Masters Matthew 6:19-24

Masters Matthew 6:19-24 Norman Furley 7/29/2012 Good morning. I have a trivia question for you. Do you like trivia? I like trivia when I know the answers. Do you want to have your trivia question now? Are you ready? Okay, here we go. What movie is this song from? - Bonus round, who is the composer? - John Williams Right, he is one of the greatest composers in the history of film. In fact, he has a record for composers with a staggering 47 Academy Award nominations. Can you believe that? That is shocking to me. Now, what I want you to do is watch this clip and I want you to hear what this other fairly famous Hollywood type has to say about working with John Williams but I want you to pay close attention to the end to what John Williams says. 1 st speaker Let me just react to what we have heard.-- 2 nd speaker John, he actually had written two Raiders themes. He had written [whistles the known theme] which I freaked out over. I loved it so much. Then he said, here is another possible Raiders score, main theme. And he played [whistles a 2 nd piece]. So he had two choices and I think my only input was Can t you use both? He did. He made the latter the bridge and he made the former the main theme. Williams: That is a perfect example of the kind of collaboration that we ve done with these things. What is interesting about that [the well known theme], it is a very simple little sequence of notes but I spend more time on those little bits of musical grammar to get them just right so they seem inevitable, they seem like they have always been there because they are so simple. And I don t know how many permutations I will go through with the six-note motif like that, one note down and one note up. I spend a lot of time on these little simplicities, which are often the hardest things to capture, I think for anybody. * * * The simplicities, the small things, they are the hardest things to capture, I think, for anybody. It was interesting. He likes to compose music in a way that it seems like it has always been there, like it is inevitable. He says that is hard and he would know, wouldn t he? He is the greatest. He is John Williams. But it is not just Jurassic Park or Raiders of the Lost Ark. There is also this. [theme from Super Man ] Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 1 of 10

Then John Williams is responsible for altering the psychology of beach goers all over the planet. [ Jaws theme song] Of course there is quite possibly the most significant piece of music in the history of mankind. [theme from Star Wars ] If I quit right now, this was the best sermon I have ever given. Thank you very much. Now, some of you younglings in the congregation today may be saying, Hey, John Williams is pretty cool. He did some stuff in the 70s and the 80s and then maybe the 90s but he really hasn t done that much of significance over the past 8 or 10 years. --- Oh really? [theme from Harry Potter ] That movie will not be named here. He is great though, isn t he? I am amazed by his work. But the truth be told, I think John Williams owes a great debt of gratitude and credit to another virtuoso because, you see, I think John Williams tries to write music in the way that Jesus Christ speaks with special attention to the details, to the finer things, the things that cut right to the heart. Those are the things that are hardest to capture for anybody, I think. But where John Williams fails, Jesus is perfect. What takes John Williams months to uncover, Jesus reveals in a single breath. Do you remember the time? Not many people know about this, which is strange. I didn t learn about it. I became a Christian when I was five but I didn t find out about it until I was about 20 years old. Jesus Christ s perfect attention to detail His Responses There was a scene that took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and Jesus was there in the middle of the night with His disciples. Do you remember this? He was about to be arrested, taken off, tried and then crucified. But as He was waiting, in the middle of the night some soldiers came around the corner with lanterns, torches, and weapons. They came right up to Jesus and Jesus did not hesitate. He walked right up to them and said, Whom do you seek? They responded with the arrogance and the pride of a soldier. They said, Jesus of Nazareth. Now, the Bible does not specify as to whether or not these soldiers were able to maintain control of their bladder but it does say they lost their ability to stand because when He said Whom do you seek? they responded and said, We are looking for Jesus of Nazareth. Get this. He said, I AM. Then they fell to the ground. With their backs in the dirt and their eyes to the sky, get this, as if it wasn t cool enough that He laid people out with His words, He then stepped forward and said, Whom do you seek? So, good. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 2 of 10

