A Treasure Hunt

Matthew 6:19-34

When I was a little boy, I always loved going on a treasure hunt. One of my favorite moments was when I was hiking at my aunt and uncle’s house in Missouri along a dry creek bed, and I found a huge geode. But I loved poking around my grandma’s old barn where I would find other cool treasures (I loved finding feathers and coal – remember, I am from a generation that never used coal to heat the house). My grandma would give me a paper bag to keep my coal and feathers and I would take them home and put them in my trunk with my other treasures.

Most of us have some treasures of some kind. In fact, people in our culture seem to really treasure material possessions. What are your treasures? If your house was on fire and you could only rescue the things you could carry in your hands, what would you save? Those things might be your top treasures. But most of us have more than just that. Some people treasure different things. Family heirlooms. Photo albums. Jewelry. Electronic toys. But here’s the problem: we have so many “favorite” treasures that we can’t get rid of. Some of you have been living in the same home for decades and you can’t imagine moving because you have so much stuff. As an itinerate pastor, we have so much stuff we can’t imagine moving! We still make almost-weekly trips to My Brother’s Place to drop off things we no longer need. Do you remember the comedian George Carlin? He was pretty funny, though awfully crass and he didn’t have any use for God or religion. But he had a funny routine about “stuff.” He said that the meaning of life is, “trying to find a place for your stuff. That’s all your house is, your house is just a place for your stuff… your house is just a place to keep your stuff while you go out and get more stuff.”

In today’s passage, Jesus begins by talking about treasures.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.

For people of Jesus’ time, financial wealth was seen as a sign of God’s blessing and a reward for being obedient. So someone who was wealthy must have gotten that way because God wanted them to be wealthy. So Jesus has to intervene and explain that wealth is fickle and deceptive. Sure, you have money now. Sure you have barns full of produce. But thieves don’t break into places where there is no money – someone once asked, “Why do people rob banks?” and the answer is, “Because that’s where the money is!” And when your stuff is all in storage, how can you enjoy it? You go back in and find that moths have eaten that favorite quilt. Your amazing old Tonka trucks, from back when they made toys that would last, are all rusty.

Now, you have to remember what Jesus has been talking about. In biblical interpretation, context is king. Jesus was addressing the Pharisaical tendency to declare themselves righteous because they were upholding certain outward aspects of the Law, doing only what they felt like they needed to do to make it look like they were righteous and holy, all the while, their hearts were dark with sin. Jesus told them that it wasn’t about their so-called righteous acts. It was about having a heart transformed by the Holy Spirit. And it’s not just about doing the things that righteous people do; it’s about our motivation as well.

But Jesus isn’t finished talking about what is in our hearts. I hope you’re getting the idea of what Jesus is after. Jesus isn’t after perfect outward obedience, though that is a good thing. Jesus is most concerned with what is in your heart. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

I want to stress something here; when we talk about “heart” matters, we often limit them to emotional responses. I don’t know how many times I’ve heard people give advice: “Just follow your heart…” That sounds good and right – we want to empower people to do what they love and are passionate about. But Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us that The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Here’s the rub: our hearts go the way we direct them. True love is true love, not because of an inadvertent, unavoidable emotional response, but because you work at it. I had a friend whose marriage was in trouble; they had drifted apart over the years. My advice was that both of them needed to work on that marriage, but they were of the opinion that “since they drifted apart organically and unintentionally, if their marriage was ‘meant to be’ it would come back together “organically and unintentionally.” But the truth is, your heart will only go where it is directed to go. Psalm 143:8b is a prayer asking God to Show me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. So Jesus says, “if you want your heart to go in a certain way, make the direction sure by storing up that kind of treasure.” Whatever you treasure most is going to dictate the direction your heart goes.

Do you want to know the direction your heart is pointed in? Check out your calendar and your checkbook. Where are you spending your time and your money? If your treasures are earthly, your attention and commitment will be centered on earthly matters.

