WEBVTT 00:00:49.359 --> 00:00:50.399 Good morning, everyone. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:52.000 I'm excited to be with you guys. 00:00:52.159 --> 00:00:55.039 My name, as was said earlier, my name is Jeremy Ostriger. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:04.640 I don't know if that was in the script and she just couldn't read it, which would be understandable because I also don't know how to say my last name, so we're probably that it's a guess on anyone's part. 00:01:05.120 --> 00:01:11.840 I'm happy to seize people I've known for years, people like the Schweigarts who are here if you know them, and John Esposito who I've known. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.120 I've rewired houses with him for some weird reason I can't explain. 00:01:15.280 --> 00:01:18.000 Uh if you know John, that's actually probably not surprising. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.560 So that's happened on more than one occasion. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:23.120 And I've known Kirk for probably about 10 years now. 00:01:23.200 --> 00:01:27.040 So just excited to be able to share and open up the word of God with you guys today. 00:01:27.200 --> 00:01:35.120 So we're going to continue in the series you've been in, going through the Sermon on the Mount and what it looks like for the kingdom of God to be commonplace in our lives. 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:42.959 You know, the Sermon on the Mount is Jesus' longest teaching in Scripture, and he discusses just an incredible array of topics in this sermon. 00:01:43.280 --> 00:01:50.879 And when Kirk told me you guys were going through the Mount, Sermon on the Mount, I was excited because these are Jesus' words. 00:01:51.040 --> 00:01:53.120 These are the basis of Christianity. 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:55.040 This is the basis of what we believe. 00:01:55.120 --> 00:02:01.040 And if you've been around the church for a long time, you've probably heard people use the phrase, make disciples who make disciples. 00:02:01.280 --> 00:02:04.879 But often when they say that, we don't define what we mean by disciple. 00:02:04.959 --> 00:02:08.719 We don't define what it means to be a disciple or what it means to make a disciple. 00:02:08.960 --> 00:02:14.560 And I love in the book of Matthew because the way that Matthew recounts the Great Commission, he does define it. 00:02:14.639 --> 00:02:19.520 He says, make disciples, teaching them to do everything I've commanded you. 00:02:19.840 --> 00:02:25.199 So being a disciple of Jesus isn't just that we hear what he says, it isn't just that we know what he taught. 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:28.159 It's that we're actually doing what he says to do. 00:02:28.319 --> 00:02:30.159 We're actually doing what he taught us. 00:02:30.319 --> 00:02:35.199 That's what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, that our heart is changed and that we want to do what he says to do. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:47.039 Not because it's a bunch of strict rules that'll make us better people, but because we're supposed to do, we're supposed to trust that he understands what's better for the world, what's better for our lives, what's better for everyone around us. 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:51.680 That's what it means to be a disciple, and that's what it means to teach others to be a disciple in Jesus. 00:02:51.840 --> 00:02:54.960 It means hearing him and obeying him through the power of the Holy Spirit. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:02:56.319 And obviously not perfectly. 00:02:56.400 --> 00:03:02.639 None of us are gonna do that perfectly, but we're gonna grow in our ability to do that as we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives. 00:03:02.800 --> 00:03:05.759 And that's why I love studying passages like the Sermon on the Mount. 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:12.159 These are the precious words of Jesus, the God incarnate in this world who's teaching us what we're supposed to look like. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.080 And the words of Jesus, like I said, they're the basis for our faith. 00:03:16.319 --> 00:03:19.520 Going back to those words is so refreshing to us. 00:03:19.919 --> 00:03:30.159 But also it can feel a little bit like if you're a parent and you're trying to help your kids with your homework, their homework, I should say, and you realize at some point you forgot how fractions work, right? 00:03:30.319 --> 00:03:31.599 It can feel a little bit like that. 00:03:31.680 --> 00:03:36.159 It can feel like you're forgetting how these basics of our faith work. 00:03:36.400 --> 00:03:40.000 And so we need to hear and be reminded what we're called to be as Christians. 00:03:40.159 --> 00:03:46.000 So we're gonna be in Matthew chapter 6, like was just read, verses 19 through 34 today, if you have your Bibles with you. 00:03:46.719 --> 00:03:52.000 And in the sections leading up to this, just as a reminder, Jesus covers a few really important topics for us. 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:58.719 He covers how to be generous, how to pray in the very famous Lord's Prayer, and also how to fast humbly. 00:03:58.960 --> 00:04:04.960 And today he's gonna hit on everyone's favorite topic: finances, money, wealth, what we love in this world. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.800 And it may not be for you, it might not be that you have a lot of actual money. 00:04:08.960 --> 00:04:11.520 Maybe you have just things you care about, possessions. 