"Better than Winning the Lottery"

Matthew 6:19-34 Feb.3/02

"Better than winning the lottery"? What could possibly be better than that? It seems our society's getting more and more gambling-

crazed. The Protestant work ethic has fallen on hard times; greed and sloth team up to make us want to win "the big easy". People spend much time at variety and grocery stores buying lottery tickets. The prizes can afford to be so big because millions of people participate, most of them receiving nothing back for their money each time except a passing thrill. The granddaddy of them all, the Reader's Digest Sweepstakes, now elicits hardly a yawn. It's alarming to see that charities have climbed on board the gambling bandwagon: this week a CNIB flyer arrived in the mail promoting their version of a chance to win -- all for a good cause, of course.

             As the gambling ethic has caught on and become accepted, it has moved from being a minor element on the "fringe" into the mainstream of our collective consciousness. This weeks' Citizen reported on a parent presenting her case before the school board as to why Holmesville Public School should not be closed. This parent was predicting population growth in the area surrounding the school. The article states, "Citing the recent approval of slot machines for Clinton's racetrack, she said, 'we expect increased growth (in the former Goderich Twp). In fact, we think we could increase our household count by more than 300 in the next five years.'" Is that the shining start upon which our local economy rises or falls? Facetiously, one might say that if they think the driving force economically in their community is going to be slot machines at a racetrack -- "GOOD luck!" Has it really come down to that??

             Back in the first century, most people still tried to eke out a living the honest way, by hard work in agriculture. Gambling was a life-or-death issue only in the perennial farming sense of whether the sun and rain would be adequate for the crops. Yet people's hearts still got off track. Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is a kind of throne speech for the House of Disciples, those who want to follow the Lord. A few weeks back we looked at the Lord's Prayer: Jesus wanted His followers to enjoy a radical intimacy in conversation with their heavenly Father. Last week we saw how the theme of righteousness is central in Jesus' teaching, coming to share God's heart and want what He wants. But in this week's section, the last half of Matthew 6, our Lord gets down to brass tacks, our attitude toward money and other material goods. If religion is for all of life it has to address our pocketbook and possessions. Jesus Christ wants us to know there is something better than winning the lottery: the Father's care for us is a better reward than anything this world has to offer.

A) "What do you see, Jeremiah?": Correction for the Cock-eyed (22-23)

Though real religion does deal with things "out there" such as material goods, if genuine it begins with the inner person, then affects how we deal with things "out there". Christian stewardship of possessions begins with how we process what we see. Anticipating the computing principle of Garbage In - Garbage Out, Jesus suggests we take a close look at what we use to take a close look: our eye. So let's get into this passage with verses 22-23. "The eye is the lamp of the body.If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" (Matthew 6:22-23)

             The eye is the principal sense that those who can see use to process information from the outside world. Here God's challenging us to perceive beyond the obvious, to monitor the way we see. Often to the Old Testament prophets God would speak using such a phrase as, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" and then give an additional significance beyond what the prophet actually saw -- 3 times in Jeremiah (1:11,13;24:3), twice in Amos (7:8;8:2), twice in Zechariah (4:2;5:2). Here Jesus exhorts us to pay attention to what we're giving our attention to: our eye can be good, sound, single, uncreased; or our eye/lamp can be bad, diseased, stingy, even cock-eyed. One commentator says, "We keep one eye on the hoarded treasures of earth and roll the other proudly up to heaven." Try that sometime and look in the mirror...you'll see why we can call this a "cock-eyed" sense of values. The focus of our attention drains us or sustains us. If we're always thinking of "me first" and "how can I get ahead?", others approaching us with legitimate claims will find our eyes shifty, elusive; we'll be in darkness, no light from our face will shine on them. What's your "eye-Q", the discretion you use in choosing what to focus on?

             When the pile of flyers and advertisements comes, do you feel bound to look through them? Can you overlook them if you feel God suggesting there are better things for you to be doing? Beware of any factor that would breed discontent and covetousness. Do you find it beneficial to tape TV shows so you can fast-forward through the commercials rather than having to sit through them?

             Are you even seeing what's right in front of your nose? One of the habits in Richard Foster's "Celebration of Discipline" is to take twenty minutes in solitude, sit there with your eyes open, and meditate on what God has put before you. Thank Him for the beauty you see in scenery, flowering plants, the comforts of home He's already given you that we take for granted. Do we even see what a person from the third world would notice going through our home?

             While we're on the subject of what you're watching: Did you know it's projected that in 2001 each person will on average watch 7 hours 11 minutes of TV per day? Yet in a recent Talk magazine poll, 60% of respondents said life would be better without TV! Do we smell a whiff of addiction here? And now, let's continue with a word from our Sponsor...

