Don't lay up earthly treasures
What did Jesus
tell the wealthy young man? "Give away everything, and follow me" (Mark 10:17-31).
In that passage, Jesus says,
"It is harder for a rich man to enter God's kingdom than for a camel [or rope] to squeeze through a needle's eye."
Why so? Is it because the overly affluent person hasn't
time to heed God, being too busy serving self? Even a
kindly rich person will have difficulty in this matter. It is just too
easy to pay for what you want. You needn't wait on God and receive his
blessing. You can bless yourself too easily. You are blinded to the
riches of God by your material wealth.
And we Americans must not point
fingers. For even the poor among us are materially rich by standards of
previous generations. How many poor people can these days fulfill a
great many personal wants simply by swiping a debit card? I would say
it is especially difficult for modern Americans to experience God's
kingdom.
God or Mammon?
Mammon is a name used for material wealth, a name which connoted the
idea of a false god. A modern way to put the verse is, "You
cannot serve both God and the Almighty Dollar."
As explicit as this admonition is, a great many Christians do not
take it seriously. But we should always take seriously every word that proceeds from the mouth of Jesus -- though of course we may have to wrestle with a teaching and ask God its meaning and application to our personal situation.
Here, as elsewhere, Jesus is
calling on those who would follow him to fix their eyes on the things
of God, in fact to fix their eyes on God (which means emulating
Jesus). You may think you love God, but if you are distracted by the
pursuit of personal gain, then you are either putting God in the back
seat or you keep grabbing the wheel from him, and then handing it
back, as you go forward.
Then there are those who feel satisfied with their wealth and
attribute it to God's blessing. Perhaps so. Could be. But let us
consider the possibility that the pious words are simply rationalizing
the money-chase and covering self-indulgence carried out at the price
of skimping on God's teaching and work. Those persons show that they have more
faith in earthly goods than in heaven's treasure, which in turn
implies that they are still rooted in the soil of the world and have
not turned to the light. (I plead guilty to the error of trying to
serve self and God.)
If God called you to sell everything off, give the proceeds to the
poor and follow Jesus – now being forced to depend totally on him – would you
do it? Not many would be willing, like Abraham, to give up everything
when called to do so. Yet that is the appeal Jesus gives to those who
follow him. "You don't need anything but me. Be ready to drop
everything for my sake." Those still strongly pulled by the bodily self find this call hard to accept.
Proverb 14:12
People take roads that look good, but they all lead to death [WT.7].
Now it could be so that a born-again person who is not as focused as
Paul (such as myself, whose spiritual eye is not quite as healthy as it ought to be), could dally by the roadside and hinder his
sojourn by feeding such creaturely desires as the practice of trying to
pile up money. In this light, recall that when Jesus sent the 70 (a symbolic number
implying that the group was well chosen) to preach to the Jews all
over the Jewish region, he told those disciples to go forth with no
money or shoes and to stop and salute no one. In other words: Focus
only on the mission I gave you, and don't be sidetracked by taking
thought of what you will eat or wear on your journey, or by
socializing or otherwise getting tied up in some nonessential human
endeavor.
[WT.5]
In Luke 9:58, Jesus told a would-be follower: "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the son of man is homeless." Jesus had no earthly goods, not even a regular place to sleep.
Recall that Jesus is quoted, in the Beatitudes, as saying,
Matthew 5:3
Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And I have heard Christians argue that the qualification "in spirit" means that it is fine to be affluent, or even rich, as long as one has a "spirit" of poverty. That may be so – for those who can handle it!
Now compare that with the Lucan parallel, which lacks the qualifier "in spirit":
Luke 6:20-31
And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God.
My feeling is that Jesus wasn't saying that, after all is said and done, we need not surrender all to him. Rather, who are meant in
Luke's version are those poor who can do nothing but humbly depend on God.
Yet we see poor people every day who are full of themselves, who are arrogant and presumptuous on God (whom they often deny). That's not the sort of poor person Jesus has in mind here, and that is what
Matthew is clarifying.
Though some do make a case for having, but not abusing, wealth, we see
that Jesus and the twelve disciples had nothing other than what Judah (Judas)
carried about in the common purse. And after the Resurrection, the
apostles had little or nothing in material goods. The "nation that was
born in one day" (Isaiah 66:8) during the feast of Pentecost existed as a
Christian commune before persecution scattered the believers.
Recall the admonition: "The love of money is the root of all sorts of evil."
Let us consider that the author of that quote (1 Timothy 6:10) would pick
up tent-making work rather than bother his new flocks. Sporadic
moneymaking had the sole purpose of helping Paul further his service
to God as he went all out to fulfill the Great Commission. He did not
fool around piling up money. He had no time for such trivia. He did
not continuously beseech audiences to finance his ministry so that the
work of God could be done.
