Kingdom Ethics: The Treasure of the Kingdom

Well, we've been able to look at the kingdom ethics—well, ethics of the kingdom—over the past few weeks. We've been following a bit of a series starting in Easter on who the king is, Jesus Christ. He announced Himself, He declared Himself as King at that point with Pontius Pilate. And then we looked at the nature of His kingdom, and then we have started moving into what it means to live in this kingdom, what it means for us as Christians, how we live in this kingdom. Two weeks ago, before Tony's great message on the story of Jacob, which is a series that he's also starting, which is going to be great when he comes back.

He'll be continuing on with that series, so keep that in mind. Incidentally, I was talking with a few friends yesterday, and I mentioned what a great sermon it was last weekend, and how fantastic the message was, and how encouraged I was by the sermon. And this friend said to me, wow, you really liked your own sermon. So no, no. No.

Not me. I've not got tickets on myself. It was someone else, Tony, who preached a great message that I really enjoyed. So two weeks ago, before Tony's incredible message, we looked at the topic of forgiveness, the first of our ethics in the kingdom of Jesus. And I've heard some really great feedback on how that was received and the challenge of forgiveness that we all in some way wrestle with.

And today, we move on to the topic of wealth. Wealth in the kingdom. And so it's a topic that is worth mentioning. It's one of the most often talked about topics for Jesus. More than anything else, Jesus talked about how we use our money, which is a little bit challenging for us, especially in a day and age where, especially as Christians, we're looked at as, you know, being obsessed with our wealth, or the churches at least seen in a negative light in that way.

But Jesus spoke about it in very challenging ways and probably very different to the way that some of these criticised churches look at it as well. So we're going to talk about money and how Jesus taught on it this morning. So let's turn to Matthew chapter 6 and we're going to look at verse 19. Matthew 6:19. In His famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus begins with these words, do not lay up for yourselves, verse 19, treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.

But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, 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. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 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? 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. Therefore, I tell you, verse 25, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing?

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. And I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear?

For the Gentiles seek after all these things and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Therefore, do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. So far our reading. Well, we're going to be focusing on verses 19 through to 24, but it was worthwhile for us to read how Jesus transitions into the call for us not to be anxious.

But in those verses that is in my ESV Bible titled, Lay Up Treasures in Heaven, Jesus is talking about treasure. That is a very simple thing for us to identify. But we also see that it's not about earthly wealth. Jesus is talking about storing up stuff which can't fit or won't fit into barns or banks. Jesus talks about eyes that are healthy and eyes that are unhealthy.

Jesus often spoke about how people will use wealth in the kingdom. And now He starts talking about treasures. Why? Because money is powerful. Why does Jesus talk often about it?

Because money is powerful. And it's an assumption that Jesus has here that it's necessary. Jesus knows that it is necessary. But money is also something very closely treasured by, I dare say, all of us. However, if the kingdom of God is entered into by humble hearts, and we looked at this a few weeks ago, if the kingdom of God is only received through humble hearts, willing to receive the invitation, willing to enter because we love the one who has invited us.

What happens to the power of the things we love? The things like clothes, like the cars, like the computers that we have, when we are called to also love the God who has given them. How do we hold those things in tension? Well, like I said, Jesus knows those things hold power. He assumes those things hold power, but He has some very piercing things to say about them.

And so let's start with looking at the underlying issues of what Jesus is addressing here. The first question, the first point that Jesus raises is how does money have power? How does money have power? The eye is the lamp of our body, Jesus says. The eye is the lamp of our body.

Verse 22, that's where He says, what does that mean? How does Jesus talking about eyes, healthy eyes, bad eyes, unhealthy eyes, how does that fit into His discussion of wealth in the kingdom of God? Well, without getting too technical on the physics of light and the biology of the eye, Jesus is saying that the eye is the only point of contact where light enters into our body. The sun's rays may be all around us, but if we are blind, we don't have light enter into our body. In the same way, Jesus is saying that materialism, what you focus on, what you look at, can blind us to materialism.

