Money and Possessions

Introduction
2,000 years ago in a small village called Bethlehem, a baby was born to two poor parents, Mary and Joseph.  Jesus was born right as Joseph arrived in Bethlehem to pay taxes to the Roman Empire who was occupying Israel, forcing them to pay tribute.  The Jesus we celebrate at Christmas, who was born King of the Jews and later revealed to be Lord of all, was born into poverty.  He lived among oppressed people who got by on very little.

Jesus understood the value of money.  He also knew firsthand the struggle of going without. Jesus’ father was a carpenter—a blue collar worker who probably lived paycheck to paycheck.  We also know, According to Mark 6:3, that Jesus had four younger brothers and two younger sisters.  That’s a lot of mouths to feed for a man who makes his living by manual labor.  At some point after Jesus turned 12, Joseph died—leaving Mary and Jesus (who was now the “man” of the house) responsible for taking care of everyone.  You can imagine that money was always tight.  Jesus understood the real value of money and how it could affect people.

Perhaps that is why when Jesus started His public ministry at the age of 30 (Luke 3:23), money and possessions were one of His most frequent sermon topics.  We see one of His lessons in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 6:19-24.

Matthew 6:19-24
¹⁹ “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. ²⁰ Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. ²¹ Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

²² “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. ²³ But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is!

²⁴ “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

An Outline for Matthew 16:19-24
We can break Jesus’ teaching into 3 main precepts.  Verses 19-21 are pretty straight forward.  Jesus says to concentrate on heavenly treasure instead of earthly treasures.  Now, remember this was coming from a man who grew up in poverty.  Poverty can have a very real effect on people.  

Jesus reminds us:  you can’t take anything with you.  You were born into this world naked and you aren’t gonna have anything with you when you leave it.  However, you can send some things ahead of you so they’ll be waiting in heaven when you arrive.  You can’t use UPS to send money and possessions to heaven.  But you can invest in the Kingdom of Heaven.  How?  By investing in people here on earth.  How many people are going to be in heaven because of the way you lived on earth?  And how is this world right here and now better because of the way you serve Jesus?  You see the things you do and the difference you make in this life are investments in the eternal Kingdom of God.  They are the treasure you store up in Heaven—where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal.  Well, that’s not too hard to understand, is it?

Good and Bad Eyes
But what about this weird part where Jesus starts talking about eyes?  What’s that all about?  He says in verse 22-23, “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.  But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness.”

People back then believed eyes were windows that let goodness and light into the body.  Not actually pretty true if you think about it (but maybe not in the same way the ancients thought about it).  We now know that the eyes do indeed let light into the body so we can see.  And seeing is a good thing—usually.  And this is really what Jesus is saying.  Be careful how you look at the world and see things.

Have You Got Double Vision?
Jesus is talking about keeping your eyes focused on the right things (or the right One), rather than letting them wander all over the place coveting material possessions.  The Greek word English Bible’s translate as “healthy” or “good” eye actually means “single”.  You know when you have bad eyesight, things get fuzzy and unfocused.  You may even have double vision—where you see 2 images.  Jesus is using a play on words.  He’s saying if you’re trying to focus on God and on material possessions, you’ve got double vision.  You’re not going to be able to see either one clearly.

A healthy view of material things will result in a healthy spiritual life; but an unhealthy view—where you’re coveting money and possession--means your eyes are letting darkness and not light into your soul.  If this is something you struggle with, you better pray to God for help and you better listen Him when He tells you how to treat the sickness.

The fact is, we all struggle with it.  Materialism isn’t something most people are immune from.  It’s something most people struggle with.  And it seems like the more affluent we are, the more we struggle with it.  Why do you think Jesus said in Matthew 19:24, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

Two Masters
And then we come to the final precept in Jesus teaching about money and possessions—verse 24.  “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

What more do I need to say?  Jesus is pretty clear. 
You cannot serve two masters.  You cannot serve both God and money.

I like the way the NLT puts Jesus’ words.  You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.  Most of us don’t think about being enslaved to money. 
Probably most of us think it would be great to have a little more money.  It would solve a lot of our problems.  Right? Well… Not according to Jesus.  You need to be careful.  Money will make you it’s slave—especially if you’re thinking money is what is going to fix things in your life, make you happier, fill some void in your life, etc.  Money can’t do that. Jesus is the Savior.  He’s the one who does the saving.  Jesus is Lord.  He’s the one we absolutely must put first.  Because you can’t serve 2 masters.

Conclusion
This Christmas Eve, as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ—the Lord and Savior of the world—spend some time praying and meditating on your attitudes about money and possessions.  Are you storing up treasures on earth or in Heaven?  Do you good eyes that focus on Christ or double vision because you covet?  Have you been trying to serve two master?