B) Treasure True Treasure: Long for what Really Lasts (19-20)

In verses 19-20 Jesus questions the very heart of materialism, whether what we call "real" is really real. He says: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth" (a pun - literally, "Don't treasure 'treasure'") -"where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." The consumer society's significance vanishes along with the "consumables" in which it specializes. Let alone moth and rust, credit card debt eats us up faster: the average Canadian carries a balance of over $1200 on their plastic, at interest rates over 18%. The Bible in Basic English translates moth and rust, "turned to dust by worms and weather". What's going to last into eternity is relationships, not rubies or real estate. You can't take it with you, but you can send it on ahead: store up treasures in heaven.

             The cover of Prairie Bible Institute's Servant magazine shows a shot of the New York waterfront, with the World Trade Centre towers rising as ghostly phantoms in the background. The symbol of the city's financial power is no more. And relatives of those who worked there are now questioning whether it was worth it. An article inside states: "The average home in Ridgewood, New Jersey is worth $457,000. Many residents were killed in the Trade Centre attack on September 11, and those who mourned the dead are also mourning a lifestyle, says Ivan Scibberas, a local pastor. Following the attacks, he heard from the wives whose husbands left for work on Wall Street at 5 am about the cost of all this striving. "I am not deceived at all by seeing these beautiful homes...Never have I met as much sadness...Long before September 11 they were questioning whether the large homes and three BMWs they had were enough [to satisfy]." When the twin towers of New York fell, it was the final crushing blow for some. They felt as though they had lived their lives deceived. Scibberas says that when police came looking for information about what the missing had been wearing, most of the wives didn't know. They hadn't been awake when their husbands left for work. "So many people are mourning," says Scibberas."They see that this kind of lifestyle that has promised them so much somehow fails to deliver."

C) Choose your Master Well: Who Owns Whom? (21,24)

We call things we own "possessions" but Jesus suggests the bond goes both ways. We can become too tied, practically owned by our goods. The cares of this world creep in and choke our faith, chaining and obsessing us so we're no longer free to serve God. Verse 21: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Who has not experienced this gravitation of concern to the things we've invested in? The boat, the cottage, the new home can start to usurp the place of God, preoccupying and distracting us from God's affairs. Like Marley's chains and strongboxes, they can weigh us down and steal us from other ministry for which we might otherwise have been free.

             Verse 24: "No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money." Here we come to the nub of the matter: Who's winning our allegiance, God or the Prince of this world? The word "money" in the NIV translates "mammon" in the original text. "Mammon" is a Chaldee/Syriac word for the money-god, the personification of wealth or confidence in wealth. The world tempts us to put our trust in the wrong things, rather than being convicted of God's significance and claim on our loyalty. The word "serve" carries the idea of lining up with one master, face to face opposed to the other. Whose side are you on? What does your bank statement reveal about your true creed? Don't get sucked in to putting your confidence in earthly wealth. Proverbs 18(11) states, "The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it an unscalable wall." In your imagination, man! The previous verse shows a surer stronghold: "The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe."

             Keith Roulston's editorial this week in The Citizen has a good example of the woeful consequences of trusting in mammon. He begins by referring to "the power large corporations have now assumed; the kind of power that, when it goes wrong, can ruin thousands of lives as the Enron scandal has done. Enron was one of the largest companies in the US. It rose to prominence in the wake of energy deregulation. It was a poster-boy for the idea of smaller government. Its stock rose and rose, its power widened. The people who ran it came to think the kind of growth they'd experienced in the early years should go on forever, even if they had to play fast and loose with the rules. Its auditing firm, which was supposed to provide checks and balances to the company, didn't want to lose this big customer which provided $50 million a year in billings so some of the irregularities were overlooked. The Enron leadership encouraged employees to invest their life savings in retirement plans based on company stocks. When things started to go wrong, company executives sold their own shares but encouraged employees to hold theirs. One former employee's retirement fund plunged from more than $1 million to just $8,000 with the collapse of Enron stock."

             Mammon, an ungodly trust in worldly wealth and power, turns out to be a cruel master. It is really Apollyon in masquerade - the Destroyer. The bill may or may not have to be paid in this life, but it will sooner or later: the eyes of God are watching and will require a rendering of account.

D) Life is More than Materialism because We Matter to God (25-30)

Time for a stretch. I'm going to ask you to stand and say something very Biblical to your neighbour on either side. Make sure you know their name first. To the person on one side of you, I want you to put your hand on their shoulder, look them in the eye and say, "Jim (or Jane), You matter to God!" Then the other person puts their hand on your shoulder, fixes you in a steady gaze and says, "Betty (or Bob), You are very valuable to God!" Got it? Go to it!