Pastor Tim Keller tells a story of being asked to do a series of talks to business people in his area of New York City where he pastored. And the topic that he was supposed to be talking on was the topic of the seven deadly sins. Now, a lot of us, whether you're a Christian or not, know about this concept. The seven deadliest sins, the things that lead to the biggest destruction in life. Things like lust, things like gluttony, pride, envy, sloth, laziness and so on.

And Keller's wife, Kathy, says to him, you watch. When it's time to do your talk on the deadly sin of greed amongst these executives, amongst these professionals in Manhattan, New York, no one is going to come and listen to that talk. And surprisingly to Keller, that's exactly what happens. He asked himself the question, how did my wife know that and why did this happen? Keller says, after talking with his wife and thinking about it, it's because everyone is absolutely sure that that is not them.

That we are not greedy. That's why I say every one of us will actually need to hear this message, and maybe more than once. The fact that Jesus talks about the darkening of the body through the sin of the eye, the unhealthiness of the eye, Jesus is highlighting the insidious nature of greed. No one thinks they are greedy. And that is the power of wealth or money.

Greed is a sneaky thing. It creeps up on you. Why does Jesus say in other places when He talks about wealth, be on your guard against the sin of greed? Jesus says. Why would we need to be on our guard?

Jesus never has to say that about things like unforgiveness. Be on your guard against unforgiveness. Jesus never has to say to anyone, be on your guard against the sin of adultery. Why? Because we all understand what bitterness leads to.

We all understand how unforgiveness is not a good thing. Jesus never says, be on your guard against lust because adultery isn't a surprising thing. You know that you are committing adultery. No one goes, whoops, that isn't my wife. But Jesus has to say, be on your guard, watch out for all kinds of greed because greed hides itself.

Now, very few of us will think of ourselves as materialistic, as people who hold on to wealth selfishly. We're happy to think that the super rich do. The ones that even amongst us live on the canals, drive six-figure cars, we're happy to think that greed does exist. But very few of us will seriously believe ourselves to be greedy. Why? Because we don't actually like reflecting on it very much.

Because sometimes there are some signs. Jesus knows that. That's why He has to talk about it so often. Because He knows it's one of the hardest things to address and change. Greed is so dangerous because it is so silent.

It is the only sin where we don't know we have it because greed and wealth are subjective categories. People are happy to say that the wealthy are usually the ones that struggle with greed, but rarely do we put ourselves in the category of wealthy. We label ourselves as upper middle class. We look at other executives in our workplace and what they're earning. We measure ourselves with the average Australian.

Meanwhile, the stats are astounding. We form part of the 5% richest people in the world. Whether you are on welfare in Australia or whether you are earning the highest salary in Australia. Anywhere in Australia right now, we are in the top 5% richest people in the world. A report by investment bank Credit Suisse said that Australians are the second wealthiest people per person in the world.

Can you believe that? Only Switzerland is beating us per person in what we're earning. The average wealth of an Aussie is the second highest in the world. And yet, how many times would you consider yourself to be rich? How many times have you told people that you are well off?

How many times would we say that? We don't. Because wealth is so subjective. We look to our left, we look to our right, we weigh up how our colleagues are living, how friends are living, and then we rank ourselves according to them. Jesus says, if your eye is healthy, if you see truly, your whole body will be full of light.

If your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness and greed is the sin of the eye. We need eyes that are willing to see the light of knowledge. Only then will we be able to make the right conclusions about our situation. So how does money have power or how do we work with that? Well, a practical, a really practical application is to start not with yourself in trying to admit it and make change.

We get so uncomfortable talking about wealth, and perhaps you're squirming on your couch this morning about it. We get angry when people talk about it. We get angry when churches talk about it. How many times have I not seen friends on Facebook bash the church for wanting to take their money, and you ask them how generous they feel they are or how they really are, and it's a different story. We doubt the integrity of pastors when they talk about it.

