The Heart of the Matter
Notes
Transcript
Introduction:
What things are you passionate about? Do you love to fish? Do you love golfing? Do you love going to the gym or hanging out with friends?
Maybe you love gaming or hanging out with friends?
Have you noticed that the things we are passionate about will always find time in our schedule and in our budget, no matter what else may be going on around us?
We will even give up our precious sleep in order to do the things we value the most.
Jesus had a few words to say about that in His sermon on the Mount.
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Pray
It’s been a little while since we have studied the Sermon on the Mount together, so let me recap once again where we are. Jesus is up on a mountain teaching the disciples about the Kingdom of God. Moses and the Exodus are in the background as an allusion that the people should call to mind. Jesus is a better Moses. He’s giving a better Law. He’s also ushering in a better kingdom.
In light of this, Jesus has been giving commandments and beatitudes that the citizens of His kingdom should possess and they are all personified and exemplified in the Person of Jesus and the life He lived.
After giving a few commands, Jesus stops midway through and focuses on the heart.
Jesus points out three major ideas about our heart and its role in the kingdom.
1. Be careful where your heart is (v.19-21)
1. Be careful where your heart is (v.19-21)
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Jesus cuts right to the chase when he teaches about our priorities. He uses several items that people tend to store up as a representative of pursuing wealth.
People in the ancient world would lay up gold and precious metals as a form of currency. While there were banks, many people saved their money in their homes.
You may recall that many people in our recent past didn’t trust banks and used to store money in a jar buried in their back yard. I wouldn’t recommend that, but it is the way some people deal with risk or fear that their money might be taken.
Jesus says that when you lay up money in hiding, it is possible for thieves to break in and steal it. This isn’t an indictment against using banks, but it is a reality. Banks crash, thieves break in and steal, etc.
Jesus next turns to clothing. Clothing is not an eternal investment, because moths can eat them.
You ever had that happen to a garment. Probably for us today, the better analogy would be that the washing machine might eat your clothing or you might stain it up and ruin it.
Jesus’ point is that there are no earthly investments that are eternal. Where you invest matters and it isn’t in earthly treasures.
So many of us think our money and our investments are safe in this country, but what if the banks crash, the markets fall, or the government collapses? All of the perceived wealth that we may think we have can be gone in the blink of an eye.
The treasures that many people have labored so long to store up for themselves can be taken away in a moment.
But Jesus doesn't just warn us to be careful of what we invest in, He also warns us to be careful of where our heart is.
Wherever you invest your time, talent, and resources that is where your heart is.
Think about it for a minute. You will make room in your budget for what you are most passionate about. If you want that new phone, you will give up something else to make it happen. If you want to go on vacation you will work extra or sacrifice in some other area to afford it.
The reason: where your treasure is, there your heart is also. You put your money, your time, and your talent in whatever you love.
Application
So what about you? Take a look at your bank account and your calendar. What do you talk about the most? Would you say that you are investing in eternal things or the things of this earth that will one day pass away?
Where is your heart?
2. Be careful what you let into your heart (v.22-23)
2. Be careful what you let into your heart (v.22-23)
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,
23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
Jesus turns to an illustration using our eyes. To be honest, what He says next seems like it doesn’t fit here.
Jesus talks about the eye being the lamp of the body. Have you ever heard someone say that they are going to put out your lights?
Well, Jesus is not talking literally, but figuratively. What you lock your eyes on goes into the heart. This is why coveting is such a bad thing.
Jesus says that if you have a “healthy eye,” then your body will be full of light. The opposite is true if your eye is bad.
So what does this mean? If you let bad things into your heart by locking your eyes on them and lusting after them and longing for them, your body will be filled with spiritual darkness. On the other hand, if you focus on heavenly things and set your eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, we will be full of light.
3. Be careful who rules your heart v. 24)
3. Be careful who rules your heart v. 24)
24 “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Jesus concludes by teaching that we can’t serve two masters. We can only be devoted to one.
If your life is filled with pursuing the things of this earth, that’s what will rule your heart.
Conclusion
So what about your heart this morning? Who rules it? What rules it?
This world in its present form is passing away. One day, the nations will be no more, the world’s currencies will be no more, you will not care about the stuff you have lived your life to acquire.
Jesus said in Mark 8:35-37
35 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
37 For what can a man give in return for his soul?
Jesus came into this world and gave up the glories of heaven to save you and me. He’s worthy of our allegiance. He’s worth the sacrifice we might make, because the sacrifice Christ made was of eternally more value.
Will you put your investment in Him and the Kingdom of God?