He wants in Proverbs 23:26, “My son, give me your heart.” God wants our love. He wants our worship. He wants our hearts.
My friends, so who or what has your heart? You know, one way to answer that question is by looking at how we spend our money. If someone were to look at your credit card or bank statement, they would learn a lot about you right? They’d learn where you like to shop. That you like to go out to eat…and to what restaurants. They’d learn whether you like to exercise…gym membership. Watch TV…cable bill. Where you like to shop for clothes. So let me ask, would it be clear that heavenly treasure are the priority of our lives and that God holds the number one place in our hearts? Would they be able to tell that God is an important part of our lives at all?
Or how about this question, do you find more joy in giving back to God or giving money to go on vacation? More importantly, what does your answer say about treasure and heart? It’s ok to have hobbies, or to go to the mall or to go out to eat or to go on vacation. And yet, if we give money to those things generously and eagerly and joyfully, but when it comes to giving back to God it’s like the Lord has to come with a crowbar and pry open our hands, there’s something sinfully wrong with that picture. If I were to ask you to raise your hand if you love your money more than God, I’m sure not many of us would raise our hands. But God isn’t asking for a show of hands. He doesn’t need it. He says that He can tell where our hearts are by looking at what it is we treasure. My friends, this is hard isn’t it? I fail at this at times. I’m sure you do as well. It’s so easy, especially in this materialistic society to get blinded by earthly treasures. And at times, we’re guilty of making money an idol when we treasure it more than we treasure God.
Now, it’s impossible to have this Biblical discussion of money Balance and personal treasure and priorities of the heart, without including Jesus Christ. There’s zero doubt about what He most wanted you to have. Earthly treasure? Well, that would have been easy for Jesus. He fed over 5000 people with just a little bit of fish and bread. In Matthew 17, when Jesus needed a coin for the temple tax, He just made one appear inside a fish the disciples caught. Giving us a limitless pile of money and earthly treasure would have been easy for Jesus. But here’s the thing. He understood that earthly treasure doesn’t last. Earthly treasure and treasures all are temporary and will someday be destroyed. And so, Jesus came to do something better for us. He came to give us heavenly treasure that will last forever.
That kind of treasure wasn’t something that He could give us by merely speaking a word or doing a miracle. Heavenly treasure would cost God’s perfect Son an expensive price. Someone needed to be our substitute who would die in our place. And so Jesus Christ allowed Himself to be pierced and bruised and beaten. Oh…how much easier it would have been just to give us a lifetime pass to Old Country Buffet, more money in our bank accounts or Vikings’ playoff tickets. But He wanted more for us than that. He wanted something that lasts longer, something without a shelf life, something that would last forever. And so He came, took our place, experienced our punishment so that we might have the treasures of heaven forever. Peter writes it this way, “(God) has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:3-4). And now we can live in the peace of knowing that heaven is ours and we have a good relationship with God because our sins have been paid for. Although our hearts sometimes stray from loving God more than anything else, Jesus’ tireless work of securing our heavenly treasure shows that His heart never strayed from loving us.
Are you looking for Godly financial Balance in your life? Well, then consider this foundational question, “Where’s your heart?” Or to put it another way, whom do you serve? Do you serve money? Or do you use the earthly treasure God has given to serve Him. Here’s what Jesus said. Read vs. 24. You see, my friends, we can’t have it both ways. Oh…we certainly can have both God and money in our lives. In fact, as we’ll see next week, God is the one who gives us the money that we have. We can have both God and money in our lives, but only one of them can be our master. Where’s your heart? Whom do you serve? Make no mistake money is a cruel, heartless master. Serving it will always lead to disappointment, heartache and many griefs. So don’t serve your money. Instead rejoice in the master that you have the privilege of serving. The master who takes care of you each day and has done the difficult work of winning us heavenly treasures that moth and dust and earthquake and time can never destroy. Looking for Balance? May we joyfully and thankfully serve Him with all our hearts!