And I'm happy to put up my hand and say that I need help combating greed as well. No one ever leaves a church building or church service singing for joy after a sermon on greed because we don't want to talk about it. And yet Jesus talks about it all the time. This was particularly emphasised this week. It was a funny little social experiment that happened.

I posted something on Facebook as I was working through this sermon this week on what do I do with my stimulus money that's coming with the coronavirus package? And I set some goals for myself. Ten things that I want—ten good things that I think I can spend this money on. And I was surprised by how little interaction I had with it. Things of that nature, a lot of my friends will, you know, like or respond to or be encouraged by or whatever.

It was a very quiet post. And I wonder whether that has something to do with how we view our right of how we spend our money and what we do with it. And whether we're allowed to be told how to use it. So I want to say that we probably can't change how we use our money just by ourselves, going home now and thinking about it and trying to make some changes. How do we do it then?

I would say grab two or three friends. Christian friends, those that you know share your values, those that you trust, and talk to them about what is a good percentage of wealth to be distributed to really good things, generous things, things that are bigger than yourself, things that impact the kingdom of God. How much disposable income is for me, is for my family, how much needs to be put away for emergencies, and how much can I use to genuinely say, I am living a generous life? In asking these questions regularly and honestly with trusted Christians, we are proactively keeping our eyes healthy because we're telling one another what health looks like. And we're allowing the light to enter our body.

So the first point, how does money have power? The power of money lies with how hidden and silent greed is. Then the second point, why does money have power? If the hiddenness of greed is what makes the lure of money so hard to resist, if the hiddenness of greed is what makes the lure of money so hard to resist, then I want to say that our insecurities is what generates that vice grip of power. Jesus begins His teaching, doesn't He, in verse 19 with the words, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust and thieves can come in and destroy.

Verse 20, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. How we use our money quickly reveals the source of our identity. How we use our money reveals the source of our identity. If we are wrestling with consistently finding our purpose and identity in Jesus Christ, if we're wrestling to really hold that in the centre of our lives, then we revert back to certain insecurities that dominate those lives.

And I want to say, it might be all sorts of different things. I can't preach a sermon where it'll be on one thing. But often, what we use our money on reveals what we have built our lives on. For example, I'm a money saver. I'm a saver.

I grew up with an accountant dad and a dad who has managed money all his life. And so you better believe he has managed his money well. And he taught all his kids to do the same. And that is a good thing. Nothing wrong with being careful, being good stewards of how you spend your money.

Proverbs 21:5 says, the plans of the diligent lead to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. Make diligent wise plans. But if my heart is growing cold towards the gospel, this is what I find. If my identity and purpose is not actively rooted in Christ, well, then I think my salvation is based on my security. But Jesus warns, treasures rust, moths destroy, bad people steal.

In other words, anything I have and that I've saved, putting my trust and hope in, can be lost. Without a warning, a virus strikes the world and all your superannuation has taken a massive hit. Do you notice that Jesus doesn't define what treasure is? It could be metal that rusts. At other times, it is clothes that get eaten by moths.

And then at other times, it's anything portable that a thief can pick up and steal. Why does Jesus use these sort of categories? Because treasure is different for each of us. In fact, our treasure is probably not money at all, but what that money buys us. For some of us, it'll be security.

And for others, it'll be prestige, the nicer, newer toys. How we use things to boost how we feel about ourselves or how friends and sometimes even strangers perceive us. For some of us, it could be how money is making things easier, the power that money has. Who hasn't felt that power when you've been travelling? You've gone to places like Thailand or Africa, and that Aussie dollar gets people running around for all sorts of things.

We find satisfaction in many of those things. And when we find satisfaction in those things, when we are chasing that satisfaction, you've also found your treasure, Jesus says. The thing that you treasure. Before anyone, however, becomes a Christian, the Bible says that our hearts are searching for identity and purpose. But the Bible says, it is searching for it in all the wrong places.