00:04:11.599 --> 00:04:21.120 Maybe it's heirlooms, maybe it's your children, maybe it's relationships, whatever it is you value the most in this world, Jesus is gonna hit on that, and it's not gonna feel uncomfortable at all, don't worry. 00:04:21.279 --> 00:04:22.000 We're good. 00:04:22.319 --> 00:04:37.680 So Jesus is gonna give us three ways in this passage that we're supposed to interact with money, and then he's gonna give us this incredible reflection to help us actually do that, to help us actually be obedient and not just hear the truths of how we're supposed to act, but be able to actually act on them. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:47.600 So in verses 19 through 21, Jesus says, Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 00:04:47.759 --> 00:04:54.560 But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 00:04:54.720 --> 00:04:57.839 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:01.279 Point one, invest in heaven. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:04.000 Jesus tells us not to store our wealth in this world. 00:05:04.079 --> 00:05:10.319 And he tells us something I think we all in inherently know, and that's that everything we love in this world is breaking down. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:16.319 Everything decays, everything's eaten by moth and rust and sinkholes on Route 80 and Hurricane Sandy. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:22.319 It's the world is trying to destroy what we love, and it's very good at it. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:24.399 It will destroy what we love. 00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:27.199 The world is bent on destroying what we love. 00:05:27.360 --> 00:05:32.720 Uh, this is just the nature of the world, second law of thermodynamics, you know, that everything is in a state of decay. 00:05:32.800 --> 00:05:34.639 It's decaying, it's getting worse. 00:05:34.959 --> 00:05:41.439 And our prom our finances promise this sense of security, but they can't deliver what they don't have, right? 00:05:41.680 --> 00:05:43.360 They don't have security themselves. 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:45.199 Our finances themselves will fall apart. 00:05:45.360 --> 00:05:46.720 They can't make us secure. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:57.600 Uh, I remember when my wife and I first got married, we uh we were trying to figure out where we should get an apartment or where we should live, and her grandmother at the time was in her mid-90s and she had just broken her hip. 00:05:57.680 --> 00:06:01.519 And so my father-in-law thought, you know, she doesn't, she can't live in her own anymore. 00:06:01.600 --> 00:06:02.720 That's not safe for her. 00:06:02.879 --> 00:06:10.959 So she moved in with my in-laws, and she had her house that had been lived in for nobody had ever moved to that out of that house since it was built. 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:16.319 Her in-laws had built that house, and then when they passed away, they moved in, her and her husband moved in. 00:06:16.480 --> 00:06:23.279 And so she lived in there for 60, 70 years, and we decided my wife and I would rent out the house, pay the expenses on it. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:29.120 That way we could get something better than an apartment, but at the same time, the house didn't have to be sold, so it was a win-win for everyone. 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:36.000 And it sounded like a really great decision on paper, except the fact that no one had moved out of that house, like I said, for a hundred years. 00:06:36.160 --> 00:06:38.399 And so there was stuff everywhere. 00:06:38.560 --> 00:06:42.160 And this was stuff, this was also a woman who grew up during the Great Depression. 00:06:42.319 --> 00:06:46.240 So, in her mind, anything she could need, she saved. 00:06:46.399 --> 00:06:48.720 Newspaper clippings, random, you know. 00:06:48.800 --> 00:06:52.319 The weirdest thing I think we found was there was a giant bag of chicken bones. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:55.199 And I honestly don't want to know what they were for, to be honest. 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:58.560 I didn't ask her, I don't want to know, but there was a bag of chicken bones. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:09.439 But so much else in that house was it had gotten moldy, it had gotten wet at some point, it had gotten chewed by rodents or by insects, or it had just fallen apart because it was a hundred years old. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:11.120 And so, where did it end up? 00:07:11.199 --> 00:07:13.040 It just ended up in a dumpster, right? 00:07:13.199 --> 00:07:21.360 So much of that this woman had cared about what she thought was going to be valuable, what she thought she was gonna need one day, just ended up in a dumpster, ultimately. 00:07:21.759 --> 00:07:22.079 Right? 00:07:22.160 --> 00:07:23.920 It it didn't have any real use to her. 00:07:24.079 --> 00:07:24.800 She thought it would. 00:07:24.879 --> 00:07:28.240 She thought she would need it or use it one day, but she didn't. 00:07:28.399 --> 00:07:31.360 And that's what happens with what we treasure in this world. 00:07:31.519 --> 00:07:35.360 It's sobering to think about, and we try to deny it, I think, a lot of times. 00:07:35.519 --> 00:07:36.959 We try to pretend like it's not true. 00:07:37.120 --> 00:07:42.160 We try to pretend like we can hold on to what we have in this world, but we can't. 00:07:42.399 --> 00:07:44.240 It's not something we can actually hold on to. 