‘No-one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
Matthew 6:24 NIVUK
There are parts of the Sermon on the Mount that are deeply counter-cultural in our modern day.
These verses have never not been counter-cultural.
In Jesus’ day, they were as controversial as you can be. Because they were subtly, but clearly, aimed at one group in particular:
The Pharisees.
Luke picks up their response to this teaching in particular:
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.
Luke 16:14 NIVUK
You see, two of the main Jewish sects – both consisting entirely of Levites – were the elite Sadducees, and the less well off Pharisees. There were theological differences between them, but it seems, as is often the case, that the less well off (but still better off than most) Pharisees had rather a taste for money.
Jesus provides three pictures of why this is a terrible idea.
The first is treasure. He tells His followers bot to ‘treasure their treasure’ on earth, but to ‘treasure their treasure’ in heaven.
What does this mean?
Those who pursue earthly wealth as their every waking thought will not only never be satisfied, but are investing their toil in a scheme that will only ever go bankrupt.
I recall the 1980s, long revered for its music and its fashion (although why is a mystery to me), that decade was when materialism really took hold in the US and UK. Wealth became aspirational: people sought to get wealthy so they could show off like peacocks.
But what actually happened?
So-called ‘trickle down economics’ (where you make the rich richer, thinking that they will then pay the poor better) may have brought extravagant wealth for the few, but it crushed the dreams of the many. Disillusionment came in the 1990s, followed by several brutally severe economic crises that ripped the heart out of whole cities and left far too many in deep poverty, within a few blocks of those who were living the life of Reilly.
In short, the ideology of the 1980s was a disaster.
People ‘lived for the moment’, seeking to generate as much wealth as they could. When they couldn’t live the life they wanted, they borrowed, which in turn made them vulnerable to economic turbulence, which bankrupted them.
The tech bubble boomed and then busted.
Shyster businessmen promised much and then stole from the masses.
Pension funds crashed.
Crypto-currency bombed.
Jesus is stating a simple truth: living to ‘treasure your treasure’ on Earth is a really bad idea.
It's like investing your money in stocks that you know will soon become worthless.
But what does ‘treasuring your treasure’ in Heaven mean?
Given the context, it has to mean living for Jesus; making pleasing Him your every waking thought; following His teachings; doing His will – in essence, living for His Kingdom, not your own.
This is where true, everlasting wealth lies.
Jesus moves from the picture of treasure to the picture of eyes.
This is where most of our English translations don’t really cut it.
The meaning of the word translated as ‘healthy’ means a lot more than medically healthy. It also means uncluttered, unburdened with care, open and generous. It also means simple and uncomplicated – able to fulfil its function well.
Jesus is saying that someone who is not focused solely on their bank balance is someone whose life is much simpler, and therefore full of light.
And here's the other thing: the paradox of light and darkness in the Bible often is a picture of integrity versus duplicity; honesty versus deceit. There is little doubt that those who sought wealth above all else in Jesus’ day were involved in some pretty duplicitous tricks, like running a marketplace in the place where only Gentiles could worship (Matthew 21:12-13).
Or this little gem from Jesus scolding the Pharisees:
And he continued, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, “Honour your father and mother,” and, “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.” But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God) – then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother. Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.’
Mark 7:9-13 NIVUK
Do you see what they were doing there? They were spiritualising the non-payment of money they owed to their own parents!
That is why Jesus says that if their eye is not healthy – if their way of seeing the world is unhealthy and driven only by financial gain by any means, then their inner life is dark.
And if the only source of light for their body brings darkness, then that darkness will be great.
After the picture of treasure and eyes, Jesus leaves them with one last stark picture: that of a servant.
He gives us a simple message: we cannot serve both God and money.
The word for ‘serve’ here isn’t in the sense of a waitress or waiter serving us food. It is much more powerful than that.
It’s from the Greek word ‘doulos’, meaning ‘slave’. Not in the sense of one who could be traded, bought or sold. However, absolutely in the sense of someone who was not in control of their own destiny and had to work for another for a living. They would likely be in this position by necessity: either by force or by choice due to circumstance.
Jesus is saying, quite simply, just as Joshua said to the people of God, that His audience needed to choose whom they served (Joshua 24:15): God or money.
They could not serve them both.
Either they would love one and hate the other, or cling to and be loyal to one and despise the other. But they could not love both. They could not be loyal to both.
It had to be one or the other. They were mutually exclusive.
As we saw earlier, the Pharisees scoffed at this. But Jesus was categoric and uncompromising:
The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, ‘You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Luke 16:14-15 NIVUK
Jesus’ retort is sharp. Since they valued money more than God, their hearts were rotten. The respect, admiration, and, dare I say it, fear, they received from other people was not sufficient.
God saw them for who they were.
Why are the love of money and the love of God mutually exclusive?
But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
1 Timothy 6:6-10 NIVUK
Because loving money instead of God is a root of all kinds if evil.
It leads us to make risky investments or to pile up debt as if there was no tomorrow for things we don’t really need.
It narrows our vision, leading us to put a monetary value on everything.
It becomes our master, dominates our conscience and our moral compass and directs us to seek to destroy others for our own selfish gain.
It is, in short, idolatry.
When Joshua challenged the Israelites, it was to choose between the non-gods of their ancestors and the real God who had saved then from Egypt.
Our choice is now between the false God of money and the real God, who sent His Son to save us.
So who will you serve?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, I spend so much of my time working for money. Help me not to be mastered by it, but to make money work for me. Teach me what it truly means to put You first. Amen.
Questions
1. What are the three pictures Jesus uses to explain His thinking about money? Which do you identify with the most?
2. Why is it wrong to live purely to get more money?
3. How can you make sure that you always have the right attitude to money?
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