But then there was another time too where there was this woman who was caught in sin. There was a camp of men that had encircled her and each of those men had anger and they had rocks and intent to punish for what she had done. Jesus, so cool, didn t even bother to look at them. He had His eyes on the sand, looking around on the ground and then He said this. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. Right to the heart. And as soon as He said it, the conversation was over, done, drama dropped, rocks dropped, end of discussion. But then, this one is my favorite. Of course, Jesus was speaking but it wasn t so much what Jesus said here as it was the reaction, the purity and the simplicity of the reaction. There were some soldiers coming to arrest Jesus again. He was there in the middle of a crowd. Now these soldiers were sent by their commanding officers to arrest Him because He kept talking. The more He talked, the more people got upset. The more people got upset, the more people heard and the soldiers and the chiefs were tired of that. So they sent their henchmen. The henchmen walk up to the crowd. The only problem was that when they got there, they listened. As Jesus was talking, the men slowly left the crowd, looked at each other, and then made their way back to their commanding officer without Jesus in custody. Infuriated, the commanding officer demanded to know why these men did not carry out their orders. The Bible does not say how they felt, only what they said. No mere man speaks like this. You are right, soldier. This is no mere man. Matthew 6:19-24 Now, we are going to look at a passage that contains simple statements from our Lord. But like brilliant music, we can t really know it until we uncover it and look at it to see what it is made of. When we start to peel back those layers, we see something that is brilliant and meaningful. What is fascinating to me about this is that we could have read this passage a hundred times but it does not come alive until He says it does. Even today, in the heart of every believer, no man speaks the way this one does. This is the passage we are going to cover today. It looks like a lot of words but if you slapped the sheet music for Raiders of the Lost Ark up there, it would look like a lot of notes. But look, it is going to be fine. We will make it together. This is Matthew 6:19-24. We are going to take these verses down and we are going to break them into three parts because what we are aiming to do here, the single purpose of this sermon, is to ask ourselves a question. Who is our master, really? Because that is what Jesus is talking about here. He gives us a template to measure that by. So here is Part One; here is Part Two; and here is Part Three. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 3 of 10

Part One: Matthew 6:19-21 Let s begin with Part One. Matthew 6:19 Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, As we look at that part, let s think. In quantity or mass, how much treasure are we allowed to store up for ourselves on earth? Am I reading this right? Let me ask it a different way. Let s just do it by numbers. How many treasures are we allowed to store for ourselves on earth? Zero. Should we just end that right there because that is kind of a difficult passage just by itself. But Jesus isn t mean and it doesn t mean that He doesn t want you to enjoy your life. He is not mean like that. There is a purpose for saying this. He says this next, and here s why: where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. So, look, treasures on earth are vulnerable. That is what He is trying to communicate. I don t think we need to spend a great deal of time in trying to determine how big the moths were in Israel in Jesus time to understand the depth of what He means here. It is pretty simple. Stuff on earth fades away and is open to all kinds of problems. It is interesting. This is what we should not do. Does He give a command as to what we should do? Yes. He says this: :20 But store up [instead] for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. Now, I think we see what He is doing here. It is fairly simple. He is saying that on the one hand that the things you would store on earth are vulnerable. And the things that you would store in heaven are invulnerable. No moths, no rust, no thieves will take what is yours in heaven because it is secure. But then Jesus throws in this little wrinkle. :21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Now, up to this point, we have talked about treasure storage, where we keep it, where we should keep it. But now, He is talking about something different. Let me ask you. What does He mean by treasure? What does He mean by heart? I don t think we have to get real deep here to determine that what He is saying is this. Your treasure is what you care about. It could certainly, without question, obviously, mean material things. But it could also be your reputation. It could be your career. Look, your treasure is what you value. It could be your purpose. It could be the reason why you go to work. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 4 of 10

Here is the thing. For the purposes of our sermon today and what we are going to be doing, your treasure is the dream of your life. Your treasure is your dream. Do you remember that time in the Bible where Jesus told the wind and the waves to calm down and then they obeyed Him? He is now saying this. Where your dream is, your heart will be there also. He is saying, this Jesus who wiped people out with words, as a matter of fact, you will be loyal to your dream. Part Two: Matthew 6:22-23 Part Two: Matthew 6:22-23 The eye 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! What? Almost every time I read that part, I think that some rogue verse crawled out of Proverbs and went walking around and then ran back in as fast as it could and landed in between what Jesus was talking about. It does not seem to fit because what He just got done talking about was treasure and treasure storage and where your treasure is there your heart is. Then this thing does not seem to fit at first. Watch. The eye is the lamp of the body. What does a lamp do? This is not a trick question. It illuminates. It brings light. So if the eye is the lamp of the body, the eye is what illuminates the body. When Jesus says body, what He means by that is you, the whole of you. Then He says this. So then, if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. So if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. Another question: What does an eye do? It sees. If your eye is healthy, Jesus is saying that your body will be full of light. What does He mean by light? For the sake of this sermon and for the sake of this passage, when Jesus says light, what He means is wisdom, peace, real peace, and love. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. We understand that in life, and it is pretty basic, if your eye is damaged and you can t see, light can t get in. That is not complicated. But what is Jesus saying here? How does the eye-light-darkness illustration mean anything is what we are talking about related to a treasure and all that good stuff? Here is what He means. Jesus is saying that the eye sees, and what it sees is an idea, plan, a treasure. Your eye sees a dream. That dream can be worthy; it can be set on the highest of purposes or not. What it takes in, it either illuminates the body or Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 5 of 10