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:50.560 I know it's a really encouraging start to discern that everything you love in this world is gonna fall apart, but that's where Jesus starts in this section. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:07:51.600 That's what he tells us. 00:07:51.759 --> 00:07:53.439 What we have in this world is gonna fall apart. 00:07:53.600 --> 00:07:57.600 And even if it doesn't fall apart, it's prone to getting stolen from us. 00:07:57.920 --> 00:07:59.360 People can take it from us. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.879 We often don't have that much control like we think we do. 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:06.639 Or I think of the Bernie Madoff situation, was that 10, 15 years ago? 00:08:06.720 --> 00:08:07.519 It's probably more than that. 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:11.439 I'm probably totally messing up that timeline, but whenever it was, years ago. 00:08:11.600 --> 00:08:15.360 And he wasn't stealing from people who had barely had anything. 00:08:15.519 --> 00:08:18.639 Most of the people he stole from were incredibly wealthy people. 00:08:18.800 --> 00:08:21.120 There's also some you know funds and things like that. 00:08:21.199 --> 00:08:26.800 So there were some poor people involved in that, but mostly it was incredibly wealthy people that he was taking money from. 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:28.879 People that should know better, right? 00:08:29.040 --> 00:08:31.680 And thought they were very secure, but weren't. 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:33.919 And I think of uh the New York Mets. 00:08:34.240 --> 00:08:38.559 So if you didn't know, the New York Mets were a big investor in Bernie Madoff's scheme. 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:43.440 And decades of baseball, bad baseball, didn't really affect the Mets very much. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:45.840 But Bernie Madoff almost took them out. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.639 They almost lost the Mets because of Bernie Madoff. 00:08:48.720 --> 00:08:49.120 Thankfully. 00:08:49.200 --> 00:08:50.399 Well, maybe not thankfully, I don't know. 00:08:50.639 --> 00:08:51.840 If you're a Mets fan, thankfully. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:56.159 Yeah, I don't really care about the Mets, but if you like the Mets, thankfully. 00:08:56.720 --> 00:09:00.480 The point is that wealth on this earth isn't secure. 00:09:00.639 --> 00:09:07.279 It seems secure, wants us to believe it's secure and that it will give us security, but it's not secure. 00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:08.960 So what does Jesus say instead? 00:09:09.120 --> 00:09:12.399 He says, Lay up for yourself treasure in heaven. 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:15.200 What in the world is treasure in heaven? 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:27.039 You know, thankfully, this isn't somewhere we have to guess because Jesus actually clarifies this in another section in Matthew where this rich young ruler comes up to Jesus and says, What do I have to do to inherit eternal life? 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:30.000 And Jesus says, Follow the law. 00:09:30.399 --> 00:09:36.960 And in what is probably the most self-deluded response in all of Scripture, he says, I've done all the law since I was born. 00:09:38.799 --> 00:09:48.720 Ludicrous response, but Jesus follows it up by saying this if you would be perfect, go sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have, here's the phrase, you will have treasure in heaven. 00:09:49.120 --> 00:09:50.240 And come follow me. 00:09:51.519 --> 00:09:52.480 Treasure in heaven. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:10:03.279 So for Jesus, it seems like what there is, there's a tension between what we own and what owns us in this world, and what we own in heaven, our treasure in heaven and our treasure in earth. 00:10:03.360 --> 00:10:04.639 There's a tension between them. 00:10:04.879 --> 00:10:11.200 And are we willing to let God use what we love in this earth, what we value most in this earth for his glory? 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:15.279 Or do we want to hold on to it for our own glory, for what we want in this world? 00:10:16.960 --> 00:10:20.799 So giving up what we have on this earth leads us to treasure in heaven. 00:10:21.120 --> 00:10:25.759 Are we open to God using what we have in this world, what we love in this world for his glory? 00:10:26.639 --> 00:10:32.879 Just quick side note there's a lot of debate over whether or not treasure in heaven's like a one-for-one kind of economy, right? 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.200 The more you give up for God, the more you have in heaven. 00:10:35.360 --> 00:10:36.399 There's a debate over that. 00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:39.440 And we don't need to get into it because that's not Jesus' point. 00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:44.639 Jesus isn't picturing us as the Scrooge McDucks of heaven, you know, doing the backstroke in heavenly gold. 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:46.159 That's not what he's picturing, right? 00:10:46.240 --> 00:10:47.360 That's not what he wants us to see. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:50.159 He isn't concerned with how much treasure we have in heaven. 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.759 He's concerned with the effects that treasure has on us. