Theme: Store up treasure in heaven.

Goal:  To encourage people to store up treasure in heaven.

 Introduction:

-we have here an incredible, powerful teaching from Jesus

    -but it almost feels like Jesus is saying three unrelated things

    -the key to understanding this passage is seeing how they are connected

 I.  One Focus (vv. 22-23)

-scene in Star Wars where Yoda teaches Luke how to saber fight blind-folded

    -the power of the force ran so strong in Luke that he could detect visual stimuli

    -most of us don’t have Jedi training, if blind-folded and tennis ball thrown at you

    -most of us are very dependent on our eyes

-we respond based on what we see

-Jesus says that if our eyes are good, our whole body will be full of light

    -literally, if our eyes are single, body full of light

    -in other words if our perception is accurate, in focus, if seeing things clearly

    -then we will know how to act, how to respond

    -driving on the highway at night, tired eyes, imaginary deer

-as we travel the road of life, it is crucial to have strong, focused eyes

-if we respond to something that isn’t true as if it is true… problems

-we’re not living reality-based lives, swerving to miss imaginary deer

    -driving off the road in the process

-we need to see life, our existence, in focus, as it really is

 II. Two Masters (v. 24)

-we just talked about maintaining our focus; maybe you’ve noticed that’s hard to do

    -life is full of distractions, things that pull our focus apart

    -being a child of God in this world is like waking up from a horribly vivid dream

    -in your mind you know what’s real, that it was just a dream

    -but the feelings of fear, guilt, or sadness still linger through out the day

-like waking up from a bad dream, God’s Word reveals reality

    -it’s the alarm clock on the night stand, streetlight out the window

-the Bible focuses our vision and lets us see clearly

-but it takes time to emerge from the dream, to convince ourselves

-and we live in a world that has swallowed the dream hook, line, and sinker

-our racing heart beat, fight/flight response refuse to let us dismiss the dream

-so we’ve got two choices: believe the dream, or believe reality

    -Jesus puts it this way: you can’t serve two masters

-you can’t believe two mutually exclusive claims

-either what the Bible says is true or what our culture says is true

-Jesus gets more specific here: either God offers the good life, or $ does

-either only God can fulfill our every need or only possession can

    -so we’ve got a decision to make: believe the truth, or live in a dream

-like Bob Dylan once sang, you’ve got to serve somebody

-either money can fill your needs or Jesus can

-either there is a deer in the road or there isn’t; either way, you have to respond

III.Three Problems (vv. 19-21)

-here in vv. 19-21, Jesus gives us an example of how this works in real life

    -and it has to do with this resolution that we started talking about: saving money

    -if you’re going to live in the dream and store your treasure for this life

    -then you will encounter three specific problems: moths, rust, and thieves

    -we might say bear markets, bankrupt businesses

-Jesus is not suggesting that it’s wrong or faithless to save money

    -contribute to a 401k or IRA

    -in fact, I think Jesus recognizes the wisdom in that

    -the problem is when we trust our earthly treasure to provide for us

    -bring us happiness and fulfillment

    -if your source of security is a nest egg for retirement

-you’ve allowed the world to pull your eyes out of focus

-believed the dream, not the truth

      -on the other hand, if you can remain focused and believe reality

-then Jesus says you will invest in a different retirement fund

-one that earns dividends on earth and in heaven

    -think about this: for the price of that HDTV you bought for the big game

-our 3-5 year olds can learn about God every Sunday during church for a year

-price of a new laptop, our SS program runs for a year

-granted, by that logic you would never buy anything

    -look at it this way: for a couple years at Calvin, I lived in the dorms – my “home”

-it was important to me to decorate, but we didn’t break the bank to do it

-we didn’t dump money into it b/c it was only our for 8 months

-now that we have a permanent home, put more into it (no bidet)

    -this world is not our final home, we are living here now, but not permanent

    -there’s another, more magnificent home that we will inherit one day

    -people w/ good eyes, who aren’t distracted, understand this:

    -it’s foolish to spend too much on a temporary residence

    -it makes much more sense to spend it on an eternal one

    -people who see things as really are invest in a kingdom in which they will reign

    -they invest in a home where they will live forever, not for a few years

 Conclusion:

This business of saving money… money’s not the point here

-important to choose the truth, but that’s not the point either

-seeing things as they really are, in focus – that’s the point

    -then choosing the truth will be a no-brainer

    -and we will freely w/o qualms invest in this kingdom that we will inherit