Sermon on the Mount - Two Masters
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Sermon on the Mount – Two Masters
Matthew 6:22-24
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.
1. Introduction – As we come to the back half of the SM, Jesus begins to give us a series of comparisons.
a. There’s going to be a lot of either/or statements that we’ll look at over the next few months.
i. It actually started last week. Either you are storing up earthly treasure or heavenly treasure.
1. Not one both/and – it’s either/or.
a. It continues today – either you eye is full of light or it is full of darkness.
i. Either you will love one Master and hate the other – serve one and despise the other.
ii. Next week, either you’ll be anxious about tomorrow…or you’ll have faith that God knows what he is doing.
1. In a few weeks we’ll look at trees bearing fruit – either it will be good or it will be bad.
a. Either you will walk the narrow road that leads to life, or you will walk the broad road that leads to death.
i. Either the Father will welcome you into his eternal kingdom – or he’ll say, “ I never knew you.”
b. Either you build your house on a firm foundation or you build it on sand.
b. What do you notice about all of those examples I just listed?
i. Hopefully you noticed that there’s only 2 options.
1. Narrow or broad road. Either the Father knows you or he doesn’t.
a. Either good fruit or bad fruit – either firm foundation or sandy flimsy.
i. And today what we’ll look at is this…
1. Either you have a good eye or a bad eye…
a. Light or darkness.
i. Either you will love one Master and hate the other…devoted to one and despise the other.
c. What ‘ll be talking about today…and really what all of Matthew 7 deals with the topic of loyalty and devotion.
i. As a Christian, you can’t have divided loyalties. It simply doesn’t work.
1. So as we continue in our study through the SM, we are going to challenged…week in and week out.
a. Where is my loyalty? What kingdom am I serving? Where’s my treasure? What god am I serving?
i. Am I serving the god of money, success, or as Jesus says in our passage today, “Mammon” – and then trying to sprinkle in a little Christianity on the side?
1. Or am I wholly and unswervingly devoted to God, the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth?
ii. There will be some difficult and uncomfortable weeks ahead…
1. Are we simply going through the motions of faith…trying to add God to an otherwise Godless existence?
a. Or are we singularly and radically focused on God…doing God’s work here on earth…in whatever capacity God has called you to?
i. Hear God’s Word – Matthew 6:22-24.
d. So we continue in our journey of twos today. Two treasures last week…
i. This week two eyes – good and bad…and two masters.
1. Jesus is showing his original audience…and us today that in life there are only 2 choices…2 ways of life – not third way.
a. And in the verses we’re studying today, instead of looking at treasure, Jesus shifts his attention to 2 perspectives – 2 outlooks on life…a godly view and a worldly view.
2. Today we are simply going to follow the passage in order…Not backwards, not sideways…not three points and poem.
a. We’re simply going to follow the flow of Jesus’ argument…each verse makes a distinction with the comparison…and each verse really impacts our lives.
i. So, verse 22, then verse 23, then the climatic conclusion in verse 24.
2. Verse 22 – The passage starts with a rather strange statement. The eye is the lamp of the body.
a. There are 2 ways to understand this phrase.
i. We can take it literally or metaphorically.
1. But we’ll see in a bit – we must also understand this analogy spiritually.
b. Physically speaking – we can understand this phrase in this way.
i. Picture the whole body as a room or a house.
1. And the eye is like the window of that room or house.
a. The purpose of the eye is to illuminate the structure.
i. Think about our eyes for a minute. Almost everything we do depends on our ability to see.
1. Writing, painting, sewing, knitting, driving…walking up or down stairs…
a. All these things depend on our ability to see.
2. Now that’s not to say those who are blind can’t paint or sew or knit…and it’s true that they do some pretty incredible things despite not having their full vision.
c. But we aren’t here to talk about optometry or ophthalmology…
i. We are here to get to the spiritual heart of the matter.
