Did you know that the practical day-to-day choices you make in life impact your spiritual life?  It’s been my experience that people often think the opposite.  Many think, ‘God will change me.  I don’t have to make choices that make me feel uncomfortable.  Or, I don't have to stop something or start something.' So, many passively wait and wait and wait for God to do something while at the same time not making any changes.  And for some, they leave the church thinking that the God stuff didn’t work for me.  Please hear me, we are not born with character, we make character.  Today, we get to listen in on Jesus’ teaching that our practical choices have a direct impact on us spiritually.  

We kicked off a series called Rethinking Our Faith.  Why should we rethink our faith?  Because if our faith hasn’t transformed us to wake up every day with the purpose to please Jesus, not ourselves, we missed it.  And we should rethink everything.  It’s so important to understand that when God’s kingdom is established in our hearts, it shows up practically in our lives.  It’s not a fuzzy, spiritual, unattainable feeling.   It’s real.  It shows up in our choices.  It shows up in how we treat people.  It shows up in how we live out today in view of eternity.  

We have walked through Matthew 5 and part of Matthew 6.  The common theme so far has been heart transformation.  Understanding what a blessed life looks like.  Understanding why you are here on this earth: to be salt and light.  Understanding the law and the attitude in our hearts.  Then last week, as you are living out your faith, don’t be a hypocrite.   Remember the six things Sam shared?   The six things that happen when we aren’t real.  It was an awesome talk.

Let’s jump right into today’s scripture.

Matthew 6:19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. 

22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! 

24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. NLT

Does this sound weird to you?  It should.   Here’s why.  Jesus is introducing us to how God’s kingdom views money, and it is the opposite of how our kingdom views money.  In the kingdom we live in, we love money.  We believe that the more money we have, the happier we will be.  The more important we will be.  The safer we will be.  The more secure we will be.  So, we think about money a lot.  We pursue money.  And we care about money so much that it can impact our emotions.  You could say that money has the power in our lives to make us happy, sad, or depressed.  So, when we hear what Jesus says about money, we would never say it out loud, but we might think, ‘Yeah, that’s weird, that’s not going to happen.’

Jesus thought the subject of money was so important that 16 of Jesus’ 38 parables are about money.   In the Bible, there are 500 verses on prayer, 500 verses on faith, and 2,000 verses on money.  Why is there so much talk about money?  Because money is, by far, the number one thing that people fall in love with other than God.  Or we could say, money is by far the number one thing that people put their trust in other than God.

How do we know people care deeply about money?  71% of Americans identify money as a significant cause of stress in their lives. Further, 76% of households live paycheck-to-paycheck, and credit card debt is growing. [Duke.edu]

Money is the number one stress in people’s lives.  That means, when Jesus introduces us to God’s kingdom and talks about money, it’s going to sound weird.  There will be a battle between our faith and the role of money in our lives.  It’s where God’s kingdom and our kingdom will probably clash the loudest.  Let me ask you, does talking about money hit a nerve with you?  If it does, you should think about why that is.  

Let’s walk through what Jesus said to better understand it.

Matthew 6:19 “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. 21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. NLT

Here is a big reality.   You can’t take anything from this life into the next life.  Do you remember what the Pharaohs of Egypt believed?  They thought they could take gold from this world into the next world.   What did they do?  They made sure that they were buried with tons of gold.   Where is the gold today?  In museums for us to look at.

Jesus is saying:

the thing you value most has the power to grab your heart and emotions, and you will want more of it.  

It’s going to be either money or the things of God.   And it’s dangerous to prioritize the temporary material things, like Pharaoh’s gold, over the things of God that last for eternity.  

This means your practical choices about money directly impact you spiritually.  Please notice, if you prioritize the things of this world, money, materialism, and consumerism, those things will grab your heart and your emotions.  And if you prioritize the things of God, the church, the mission of Jesus, those things will grab your heart and your emotions.   

How do these things grab our hearts and emotions?  Jesus explains.

Matthew 6:22 “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. 23 But when your eye is unhealthy, your whole body is filled with darkness. And if the light you think you have is actually darkness, how deep that darkness is! NLT

In the Message Version, it says it like this.

“Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a musty cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have! MSG

Your eyes allow you to see and understand what is happening around you.  Jesus is saying, spiritually, how you deal with money will impact your soul.  If what you treasure and value is God’s kingdom, if you are generous, you will be able to see reality, truth, and how things really are.  You will be filled with joy and contentment.  But if you treasure and value the things of this world, your soul will go dark.  You will be filled with greed and distrust.  It will darken your ability to see reality, truth, and how things really are.   

Then Jesus concludes with this very clear, black-and-white statement.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money. NLT

Jesus says, you will fall in love with either money or God.  And to make it worse, you will despise the other.  Does this sound a little abrupt to you, almost offensive?  Don’t you wish Jesus watered it down a little and said, ‘Hey, you can try to do both, you can love God and love money, no worries.’  But Jesus gave no middle ground.  That’s why God’s kingdom and our kingdom clash.  One of these things we will love, and the other we will despise.  

