This is now the fourth sermon in what I am calling, “The Associate Pastor’s occasional series on the Sermon on the Mount.” I’ve been studying the Sermon for, roughly, two years. Nearly every major theologian from the pre-Nicene fathers until today has had something to say about this discourse of Jesus. It was for Deitrich Bonhoeffer the seminal work of Jesus that shaped his understanding of all scripture and shaped virtually all his writings.

The sermon contains some of our most beloved scriptures – the Beatitudes, the Lords’ Prayer, the story of the man who built his house on rock and the one who built his house on sand. Every few verses you run into something that conjures up an old Sunday school lesson, words of inspiration and encouragement, or a poignant word of comfort.

There’s something for everyone in the Sermon. And there is a lot we would like to skip over. Some people have come to the conclusion that Jesus could not possibly have been serious about everything in the Sermon on the Mount. There are a lot of difficult teachings in the Sermon, and some say it simply is not practical to take the Sermon at face value. Bonhoeffer would disagree with that assessment, as would Augustine of Hippo, Martin Luther, John Calvin and Karl Barth. Like it or lump it, as my mother would say, the Sermon on the Mount confronts us with what Jesus had to say about Christian character and Christian practice, and a lot of it is diametrically opposed to what we would will or want.

The three previous sermons dealt with (1) the Beatitudes; (2) the significance of our being an influence – salt and light – in the world; and, (3) what Jesus had to say about obedience to the Law. This morning I am skipping over what Jesus had to say about anger, lust, adultery and divorce and taking oaths. I am bypassing Jesus’ thoughts on our desires for retaliation and revenge when we feel we have been wronged and our notions of what justice really is. I am moving past what Jesus had to say about some of our Christian practices, including serving the needs of the poor through our offerings, prayer and fasting. Since this is our month to highlight stewardship – the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to [our] care,¹ I thought you might like to hear what Jesus had to day about wealth. Let us listen together for a message from our God.

Matthew 6:19-34

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

"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 unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for a slave will either hate the one and love the other, or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth. "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life 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, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these.

But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you-- you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear?' For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.

But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

"So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today.” (NRSV)

Let the people of God hear what the Spirit is saying.

* * * * * * * * * *

It’s almost Christmas. I cannot tell you exactly how many days it will be until we get there, but any day now that little box will appear somewhere in the newspaper and the countdown will begin. The reason I know it will soon be Christmas is that when I came home after a two-day seminar at Princeton, I discovered I had in the mail four pounds of catalogs. I didn’t even look at them. I just set them aside as I went through the mail and then weighed them before I put them in a pile for the recycle bin.

Four pounds of catalogs! That is a lot of distraction. The problem for me is I really, really like catalogs. I can spend hours pouring over them, marking their pages and revisiting their contents. I get a lot of ideas from catalogs, and I never know what I am going to discover that I don’t yet know I absolutely must to have. My biggest problem with the last four pounds of catalogs that came in the door is that I am not completely out of the woods. Trash isn’t picked up until Tuesday.

To be honest, I have too much stuff. I have more clothes than I need, more jewelry, more shoes. I have more kitchen gadgets and electronic doo-dads than you can shake a stick at, and there’s hardly a month when I don’t open a closet door and think to myself, “I need to get rid of some of this stuff.”

The acquisition of stuff is, perhaps, one of the greatest distractions of wealth. And, bear in mind, you don’t have to be a millionaire to be wealthy. For most of the world, any disposable income is a sign of great wealth.

Acquiring stuff isn’t the only distraction. Once you have stuff, you have to take care of it. Stuff has to be washed and ironed or dry- cleaned. It has to be fed gas and tuned up. It has to be protected from the rain and snow and, occasionally, it needs to be polished. Once you have stuff, you always have to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t walk away. I don’t know about you, but when we first were precluded from locking our luggage when flying I was really nervous – even though I was carrying the really important “stuff” in my carry on suitcase. Have you ever observed people waiting for their luggage at an airport carousel? People get really anxious when they see someone lifting a bag that looks just like theirs. You have to be vigilant or someone may walk away with your stuff.

What is it about “stuff” that is so compelling?

If I remember right, in the movie Moonstruck, Olivia Dukakis asked one of the male characters, “Why do men chase women?” The man replied, “Because they think they’re going to die.” Then he asks “Why do women always shop?” Olivia Dukakis just shrugs, but the answer is written all over her face – “Because they think they’re going to die.”