It is searching for it in all the things that are not God. Where we've been created to find our treasure in God, that is the inclination that we've been created for because of sin, we look for it in all the worst places. And yet, we are still creatures who look for purpose. Take away a person's treasure. Take it away forever and they wither and die literally.

We cannot live without meaning. We cannot live without the treasured things that make life worth living. And before we find our purpose and our identity in Christ, before we became Christians, we lived a third of our lives, a third of our lives trying to make money in some sort of job, not simply for the money, but for what it can secure us, what it can generate for us. And then we think that that is the purpose of our life. But Jesus brings clarity, and I say piercing clarity to this mirage.

Rust, moth, thieves destroy those things. What good is financial security when it can be halved overnight? And so how do we deal with that question? Why does money have power? How do we deal with that treasure and identifying and loosening its grip on us?

Well, before we grab those two or three trusted Christian friends, and what a terrifying idea it is to have that conversation with them, before we grab them, you will need to spend time identifying the things your heart naturally gravitates towards when you are not proactively resting in the purpose and meaning of Christ. You'll have to identify, is it security that makes me hold on to this? Is it prestige that makes me chase after it? Is it having options or power to do the things that I want to do? When you identify those things, you've identified your treasure.

Alright. So then what? What happens when we have identified that stuff? What happens if we realise, okay, I need to be on guard against this. I need to be watchful over these things.

What then? Well, then, we have our third and our final question. How are we freed from money's power? Well, Jesus commends us to store up our treasures, not on earth, but in heaven. Verse 20.

And what this means is that our purpose and our identity is to be moved back to God who rules from heaven. I said before, when we come to Christ, our hearts are drawn to find purpose and meaning in anything that isn't God. But Jesus says, you will never find lasting satisfaction in that. You need God to be your treasure. That is what you've been created to be, to have, to do.

God fits our hearts like a shoe fits a foot, like gloves fit a hand. God is the treasure that satisfies and His mission and His kingdom is the purpose that we find satisfaction in. Who of us hasn't experienced something like this? You buy a nice bit of jewellery, a new TV, perhaps even a house. And in pursuing that, in thinking about it, in reading all the reviews, and going on eBay, and finding a good price for it, you think, if I get that, I'm going to be happy.

Once I find that, I am going to be happy. What happens when you get it? It's not as great as you thought it would be. Right? Yet money that you've taken and then spent on things that are larger than yourself, things that don't necessarily directly build up your life, things that have eternal weight.

Bibles for oppressed Christians in Afghanistan, computer equipment for live streaming church services, groceries for neighbours that you are sharing the message of Jesus to? How often do those things not carry an amazing spark of life in them? How often are they not utterly satisfying? When I see things happening in my church, because I know of the hard work and the investment, financial investment that I've made for the good and noble purposes of this church and its mission, my heart is swimming with joy. I feel so satisfied in that.

Why? I believe it's because my heart is resonating with the work that God is doing. And we sense that it's those things that carry eternal weight. It is that storing up the treasures in heaven. Because those things, those eternal things are the things that really matter.

And so if living generously towards those sort of goals, that sort of lifestyle is the ideal, then how do we get there? Well, we are freed by the work of Jesus Christ to get there. And when our treasure is Jesus, when we know that we have received Him, but that we can invest in the work that He is doing, the heart that He has for this world, well, we find amazing freedom and liberty. So I don't want to say exactly how that's going to look for you, how that investment might be, and what sort of circumstance that will be. Like I said, I wrote for myself some goals that I shared on Facebook, and look, they're probably not even the best.

But for me, they are things worthwhile to keep in mind. And I just maybe want to share some of them with you. Ten good things that we might do with a little bit of extra money that we have. Point one. Buy local products when you buy groceries to support farmers and Aussie producers.

I'm thinking about others. I'm not thinking about maybe even the best price that I can get. Eat out more regularly than normal, supporting local restaurants and cafes. Point three, buy a fun thing. That's okay.

A new TV, a console game, a spa treatment. That's alright. Number four, be mindful of waste and repair the things that don't need to be thrown out. Number five, fix up or decorate your house with something beautiful and practical. Number six, donate a portion to a person in need.