Part Three: Matthew 6:24 places it in darkness. If your eye is bad, what it means is this. You have set the sights of your life on something that will bring about your destruction. What if the dream of your life is a bad one? If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! What is His point when He says that? He is saying that without the light that a worthy dream provides, we will become twisted. We will become lost. We will become perverted. There is no boundary in the darkness of a misplaced dream. There is no limit, no end to the depths of our depravity when our eye is set on something dark. Part Three: Matthew 6:24 No one can serve two masters. Let s just stop right there. No one can serve two masters. What does He mean? It is fairly obvious at first sight. But let me ask you something. Is Jesus saying right now that no one can serve two masters is He saying it like it is an option? Is He saying: You know, it is hard enough having one boss. I really don t recommend you having two. Is He saying it as though it is possible? No, He is saying that no one can serve two masters. But is He saying it like this? You can t! No, He is not even saying it like you can t. He is saying it like this, as though He were a doctor speaking to a man saying: Sir, you can t have a baby. You don t have a uterus. He is saying it as though it is impossible. No man can serve two masters. It is impossible and here is why. 6:24b Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. This is fascinating. No mere man speaks like this. He is pretty smart because here is the thing with masters. They have commands. A master without a command isn t really a master. A master without a mission, a master without a plan, a master without a vision isn t a master. There is a flip side to that coin too. A servant who ignores a master can hardly be called a servant. Let s say that here we have got a roomful of servants and let s say two people are masters of authority walk into the room. Then they issue conflicting opposite commands. The servant will obey the one in whom he relies most. The servant will obey the one who he believes has the greater power or will issue the better reward. In so doing, the servant reveals who his master really is. Get this. He will hate the other Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 6 of 10

Personal Experience Who is Master of My Life? one who tries to get him to do something different because the master that he trusts is the steward of his dream. If you try to get in the way of a man or woman and their dream, they will hate you. 6:24c You cannot serve both God and Money. Wait a minute. Is this where He has been going the whole time? Is this what He was talking about when He was talking about treasure and heart? Is this what He was talking about when He talked about the eye being the lamp of the body? That the eye would set its sight on something is this what He was talking about, that He is going to money? Yes. But wait a minute. Why does Jesus say that money is a master and that God is a master? Why does He give them the same title? Because money is the sight that many men have laid their eye on. Money is the treasure that men have aligned their heart with. All of what Jesus said in these three parts has brought us to this simple stark reality. You cannot serve God and money. Strangely, Jesus calls both God and money a master. Let me ask you this. Are they really comparable? No. Not even remotely. Do they have the same weight, the same power? Well, of course not. But man has voluntarily placed himself under the rule of a very cruel taskmaster and all Jesus is doing is calling it like it is. Money as a master has convinced many that it by itself is an unmatched, unparalleled treasure. If you have set the eye of your life on it, you will live out a worthy pursuit. This passage has been on my mind and in my heart and God has used it for me personally, painfully, all of 2012. I was with one of my friends and we were going through this together at his house. We were earnestly working through this. We both got to that point where it said the eye is the lamp of the body and we both went What? Then we got to this part and then he asked a brilliant question. He said: Well, Norman, I am a Christian and you are a Christian. How do we know which one we serve? I didn t have an answer. How do I know if I am serving God or money? It is confusing. But then after some time and praying and thinking about it, it came to me and it was very clear. The answer lies in the dream that we have for our lives. What do you hope for? When you consider what you want out of your life, what are your goals? It doesn t matter what age you are. What is your vision for the future? What are you aiming for? Forget everybody else s definition of success. What do you, not your wife, not your mother, not the ghost of your father what makes you feel as though you will then finally achieve success? If you could take pictures of it, what would it be? If you could take snapshots and then take the picture and put it up there on the monitor, what would be the stuff of your dreams? Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 7 of 10