Our practical choices about money will directly impact us spiritually.  Why?  Because in our kingdom, money has the power to grab your heart and emotions, and you will want more of it.  Money will be the thing that impacts our emotions.  How we treat money has the power to open our souls to reality, truth, and what God is doing.  The reverse is true too.  How we treat money can darken our souls, making it hard to understand the things of God.   Money can be so attractive to us that we end up falling in love with it.  We think, ‘It’s the thing that will bring us to life.’  Almost like having an affair on God.  We like God, but we want more money.  We like God, but we think about and care about money more.  When we have an affair with money, we will know.  How?  It will deaden our passion for the things of God, the church, and the mission of Jesus.

How are you doing so far?   Do you believe that how you treat money directly impacts you spiritually?  Think about that for a second.  How passionate are you about God, the church, and the mission of Jesus?   How passionate are you about the things of this world?  

If all this is true, what is the role of money in our lives?  Is money bad?  No.  Is Jesus teaching us to live in poverty?   No.  Is it true that, ‘The poorer you are, the holier you are?’  No.  What is the role of money in our lives?  Money is a tool.  Money is good, but the love of money is evil; it’s called greed.  I want to be clear, I have met rich people.  They seem happy.  Money is never the problem.  The real problem is our misunderstanding of money.  Money cannot bring you to life; only God can.  Money cannot save your soul; only God can.  Money isn’t your greatest security in life; God is.  Make as much money as you want.  If you are in debt, work two jobs to get out of debt.  Remember, money is a tool.  Only God can bring you to life, save your soul, and be your greatest security.  The greatest thing you can do, is enjoy a personal relationship with Jesus.

Do you remember the parable Jesus gave of the rich man?  Let’s read the end.

Luke 12:20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.” NLT

Before I close with how we use money as a tool, I want to address one issue head-on.  We live in a world where some religious leaders and organized religion have let us down.  People are, in general, extremely skeptical of money and religion.  When a church talks about money, it can be common for people to think, ‘The church is being manipulative,’ or ‘We live in the New Testament days, and we don’t need to give 10%.’  

Let’s start with this: God doesn’t need your money.  It’s a spiritual issue.  The topic of giving isn’t about money; it’s about who you are falling in love with.  It's about who you put your trust in.  It breaks my heart because in the past, when we plainly shared what Jesus taught, people were comfortable ignoring it, while at the same time wondering why they struggled to have any passion for God or struggled to see reality, truth, and how things really are.  

I want to slow down here and ask you, what if what Jesus said was true?  Could it be true that your practical choices about money directly impact your spiritual understanding?  Could it be true that when you give, your spiritual life grows?  And when you don’t give, your spiritual life begins to darken your soul from seeing the things of God?  I really want to challenge you to rethink your faith.  

Okay, two ways to use money as a tool.  

First: Tithing, giving back to God, is the spiritual act of reorienting our hearts to God.

Jesus talked about tithing.

Luke 11:42 For though you are careful to tithe even the smallest part of your income, you completely forget about justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave these other things undone. TLB

The practical choice to tithe directly impacts you spiritually because it pulls you away from falling in love with money.  When we tithe, we are breaking the affair we have with money and believing that money is the thing that will bring us to life, save our souls, and be our greatest security.  This battle we have with trusting God or money has been with us for thousands of years.   

David wrote this.

Psalm 33:16 The best-equipped army cannot save a king - for great strength is not enough to save anyone. A war horse is a poor risk for winning victories - it is strong, but it cannot save. 18-19 But the eyes of the Lord are watching over those who fear him, who rely upon his steady love. He will keep them from death even in times of famine! TLB

We just have a way of believing that what we own will give us security.  Our money.  Who we know.   In David’s day, the strength of war horses.  And real security can only be found in God.  Money is a tool, and tithing, giving back to God, is the spiritual act of reorienting our hearts to God.   It’s placing our trust in God, not money.  

Second: Spend less than you make.  Understand how money works; it’s a tool.  Understand compound interest.  Albert Einstein called it the 8^th wonder of the world.  We learned this in the Adulting class. 

If Ben, at age 21, starts putting $200 a month away for 9 years and stops, he will have 2.1 million at age 67.   If Joey, at age 30, puts away $200 a month for 37 years, he will have 1.2 million at age 67.  [Source: Dave Ramsey show, assuming at 10% return annually].   

If money is a tool, you must understand how money works.  Why is this important?  Because when you have money, you can give to what God is doing.  Maybe helping a family adopt.  Maybe helping to feed the hungry.  Maybe paying off medical bills for others.  Maybe starting a foundation.  And I could go on.

Luke 16:9 Here’s the lesson: Use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends. NLT - Jesus

Do you see it?  Money is a tool.  We use it to advance God’s kingdom.

Let’s close with four questions.

Question 1: What do you think about what Jesus said about money and God?  “You will love one and despise the other.”

Question 2: Did you know that how you treat your money directly impacts you spiritually?  

Question 3: Could it be true that when you give, your spiritual life grows?  And when you don’t give, your spiritual life begins to darken your soul from seeing the things of God?

Question 4: What do you think will bring you to life, save you, and be your greatest security in life?   Money or your personal relationship with God?