Treasure Hunting

Sermon on the Mount • Sermon • Submitted 3 years ago

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God and His kingdom is the greatest treasure in the universe; nothing compares to Him. Knowing this, how are we changed? "We must always remember that even the best things of this earth are but pale reflections of the kingdom gifts to come. We must use them wisely, and put our trust in God who supplies all our needs according to His riches in glory.

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Growing up, did you ever dream of finding lost treasure? I remember reading Treasure Island and wondering what it would be like to be a swashbuckling, intrepid explorer who finds lost treasure and brings it to the proper authorities, or a museum. Naturally, such work would result in a financial reward!

As we continue our series studying Jesus’ Sermon on the mount, we learn from him that all who are in Christ, who have faith in him, have already found a great treasure: the kingdom of heaven. In the two sections of the Sermon on the Mount that we are looking at this morning, we see how we are to live out this reality. We see it play out in heart, mind and will.

Heart

The search for treasure is not just the stuff of dreams for little girls and boys. Everyone is looking for treasure, all their lives. But what kind of treasure ought we search for? What kind of treasure really satisfies? The kind of treasure we seek tells us everything about our heart.

Jesus teaches that there are two places where people look for treasure. One is temporal, or earthly, the other is eternal, or heavenly. Where we look makes all the difference in this life and in the life to come.

The natural thing for human beings to do is to lay up treasure on earth. We keep doing this, even though such treasures are temporary. Clothes wear out, metal rusts and tarnishes, and because thieves threaten to steal what we have gained, we spend a lot of time worrying about our belongings and keeping them safe. Still, even when we know this, we keep seeking earthly treasures. We keep trying to get more, or we keep trying to seek after better and better things. Not only are these things ultimately unsatisfying, in that they can be destroyed or lost in a moment, we are never fully satisfied in them!

Jesus knows this. Jesus knows that the only thing that satisfies is that which lays up treasure in heaven. In heaven, nothing can ruin treasure. The treasures of heaven are as different from earthly treasures as can be. They are: faithfulness, eternal life, an everlasting spring within, an unlosable gift, eternal security, a solid anchor, an inseparable love, an eternal calling, a forever foundation and a lasting inheritance. That’s what God offers us.

So what should our hearts be focussed on? What do our hearts tell us about what we treasure? Is it sin to be rich? No, there are many examples of rich people who faithfully served God with their money. But, Jesus is warning us that there is spiritual danger that accompanies riches. Money is not an end in of itself, rather it is a means to an end, such as: to not be a burden to others, to share with those in need, to encourage missions at home and around the world, to be used for God’s glory.

Thus we need to discern where our real treasure lies. If it is in the accumulation of wealth, or things, or fame, or prestige, then this will eventually become the very focus of our lives. Everything will become focussed on getting more, and nothing will ever satisfy such a desire. The things of the earth are temporal. The things of heaven are eternal. Where our treasure is, that’s where our hearts will be also. As yourself, where is my heart? What do I truly treasure?

Mind

Jesus continues by turning to the mind. The eye represents the mind. When there is light, and when the eye functions properly, you are able to see and properly navigate you way around any obstacle. If you are blind, or if it is completely dark, you will not be able to navigate properly. When I was younger, my friends and I would go spelunking in old mine shafts. When we were deep inside the mine, we would extinguish all light, and we couldn’t see a thing. No matter how long we allowed our eyes to adjust, without light, we were blind.

There are two ways to be blind. One way is to have a spiritually dead eye. This results in wandering around and bumping into all kinds of things. The other way, is to be able to see, but because there is such total darkness, that it is impossible to see anything.

What we need is for Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, to give us eyes to see—to remove our spiritual blindness, and to provide the light by which to see. Thankfully, Jesus is the great healer, and is also the light of the world. An example of being spiritually blind comes to us in the life of Saul who became the apostle Paul. Jesus blinded him physically with the brightness of his true light. But when Paul’s sight was restored, he saw, he knew in his mind who Jesus truly is.

When we come to know Jesus, when we see with our mind, and can know and appreciate his truth, everything changes. We see the world as it really is. We see that the things of this earth, though wonderful to behold and enjoy, we see that they are but shadows of the things to come. Therefore, we set our focus on the future, the true rewards that are coming.

But let’s be real and honest. It is not so easy to turn our backs on the old way. It is not so easy to avoid the pitfalls and the battles for our minds. There are so many influences, influencers who are trying to convince us that joy and delight are available here and now. That the good things, the evil things, or just the thing things are what really satisfy. But we have to remind ourselves of the real treasure that is Jesus.