Which master will it be? Money or God? Immediately my head starts to run toward Architectural Digest. I like a pretty home, a country house, mountains or beach. Maybe you want time. Maybe part of the dream of your life is to just simply slow down and have time. Maybe you want respect. Maybe you would just like to go out to eat once or twice a month. Maybe you would simply like to pay an electric bill on time. Maybe your dreams are simple. You just want to send your kid to college. Regardless of how much Money we have, ten million or nothing or anywhere in between, our hearts will stand where our dreams lie. This may be painful to hear but if Money can buy you anything in your dream, there is a high likelihood that Money is your master. Jesus says that we will be loyal to our dream. Jesus says that we will be loyal to our dream. Maybe it is time for a new dream. Maybe the reason why we have had a hard time paying bills is because Money has told us that we deserve to have what we want when we want it. Maybe we are in debt because we can t keep up with what Money as a master tells us we deserve. Maybe Money does not want us to consider the end of the month when we take that card out and swipe it today. Maybe Money as a master is a liar. Maybe a significant portion of the anxiety in our life is because we are trying to serve two masters. Maybe we are exhausted because we are sick of trying to do the impossible because you see these two masters, God and Money, are opposed at every turn. Money as a master says: Hurry, you have to get it before they do and you have to get it quick. God as a master says: Wait. Money as a master says: Now. God as a master says: Later. Money as a master says: Grab hold. God as a master says: Let go. Money says: Compare yourself to those around you to see how you stack up in the world. God says: You better quit that. Money says: Go. God says: Stop. Money as a master says: Work. God says: Rest. Money as a master says: Rest. While God says: Man, you better get to work. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 8 of 10

Money says: You have to earn your significance. God says: My grace is enough. Money as a master says: You are special. You are entitled. You are worth it. God says: I am. The simple things are often the hardest to capture, I think, for anybody. Jesus says it in a breath. You can t serve God and Money. You can t hurry while you wait. You can t go while you stop. You can t hold on while letting go. You can t earn grace. We cannot choose both. We can t pursue the commands that Money as a master orders on us and also obey the call of God at the same time. How do we know this? Because the One who raises the dead with His voice says so. So, we have a choice. But if we add up all the items on the left side here, what does Money as a master deliver? Anxiety an anxiety that leads to death. But what about God? If we add His commands of wait, later, let go, quit, stop, rest, work when I say, trust in My grace, know that I Am, then we have peace. We have a peace that no one who serves Money could ever hope to attain because Money is a liar. What does God bring? You know, why don t we let Jesus speak for Himself. After all, no mere man speaks like this. Immediately after saying that you cannot serve God and Money, He then says this: [Matthew 6:25-32] If you have chosen Me as your master, don t be anxious about your life what you are going to eat, or what you are going to drink, nor about your body or what you are going to put on. Look, is life not more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valued than they? Then which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? Why are you anxious about clothing. Consider the lilies of the field and how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed like one of these. But if God clothes the grass of the field which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown in the oven, will He not much more clothe you. Come on, you have got tiny faith. Therefore, because of what I am telling you, don t be anxious, saying What are we going to eat? Or, What are we going to wear? What are we going to drink? Because the Gentiles worry about all those things. Look, trust your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 9 of 10

Then He gives us a new dream. [Matthew 6:33] Seek first the dream. Our life dream should be embedded in the coming kingdom. Our life dream should be to walk with Him in adventure and in waiting, not knowing what is around every corner except for the fact that we know that He is there, knowing who He is. Our life s dream should be set to obey Him and to find out what He is going to do with us because we love the adventure that He has. He is worthy of our trust. He is saying: Set your dream on the coming kingdom. Set your dream on the righteousness that procures for you eternal life. Let that be your dream. I will add the rest for you. Which would you rather be? The person with 10 million dollars or the person who could walk away from 10 million dollars. Which makes you more interesting? Which has the world seen less of? Which one makes you more dangerous? Which one makes you more in line with the dream of the coming kingdom? No mere man speaks like that. Let s pray. Lord, There is no one like You. There is no point in hardly even saying that. You are beyond compare. Right now, as a body of believers standing in this place, we confess to You that on a regular basis we are tricked by the things that we see and we become adulterers in various seasons of our lives and we pursue the things that You have told us are worthless. We pursue treasures to keep them here on earth. We do that because, God, we see them as pretty cool. You have made them to be that. Will You please teach us what to enjoy, when to enjoy it, what to hold on to, what to let go of, so that we can live a life that pleases You. We ask these things in the name of Jesus Christ whose name is above all names, who speaks like no mere man. We ask them in the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask them so that You will be glorified. We love You. Amen. Masters.Matt.6.19.Furley.doc Page 10 of 10