             ...Refreshing to hear that, isn't it? All we're doing is paraphrasing what Jesus says in verses 25-30. Life is more important than food or clothes. We ourselves are much more valuable than the birds, which don't tend an assembly line yet God feeds them. Our heavenly Father will much more clothe us than the lilies of the field, we matter more to Him, baby believers that we may be. If you find it hard to get excited about lilies, the term may refer to flowers in general: instead of lilies picture poppies, glamorous gladioli, illustrious irises. At our house lately, we've been treated to the temporary but terrific beauty of a Christmas cactus and amaryllis in bloom (pictures). Such beauty, but so temporary: yet that's nothing at all for our crafty Creator, He's got lots more where that came from. The Father desires to lavish beauty and providence on His creation, if we will humbly receive it. Jesus is implying, Wake up to God's possibilities! He values you, and want to show His glory and blessing through you just like the opulence we see in nature. Life is more than the accessories (what the world calls "matter" or what matters) because WE matter to God.

E) First Things First: Everything Else will Fall into Place (31-33)

Christ cajoles us not to get hung up worrying about what we're going to eat, drink, or wear the way unbelievers do, for our heavenly Father knows our needs. Instead of running after these things, we're to "seek first His Kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." (31-33) Put first things first: God's governing, the righteous character He's seeking to build in your life, let His Holy Spirit have sway over your impulses. Put Him first in your allocation of time, daily; first in importance, ahead of all other priorities; first in your affections, an anchor for your wayward heart.

             A theme running throughout the Sermon on the Mount is that the Father rewards those who seek Him. The original word for "seek" is the same root as that in Hebrews 11:6: "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." God will reward you for putting Him first, seeking to please Him. The Beatitudes declare God's blessing for those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, who show mercy, are pure in heart, and acknowledge their spiritual neediness. Four times in this chapter (Mt.6:1,4,6,18) Jesus assures the crowd God rewards those who do their "acts of righteousness" secretly - almsgiving, prayer, fasting; your Father in heaven sees and will reward you. You matter to Him, He cares infinitely for you, and will provide what you need to further His will in your life. Times may not be easy - there will be suffering - but He'll provide grace and strength to cope.

             Christian Week carried an article about a businessman named James Blankemeyer. In the late 1960s, he was fired from his job in a metallurgical lab. After a couple of false starts, in 1969 he started his own protective coatings business in a $50/month garage in Ohio to support his wife and children. The business grew over the next 5 years, but Blankemeyer was struggling on the home front. He recalls, "We were trying to open a plant in Indiana, and I said when that was done I would take time for my family and marriage." That resolve eventually involved him in a Bible study that stoked his spiritual curiosity and led him to realize that "this faith thing" was not an intellectual puzzle to be solved but "a decision to make". He was ready. He recalls, "We did it that night. We asked God to take over our lives, business and family. I thought about being a missionary but felt called to stay in business." And the business kept growing. In fact, he says, it took off as he became more relaxed. He says, "I started to view our customers, employees and suppliers differently. My faith meant more than just being honest with them; I had a real desire to help them. I think it showed. The business really took off at that point." Called Metokote, it now operates 30 plants in the US, Canada, England, Brazil and Mexico. Just last summer the company opened a 158,000 square foot facility in Cambridge Ontario.

             The company's profitability has allowed Blankemeyer to become active in missions through generosity. A trust fund was set up to supply his offspring's education and start-up needs. A foundation was begun to channel most of the charitable giving and the children were made trustees. Mission agencies make presentations twice a year before decisions are made who to support. Blankemeyer also understands the importance of leadership training, so one agency supported is the Overseas Council, which provides scholarships, books, and capital development to leadership institutions that uphold evangelical doctrines in the developing world. In a recent edition of the company's publication, Blankemeyer described for his employees two passions in his life. "One is Metokote and the other is working with a Christian organization called Overseas Council helping train and develop strong Christian leaders." He adds, "My passion is to train Christian men and women in the essence of what Jesus really taught so that they can go into the world and be the 'salt and light' He wants them to be."

             Note the turnaround came when he asked God to take over his life, business, and family. He was seeking the Kingdom first. I'll wrap up with a quote illustrating Blankemeyer's approach to the responsibility of managing wealth - a little different from Enron's! He says, "From a practical view point, there is real joy in giving once we discern, to the best of our understanding, God's will...The Lord is very clear that we are stewards - and stewards only - over all the gifts He gives to us. These include time, talent, possessions and relationships. A steward is another word for slave and a slave has no rights, only responsibilities. We must hold whatever God gives us with an open hand."

             We can keep our hands open knowing the Father cares for us; we matter to Him, and He'll provide our needs when we seek Him and put His will first. It truly is better than winning the lottery! Let's pray.