Jesus Confronts the American Dream

We do live in a great country. We live in a land that for over 200 years religious liberty has flourished. We are able to meet together, to pray, to preach the gospel and evangelize our neighbors. The free press allows us to broadcast the Gospel by radio and publish Christian books and magazines freely and without fear of state sponsored persecution. These freedoms are what make our country truly great. Many of the early colonists who came to America were fleeing religious persecution because they wanted to worship according to their conscience, and this conflicted with what the official Church of England required. In England, men like John Bunyan were jailed for daring to preach the Gospel without permission from the state. Many Separatists and Baptists fled England to make this land their home. And so it is that the early American Dream was to come to a land where they would be free to worship God according to their consciences. For this American Dream, we can be thankful. We celebrate the Fourth of July this week, and God has truly shed his grace on us by allowing such liberty to flourish.

However, there is another version of the American Dream. When some speak of the American Dream, they mean the dream of acquiring more stuff, of getting more money, and whoever dies with the most toys wins. Believers must reject this version of the American Dream. It comes in direct conflict with what Jesus tells us in today’s text.

Today’s passage has three parts. In verses 19-21, Jesus is telling us about the treasure in our hearts. In verse 24, Jesus warns that we cannot serve two masters—God and Money—we have to choose one. In between these verses about money and treasure, are two verses that don’t seem to fit. Jesus is talking about the eye being the lamp of the body and how a healthy eye leads to a healthy body. That’s the hardest part of today’s passage, so before I read the text, I think that because it is placed between these two passages on treasure that the evil eye that it is talking about is an envious eye. It is an eye that always wants more of what it sees.

Let’s read from Matthew 6:19-24:

19“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 

20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 

21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light,

23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

24 “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. You cannot serve God and money.

What is your treasure? What is your master? What is it that you desire? These three questions all ask the same thing. We can sum up the point of what Jesus is saying here as “Do not make earthly treasure your ultimate aim but be generous, and demonstrate that money is not your master but Jesus is.” Let’s look at each part in turn.

First, Jesus says to us, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Jesus warns us about having too much money. In our world today, that seems absurd. The rich often have an insatiable appetite for more riches. Reportedly it was John D. Rockefeller, America’s first billionaire, who was once asked, “How much money will be enough?” and he said, “Just a little bit more.” None of us will be likely to ever see a billion dollars, but we can fall into this temptation as well. We want the new car, the new device, or maybe just a little more money in the bank so we can feel secure. Jesus warns us that this is dangerous.

He tells us, if you store up treasure here on earth, there is always something that can happen to it that will make it all go away. Your earthly possessions can be stolen. You could have a fire and lose everything in a moment. If all you are living for is getting all you can here, you are in for a disappointment. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon says that the pursuit of money is vanity. You can spend a lifetime accumulating wealth, and when you are dead you leave it to someone who never had to work for it and you have no control over how it is used anymore.

But Jesus gives us an alternative strategy. Store up treasure in heaven. Jesus tells us that our treasure is secure in heaven. It cannot be stolen, and it cannot be destroyed. Now, there are two ways to look at this and I think that they both have merit. First and foremost, our greatest treasure should be Jesus himself. We ought to treasure Jesus more than we do anything else. So much, that even if we lose everything on earth, we haven’t lost our true treasure. The other way we store up treasure in heaven is by being generous. Just a few verses ago, Jesus was telling us about giving to the poor. We ought to give in secret, and our Father who sees in secret will reward us. When you give generously, to the relief of the poor, to the church, for the cause of missions throughout the world, and to help our brothers and sisters in Christ who are in need, you are storing up treasure in heaven. There was once a popular sermon illustration that said you would never see a hearse with a trailer hitch. That illustration was recently ruined when someone took a picture of a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer and posted it on Facebook. But the point is still true. You won’t take any of your possessions with you when you die. But as some have said, “you can send it ahead.” When you give generously for God’s glory and not your own, you store up treasure in heaven. You will receive a reward. And what’s also true, when you give generously for God’s glory, you reveal what your real treasure is. That’s what Jesus gets to in verse 21. Jesus says, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” If you give generously for God’s glory, you show that your money isn’t your real treasure—it is God. What is the desire of your heart? What do you treasure in your heart more than anything? Is it money or stuff? Then you will never have enough, it will leave you unsatisfied, and it will always be in danger of being lost. If it is God, then you won’t cling tightly to your money or your stuff.

Next, Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!” This takes some explanation, and to be honest it is a difficult passage so I’m not sure that I’m right, but this seems to be the best explanation I have for now. First, “the eye is the lamp of the body” means that it is through our eyes we gain light and knowledge of things outside of ourselves. Jesus contrasts a healthy eye and a bad eye. I don’t think that these should be understood as physically healthy, but rather morally. An evil eye would be full of greed, wanting everything it sees. But a healthy, good eye, by contrast would be generous. A good eye would be looking for ways to serve others and give to those in need.

When we see treasure, money, the newest car or device, are we filled with greed and the need to have it? This teaches the same truth as the passage before. What does your heart desire? What do your eyes desire. Treasure for yourself on earth, or treasure in heaven?

Finally, Jesus says, “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. You cannot serve God and money.” Now, we may be able to think of a situation where a person can serve two “bosses.” Maybe you have two jobs, and you serve one when you are at one job, and the other when you are at the other job. But what happens when the bosses want opposing things. Both jobs require you to be there for the same hours, or maybe the two jobs are for competing companies. You may find yourself in an impossible situation. Jesus is telling us here that God is an exclusive master. If he is our Lord, he requires our total allegiance—he will share it with no one and no thing.

And we will serve a master. Bob Dylan famously wrote a song called, “You Gotta Serve Somebody.” In it the refrain keeps repeating, “But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord But you're gonna have to serve somebody.” Dylan’s words reflect on a spiritual truth. We all serve somebody, and God is a jealous master. You cannot serve both God and money. So you can work and slave away at getting more stuff, and filling your bank account with more, or you can serve God, and recognize that all that you have belongs to him. And you can freely and generously give for God’s glory.

Now, as usual, I am always on the look out to be sure that I’m preaching the Gospel and not just moralism. At this point, with what we have heard from God’s word, we can all be either patting ourselves on the back because we think God owes us for how much we have already given, or we can be discouraged because we realize we have misplaced our priorities, and we have been storing up treasures that won’t last.

This brings us to the Gospel. Jesus has been telling us that we should store up treasures in heaven, and not on earth. But remember what it was that he did for us. He gave up the riches of heaven and became poor, so that we might become rich in him. We would have no way to store up treasure apart from the work that he has done on our behalf. Our generosity means nothing before God if it does not come from a regenerated heart. There are many philanthropists who give money to the poor, to children’s hospitals, and other good causes, that are not motivated by the desire for God’s glory. Anyone can give because it makes them feel good and be honored by others, but the believer’s generosity was bought by Jesus’ blood.

And now, because Jesus gave up everything for us, we love him because he first loved us. And because he gave up heaven for us, we will be willing to give up our earthly treasure for anything that he may call us to.

For one who may be here today who is not a believer, Jesus is calling you to repent. If you aren’t a believer today, your treasure is all here. Some thief may take your money. It may burn in a fire and be destroyed. Ultimately, you will one day die, and then what happens with all your stuff? If you believe this world is all that there is, what a hopeless existence that must be. Jesus calls you to repent. Turn away from the way you think. From believing that your earthly treasure is what matters most. And you will receive the greatest treasure that no one can every take from you.