No. Paul would here and there scoop up a bit of cash and let that
suffice. God's grace was sufficient for Paul to advance the gospel. No
cash cow necessary. Mammon need not be milked. His faith in God was
sufficient to ensure that the job got done.
Another point: the love of money was not going to hinder Paul from
entering God's kingdom. That born-again man was already in! And he wasn't about to look back toward childish fool's gold!
The only time Paul had much money on him, as far as we know, was when he
was carrying a collection he had taken up to aid Christians in
Jerusalem (see for example 1 Corinthians 16:1-3). The point is that Paul's material poverty did not slow him
down at all; in fact, it very probably speeded him up.
The church at Thessalonica had problems with men who wouldn't pull
their weight. Thus the admonition that idle men not be fed
[WT.6]. The
brothers were urged to a quiet discipline in which each eats his own
bread (I take this to mean that no one takes more than his due). So we
see that Jesus' high teaching requires wisdom in the application, but
that doesn't make his advice of no account. We are to strive to rest
easy in Jesus and do our best to accommodate our brothers.
Of course an implication of 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15
[WT.6] is that communal life was the
norm for the very early church. Many of these Christians expected the
Messiah at any moment and so they saw the communal life as sensible.
In Acts, we are told that the newly created Christians voluntarily
pooled their resources and lived in a commune.
The early Christian communes were dispersed by the persecution from
Jewish authorities and by the looming Roman invasion near the year 70. Any that
remained during the Second Century were dispersed after the Bar Kochba
revolt was crushed around the year 135. Paul's churches were not necessarily
modeled as communes, although sharing was strongly encouraged.
And of course over the centuries various groups of devout Christians
have joined in communes under the auspices of the Roman Catholic or
Byzantine Orthodox churches. They follow some sort of code of conduct
("rule") and are often known as monks and nuns ("Religious"). Many
such groups have required a vow of poverty.
Yet I don't think Jesus' teachings about the Father providing for his
children (Spirit-born sons) should be confined to the practices of
certain specialized Christian communities. They are meant to grab hold of the
individual, that she fear not, and rest assured that her needs will be
met – though many of us don't always think so because
we are defining
our needs rather than letting God do so.
There is another aspect of this issue, however. Think of the person whose poverty stems largely from his dissolute lifestyle. As a result of his wanton ways, not only does he suffer but others do also. Perhaps he has been neglecting family in order to "party hard." Finally, he discovers that his way is worthless. He reaches a bottom and calls out to God for help. He begins attending church and letting Jesus light the way.
Granted, he is obligated to, in his heart, turn over everything to Jesus. But, we may notice that his material prosperity increases because, to paraphrase Paul, he is doing everything properly and in good order (1 Corinthians 14:40). That person should not be criticized for exercising the faith that lifts him out of the Slough of Despond. It is up to him, with great care, to work out his own salvation, to walk his own walk with the Lord (Philippians 2:12).
If your inner light is dark
Jesus is not talking about the physics of light here. He is talking
about the spirit within you that, for most of us, connects to this
world through the eyes. When a person lets his light shine, people can
see the radiance in his eyes. When his mind is polluted, it often
shows in the eyes. Or, when your spiritual light is dark, your whole
being shows it. But, more important, a person's spirit is her guide,
what she uses to navigate through the world. If that spirit is healthy,
she can see clearly to do the next right thing (including removing a
speck from a sister's or brother's eye). But if that spirit is ill, she will be
stumbling around in great darkness, even though she doesn't seem to
know that.
As Jesus would show as his ministry progressed, both before and after
his Resurrection, human spirits have become desperately sick and so
need resuscitation by being joined with the Spirit of God. That blend
means that the born-again person can now see quite well, despite being
hobbled by his old nature.
A parallel idea is that the world in which we live is like a deep,
dark mine shaft. While down in that mine, we need to have our helmet
lights in good working order. Otherwise, we will be in for a miserable
and dangerous experience. We need pray to God to keep our helmet
lights in good condition while we are down in the mine.
A related idea is the old saying, "The eyes are the windows of the
soul." Not only does the soul peek out, but others peer in.
In other words, Matthew 6:22 is saying:
The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is healthy, your whole
body will be radiant, and more important, you will see clearly and
function well in the world. But if your eye is diseased not only is
your whole body dark, but your whole world is dark. So if your inner
light is poor and leaves you in darkness, this is a very grim
situation.
The light within the person is the spirit that guides her. If that
spirit is dark, how can the person see much of anything? What a world
she lives in!