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:10:58.960 That's why he concludes for where your heart is, where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 00:10:59.120 --> 00:11:02.240 And heart in this culture isn't just your feelings, it isn't just what you care about. 00:11:02.320 --> 00:11:04.000 It's the deepest part of who you are. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:05.679 It's what you're passionate about. 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:08.399 It's what you want the most in this world. 00:11:08.559 --> 00:11:15.519 And so his point is when we choose to use our earthly treasure for the glory of God, we change the position of our heart. 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:26.879 We change what we care about, we change the very essence of who we are as people, that we're not just people who care about the wealth of this world and what we could have in this world, we're people who care about what we can have in eternity. 00:11:27.600 --> 00:11:27.840 Right? 00:11:27.919 --> 00:11:31.440 We're people who care about the kingdom of God, people who care about heaven. 00:11:32.320 --> 00:11:33.440 That's his first point. 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:35.279 He continues to his second point. 00:11:35.759 --> 00:11:37.440 The eye is the lamp of the body. 00:11:37.600 --> 00:11:40.480 So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 00:11:40.639 --> 00:11:43.919 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 00:11:44.159 --> 00:11:48.080 If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness? 00:11:48.320 --> 00:11:50.960 So point two, be generous. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:53.840 And you're probably thinking, what in the world are you talking about? 00:11:53.919 --> 00:11:56.639 Because that didn't say anything about being generous. 00:11:56.799 --> 00:11:58.639 And that's a very fair response. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:04.960 And that's because there's no one in this room who's a first century Jewish person, I don't think, unless you're time traveling and that's weird. 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:06.720 But I don't think that's the case. 00:12:06.879 --> 00:12:12.159 We're all 21st century Americans, we don't understand the expressions that Jesus is using here. 00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:17.039 So there's two expressions we have to learn, we have to understand in order to understand what Jesus is saying. 00:12:17.120 --> 00:12:22.320 And so the first one, uh, if you have this my high-quality slide here, that would be awesome. 00:12:22.480 --> 00:12:24.080 So this is super high quality. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.840 I know it doesn't, it doesn't at all look like someone made it on MS Paint. 00:12:28.320 --> 00:12:29.679 It's it's a great slide. 00:12:29.759 --> 00:12:39.840 But anyway, this is to explain about 400 years before Jesus is saying this, Plato, that Plato, you know, very famous Greek philosopher, wrote a book called Timaeus. 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:49.679 And in that book, he explains all sorts of ideas of how people of that day thought the world worked, how they thought weather worked, how they thought the planets worked, how they thought the human body worked. 00:12:49.759 --> 00:12:52.799 And in that, this is how they thought the eye worked. 00:12:52.960 --> 00:12:54.559 It's something called extra mission. 00:12:54.639 --> 00:12:57.279 You do not have to remember that, it's not that important. 00:12:57.519 --> 00:13:05.200 But what they thought was that there was a kind of fire inside of us and that it was projected out through the eye and that it interacted with all the objects around you. 00:13:05.279 --> 00:13:06.960 And that's how they thought that vision worked. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:08.879 That's how they thought the eye worked. 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:14.320 Nobody in here has to be an ophthalmologist or an optometrist to know that's not how the eye works, right? 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.399 I hope you don't think that's how your eye works. 00:13:16.720 --> 00:13:22.000 If you do, maybe you need to go back to like their grid biology, but hopefully you know that's not how the eye works. 00:13:22.159 --> 00:13:31.200 But Jesus is using this bad understanding of the eye to point towards some deeper truth, something that's more important than understanding vision. 00:13:32.639 --> 00:13:34.559 So here's the second thing we need to know. 00:13:34.720 --> 00:13:38.799 Jesus talks about the idea of a good eye and a bad eye here. 00:13:39.360 --> 00:13:46.240 And this isn't talking about some physical issue, and it isn't talking about a bad eye, like the evil eye kind of thing, where you give someone the evil eye. 00:13:46.320 --> 00:13:47.200 It's not talking about that. 00:13:47.360 --> 00:13:52.559 It's actually talking about a very common expression from that day and from uh Jewish history. 00:13:52.799 --> 00:13:57.519 So if we open up the book of Proverbs, it actually uses this phrase twice in the book of Proverbs. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:00.720 In Proverbs 23, 6 and in Proverbs 28.22. 00:14:00.879 --> 00:14:03.360 So let's open up the first one, Proverbs 23.6. 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:09.279 And I put on here four different versions of, well, I'll do them in order. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:13.279 So four different versions of the Bible that you probably have one of these, and we'll just read them real quick. 