Title: Eternal Investment / Matthew 6:19-21
Content: Navigation towards eternity (12) Eternal investment / Matthew 6:19-21
Money is a real problem in life. You cannot live life without money. It is said that a young man found a magic pot containing a wish-fulfilling fairy. The young man summoned the fairy, and the fairy asked, “Master, what wish can I grant you?” The young man replied without delay, "I want money and a woman." Then the fairy asked, “Do you really want all three?” and the young man said, “Yes, I need all three marriages of a money woman.” Then, “I can’t. I will do whatever you want.” So the young man said that he married a woman with money after a while. If you do not want to marry a money woman and live as a money person, you need the right thinking about money and the right dedication to money above all else. In the Sermon on the Mount, known as one of the noblest lessons in human history, Jesus spoke of money. To sum up the lesson of the text in one word, it says, “Do not lay up treasures on earth (verse 19), but lay up treasures in heaven” (verse 20). I think that the biblical view of finance is all contained in this lesson.
So, first of all, what does it mean to “lay up no treasures on earth”?
First, we would like to examine <What Jesus did not forbid in the text>.
1. Possession is not prohibited.
Nowhere in the Bible is there a prohibition against possession, and Jesus never gave any teachings against private property. Even when he taught the Lord's Prayer, he gave us 'Our daily bread' - to pray. Our food is ours. It is true that we are not masters, but stewards of food. In that sense, communism or extreme socialism that denies property cannot go along with Christian values.
2. There is no prohibition against saving.
In the Bible, especially in Proverbs, God teaches us that we must learn from the ants who sweat and work and save in the summer for the winter when we cannot work. Let's look at Proverbs 6:6. “Go to the ant, you lazy, and see what he does, and be wise.” Proverbs 6:8. “They prepare their food in the summer, and gather their bread at the harvest.” Jesus is the one who taught us to gather what is left in the miracle field of five jars and two fish so that nothing is wasted. The Reformer Calvin found the spirit of saving here.
3. It's not that I forbade you to enjoy life.
The Bible does not condemn material things in themselves. Material is also included in God's perspective, who created all things and viewed them as good. The Bible says that one of the purposes for which God the Creator gave material things was so that we could enjoy them. See 1 Timothy 6:17. “You are commanding the rich in this age not to be high-minded, and not to put their hope in unpredictable riches, but to put their hope in God, who gives us all things generously to enjoy.” you are not jealous of Rather, they rejoice together.
Therefore, when Jesus said not to lay up treasures on earth in this text, he was never forbidden to own property, to save material things for the future, or to enjoy material things within reasonable limits.
Second, we would like to examine what <what Jesus forbids in the text>.
1. It is a life lived for the purpose of material things.
According to the Lord, materials are a necessity, not an end. The Lord, who taught the need for food, clothing, and shelter in Matthew 6, says in Matthew 6:32: “All these are what the Gentiles seek, and your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.” Are you not saying that you clearly know what we need here? He acknowledges our needs. But matter is not a purpose. What are the signs that a substance is a target? It's just that you start to feel rewarding in accumulating materials. He slowly begins to love material things. And in the end, they begin to serve material things. Then, the master of his life becomes material, not God. Such a life is a life that has fallen into the idol of mammonism.
Read Matthew 6:24. “No man can serve two masters; either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other, for you cannot serve both God and riches.” mamonas). And this word originally meant idol god. When riches begin to become the purpose of our life, we have already begun to indulge in idolatry. So, the first thing to be on the lookout for is to be on guard against the love of wealth. Because that is the beginning of idolatry. So the Bible teaches that money is not evil, but the love of money is the root of all evil. 1 Timothy 6:10. “The love of money is the root of all evil, and those who coveted it have been deceived and have erred from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
2. It is a life that seeks safety in material.
Losing money in life means, first of all, removing the safeguards of life. So the reason people are desperately trying to secure material is because they believe it will ensure the safety of our lives. But the Lord teaches that it is by no means a guarantee of safety. He tells us that all the treasures of the world we hold on to will eventually escape from the three moths, rust and thieves. We are proud of the fact that as time goes by, the clothes we are proud of are swept away by moth, and our treasures are swept away with rust and rust, and it is difficult for our house to escape the targets of thieves. In the old days, the houses in the Middle East were dirt houses, so even the richest house had no way to escape the thief if they dug a hole in it. Of course, modern-day thieves are more crafty to seek our wealth. What is the message? The thing is that substances do not guarantee our safety. Isn't the reality of today's stock prices plummeting and exchange rates soaring again confirming this message to us? What is the message of the Lord in today's economic crisis? Doesn't that mean that materials are unreliable?
Third, we would like to examine what <Jesus encourages in the text>.
In other words, invest in the sky. Lay up our treasures in safe heavens, not in unsafe lands. The banks of the world are not safe, so you should deposit them safely in the bank of heaven. Do you know the name of this safest bank in the universe? It is the ‘Heaven Enterprise Bank’. Let's read 1 Peter 1:4 together. “He gives you an inheritance that is incorruptible, undefiled, and does not fade away, which is reserved in heaven for you.” Simply put, invest in the heavenly inheritance (inheritance in heaven) that guarantees the most secure reward and eternal reward. Investing in this heavenly kingdom is an eternal investment. Doesn't Jesus reveal the decisive meaning of this saying to lay up treasures in heaven at the end of Matthew 6? Matthew 6:33. “Therefore, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” If you focus on piling up treasures in heaven, isn't that saying that he will be in charge of the treasures on earth?
Jesus did not vaguely refer to the meaning of seeking righteousness as an act of righteousness. According to Matthew 6:1-2, Jesus associates doing righteousness with an act of almsgiving. So, the word to seek his kingdom and his righteousness means a life of concrete devotion to missions and salvation to realize the purpose of the kingdom of God. Now is the time for us to account for how faithful we were to missions, charitable giving, and giving in detail as we accounted for our stewardship over the past year. In the face of the global economic crisis, there are some people who are the first to reduce donations while we are saving money. But where do you think will be the most affected when our dedication to giving is reduced? Isn't that the realm of the mission of the kingdom of God? However, there are unexpected people in history who, in the face of this economic crisis, decided to make a financial commitment rather than a financial setback.