Jesus on Money

Jesus on Money

Matthew 6:19-24

• if we really believe what we say we believe, that we will live with God eternally, then it will shape our relationship with money.
• Our attitudes toward money will reveal where our priorities lie.
  

1. This passage is a warning against covetousness: a sin of discontentment. Among other lessons we will see, Jesus is saying that the heart he desires for us is content and focused on things above, not things here on earth.
2. Don’t lay up for yourselves treasures on earth...
1. for yourselves...  our wealth on earth should be laid up for God’s use, not ours.

To lay up for yourselves treasure on earth is also to doom yourself to a life of frustration and emptiness. Regarding material things, the secret to happiness is not more, it is contentment. In a 1992 survey, people were asked how much money they would have to make to have “the American dream.” Those who earn $25,000 or less a year thought they would need around $54,000. Those in the $100,000 annual income bracket said that they could buy the dream for an average of $192,000 a year. These figures indicate that we typically think we would have to have double our income in order to find the good life. But the Apostle Paul had the right idea in 1 Timothy 6:6: Now godliness with contentment is great gain. (Guizik)

2. Is it wrong to to save money and amass wealth? What does the Bible say?
   Prov 10:22, 13:11, 14:23, 21:20, 23:4-5, Matthew 25:29
3. ...where moth and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal.”  Earthly goods are subject to decay and loss (there’s the curse of entropy again). If our attention is on earthly treasure, we lose peace over the state of our accounts, because they are subject to loss here on earth.
2. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. NEWS FLASH: We can do works here, NOW, in this life, and “bank” them as good deeds in heaven. How Cool is that???
1. what do you think we will do with these riches in heaven? I mean, the streets are paved with gold...?  (See crowns: Rev4:10-11)
2. How do we store up treasure in heaven? What do we do?

1cor 3:11-15

4. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Don’t you just love how Jesus states the problem so clearly and simply? He has a laser-like focus on the real issue: our hearts. Who will see God? the “pure in heart” (James 4:8)
5. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also: Jesus drew the conclusion that you can only have your treasure (and your heart) in one place; we can’t store up treasure on earth and on heaven at the same time. (Guizik)

“It is not so much the disciple’s wealth that Jesus is concerned with as his loyalty. As Matthew 6:24 will make explicit, materialism is in direct conflict with loyalty to God.” (france)

Choice between two visions:

6. V21: Jesus talks about spiritual vision: it is easily clouded and blocked by distractions (self-serving desires, interests, goals, worldly wealth, wrong priorities). Our ability to see life as God wants us to can easily be blocked. Then we become dark.
7. Jesus is making a double-meaning here: he uses a phrase like “Evil eye” which to his listeners implied stinginess, greed, covetousness of a neighbor's goods. Literally “Greedy eye”. Greed in our eyes will block our vision of God.
8. How do these verses connect with the rest of the passage?

Choice between two masters:

10. Jesus states it a a plain, self-evident fact: you can only serve one master. We can start to think of the christian life as a “second job” to our daily life. It is not like having two jobs, it is like having two OWNERS! A slave is OWNED by his master. You can’t be owned by two masters!!!
11. I find it enlightening that Jesus speaks of being owned/mastered by your possessions... my dad used to say “the more you own, the more it owns you.” And I find it interesting that we use the same term for marking cattle ownership (branding) that we use for t-shirts with big logos on them (branding)... hmmmm. Who owns what?
12. What do we call it when we try to serve God and something else? what happens?
13. You can’t serve both God and Mammon (money). What is mammon?
14. Certainly, Jesus is talking about the heart here. Many people would say they love God, but their service of money shows that in fact they do not. How can we tell who or what we are serving? One way is by remembering this principle: you will sacrifice for your God. If you will sacrifice for the sake of money, but will not sacrifice for the sake of Jesus, don’t deceive yourself: money is your God.
15. What do we sacrifice for Mammon?
16. Is money “the root of all evil”?  (hint: did Adam have money?)
17. We must remember that we don’t have to be rich to serve mammon (money and material things); the poor can be just as greedy and covetous as the rich can be
18. Why do you think Jesus spent so much time talking about money? Does the he just want us to give money to church?
19. Our relationship with money is a crux of our relationship with God. Money represents our life-energy, stored for future use. We must each decide if we will be the master of that life-energy, or will God.
20. Fear and Greed: The two biggest problems people have with money. What is the opposite of fear? what is the opposite of greed?