00:14:13.360 --> 00:14:17.679 So do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy, do not desire his delicacies. 00:14:17.919 --> 00:14:19.039 That's an ESV. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:25.279 And then the NIV says, do not eat the bread, the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:32.240 And then NLT says, do don't eat the with people who are stingy, don't desire their delicacies. 00:14:32.399 --> 00:14:37.759 And then NASB says, do not eat the bread of a selfish person or desire their delicacies. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:42.000 And again, you might think I lost it because it says nothing about an eye in any of those passages. 00:14:42.080 --> 00:14:46.480 And that's because here the translators have already taken the time to translate the Hebrew for us. 00:14:46.559 --> 00:14:56.879 So in Hebrew, where it says stit where they translate as stingy or begrudging or selfish or greedy in some other versions, all of those, the Hebrew literally says bad eye. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:01.919 It says, do not eat, more literally, do not eat the bread of someone with a bad eye, right? 00:15:02.080 --> 00:15:03.360 Or desirous delicacies. 00:15:03.440 --> 00:15:09.200 And the point of this passage that's trying to get at is if a greedy person is giving you something, it's not for free. 00:15:09.440 --> 00:15:09.759 Right? 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:11.679 They're gonna triangle it over you later. 00:15:11.919 --> 00:15:14.080 That's what this passage is trying to get at. 00:15:14.240 --> 00:15:16.799 That's what this expression would have meant in Jesus' day. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:23.200 To have a good eye would be somebody who was generous, who's somebody who cared about others, somebody who poured into other people. 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:29.360 And having a bad eye would have meant somebody who was greedy, who was selfish, who wanted only their own good. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:33.440 Okay, so let's read that passage again with those two understandings. 00:15:33.519 --> 00:15:44.320 That the eye is the lamp of the body means that's how they thought the eye worked, that something inside of us projected out into the world, and that a bad eye is somebody who is greedy, and good eye is somebody who is generous. 00:15:44.399 --> 00:15:45.840 So let's read that passage again. 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:48.320 The eye is the lamp of the body. 00:15:48.639 --> 00:15:51.759 So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. 00:15:51.919 --> 00:15:54.879 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.799 If then light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness? 00:15:59.279 --> 00:16:00.720 So here's what Jesus is saying here. 00:16:00.960 --> 00:16:06.879 He's saying that whatever is inside of you is projected out into the world. 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:08.559 It's amplified into the world. 00:16:08.720 --> 00:16:13.759 And so if what's inside of you is generosity towards other people, that's what's projected out into the world. 00:16:13.919 --> 00:16:20.720 And what's inside of you is darkness, if it's greed, if it's uh self-obsession, that will be projected out into the world. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:25.919 What's inside of us affects other people, it affects the world around us, it doesn't just affect us. 00:16:27.679 --> 00:16:31.840 Jesus gives his third point on money in verse 24. 00:16:32.960 --> 00:16:40.559 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. 00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.039 You cannot serve God and money. 00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:45.679 Point three, serve the king. 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.279 Jesus' last point in this section isn't a direct command. 00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.679 He doesn't say serve God. 00:16:52.240 --> 00:16:52.720 Right? 00:16:53.039 --> 00:16:56.320 We all know that's true, and that would be the easier truth for him to say. 00:16:56.480 --> 00:16:58.320 Nobody here, I hope, disagrees with that. 00:16:58.559 --> 00:16:58.720 Right? 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:03.120 We understand the basic we should serve God as Christians. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:07.680 But it's the softer lie that Jesus is attacking here that I can serve both. 00:17:08.240 --> 00:17:20.640 That God can rule the moral areas and the spiritual areas and the relational areas of my life, but money, money can rule how I work, it can rule what job I have, it can rule what I spend on, it can rule what I care about. 00:17:20.960 --> 00:17:23.519 And Jesus is saying it simply can't. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:25.119 It doesn't work that way. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:29.519 Because money will ask us to do things that God hates. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:33.680 Money's values and God's values are not aligned. 00:17:34.000 --> 00:17:37.519 And so that's why in this this area trips up so many people. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:43.920 It's why we see divorce so often over money, and it's why we see inheritance tear families apart, right? 00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:50.400 Because people begin to value money and it's that money's values over God's values. 