How We Handle Our Treasure Reveals What We Treasure...

Yesterday, we discovered that Jesus talked about the subject of money and finances five times more often then He talked about prayer and faith. We than asked why did Jesus talk about money so much and began to look at a section of perhaps Jesus most famous sermon that He preached on earth. In Matthew 6:19-24, Jesus explained that we are to store up for ourselves treasure in Heaven because the treasures of this earth our temporary.

In addition, Jesus explained that we spend money and invest in the things that we are devoted to. Followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Him respond to all that God has done for them by investing in God’s kingdom mission because they treasure God above everything else. You see, the reality is that we can tell what we love by looking at where our treasure goes. Today, we will see Jesus use a metaphor to hammer His point home in verses 22-23. Let’s look at it together:

"The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, 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 that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

To understand the metaphor that Jesus uses in these verses, we first need to understand what Jesus is talking about when He refers to the eye as the lamp of the body. When Jesus uses the word eye, He is referring to our spiritual eyes and what they focus on. This is important because our bodies follow what our eyes focus on.

I learned this principle first hand during a mountain bike trip outside of Kingman. During my ride, I approached a steep downward section of the trail that was covered with baseball sized rocks. Now sometimes when mountain biking, you come to situations where you realize that you have lost control of the speed of your bike. And as I gained speed down this section of the trail, this was one of those times. About ¾ of the way down this decline, there was a boulder that came up to a person’s knee. Now I knew that I did not want to hit that boulder. But as I came closer to that point on the trail, I was coming closer to the boulder.

As you have probably guessed, I hit the boulder square and went head over my handlebars down the rest of the hill. And if that was not bad enough, the bike proceeded to fall on top of me and follow me down the hill. Needless to say, my body was covered with scrapes and boulder rash. You see, because I was focused on the boulder so as to not hit it, my body actually steered the bike toward the boulder.

And that is Jesus point here. We follow what we are focused on. When Jesus uses the word clear, He is referring to someone who is motivated by a singleness of purpose or focus. Jesus provided that focus in verse 19 when He commanded that we store up for ourselves treasures in Heaven. Jesus point is that when our spiritual eyes are clearly focused on storing up treasure in Heaven our whole body will be full of light.

But what does Jesus mean when He states that our bodies will be full of light? The phrase to be full of light conveys the sense of being illuminated by something so as to reflect that light toward others. So in essence, Jesus is stating that when we are focused on storing up treasures in Heaven, we will reveal and reflect Christ to others. We will reflect Christ’s generosity. We will reflect Christ’s desire to love and serve God and others through the money, possessions, and treasure that we have while we live life on earth.

And as we reveal and reflect Jesus to others, the result is that we advance God’s Kingdom and enhance God’s reputation. Followers of Jesus who are involved in a growing and maturing relationship with Him are able to make a fundamental shift from asking the question “What honors me?” to the question “What honors God?”

Jesus then contrasts the person who is singularly focused on storing up treasures in Heaven with the person who is focused on storing up treasures on earth. In verse 23, Jesus speaks of the person whose eye is bad. When Jesus uses the word bad, He is literally referring to someone whose spiritual eyes are unhealthy or sick. This person’s spiritual eyes are clouded by greed. This is a person who is focused on making and spending the money, possessions, and treasure that they accumulate on themselves to advance their kingdom and enhance their reputation.

Jesus then explains that the end result of having spiritual eyes that are unhealthy due to being clouded by greed is that the person is described as being full of darkness. To be full of darkness conveys the sense of an absence of Christ-likeness in a person’s life. Jesus ends verse 23 with the phrase if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness. Jesus point is that the person whose life is clouded by greed and selfishness and that focuses on storing up treasures for themselves on earth is full of spiritual and moral darkness as well.

Now, I don’t know about you, but sometimes we can find ourselves trying to have it both ways, can’t we? I can find myself tempted to try to have my feet in both worlds, so to speak. So, can’t we do both? Can’t we store up treasures on earth and in Heaven? Jesus provides the answer to this question in verse 24:

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

Jesus, in verse 24, makes it clear that we cannot serve two masters. When Jesus uses the word serve, He is referring to someone who acts in total allegiance and total commitment to someone or something. Jesus point is that you cannot be totally committed to two differing options. And here we see a second reason why Jesus talked so much about money, possessions, and treasure. You see, we cannot serve God and money not only because of the reality that we follow what we are focused on.

Here we see that we cannot serve God and money because we will serve what we are devoted to. The timeless reality is that God and money, possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion. You will either be totally devoted to God, or you will be totally devoted to money, possessions, and treasure. That is Jesus point.

You see, God uses money to reveal who we love and trust more. God says “Do you love me? Do you trust me? Do you love me more than your money? Do you love me more than your possessions? Do you love me more than your treasure? Do you love and trust me enough to handle your money and finances according to my principles, or are you going to handle your money finances your way?”

And it is in this section of this famous sermon that we see Jesus reveal for us the timeless answer to the question “why did Jesus talk so much about money? And that timeless answer is this: Jesus talks about treasure because how we handle our treasure reveals what we treasure.

I think that Jesus had no problem talking about money because Jesus knew that how we handle money reveals our spiritual condition. Jesus had no problem talking about money because how we handle money reveals who or what has our heart. Because, this morning, the timeless reality is that we spend money on what we love. We follow what we are focused on. And we will serve what we are devoted to. You see, God does not want something from us; God wants something for us. God wants for us to experience the relationship with Him that we were created for.

So here is a question to consider: What does how you handle your treasure reveal about what you treasure? Because, as Jesus stated, for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. And the timeless reality is that God and money, possessions, and treasure compete for our total devotion.

So what does your checkbook say about what or who you treasure?