They're probably going to need to spend that money more quickly than you. Number seven, upskill yourself to learn something new. Buy a book that is worth reading. Buy a subscription worth following or tickets to a training event worth attending. Number eight, set yourself up for the eventual recovery.

Buy that printer, the office chair and so on. Don't put away that money and save it for whatever may happen for security's sake. And then number ten, share some of these ideas with other people. You see, the grip of the love of money can only be loosened when we love something more. It can only be replaced by loving something more.

And the Bible says that can only be found in Jesus. Jesus, if you consider Him who was the Prince of heaven. We read it in Philippians 2 this morning, who had the wealth of heaven for Himself. And it says, He did not consider equality with God something to be jealously guarded, but gave it up for our sake. You and I find it impressive to own things like clothes, cars and computers. How about the one who owns the planet on which all those tiny things exist on?

And then He doesn't only own this little tiny blue rock called Earth, He owns the billions of other rocks floating in space. We get excited about a diamond encrusted bit of jewellery. He owns meteorites made entirely of platinum and diamond. This is the wealth of the Prince of heaven. Yet the Bible says that Prince decided that He was not going to hold on to that.

There was a people that existed on this tiny blue rock, destined for a fate far worse than losing your superannuation. Jesus Christ, having all wealth, power and security, leaves heaven becoming poor to die on a cross, and even at that point, being stripped naked from the very little that He had. And then worst of all, the Son of God, having known holiness and righteousness and fellowship with God for all eternity, will become spiritually bankrupt for me, so that I may become rich in Him. Through Jesus, I would know the riches, the treasure of knowing and having God. What is my money worth in light of this?

What would I not spend to buy back my soul if my money was any good to do that? He doesn't need my money. He doesn't need me. Yet, by His sovereign grace that saved me, He has chosen me, He has chosen you to finish that race. To bring about that work on earth, to carry on with His purposes while we wait for the kingdom to be finally established.

When we find the identity of being lost souls saved by the Prince of heaven, how can we not feel secure? How can I feel I need to make everything right around me? How does the security of my savings compare to what He has saved me from? And when this work of drawing more and more people into that salvation, when that can become a part of my purpose here on earth, how can I not find fulfilment and satisfaction in generously supporting that work? What is my money worth in the light of all of this?

So how can we be freed from money's power? By feeling the security of God's grace, seeing the honour and the prestige of working together with Him to share the news of that grace. Let's pray. Lord, we bring these hard thoughts, these challenging thoughts to You, Lord. We know that it's very easy for us to feel convicted and challenged this morning and then go back into normal weeks, in situations with friends and colleagues that live lives very differently.

And so Lord, we have to begin by praying for Your protection over our thought life. We pray, Lord, that You will guard us in thinking the right thoughts, the thoughts that are after You. Lord, we pray that we will see and keep in mind the great purposes that You have for us and for this world. We pray, Lord, that we may love with our wealth, that we may love our neighbours. Lord, that we may experience the joy and the satisfaction of living so generously and seeing the power that comes through that life, the power that comes through those decisions.

Give us eyes that are healthy to see those things. Give us hearts that are desirous of those things. Father, we thank You for our gifts. We thank You for our wealth. We thank You that You have placed us in this time, in this country.

We thank You that for some of us, You have saved us. When You saved us, You saved us out of poverty. You saved us from addictions. You saved us from poor lifestyles, harmful lifestyles. And Lord, now we find ourselves in healthier situations because of that grace.

We thank You first and foremost, Lord, that You've given that to us. We have better lives because of it. But Lord, help us not to stop there. Help us not to look at the gift without remembering the Giver. And give us wisdom, Lord, in all the things we do.

The people that we will talk to, the ones that will hold us accountable. O God, will You help us to act with integrity? We ask, Lord, that You'll be our reminder, very soft natured Counsellor, and that You'll lead us down paths of righteousness. For Your name's sake, we pray. Amen.