Jesus is blunt. We cannot serve two masters. Either we will follow the ways of the world, and love that and hate God, or we will follow the way of God and love Him, and hate the world. We cannot be lovers of the world, and lovers of God at the same time. We are either completely sold out for the world, and the world’s passions or we are completely sold out for God. Jesus says, you cannot serve God and money at the same time, it is impossible.

So then, having our heart set on God, and having our mind set on God, what’s the next step? The next step is living it out, it is exercising the will, by having it set on God also.

Will

Last year I read the book Respectable Sins by Jerry Bridges. Our passage this morning deals with two of them. Respectable sins are sins that we know are sins, but with which we’ve grown so accustomed, that we no longer really see them as sins. The first respectable sin is the accumulation of wealth for one’s own purpose. We respect and we applaud rich people, and we find ourselves wishing we could be as rich as they are. This is certainly true in the world, and, from what Jerry described in his book, it is certainly true for Christians. Many still believe that riches are proof of God’s blessing on someone.

If that were true, why does Jesus elsewhere say that it is impossible for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Why is it that churches are full during war, but empty after? Is it not because, when things are going well, we believe we are self-sufficient, that we can provide for our own needs, and don’t really need God, thank you very much?

Yes, that’s true. But the opposite is true also.

With the increase of wealth comes the increase of anxiety concerning that wealth. Who of us, having two pennies would fear walking around downtown? But if we had instead several thousand dollars on our person, would feel decidedly less comfortable?

The problem is that we do worry, we are anxious: anxious of losing what we have, or anxious about not having enough. Thankfully, Jesus knows this about us, and addresses it.

The principle he lays out is: don’t be anxious about your life, what you will eat, what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Life is indeed more than food and the body is more than clothing.

Don’t be anxious about staying alive or about being clothed, internal needs, external needs. Here’s why.

Do birds worry about their next meal? Do they not work like crazy, building nests, eating worms, flying here, going there, winter here, summer there, all directed by our Father in heaven. Aren’t you more valuable than a bird?

Or what about the flowers in the field. Have you ever noticed how gloriously God adorns the most mundane things? Last week, it snowed. Snow is simply frozen water, God uses it to water the earth. But God created, intentionally made water to behave in specific ways when frozen so as to create incredibly beautiful snowflakes! He didn’t have to, he chose to. He’s gloriously, abundantly, demonstrating his ability to provide, not just ground nourishing water, but beautiful, intricate snowflakes, all absolutely different and unique. Why? Because he can. He wants us to know, that because he can make perfect snowflakes, beautiful flowers, well-fed birds, he can care for us. He cares for us. He put his image in us. We are more valuable than they are.

Don’t worry about life, don’t worry about your body. God knows you need all these things. He will provide for you.

Anxiety gains you nothing. Anxiety robs you of the assurance of God’s goodness. Paul takes up this teaching in Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God.” God command us not to be anxious because he knows we are prone to be anxious.

But before the face of God, such anxiety is a sin. Why? How do I dare say that anxiety is a sin? I dare say it because of God’s goodness. God provides. God knows what we need even before we ask it. To dwell in anxiety is to deny the goodness and the provision of God. We all want to go around saying, “Oh no! What will we do? What will we wear? How will we live?”

Those are not the questions worth asking! They are putting our focus on ourselves, and not on God. Paul says to us, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God… Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry… anger, wrath, malice, slander and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practises and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (Colossians 3:2, 3, 5, 8b-10).

We always ought to be asking, “how can I seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? How do I do that? Here’s how: we recognise that apart from God, we are spiritually poor. Therefore we seek to find our truth, our identity, our belonging in Jesus. We set our hearts and our minds and our wills on Jesus, where he is above, not on earthly things. We work out our salvation with fear and trembling. Like the birds, we work hard, all the while trusting God to provide for us. We don’t sit around idle. We do. We work, we grow, we learn, we find, we seek, we ask, and we receive.

Don’t worry about tomorrow. Today has enough things to worry about. But because we are in Christ, we need not worry. God’s got this. God is holding us in His hand no matter what.

So, face the day. Struggling, suffering, enjoying, delighting, living. Enjoy the good things from God’s hands, but don’t let them consume you. Approach life with a balance of heart, mind and will. Above all, seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and you will discover, all these things, all the things we tend to worry so much about, will be added unto us. Amen.

Let us pray:

Father in Heaven, we thank you that you are our mighty fortress. In you, we can find solace for all our worries and our fears. In your perfect loving care nothing can harm us at all, even the devil is nothing more than a buzzing gnat. By your Spirit, help us to focus our attention on you, and not on the cares and concerns, or the glitzy and glamourous, and yet temporary things of this world. Rather, help us to focus on you, and on everlasting things, eternal things from your perfect hand, amen.

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