Fallen humanity is spiritually dead. Although in that condition we
think we know what we are doing, the truth is that we are lost,
stumbling about inside a poorly lit maze of crazy-house mirrors. We
are suffering under a strong delusion, following ways that seem right but
end badly. Being dead in spirit, we are out of focus, out of
tune with God until such time as we receive salvation and new life.
In other words, for those whose lamps are dark (=most people), their inner lights are
guiding them toward a bitter end.
Once you have the light of God within, Jesus admonishes you to "let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your heavenly Father" (Matthew 5:16). That light really radiates when you have the Spirit within, who merges with your spirit so that you begin to be in your right mind and able to see clearly and provide light for others.
We ought acknowledge at this point that no one can follow Jesus without God first deciding so (John
6:65). No one can turn to him before God decides he is ready (Proverb
16:9). Even so, we are strongly told that not later, not tomorrow, not
next year, not in the next life, but, if you haven't received Christ
into your heart, then right now is your time for salvation.
2 Corinthians 6:2
... Look! Now is the accepted time. Look! Now is the day of salvation.
Also see
Romans 13:11
Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to
awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we
believed.
It should be evident that this idea of letting your light shine does not justify a "holier than
thou" attitude: "Oh, look at me. See how good I am being."
The point is that if you give God more than lip service, then you will
want to love your neighbor as yourself, you will want to help out
others as you go along in life, and hence, you will do friendly
things, thus letting your real Christian light shine.
Seek the kingdom, and its righteousness
This saying summarizes much of what Jesus has been stressing. Go for
the real gold! The pearl of great price! Don't worry about routine needs! God has your back on
that!
We are not certain whether the caution
and his righteousness [or
and its...] is a reasonable amplification by
Matthew's principle composer or is an exact quotation of the words of Jesus. But either way it is a sound admonition, which is meant to
guard against any tendency to be overly cerebral in pursuing God's
kingdom. Talk is cheap. Action counts. Intention is everything. If you don't have a desire toward God's rightness, you may
easily end up spinning your wheels. After all, God's kingdom is all
about doing right in word, thought and deed, all about a right
attitude toward God and your fellow humans.
When, before his Resurrection, Jesus spoke of the divine kingdom, that kingdom had not yet arrived with power – with the descent of the Spirit in tongues of fire at the feast of Pentecost that brought the first crop of born-again believers. But after the Resurrection the Apostle Paul, on fire for the Lord and gushing over with the Spirit, was able to describe God's kingdom succinctly.
Romans 14:17
For God's kingdom is not food and drink – but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
This description applies now in this life as well as in the Millennium and in Paradise.
As John Stott points out, "In the end, just as there are just two
kinds of piety, the self-centered and the God-centered, so there are
only two kinds of ambition: one can be ambitious either for oneself or
for God. There is no third alternative."
Yet how many of us have great difficulty with this challenge? We're
like timid swimmers who only get the toes wet, but refuse to plunge
in and get moving! I fit into this category. Even worse, having gone
in up to my knees, I have fled back to the comfort of the beach
(creature comfort).
Even despite our timidity, for nearly all of us who yearn to be real
Christians who give God much more than lip-service, Matthew 6:33 gives an
ideal to which we all ought aspire. We should hear Paul's "high
calling of God" in this challenge (Philippians 3:14).
Let tomorrow take care of itself
Don't be concerned about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of
itself. Today has enough trouble.
As one writer puts it: "If tomorrow does bring trouble, there will be new
grace to meet it."
Though the word
grace is not attributed to Jesus in the four gospel
accounts, it is surely implicit in his doctrine: Don't worry, God will
provide, you know not how – just as a small child has no idea by what means his daddy
provides for him. Not only does God like to surprise us (just as you like
to surprise your children with good gifts) but if you always knew by
what means he would provide, how would your faith
be built up? Recall old Abraham, with his old wife, believing he would
have a son. How? Who knew? God would provide.
Clearly Jesus does not mean
don't plan ahead. But the sort of frenzied "planning" spurred by anxiety tends to be not only excessive but even obsessive-compulsive. We have no reason to take thought that way because we ought have the "peace of God that passes all understanding."
Philippians 4:7
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
In general, Jesus tells us not to worry, because worry is pointless. Further, we
might observe that anxiety – which is an expression of insecurity and
fear – is a major source of evil, or, that is, of sick thinking that
leads to sad results. Not only do people often worry themselves sick,
but as a result they do sick things (for example, by being
rage-aholics) that hurt those around them. Ridden and driven by
anxiety, life is a rotten shame, and stays that way. The crime rate would take a big nosedive if people would just quit worrying and cooking up crazy plans to meet their supposed or real needs.
