STEWARDSHIP
October
20-22, 2018
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Luke 12:27-34
“WHERE YOUR TREASURE IS…”
1.
Let’s
check where God’s treasure is.
2.
Let’s
check where our treasure is.
Luke 12:27-34 (NIV 1984) “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or
spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one
of these. 28If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which
is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he
clothe you, O you of little faith! 29And do not set your heart on
what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan
world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But
seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32“Do
not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the
kingdom. 33Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide
purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will
not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
Today we are going to be talking about
money so if that will bother you, you should probably leave. For visitors here
today please don’t go away thinking we are one of those churches where all they
talk about is money. We aren’t. We are actually one of those churches where all
they talk about is Jesus and since Jesus sometimes talked about money we
sometimes do too. So if talking about money at church bothers you maybe you
shouldn’t leave because the only reason Jesus is going to be talking about
money is to draw us further into His kingdom.
He does that in Luke 12. First Jesus
warned the people he loved against adopting the values of the society they
lived in which valued pride in outward obedience over humble repentance in the
heart. Not really much different from ours. He then warned the people against
placing too much value in money and placing their trusting in the size of their
bank accounts rather than God. And then in our reading he followed with the
reason why. Where your treasure is there your heart will be. Did you hear that
correctly? He didn’t say, “Where your
heart is you will put your treasure, your money.” He said, “Where your treasure
is, your heart will be!” Your heart follows where you put your treasure.
There’s another way of saying that. “Follow the money.” That phrase has many
uses but in essence it says if you follow the money you will get to the heart
of the matter.
Let’s do that with God. Let’s check
where His treasure is. Follow the money. Only we realize God uses a different
form of currency. Gold is paving material in heaven. Worthless. Diamonds as
valuable as glass. What is God’s currency? Not with gold or silver but with His
holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death. That’s the price
God paid. His treasure is His Son. Now follow the money trail. No follow the
blood trail. For whom does Jesus bleed? Follow the blood when it drips from His
head as the crown of thorns is smashed down again and again. Follow the blood
as His back is laid open with a Roman scourge. Follow it as it drips from his
chin as he staggers under the cross. Follow it as it bleeds anew when the
spikes go into foot and hand. God’s treasure trail leads to you. God spent His
treasure on you. He spends His one and only Son Jesus on you to free you from
your sins, to keep you out of Hell. God spent His treasure on you and so that’s
where His heart is. He cares most about you. Listen to what He says!
“Consider
how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even
Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28If that
is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is
thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 32“Do
not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the
kingdom.” “Don’t be afraid.” God
says, “My heart is yours. Look what I do for what I created that does not have
my heart. I take care of my creation. I will take care of you. Don’t be afraid,”
God says. “I spent my Son for you and it pleases me to give the kingdom.” Did
you hear that? You own a kingdom. You are royalty. Kings. Queens. Princesses
and Princes. Because God put his treasure on you.
Now why is the Lord telling us these
things? To help us in our weakness. To help us avoid falling into the trap of
the unbeliever and putting your treasure on what will not last because where
you put your treasure your heart is going to be. Listen to what He says. “Sell your possessions and give to the poor.
Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that
will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34For
where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God wants you to
have lasting blessings that won’t wear out or be destroyed. He’s talking about
people. Only people go to heaven, not things. To work to get people in heaven
is divine.
But hard to prioritize. Sell what you
have and give to those who don’t have. Even pagans agree that is noble. But how
far do you go? Jesus knows we will never be perfect in this. That’s why He was
perfect for us. Jesus also knows we can be better so He encourages us. “And do not set your heart on what you will
eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30For the pagan world runs
after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31But
seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” What are
things we might put our treasures towards and set our hearts on? The people
that Jesus was talking to were poor. Their treasure, their money would be spent
on food and drink the things that they needed. We will be a little different
because we are rich. Not feeling rich are you? Well consider this. Rich people
wonder what they will eat for their next meal. Poor people wonder when they
will get their next meal. Rich people wonder if their clothes look good on
them. Poor people wonder if their clothes will keep them warm at night. Rich
people complain about how much it cost to fix their car. Poor people don’t have
car. Got it? And so my fellow richies where is your treasure? Follow the money.
It will show you where your heart is.
For us rich people it won’t be the
necessities. If you buy a case of toilet paper at Costco your heart won’t be
there. You have to. It’s needed. I’m talking about where you are putting your
treasure when you don’t have to. If an auditor came and checked your wants not
needs spending where would they find your treasure at? Alcohol? Restaurant
eating? Club sports? Clothing? Golf? Now don’t misunderstand me. It is not
wrong at all for us to enjoy things. God chose to put us in a wealthy country
and God has given us wealth. But friends, it is not a good sign for our hearts
if we don’t bat an eye at paying $700 for a seat a game or concert or $3000 for
a nice vacation or $4000 for our kids extra curricular activities but inwardly
cringe at and can’t get ourselves to give $5000 to spread the Gospel and save
souls for heaven. There is no wiggle room here. Jesus is black and white. Where
your treasure is there your heart will be. If your treasure is with Jesus your
heart will be there too but if your treasure isn’t with Jesus don’t fool
yourself, your heart isn’t there either.
I have to confess to you that there
was a time, when I was in high school, if you had told me that to win a
football championship game I would have to blow out my knee I would have said,
“Sign me up!” I was willing to spend the treasure of my knee. You can guess
where my heart was. Now most of you are thinking Pastor was sure a dumb kid and
you’d be right. Juvenile priorities. In my defense I was a kid. And now I have
grown. I don’t think that way anymore. As
you check where your treasure is if it reveals something you don’t want to see
or admit to, turn back to these words of Jesus. He not only tells you what to
do but gives you what you need to do it. “But
seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.” Jesus loves
you. He forgives you and me for misplaced priorities in high school and old
age. He knows we can’t be perfect in this or any other way so He was perfect
for us. He also knows we can get better. So He promises, He promises, that when
we put our treasure on Him and for His kingdom He will give those things we do
need, that will provide lasting happiness. For then our treasures and our
hearts will always and only be with Jesus. Amen.
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