We think we’re going to die, and we want to think our lives are worth something. Somehow, the measure of our acquisitions becomes the measure of our worth – whether it is a large trust fund, a closet full of shoes, or a 1964-1/2 Shelby Mustang. What we leave behind says something about the value of our lives. After all, isn’t that what we all want deep down inside – to be people of value? We want to be people whose lives have counted for something. When we review the end of our day, however, – or the end of our lives, what we really want is to be people who have loved justice, done kindness and found peace with our families, our friends and our God.

But most of us are never really sure about what we mean to our families – let alone what kind of influence – what salt or light – we might be to the world. Stockpiling wealth and the signs of wealth can be a hedge containing that particular insecurity. Inventorying our masses of stuff can remind us that we have, indeed, accomplished something. Reviewing and revising our wills can assure us that we will most definitely be remembered for our prudence and generosity because of what we leave behind for our loved ones.

The problem with using “stuff,” whether material or money, as a measure of self worth is that moth and rust do consume, and thieves do break in and steal. Stock markets crash, companies fold, pensions and health care benefits are easily lost in tumbling corporate fortunes. In the blink of an eye all the stuff we hold dear can be consumed by earthquake, flood or fire.

Do not store up treasures for yourself on earth where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal. If we stake our intrinsic worth on earthly treasures, we will end up sorely disappointed and broken hearted. This is not to say that we should forgo prudent financial planning. It is not to say we should dispense with fashion and wear only flour-sack clothing. It is to say that being cavalier with what God has entrusted to us would, indeed, be a breach of faith on our part. Tom Long says the “decision whether to store up treasures on earth or treasures in heaven is not one of mere financial planning; it is a question of basic orientation.”² It is about whether or not we see our lives as an outpouring of God’s love and care for us. It is about whether or not we see our lives as a gift from God.

And even when we see our lives as a gift from God, we experience a huge struggle because there are so many things in life that compete with that orientation. We live in a world of “eye candy.” There are so many things that entice us to view life as a race for acquisitions.

In the days when Jesus lived, the eye was considered to be the source of light. What one saw would determine one’s orientation toward life. “Your eye is the lamp of the body, so if your eye is healthy” – if you are oriented toward the things of God – if see yourself as living inside the gift of God’s gracious providence – then your whole body is healthy, and you will hold your possessions lightly. Your disposition will be one of gratitude and generosity. “But if your eye is unhealthy,” if you see resources as scarce and life as a competition to acquire them, “then your whole body will be full of darkness.” You will live in fear and insecurity, clinging to all you possess and worrying about its sufficiency, begrudging every act of generosity.

That is not what God wants for us. God doesn’t want us scrambling in fear and insecurity. But the pull to rely on ourselves – our accomplishments and our possessions – is strong. Scripture tells us Jesus knows this. It says Jesus is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, because in every respect he was tested as we are, but he remained without sin.³ I cannot help but wonder if Jesus ever wanted to have the extra-fine linen robe, or the Ferragamo sandals.

It is clear that we cannot serve two masters. We have to choose where our loyalties will lie. Our wealth will tell us we don’t have to worry; we can always get another credit card with a higher limit. The irony is that the more we have, the more we have to worry about.

Jesus asks a different kind of question. Jesus asks: “Who do you trust?” Do you trust your ability to keep up your 16-hour days so you can continue on the road to riches? Or do you trust God – the one who values you more than the birds of the air or the lilies of the field? “Living the good life and living a good life pull in opposite directions. One cannot serve God and wealth.”⁴ It’s that simple. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Is the source of your treasure God or MasterCard?

Yes, we do have to pay the mortgage and satisfy the minimum payments, but Jesus is asking us to consider another world – a world where birds of the air are fed and lilies of the field are adorned in splendor. A world where neither moth nor rust consume, and thieves do not break in and steal. It is a world where anxiety is overthrown because value is not measured by possessions and accomplishments, but by our worth to God.

When we seek first the Kingdom of God and God’s righteousness, our lives will have amounted to something precisely because we have loved justice, done kindness and found peace with our families, our friends and our God. We needn’t worry about tomorrow because nothing can ever take away what God provides – “dignity, a sense of worth, and the confidence we have of being “treasured in the heart of God.”⁵

Thanks be to God.

¹ Merriam-Webster, I. (2003). Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary. Includes index. (Eleventh ed.). Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, Inc.

² Thomas G. Long, Matthew, Westminster Bible Companion., (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1977), p. 74.