Where s Your Treasure? Introduction Pic - this is Michael Carroll. In 2002, at the age of 19, Michael won the lottery in England equating to $14.4 million. By 2012 the money had completely been spent. He used the money to fund lavish activities (demolition derby in the yard of his mansion), spend time with prostitutes, and get very deep into drugs (snorted cocaine through a solid gold pen tube). After 10 years of a very hard lifestyle, the money dried up, he took an honest look at the disaster his life had become and made some changes. He now works for a cookie factory making $300 a week and has a much better life. Michael Carroll learned the hard way that money doesn t last. The pleasures don t last. The money runs out. The party ends. It all eventually disappears. That is exactly the same truth that Jesus teaches us in the Sermon on the Mount. The weekend after Easter of this year, we opened up this Sermon and have been walking through it slowly over the year. We took a quick break from it for the last 4 weeks of Family Feud, and now pick up where it left off. Jesus picks up on the topic of finances, possessions and our response to them, asking us a simple question - Where is your Treasure? Matthew 6:19-21 - Don t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Do not store up... - let me tell you what this is NOT saying. This is not saying that we should not have stuff. That we should sell all we have and go live on the streets. There is nothing inherently wrong with having stuff, accumulating a larger amount of money in your bank account or taking vacations. -The bible praises the ant as an example, as it stores in the summer the food it will need in winter (Proverbs 6:6). -The bible declares that those who make no provision for their family are worse than an unbeliever (1 Timothy 5:8). -The bible tells us we are to enjoy, not despise, the good things given to us by God for our enjoyment (1 Timothy 6:17). -The bible says that in the house of the wise are stores of oil and food (Proverbs 21:20).
So Jesus is not telling us to not save, or to reject having any nice thing. He is telling us to use money and possessions for their intended purpose. In the bible, there are at least three primary purposes for money and possessions: 1) give appropriate care for your family and prevent them from being a burden to others (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; 1 Timothy 5:8) 2) to help those who are in need, especially within the family of faith (Proverbs 19:17; Acts 11:27-30; Romans 15:25-27; 2 Corinthians 8:1-15; Galatians 6:7-10; Ephesians 4:28; 1 Timothy 5:3-7) 3) to encourage and support God s work in spreading the good news of Jesus to those who have not heard, both at home and around the world (1 Corinthians 9:3-14; Philippians 4:14-19; 1 Timothy 5:17-18) So money and possessions are great and wonderful. They are quite useful. So why the teaching against them? He is giving a play on words - Do not store up... literally translates as do not treasure. So we are not to treasure earthly treasures. Not to make them more than they are. Not to find our worth/value in them. Not find our security in them. Don t put hope and trust in them. Why? 1. THEY ARE TEMPORARY Matthew 6:19 - Don t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Everything that we assign value to loses its value: -Food goes bad -fashion goes out of style -technology is outdated within months -homes and cars wear out over time 2. THEY ARE CORROSIVE Rust literally means eating. It could refer to the corrosion caused by rust, but just as equally to any devouring pest. In Jesus day, moths would get into people s clothes and eat the clothes over time, rats and mice got into the stored grain and ate it, worms would carry away things buried in the ground (which was common), and thieves would take. Again, we have to face the reality that all things lose value. But there is an even greater danger here. Wealth, possessions...they have a way of corroding us. 1 Timothy 6:9-10 - But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
3. THEY ARE VULNERABLE Even in our modern day of alarms, and the computerized banking system, this is still a problem. If our current economic issues teach us anything, it is that nothing is stable. Interest rates, savings, government, our jobs, ability to make money... If we treasure those things we can wake up one day to find they have been taken from us. TS - Again, possessions and money are not bad. But, to selfishly pursue them, to treasure treasures is foolish. Like loving a goldfish. So, instead of storing up treasures on earth, Jesus calls us to this... Matthew 6:20 - Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Again, the same play on words. To treasure treasures in heaven. How do I do that? What are the treasures in heaven? This is call to treasure what heaven treasures. What does heaven treasure? What is valuable in heaven? 1. GOD S GLORY Read Revelation and you will see these glimpses into the throne room of God. What do we find there? All of heaven s inhabitants singing praise, giving all honor and attention to God alone. In Revelation 4-5 we have this great vision of heaven. Everything is described in terms of its relation to the throne. Above, around, beside, in front of. Why? Because God is the centerpiece. So we are called to treasure that. To value, give honor to, focus our attention on...god. 2. PEOPLE Luke 15 gives a series of three parables about things that are lost...a sheep, a coin and a son. All three end the same way. With celebration. Luke 15:7, 10, 32 - In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven t strayed away...in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God s angels when even one sinner repents...we had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!
Heaven treasures people. People are the only thing in this world that goes on to the next. So, you ll either spend your money on God s glory or your own. You ll either invest in yourself or others. You ll either treasure the temporary things of this world, or the eternal glory of heaven. And, as challenging as this teaching is, Jesus makes it worse. He tells us why. You see, this isn t about money at all, it s about your heart. Matthew 6:21 - Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Jesus is not after our money. He is after our hearts. Our hearts naturally follow our money. So if you find your money, and attitude about it, going to the wrong places, it is because your heart is in the wrong place. Either our hearts will be focused on eternity or on what is temporary. 90 Second Connection Introduction to Cornerstone Pontoon Beach Ian just shared that heaven treasures PEOPLE. We ve arrived at the point of reaching the people in Pontoon Beach because of the Deploy Initiative. Deploy, which follows the I Am Cornerstone model, is all about PEOPLE. You have some more blanks on your worship card. Matthew 6:21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. How do we keep the desires of our hearts focused on Him? That s what the whole I Am Cornerstone and Deploy concepts are based on. Bring others into environments where Jesus can transform their lives. With Cornerstone Pontoon Beach, we have an even larger geographic area where we re able to BRING people and help transform even more lives. Invest in others around us for the purpose of bringing them closer to Jesus. The Deploy initiative represents a building addition and remodeling here in Shiloh. We re trying to provide the best atmosphere possible for teaching by moving all our children s classes to one location in the building instead of three different areas.
Give time, skills, and resources so others can be connected to Jesus. As I stated in the video, there are opportunities to be Cornerstone and contribute to the Deploy initiative not only financially, but also with your weekly attendance in Pontoon Beach, serving opportunities both in Shiloh and Pontoon. Finances for all Cornerstone locations will be together. We re one church in multiple locations. Go to others in our neighborhoods, communities, and in our world with the life-changing message of Jesus. Cornerstone is committed to tithing 10% of operating expenses to our mission partners who are local, regional, and around the world. We re now at the Mid-Tour point of the Deploy initiative. It s time to recoup, recharge, and re-deploy. Some of you made two-year commitments in November of last year. We re now about halfway through the program. Are you halfway financially? Some of you weren t around last November or weren t able to commit last year. At the end of the month you ll be receiving one of these Mid-Tour Commitment Cards There are some of the cards in the back of the room for you to look at more closely and take home to pray about. Would begin praying if you can: Make a 1-year Commitment to help Deploy finish strong? Confirm the commitment you made last year? Become involved at Cornerstone Pontoon Beach? There are also some Mid-Tour Deploy update books on the table in the back. The booklets have more details of where we are with the Depoy Initiative and What s the Next Step. Please pick one up as you leave today. How do we keep the desires of our hearts focused on him? We focus on eternal things, we focus on Jesus and the fact that he gave his life for us.