Week 7: The Sermon on the Mount (Where your treasure is) Discussion Questions

Transcription

1 Week 7: The Sermon on the Mount (Where your treasure is) Discussion Questions 1. Psychologist Oliver James describes affluenza as an obsessive, envious, keeping-up with the Joneses Buying things we don t need, with money we haven t got, to satisfy needs that can t be satisfied by material things. Why do you think the last (bolded) part is so significant? Read Matthew 6:19-21 (Two Treasures - Exhortation) 2. What is meant by treasures on earth in this passage? What is meant by treasures in heaven? How can you discern the difference? 3. What do you think some of your earthly treasures might be? Have you witnessed the decay or destruction of any of these over time? Why are earthly treasures so inferior? Why then are they so tempting or enticing? 4. What do you think are some of the warning signs that you might be building up earthly treasures? 5. How do we practice storing up heavenly treasures? (Refer to the sermon.) 6. If someone observed your life (the secret and public parts), what do you think they would say is your ultimate treasure? Read Matthew 6:22-23 (Two Eyes - Illustration) 7. Can you explain what is meant by the eye as a lamp? 8. How do the eyes being the lamp of the body illustrate the importance of putting the hope and desires of our hearts in the treasures in heaven? 9. Are there perhaps some things you should less time looking at? 10. How can ensure that what we are eyeing off is that which is increasingly of God and is going to fill our lives with light? Read Matthew 6:24 (Two Masters - Application) 11. Why is it impossible to serve two masters? Why do people try? 12. How is money or the things we buy, or the image we project a poor replacement for God? 13. Mark said (because Jesus teaches!) if you re totally devoted to God, you ll hate money and despise the greed and materialism of today s society and what it does to people. Do you think this reflects your present reality? 14. How can we seek to ensure that God is our only master? And what can we do when we fail at this?

2 Sermon on the Mount Radically counter-cultural # 7 Where your treasure is Matthew 6:19-24 Two treasures (exhortation) Two eyes (illustration) Two masters (application) Be perfect Jesus said. That s all. That s it. Perfection. A perfection that consists of setting aside anger, avoiding lust, divorce, revenge... Loving not just those who love us but those who hate us Praying for those who persecute you A perfection which consists of not doing things just to be noticed just to be seen by others... but in all we do as Christians playing only to an audience of one... for only what God sees matters... Perfection. Impossible of course ultimately. Only one was perfect. Only Jesus. And it s only by turning to him, trusting in him... only by putting on his perfection that we will ever be seen as perfect....only by recognising the poverty of our own heart...only by mourning over our sin... Only by looking to the cross and knowing Jesus there carried our imperfections... only then... when we repent and believe, we will be seen by God as perfect perfect with Jesus perfection. We make choices all the time. Life is full of choices. Too many choices! You ve already made choices this morning... whether or not to get up and come to church! What to have for breakfast What to wear Which route to take to church Not that much hung on those decisions But some choices we make without thinking too much about them

3 Some choices flow out of our basic approach to life How you spend your time Where you give your money Where your interests and passions lie What takes up your thoughts What you do with your free time The company you keep..all of those sorts of decisions will flow from what you really think matters in life...from what you really think is important So it is that Jesus puts those really significant life choices before us this morning... from which flows everything we then do in life... So in this little passage this morning we see: we make choices between: 1. Two treasures 2. Two eyes 3. Two masters... as Jesus gives us exhortation, an illustration and an application Two treasures (exhortation) vv do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. So Jesus point here seems pretty straight forward: what treasure are you going to be concerned about? Things that are temporary, or things that are eternal? The word for rust here can mean insect or worm - so there is a clear inference of things being actively eaten away. So Jesus is saying that earthly treasures - be that your precious metals or your expensive cloak - all have the same destiny - they re going to end up rotting, decaying, or even just being stolen. They will inevitably be destroyed and will no longer exist or be of any value. In the ancient world, a typical Palestinian household would bury their treasures under the floor of the house, so actually when Jesus says when thieves break in, he s actually talking about when thieves dig through and take your stuff. We don t necessarily bury things, but we put stuff away in banks or superannuation funds - it may have the allusion of being secure or permanent, but we all know that they can actually be fleeting. Jesus point is: earthly wealth is always precarious at best. Haven t we all seen that? Stock market crash? Costly divorce? Failed business venture? Maybe gambling addiction?