00:17:51.440 --> 00:17:52.400 And here's the tough part. 00:17:52.559 --> 00:17:58.880 Unlike a lot of other struggles in our lives, you know, maybe if you struggle with something like alcoholism, you you say, I'm not gonna go to a bar. 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:01.440 That would be a wise decision if you struggle with alcoholism. 00:18:01.759 --> 00:18:03.039 We don't have that with money. 00:18:03.200 --> 00:18:04.559 We can't avoid money. 00:18:04.880 --> 00:18:08.480 We can't just run for money and decide we're gonna live in some commune, right? 00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.319 Jesus doesn't tell us to do that because Jesus knows that isn't possible. 00:18:12.400 --> 00:18:16.240 He doesn't say you shouldn't handle money or that we should live in those kind of situations. 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:17.839 He tells us the truth. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.960 If you serve money, you cannot serve God. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:23.200 He says it even bolder than that. 00:18:23.359 --> 00:18:27.119 He says, if you serve money, you will grow to hate and resent God. 00:18:27.920 --> 00:18:28.480 Right? 00:18:28.720 --> 00:18:30.559 But this isn't this isn't a clear issue. 00:18:30.720 --> 00:18:33.200 We're not given a standard for how much money we should have. 00:18:33.359 --> 00:18:40.160 We're not given, hey, you can only have three months, you know, savings in your savings account, or six pairs of shoes, or a car that's this expensive. 00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:41.440 We're not giving any of that. 00:18:41.599 --> 00:18:48.000 So what we have to do instead here is we have to go by biblical principles and we have to let the Holy Spirit work in our hearts. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:52.720 And we need to be comfortable in letting the Holy Spirit wrestle with our hearts on this topic. 00:18:52.880 --> 00:18:56.799 We need to grow comfortable in the discomfort of wrestling with God. 00:18:57.200 --> 00:19:01.759 That's what it means to be sanctified by Him, to begin to look more like Christ. 00:19:02.079 --> 00:19:07.519 It means letting the Holy Spirit work in our hearts and work in our lives, even when it makes us really uncomfortable. 00:19:07.680 --> 00:19:19.359 And this is a topic where it's gonna make us uncomfortable, where God is going to likely ask you to do things that don't make you happy instantly, don't feel like the thing that would be the best for you, maybe. 00:19:19.759 --> 00:19:23.119 But money is not a good master. 00:19:23.680 --> 00:19:25.200 It lies to us constantly. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:31.440 It tells us that it will be make us secure, it'll make us happy, it'll make us fulfilled, and it doesn't live up to those promises, right? 00:19:31.519 --> 00:19:34.559 It doesn't actually do those things that it tells us it's gonna do. 00:19:34.880 --> 00:19:45.039 But God, God is a good master, one who shares his good gifts with us and wants to win over our hearts and not just our wallets, right? 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:51.519 I know that there's in the Christian world there's a lot of skepticism over the way that money is talked about in churches. 00:19:52.079 --> 00:19:56.799 But God isn't interested in your money because he can't afford to keep the lights on without it, right? 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:59.440 That's not the reason God's interested in your money. 00:19:59.519 --> 00:20:07.039 He's interested in our money and how we use our money because it reflects our hearts, because it reflects our relationship with him. 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:14.880 So that's why Jesus is going to end this section of the Sermon on the Mount with this incredible invitation for us to walk in security and peace. 00:20:15.839 --> 00:20:17.279 Let me read this for us. 00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:26.240 Therefore, I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body what you will put on. 00:20:26.559 --> 00:20:30.079 Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:32.000 Look at the birds of the air. 00:20:32.160 --> 00:20:38.319 They neither sow nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly father feeds them. 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:40.720 Are you not of more value than they? 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:45.440 And which of you, by being anxious, can add a single hour to his span? 00:20:46.160 --> 00:20:48.400 And why are you anxious about clothing? 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:50.799 Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. 00:20:50.960 --> 00:20:52.640 They neither toil nor spin. 00:20:52.799 --> 00:20:56.799 Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 00:20:56.960 --> 00:21:06.480 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not more much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:11.599 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? 00:21:11.759 --> 00:21:13.920 For the Gentiles seek after all these things. 00:21:14.079 --> 00:21:16.720 And your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:21.519 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 00:21:21.759 --> 00:21:25.599 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:28.000 Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. 00:21:28.240 --> 00:21:41.839 You know, if I if I told you don't worry about the war in Iran or gas prices or the economy or the 2028 election, you'd understand there's something those things have in common, and that's that we all have very little control over them. 00:21:42.000 --> 00:21:45.440 I have, I mean, the most control I have is my one singular vote, right? 