Jesus uses the imagery of the eye to illustrate this concept. The eye is the lamp of the body. In Near Eastern cultures they have this concept of the “evil eye” which is greedy and covetous. It’s always looking around at what other people have. But a good eye, on the other hand, is one with blinders on. You know, those things that keep a horse looking straight ahead. The good eye has a single purpose and only lets the body see what its sight is fixed upon. One of our human problems is that we get distracted by all kinds of things, good things, and they end up causing us to take our eye off the best thing. But Jesus calls us to have a good eye, a singly-focused eye. If your eyes are dark, they will see only darkness. But if your eyes are good, they are fixed on good treasure, the things of God; then the heart will be filled with the light of God’s treasure. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path” says Psalm 119:105. If you want to keep your eye good, keep it in His Word.

If you want to know practically what this looks like, look at Philippians 4:8, where Paul says: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

Don’t waste your time and energy thinking about earthly treasures and accumulating financial wealth. In Luke 12, Jesus told a parable about a rich man whose fields produced a good crop. He decided to tear down his barns and build bigger ones to store all his stuff. Then he would sit back, put his life on cruise control, eat, drink, and be merry. But Jesus concludes this parable with God calling the rich man a fool, telling him he was going to die that very night. The final line: “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.” Luke 12:21

Accumulation of wealth for its own sake is always deceptive, because money and stuff provides a false sense of security and an inaccurate assessment of our worth.

Money itself is not a bad thing. John Wesley saw the good of money – his advice can be summed up in this way: “Earn all you can, save all you can, give all you can.” But don’t let money master you. Never make a decision based simply on money. I’ve heard church boards argue and bicker, saying “we don’t have the money…” (and what they don’t have the money for is always new ministry or ministry for children and families or for outsiders). Meanwhile, we always find enough money to do the things we like to do. One commentary even stated that the primary biblical purposes for money are to: give appropriate care to one’s own family and prevent them from becoming a burden to others; to help those in need, especially the church; and to encourage and support the work of the gospel both at home and around the world.

Jesus says: No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. Guess what: Jesus is talking about money. Again. He does that a lot. But he isn’t talking about money. Just like he used his “you have heard it said” examples of murder, adultery, taking oaths, and so forth to make a point, so too, Jesus now tackles money, but not simply for the sake of talking about money. Yes, he does personify money as if it were a rival god, but his focus is not primarily money, but absolute and unqualified discipleship. Wealth is only the most conspicuous example of that which can distract from true discipleship. He is saying the most important thing is where your heart lies and the direction it is headed.

And if your heart is in the right place and headed in the right direction, you can follow the rest of the passage. If your heart is in the wrong place, you’d better worry about your life, about what you will eat and drink, and about what you will wear. Because if your heart is in the wrong place, you have to worry about these things.

Think about it this way: if my kids decide that they don’t want to be Vinsons anymore and they run away, they’re going to need to worry about all those things. Where are they going to stay? What are they going to eat? What will they wear? But as long as they live in my household, I will make sure all those things are taken care of. This is like what Jesus is saying.

He says, if we, as his disciples, are faithful to be single-minded in our purpose, if we fix our eyes on him and follow, then God is faithful to carry out his responsibility to care for us. Do you want to know where our place is within God’s created order? Listen to Psalm 8:3-8: When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet: all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Because this is how God feels about us, and looking around and seeing how God cares for the rest of His creation, don’t you think he will take adequate and appropriate care of us?

Jesus has been telling his followers that the condition, motivation, and direction of our hearts is what is most important, and now he brings this section to a crescendo. “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)

What is your priority? Where is your heart? If it is not on God’s kingdom and a right relationship with him, then you’re on the wrong path. There’s no such thing as being so heavenly minded that you’re no earthly good. So it’s time to go on a treasure hunt. But not a silly treasure hunt for coal and feathers. Not a pointless and aimless treasure hunt for the mirage of monetary wealth and stuff. But a treasure hunt for the true treasure of Jesus Christ, to have a single-minded purpose and heart and eyes aimed directly at him.