1. Jesus is using an analogy – between good eyes and bad eyes…between light and darkness…
a. Between following God’s ways and following the ways of the world.
d. I want us to examine 1 word in this verse…and this one word will help us immensely as we discern and interpret what Jesus says.
i. The word is ‘healthy.’ Other English translations use the word ‘good’ in this sentence.
1. If the eye is healthy…if the eye is good.
a. But theirs is a third word that translators have used in this verse…and this word is more helpful for interpretation.
i. Some English translations say, “single.” The KJV the NRSV among others use this word.
1. If the eye is single, your whole body will be filled with light.
ii. So if the eye is the lamp of the body – if it is the conduit for things to enter our hearts and our mind…
1. Then we must be selective in what enter through that conduit.
a. As Jesus says here – our eyes must be single.
i. What does that mean? What does it mean to have singular eye?
e. Well, in the context, the good eye, the single eye – is the eye that is focused on kingdom priorities.
i. The eye that is storing up heavenly treasure…
1. The singular eye is praying for God’s kingdom to come and God’s will to be done…
a. It’s the eye that isn’t distracted by earthly treasure, by earthy gain or earthly success.
i. But the single eye is the eye…the person…who is singularly devoted to God and his ways.
ii. If your eye is healthy, if it is single…if you are wholly devoted to God’s ways – then the body will be full of light.
1. This phrase means that if we are following the ways God…not distracted by the ways of the world…not caught up in the greed or selfishness of this world…
a. But if the things of God are flowing through the conduit of our eyes…then our hearts and our minds will be focused on heavenly treasure.
i. Our minds will be thinking about whatever is true, honourable, just, pure, lovely, commendable…it will think about whatever is excellent and worthy of praise.
iii. That is the light with which our body will be filled.
1. Our lives will be filled with the light of God’s truth…but not only that…
a. The more our eyes focus on the light of God…the more our bodies will be filled with God’s light…the more our light will shine outwardly for others to see.
iv. Remember back in 5:14 – Jesus called his followers the light of the world.
1. And he encouraged us to not hide that light, but to let it shine so that others will see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.
a. And if we want our light to shine brightly…then we must make sure we are receiving our fuel from God.
i. We can’t let the sediment build up or our lights to be hidden by the darkness of the world around us.
1. We must make sure our eyes are good, healthy and single.
b. That we are receiving our fuel from the light of the world…so that others will see our lights shine.
v. If the eye is healthy…if the eye is single…then the whole body is filled with light…Jesus says our priority as his people should be the ways of God.
3. V.23 – but there is always an ‘or’ in an either/or statement.
a. Jesus speaks of the good and single eye – but on the flipside of that…there’s the bad eye.
i. And in v.23 Jesus isn’t talking about physical blindness or macular degeneration or cataracts… or any other kind of physical deterioration of the eyes…
1. He’s speaking about spiritual blindness…spiritual darkness.
a. This is one of Jesus’ favourite comparisons between God’s ways the world’s ways.
i. Jesus uses this image 4 times in John’s Gospel – 3:19-21, 8:12, 11:9-10, 12:35-36.
ii. And since in the previous verse we defined ‘good’ as ‘singular’ – bad, in v.21, carries the meaning of duplicitous or having double vision.
1. Eyes that may sometimes be focused on God…but more often than not turn away.
a. This is a picture of someone who goes through the motions of religion, but ultimately doesn’t trust and love God above all else.
i. When our eyes are fixed on anything other than God, our eyes become the conduit for darkness to enter the body.
iii. And Jesus says that the deeper into darkness you go…the more easily you can be deceived.
1. Deceived into thinking your darkness is actually light.
a. I think the NLT can help us in translating this verse…it reads…
i. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness…how deep that darkness is.
1. The bad eye allows other gods to dictate the terms of your life.
b. The eye that is partially focused on God but mostly focused on success or money or clothes or stuff or popularity…
i. The divided eye – those with double vision – they are allowing the body to be filled with darkness…
1. And darkness will deceive you…deceive you thinking its OK to chase after money…
a. Its OK to put success and getting ahead over getting to know God more.
i. The darkness will deceive you so that you think you are fine spiritually…and there’s no need to grow.