00:21:45.599 --> 00:21:46.799 For you, it's probably the same. 00:21:46.880 --> 00:21:50.400 I don't know, maybe somebody's some kind of international ambassador or something. 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:54.559 But other than that, most of us have almost no control over any of those things. 00:21:54.720 --> 00:21:58.480 So if Jesus said not to worry about those things, we'd understand a little. 00:21:58.640 --> 00:21:59.759 We don't have control over them. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.359 But Jesus doesn't say that. 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:03.440 He says, don't worry about your life. 00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:07.599 Don't worry about your clothes, what you eat, right? 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:08.880 What you drink. 00:22:09.119 --> 00:22:11.200 The very things we need to survive. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:15.039 Jesus says, don't worry about those things. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:17.200 Don't worry about it. 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:20.480 And don't worry doesn't mean that we don't plan. 00:22:20.559 --> 00:22:21.839 It doesn't mean that we're not wise. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:23.519 It doesn't mean that we don't work hard. 00:22:23.759 --> 00:22:27.440 It doesn't mean that we don't try to spend our money well, right? 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:29.039 All those things should happen. 00:22:29.200 --> 00:22:32.880 But his point is ultimately, we are not provider. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:36.240 Ultimately, we are not the ones who provide in our lives. 00:22:36.400 --> 00:22:40.240 And he gives us two incredible examples from nature to look at. 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:44.319 So first he gives us the example of the birds. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:51.839 You know, the birds, they don't have barns, they don't have farms, they don't, you know, grow crops, they don't have grocery stores, they don't have food banks. 00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:53.680 Birds don't have any of that. 00:22:53.839 --> 00:22:55.759 They have they don't have 401ks, right? 00:22:55.920 --> 00:22:57.039 But they they eat. 00:22:57.359 --> 00:22:59.039 God provides for the birds. 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.200 God cares even about the smallest birds. 00:23:01.279 --> 00:23:05.440 He talks about providing for the sparrows in scripture, some of the smallest birds there are. 00:23:05.920 --> 00:23:14.319 Last year, my uh my wife and I took our son, who at the time, he was probably about 10 months old, and he was just getting to that stage where he was eating solid food. 00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:24.400 And so we took him to the down the shore, and on our way we picked up one of those uh Starbucks protein boxes that has like the crackers and cheese and fruit and eggs and all that stuff in it. 00:23:24.720 --> 00:23:27.359 Figured, because at that age, who knows what they're gonna eat and not eat? 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.440 So we figured maybe he'll eat some of it. 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:41.279 So we're sitting on the beach, and I break up a couple crackers and some cheese, and he's kind of eating those, and I turn around to grab something out of our bag, and he has the entire hard-boiled egg and he's trying to shove it in his mouth, right? 00:23:41.440 --> 00:23:47.759 And of course, he's 10 months old, so it's not gonna fit in his mouth, but he thinks it is, so he's trying to shove it in his mouth, and then he drops it. 00:23:48.000 --> 00:23:53.039 And you all know, because if you've ever been to the Jersey Shore, which I'm sure we all have, exactly what happened, right? 00:23:53.200 --> 00:23:56.400 Two seconds later, a seagull dives down and takes it, right? 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:02.720 And that seagull, that seagull didn't lay that egg, it didn't cook that egg, it didn't buy it from shop, right? 00:24:02.880 --> 00:24:06.000 That seagull didn't go to Starbucks for it, I can tell you that. 00:24:07.039 --> 00:24:15.839 But God still in that moment provided for that seagull with a toddler who didn't know how big his mouth was compared to an egg, right? 00:24:16.960 --> 00:24:20.480 The second way that Jesus gives us is to look at the lily. 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.200 A flower he describes as better dressed than Solomon in all his splendor. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:32.000 And and Solomon is often talked about as if he's not the richest ever, he's one of the richest people who's ever lived. 00:24:32.240 --> 00:24:34.880 This is somebody who was incredibly wealthy, and he says what? 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:43.440 He says, This flower that's the grass of the field that tomorrow dies and is thrown into the fire today is beautifully dressed. 00:24:43.839 --> 00:24:47.359 There's no practical reason for God to make flowers as beautiful as he does. 00:24:47.440 --> 00:24:49.279 He could have made bees attractive them another way. 00:24:49.359 --> 00:24:55.039 You know, there's lots of ways God could have worked, but he chose to make them attractive and beautiful for his own glory. 