4 Cars bought and sold... ridiculous losses After all, ALL this material stuff: at the end of the game, it all goes back in the box! It s simply not true that the one with the most toys wins! despite the truck loads of evidence and the fact that we all kind-of-know that money and material possessions are not the answer, we fall for the myth that the more stuff you have, the more security and happiness you will enjoy. It s rubbish! instead Jesus says store up for yourselves treasures in heaven... What on earth does that mean? (no pun intended!) What are the treasures of eternity? Undiluted and extravagant love A sinless life Purity of heart Deep emotions without tears Worship without restrain or hypocrisy The presence of God in unqualified way How do you lay them up? Bank them? Store them? As far as possible... you revel in them now! You practise generous love You actively work to get rid of sin (remember cut off your right hand) You don t do things to be noticed You cut out distractions so you can practise the presence of God You value you treasure now all you ll spend eternity loving and appreciating! You ll do stuff now, which will impact for eternity!...and it will be safe... won t rot, won t rust, can t be stolen... It s yours... its good... it will last... it has ultimate value... v21 and then what happens is where your treasure is, there your heart will be also whatever you value... there you heart will go... Whatever you hold dear... you ll love Whatever you think is most important - you ll find yourself consumed by, distracted by... your energies, time, effort, money... will trend there... brothers and sisters... here s the challenge... does God take precedence over everything else in your life? Is he your treasure? Are his treasures your treasures? Are the treasures of eternity that which you highly prize? Are the things of ultimate value in your life all that you cherish the most : your relationship with him; the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ; the gift of the Spirit... the people of God; the beauty of the gospel; the promotion of the gospel; the salvation of your friends and family, purity of motive,

5 integrity of purpose...; generosity of spirit; love for friend, love for enemy, prayer; worship; kindness; growth in Christ likeness... are these your treasures friends? There will be your heart... your first love... your passion Two eyes (illustration) v22 the eyes is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! a little tricky Jesus is illustrating the point not giving a scientific explanation of the way the eye works or even the role of your eye! but think of it for a moment your eye let s light in to your brain doesn t it? If your very soul or self if to be full of light......then your eyes must be kept on what is good... on the source of all light Jesus the light of the world!!! But if your eye is looking on all that is bad or dark or unhelpful or corrupt or sinful... then guess what effect that has on your soul!! You become dark within! the good eye is the one fixed on God, unwavering in its gaze, constant in its fixation and the result is that the entire person is full of light. In other words if your eyes are looking to God and therefore his treasure is your treasure, then your whole life will be filled with his light. However, if your eyes are bad in the sense they spend their time eyeing off and coveting the treasures of this world, then your life will end up being filled with the inevitable darkness of being enveloped and captivated by everything which will pass away. even if we were to take the metaphor more literally you can see the impact......how much darkness is in a person s life look at pornography?...how much darkness is in a person s life when they are eyeing off their next drink or next fix?...how much darkness in a person s life when their all-consuming passion is real estate, stock market, portfolio report, state of their super... How good are your eyes? What do they love eyeing off - both literally and metaphorically - the things of this world; or the things of the world to come? Everything which will fade away, or all that which will last forever? 3. Two masters (application) v24 No one 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. You cannot serve both God and Money. here s what it comes down to as Jesus presses his point home... Remember: two treasures two sorts of treasures ones that won t last ones that will last Two eyes good eyes who because of what they are eyeing off fill a person with light... or bad because they are eyeing off fills their life with darkness... In the end... it s about whom you serve God or Money... Because you can t serve both that s for sure!

6 People fool themselves into thinking they can serve both God on Sunday money during the week! God mostly money a little bit God in the eyes of others... money in the depths of my heart...god on the outside... money on the inside... But it s impossible. You can t. It doesn t work. You ll hate the one and love the other. Or be devoted to the one and despise the other. One or other will take charge and call the shots One or the other will drive your decision making One of the other will capture your heart! Yes that s right if you re devoted to God... if you really are... then as a consequence you ll hate or despise money or material possession or stuff!!... You ll hate what money promises You ll hate what money does to people You ll hate greed, envy, theft... You ll hate the self-sufficiency, the arrogance money brings. You ll hate the selfishness and pride and one-upmanship that money brings... You ll hate the fact that it s so hard for the rich to enter the kingdom of heaven! Is that you? Is God your Master? Or is Money? Which one? Really? You can t serve both. You can t treasure both You can t love both You can t look on both Only one will treasure will last Only one will fill your life with light one will enslave you, the other will free you one will excite you temporarily and then let you down while the other will inspire you and transform you

7 my guess is that many of us here this morning struggle in this whole area we live among many well to do people some of us work for them some of us are quite well-to-do! We ve mucked up in this area Sometimes our money has been too important We ve tried to serve both We re not perfect!!... no of course we re not And for all our imperfections... we take them to the cross... and we lay them there... and find forgiveness and cleansing... And we come back again to God and say I want you only to be my Master I want to treasure you alone I want my heart to be about you I want you to be my passion and my drive and my guide and my rule...so take me again; fill me again; lead me back to you...save me from my own foolishness and darkness... And fill my life with your light as I gaze on you...! //// Jesus give us this clear exhortation... don t store up treasures on earth don t do it! Then he gives us this illustration what you are eyeing off will fill your life with either darkness or light... And then he gives us this application... you cannot serve God and Money... What is your treasure? What are you eyeing off? filling your life with? Who is your Master?