Replacing Greed and Anxiety with Generosity and Faith
Matthew 6:19-34
This section is about wealth: storing up treasures in heaven (vv19-21), living with generosity (vv22-23), serving God rather than money (v24), and learning to trust God and seek his kingdom rather than the things of life (v25-34). In all this Jesus shows us how to relate to money as we pursue the true life of flourishing in his kingdom.
Storing up Treasures
The word translated here as treasures means stored up things.
A treasure is something prized and precious and valuable to someone.
Treasures on earth or stored up things are those things that brings one safety and security: could be gold, gems, a photo, house, investments, etc. Yet these things can be worn out, run down, stolen or get moldy. Moths can eat up your clothes, termites can destroy your house without you even knowing it before it is too late. You can lose your treasures when they are destroyed by natural disasters (floods, hurricane, tornados). These treasures can take priority in a person’s life, need a lot of attention, can make a person worry about them, and, before you know it, they own us.
Treasures (rewards) in heaven: Eternal life-that biblical hope of eternal joy. We store up heavenly things like we have been learning in the Sermon on the Mount by being light to the world, being generous, loving others, placing our hearts and focus on God’s wisdom and having a good relationship (right living) with others. Most precious of all treasures is JESUS because as v21 says, where your treasure is, there your heart will be. Or put another way, the nature of one’s heart is reflected in the things we value.
BibleProject: As humans, we desire divine experiences like love, peace, safety and security, but we face obstacles on the path to these rewards. In fact, Jesus says the biggest obstacle to experiencing God’s heavenly life and presence here on earth is our stuff! Our possessions and wealth may make us feel more stable and secure, but Jesus has a different perspective on material things and goes on to tell us how to treat wealth. (See Matthew 19:16–30 where the young man was rich but he "treasured" his riches more than what he could have in Jesus.)
Generosity and worship - Matt 6:22-23
ESV: 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!
LEB: 22 "The eye is the lamp of the body. Therefore if your eye is sincere, your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eye is evil, your whole body will be dark. Therefore if the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness!
What are some eye metaphors or idioms you know and their meanings? Here are a few:
See Eye to Eye
Meaning: Agreeing on something; having the same opinion.
Eyes in the Back of One’s Head
Meaning: Having an uncanny ability to be aware of what is happening around you, even if not directly visible.
Turn a Blind Eye
Meaning: Purposely ignoring something, typically a wrongdoing.
Have an Eagle Eye
Meaning: Having a keen and sharp ability to observe and notice details.
Give Someone the Evil Eye
Meaning: Casting a malevolent or threatening look at someone.
In Matthew 6:22-23 Jesus says ‘the eye is the lamp of the body’ and if our eyes are "good" or "bad" that will determine whether the rest of our body becomes full of light or darkness.
This Hebrew idiom ‘the eye is the lamp of the body’ is seen in wisdom literature such as Proverbs 22:9 in which someone with a "good eye" or "healthy eye" is generous, and someone with a "bad eye" is stingy.
The good eye: translated as clear, healthy, single and sincere represents generosity. It’s the person who imitates God’s generosity to others, and their whole body becomes full of light. Generous people remain full of light like a lamp-vibrant and even happy-with love for their neighbors.
The bad eye symbolizes a stingy, bad, evil, self-consumed person who takes instead of giving and neglects the needs of others. It also represents a duplicitous (double-minded) person (Prov 23:6-7). Outwardly they seem to be generous and kind, but inwardly they are full of darkness because they probably have a reason or an agenda at the moment for giving. Jesus gave the concept of stinginess and unloving to dim or dark eyes, suggesting that person will remain in darkness.
Jesus here is focusing our attention and motivation on wealth and that one’s spiritual health can be assessed, in part, by observing the way one uses material possessions. He is inviting us to honestly evaluate our relationship to wealth and reasons for hanging on to it. Since the eye acts as the entrance for light into the heart and mind, what you focus on (materialism vs. God) determines whether your life is full of light or darkness, generosity or stinginess.
Jesus continues to talk about wealth vs the Kingdom of God.
Matt 6: 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 mammon.
Mammon [MAM uhn]: refers to one’s possessions like wealth, money or property (material possessions) and which Jesus describes as a burdensome ruler seeking to lure human beings into its own control. Mammon comes from an Aramaic word Mamon meaning trustworthy. Mammon describes wealth that tempts you into trusting in it for security and happiness. Bible Project.
Mammon is scripturally depicted as a "master" (above verse) that must not be served alongside God.
Ecclesiastes 5:10: He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income.
So I ask: what or who will be your master? Jesus or mammon (money/wealth)? What is the thing you value most? That which can be destroyed, taken from you or which you have to leave behind at death, or the ultimate treasure of joy that awaits you in the kingdom of God: peace, all kinds of healing, all the things that seem illusive in the here and now like peace, honesty, kindness, justice, generosity.
Whatever we trust as our source of provision and security will be the god we serve. Will we look to either the fleeting and unstable master of money to provide everything we need or to the Father who owns everything and loves us through Christ (Sermon on the Mount-Drew Hunter)? Jesus knows mammon (wealth/money) can corrupt and tempt us, so He says don’t store it up, but use it generously to care for others and build good relationships thereby gaining true wealth.
Luke 16:11: If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth (mammon), who will entrust to you the true riches.
Anxiety and Trust – Matt 6:25-34
After telling us not to love the world and its treasures, Jesus goes on to say we are valuable and not to be anxious, worried, or concerned if we don’t have all that "stuff," but to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and God will provide for us.
Bible Project: Surrounded by poverty, crime, and threats of violence, we rightly sense danger everywhere. Working to protect "me and mine" at any cost, even if it includes neglecting or harming others, has become normal, even "virtuous" in popular culture. We’ve got our own problems to deal with, and doing what it takes to generously love each of our neighbors sounds nice but feels unrealistic. So when we hear Jesus say, "Seek first the Kingdom of God," it sounds idealistic and impractical if not impossible. Normal empires and kings tell their citizens that safety and satisfaction result when one has money, stuff, and power over other people. Once we have secured ourselves with these things, then we can serve others. - BP
Bible Project continues: But "these things will be added to you" doesn’t necessarily mean a promise that this happens quickly. He’s talking about a long-term vision for whole-world restoration. Having every possible need met every day appears to be something we will ultimately experience when God’s Kingdom is complete, when everyone everywhere operates and loves according to the King.
Many of us will experience the pain of unmet needs in this life. We may not have the food, medicine, or other provisions we need to survive, even if we faithfully follow Jesus to the end. We may live with justice for all and still receive oppression in return. Some of us will be hurt and have no one to tend to our needs. Jesus' life and words speak to this reality as well. He himself experienced betrayal, poverty, hunger, and violence as he lived in the ways of God’s Kingdom. But he never felt insecure. Throughout the four Gospels, the story of Jesus shows him remaining confident that his life is in God’s hands. (Bible Project)
So Jesus says:
34 "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