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:56.799 So this is what he says here. 00:24:56.880 --> 00:24:57.599 He's telling us here. 00:24:57.759 --> 00:25:01.279 Jesus is saying, look at the birds, look at the flowers. 00:25:01.759 --> 00:25:06.319 Seriously, this is what this is Jesus' homework for us in this passage. 00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:12.400 That's not, I think a lot of times we read this passage and we treat it like a request, or you know, we have time. 00:25:12.559 --> 00:25:14.160 But Jesus doesn't frame it that way. 00:25:14.319 --> 00:25:17.119 He's telling us, go and look at the flowers. 00:25:17.279 --> 00:25:19.039 Go and think about the birds. 00:25:19.279 --> 00:25:22.960 This is the fractions that we have to remember here. 00:25:23.359 --> 00:25:29.440 We have to spend time thinking about God's provision and that we live in a world ruled by a good God. 00:25:30.400 --> 00:25:35.759 We take the time in life to remember and look at what reminds you of his goodness. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:42.319 Because it is in remembering that goodness that will have you wanting his kingdom and his righteousness. 00:25:42.559 --> 00:25:42.960 Right? 00:25:43.119 --> 00:25:44.640 And thinking about tomorrow. 00:25:44.880 --> 00:25:48.559 We're not gonna be worrying about tomorrow if we're thinking about God's goodness. 00:25:48.720 --> 00:25:53.839 We're gonna be worried, we're gonna be thinking about how we just want more Jesus and we want more of God tomorrow. 00:25:54.640 --> 00:26:00.000 And of course, this isn't a tomorrow you're gonna go smell a flower and never be anxious again. 00:26:00.319 --> 00:26:01.519 I'm not suggesting that. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:03.440 Jesus isn't suggesting that, right? 00:26:03.680 --> 00:26:15.680 This is something that has to be a habit and a routine in our lives, that we take the time to remember God's goodness in this world, that we take the time to remember how good and loving he is, even to the smallest things in this world. 00:26:17.119 --> 00:26:22.400 And how we know, how do we know we can trust God's provision for our basic needs? 00:26:22.640 --> 00:26:25.359 We know because we know we can trust him in the gospel. 00:26:25.599 --> 00:26:47.279 Because a God who would give his son for us when we're rebellious, when we're living in sin, when we're being wicked people, that God who would provide his only son for us, we can certainly provide believe it that if he will provide that, that he will provide food, that he will provide clothes, that he will provide drink, that he will provide that for us, that he will take care of us. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:58.160 And that's why we can trust him that storing our treasure in heaven is worth it, that it's valuable, because the treasure that Jesus provides in the gospel is more than all the world could ever provide. 00:26:58.400 --> 00:26:58.720 Right? 00:26:58.960 --> 00:27:01.599 It will never be destroyed, no one can steal it from us. 00:27:02.160 --> 00:27:06.880 It's not prone to decay, it's not prone to sinkholes, it's not prone to anything like that. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:14.000 Jesus' death and his provision for us in that is something we can hold on to for eternity. 00:27:14.240 --> 00:27:21.440 And this is why we can be generous too, because we have been treated with such extreme generosity when we don't deserve the gospel. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:26.400 When we've been given in the gospel, we've never earned, and we can never earn, but we get it anyway. 00:27:26.559 --> 00:27:33.359 And so what we do have in this world, we can use for God's glory because we've received so much more than we deserve. 00:27:33.759 --> 00:27:38.960 And this is why we can we can serve God and serve him only and not serve money. 00:27:39.200 --> 00:27:48.240 Because while money provides peace and comfort, God actually or claims to provide peace and comfort, sorry, God actually does provide peace and comfort. 00:27:48.559 --> 00:27:51.519 Money doesn't actually give us what it claims it'll provide. 00:27:51.599 --> 00:27:55.839 It tells us it'll provide a way for us to feel secure, and it doesn't. 00:27:56.240 --> 00:27:57.680 But what is Jesus saying here? 00:27:57.759 --> 00:28:02.480 He's saying, but God will provide for us so that tomorrow we don't need to be anxious about. 00:28:02.880 --> 00:28:08.559 We can be anxious for nothing because we can trust in God's provision in our lives. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:11.279 So let me pray for us that we can do that well. 00:28:14.400 --> 00:28:16.720 Father, thank you for your provision in the gospel. 00:28:16.880 --> 00:28:19.599 Thank you for who you are, thank you that you love us well. 00:28:19.839 --> 00:28:26.480 Thank you that we can trust you to provide our every need, and know that you are a way better provider than we will ever be. 00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:35.359 Know that you provided for us in the gospel, a way for us to be reunited with you and to have unity with you, and that we can love you well because of that. 00:28:35.599 --> 00:28:47.279 And because of that love we have for you, that we can respond by being generous people, that we can respond by being people who build up treasure in heaven, are willing to give up what we have in this world for your glory, Lord. 00:28:47.759 --> 00:28:49.839 And let us be those people today. 00:28:49.920 --> 00:28:55.839 Let us be people who who stop and smell the roses, people who look at the birds and are reminded of your goodness. 00:28:56.640 --> 00:28:57.440 In your name. 00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:58.240 Amen.