1. That you’re doing enough and there’s no need for your light to shine brighter.
ii. And what I just said about – they are all lies. Lies that darkness, ultimately Satan himself, will tell you in order to fill you with more darkness.
1. You aren’t find where you are – as God’s people we should always be striving for more – knowing him more, loving God more…serving God more, serving others more…
a. We shouldn’t be prostituting ourselves out to lesser gods – as if we can worship money and success Monday-Saturday, but as long as you’re in church on Sunday – you’re good…
i. You’re not good…the darkness is deceiving you…
1. Your focus is divided…you have double vision…not singularly focused…
iii. And in v.24 – Jesus lays out the consequences of divided loyalties.
4. v.24 – Two treasures, two eyes give way to two masters.
a. And what we have here in this verse is a proverb of sorts.
i. On the surface…it doesn’t seem to fit with the previous 2 verses…or previous 4 verses…
1. But if we see vv.22-23 talking about the single and devoted eye vs a duplicitous and cheating eye…
a. Then all of a sudden, v.24 becomes a fitting conclusion to this whole section 19-23.
ii. Heavenly treasure and earthly treasure…heavenly eyes or earthly eyes…you can’t have both.
1. It’s one of the other…
a. Because as Jesus says in the concluding statement – when you divide yourself…your loyalties will split…and inevitably you will follow one master more than the other.
b. And v.24 has a series of either/ore
i. 2 masters…one of the either.
1. Either love or hate…either devoted or despise.
a. What Jesus is saying here is ‘you can’t work for God and then moonlight for success or money’ – or in modern terms…you can’t have a side hustle.
i. Or as some translations of the Bible say – you can’t serve God and Mammon.
1. Mammon is an Aramaic word for money, success, greed or selfishness.
ii. But in this verse Jesus personifies greed and selfishness…he even deifies it.
1. Ye says if you are relentlessly following selfishness, greed, money, success for your own personal gain…then those things have become your god…you are worshipping at the altar of Mammon.
a. And the more you serve money – the less you will serve God.
i. The more you trust money, the less you will trust God.
1. The more you love money, the less you will love God.
a. Its how it goes when our loyalties are divided.
c. And look at what Jesus says about this - he doesn’t say it’s unspiritual to serve 2 masters…he says its impossible to do it.
i. You won’t be able to beat the system…this is how it is.
1. Now, Jesus isn’t speaking about having 2 part time jobs here.
a. The word he uses in v.24 is derived from the Greek word doulos, which is the word for slave.
i. Slaves were usually only owned by one person.
1. In the world of slavery – slaves and servants were wholly devoted to their masters…no divided loyalties.
ii. And as is mentioned elsewhere in Scripture – we are to be salves to Christ Jesus – bondservants.
1. We are to be wholly devoted to one Master – the one who sent his Son to die for our sins and purchased our pardon through his blood.
a. Jesus doesn’t want our lives to wasted by practicing what is impossible.
i. We must decide which master we are going to follow – no side hustles, no moonlight for other gods.
d. As God’s people we must not chose money, popularity or success as if they are of ultimate value.
i. When are our lives are ruled and governed by those things…know this….you are worshipping the god of Mammon.
1. And the more we worship there…the less we will worship God….the more faithful we are to Mammon – the less we will worship God.
e. 2 Treasures, 2 eyes, 2 masters – the conversation the past 2 weeks has been about devotion and loyalties.
i. Jesus says there’s no fence sitting – one side or the other – you’re in or you’re out.
1. Heavenly treasure or earthly treasure…singularly focused or double vision.
a. God of the universe…god of stuff.
i. These are the either/or decisions we must make – each one of us doing an inventory of our lives too assess where our loyalty and devotion lie.
ii. There are more of these challenges ahead and we march toward the end of the SM.