But, we are assured that "never have I
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread" (Psalms
37:2). Those who trust in Jesus don't need to beg, or resort to crime,
for their material needs. They don't need to worry about feeding their
children either. God has that covered.
The insecurity and rage so common among our sisters and brothers can
often be traced, at least in part, to fear of humiliation; some people
will kill rather than tolerate humiliation (for example, jealousy is
all about fear of humiliation). This very dangerous insecurity is
booted right out of the believer's life, as Jesus enters and grants
the born-again person the peace of God. As the Christian walks along, he learns that he doesn't have to see ahead in a human way. He steps forward in faith, claiming God's assurances that God will care for him, come what may. Faith is "the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:11). In other words, true faith is complete confidence in God's promises.
I recall driving on a lonely stretch of a two-lane Texas highway over rolling, but sparsely vegetated hills, on a very dark night. I could not see past the occasional car in front of me, because any opposing headlights were overwhelmed by the lights of the car in front of me. Texans in that area had a custom, I soon learned, of flashing their lights to signal the car behind that it was safe to pass. I had to absolutely trust the judgment of the driver ahead of me! I had to put faith in that driver's ability.
That's how it is with faith in God, only more so.
I grant that for those who have not sincerely dedicated themselves to
Jesus, it would probably be imprudent to take no thought of worldly
needs. Such persons are still in the Satan-ruled world. Though God
sends rain to fall on the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45), those who
have yet to be justified by putting their trust in Jesus are not yet
in God's kingdom and so must suffer the consequences.
Of course, Jesus was not only putting out the word to those who will
soon become born-again disciples, but also to the crowds of
eavesdroppers, most of whom listened in uncomprehending awe (on
account of the miracles he had done). Yet, I suggest, that even years later some of these eavesdroppers would have suddenly grasped something Jesus had said and turned themselves over to his care. In other cases, hearers told friends and relatives some
of the interesting, if peculiar, things they remembered and that
discussion woke up someone else, who then turned to Jesus the Messiah.
John Calvin's comment is on the mark: "If honor is rated the highest good,
then ambition must take charge of a man; if money, then forthwith
greed takes over the kingdom; if pleasure, then men will certainly
degenerate into sheer self-indulgence."
God's servants need not worry
In First Century Judea, Jewish teachers taught that it was a man's
duty to teach his son a trade. To do otherwise was to make him a
thief. But it is apparent that Jesus was saying much more than that you
have no need to worry about tomorrow if you have a marketable skill.
He was saying that if you are seeking God's kingdom – and his
righteousness – God has your needs covered. So get rid of the worry
habit. It doesn't get you anywhere anyway. Tomorrow will have troubles
of some sort, true, but stop fretting. Focus on what needs doing
today.
When you seek to do God's will, and nix the lip service, that is
seeking his righteousness. Further, once you are born again, you are
clothed in the righteousness of Jesus. You have been made right in
God's eyes. Once you have that, then it is time to seek to do his
will, rather than to merely inflate your own ego. Choose to sit at the
foot of the table, rather than up by the place of honor.
Once you have been made right on account of the price paid by Jesus'
blood, you are reborn as a son of God, a member of the royal family.
We are not righteous on account of our "good" deeds but because Jesus
has imputed his righteousness to us, who have become his little
brothers. When God's Spirit enters a person (which can't happen before
she has been made right by Jesus), the Father and Son join in to
commune with the person. Then, one has set foot into the kingdom. As
the believer enters, perhaps the light is a bit dim, as it is at dawn,
but as she walks with Jesus, the light of the kingdom brightens,
and so does the love in the believer's heart.
You, as sons of God or soon-to-be sons of God (those listening at the time would
not receive full sonship before Jesus had risen and sent the Spirit),
will have your needs met. Why be like the ordinary unregenerate people
who are unable to wait for God to meet their needs, as they are not
spiritually members of his family (though he still loves them)?
In the saying about the Gentiles, the thought is:
How are you Jewish fellows any different from the pagans when you
won't rely on God? Again, we see the inference that his hearers, no
matter how religious they thought they were, could not meet the high
standard of God – at least not without the Spirit of salvation.
The people Jesus is recruiting into his Father's kingdom are to be so
reliant on God that they should be all set to give up their worldly goods and obtain
heavenly treasure.
Some commentators think these drastic admonitions implied that Jesus
thought the end – the Big Event – was very close and so his
followers needed no earthly goods. That's not my take. I believe he
does mean what he says: true disciples need nothing but Jesus. His
Father and yours will assure that you need not worry about material
goods – as long as you are doing what God wants (and Jesus is not a
strict taskmaster; his yoke is easy and his burden is light).
