Introduction: Grace be to you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Gospel Lesson just read, from Luke 16. We begin with prayer.
Dear fellow disciples of our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ:
- Why do people engage in the things that they do? What moves and motivates us to seek an education, to pursue a certain job, to take up particular hobbies, to choose what forms of recreation and relaxation we engage in when resting?
- We would answer: “Well, because that’s what I enjoy doing. It’s what makes me happy.” And all of this makes a great deal of sense to us: What kind of a person would devote himself to things that make him “unhappy”? Of course, it is not always quite this simple – we are willing to endure things that we despise so long as we are sure to get something out of it that we really want. This may be what our work is like – we are willing to endure it for the money, the paycheck. This may be what dieting and working out are all about – enduring discomfort and denial for the sake of better health and overall enjoyment of life.
- In our text Jesus speaks about this – about money, but more importantly about what makes us happy, what we love, what we devote ourselves to. He is not principally concerned about behavior, but rather about our heart – what it is that we “love” above all other things. Of course, what we love will affect our behavior – what it is that we are “serving,” what we devote our lives to.
- And this is the real gist of what Jesus is speaking about, what He wants us to be aware of and to evaluate: “WHERE YOUR HEART IS,” what you are truly devoted to and “serving” with your life – whether it is God or something else. In the verses that follow our text we hear from Jesus about the dangers in allowing our hearts to drift away from devotion to God. But today He bids us to take a careful look at our hearts, what we are devoted to, where our heart is really at.
I. Jesus Warns Us About The Temptation To Think That We Can Serve Both God And Other Things
Text: “No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God AND money.”
A. Ultimately, Choices Will Always Come: Worship Or Work And Business; Giving Or Keeping And Accumulating; Whether We Love The Study of God’s Word More Than Other Activities
B. And If We Are “Lovers Of Money” Or Love And Devote Ourselves To Other Things, What We Love And Devote Ourselves To Becomes Our God
Mark 12:28-31 “One of the scribes came up and . . . asked Him, ‘Which commandment is the most important of all?’ Jesus answered, ‘The most important is, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” The second is this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” There is no other commandment greater than these.’”
C. And We Must Take Great Care In All Of This, For Those Who Are Lovers Of Money And Lovers Of Other Things End Up Ridiculing Jesus And His Word – Trying To Justify Themselves, But God Knows All
Text: “The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed Him. And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’”
Statement: This is a particularly treacherous temptation for us today, for we have been taught the importance of success – which is defined chiefly in financial terms these days, by parents and even by other leaders within the church. Yes, they have also taught us to “serve God” – and this creates the dilemma, the illusion that we can easily serve both God and money. In fact, I would suggest that this “conventional wisdom” is accepted by the vast majority of people even within the church! Yet it is clearly contradicted by Jesus – repudiated by Jesus as being impossible.
And when we hear Jesus’ judgment, His pronouncement of the reality, we too are tempted to react just as the Pharisees did – we are tempted to immediately set out trying to justify ourselves. But obviously, as Jesus asserts: “God knows your hearts.” And this is what ultimately matters.
Application: So what should these Pharisees have done? What was Jesus telling them to do? He was urging them – and also us – to look honestly at our hearts, at “WHERE YOUR HEART IS.” And the proper response is repentance – to acknowledge our sinfulness in trying to serve both God and money, and to acknowledge that we also are infected with this sin of idolatry! And if we are “ridiculing” this teaching of Jesus right now in our heart, obviously this is diagnostic of where our heart is! And we should also repent of this grotesque rebellion against God’s Son, against our dear Savior – Whom we claim to be our Lord.
The consequence of this is utter repentance – for as Jesus clearly states: “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much. If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?” So our repentance must be complete – a confession to God that we have been unfaithful and dishonest in much! Then we are ready to hear God’s assurance: “though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool,” [Is. 1:18] and His promise that “the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.” [1 Jn. 1:7]
Transition: Now if we take this seriously, honestly and fully confessing our sin in regard to “serving money” and “loving money” and justifying ourselves against Jesus’ Word, ridiculing His “position” on this matter – and also rejoicing that even a lifetime of this sinful idolatry is washed and cleansed away, then we may be prepared to turn away from “what is exalted among men” – which is “an abomination in the sight of God,” and consider a change in venue for our hearts – and come to understand that according to Jesus it is the greatest blessedness that:
II. Our Love And Heart’s Devotion Be Completely To God
A. So That He Alone Is Our Lord, God, And Master
Text: “No servant can serve two masters, for 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 God AND money.”
Mark 12:30 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
B. In This Way We Make Everything Else Serve His Will And His Purpose, And Not Our Own Selfish Desires And Purposes
So Paul urged the Colossians:
Col. 3:2,3 “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
And we see the effects of God’s great love on the early Christians, and their attitude toward their money and possessions:
Acts 4:32 “Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.”
And so the apostle urges us to remember that all that we have is to serve the “common good.”
1 Cor. 12:4-7 “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good.”
And if this is true for spiritual blessings, for the “true riches,” it is even more the case in what Jesus calls “unrighteous wealth.”
Text: “If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches?”
Statement: That this is difficult for us to contemplate – thinking of all of our money and possessions, indeed our time, life, and abilities as not belonging to us personally but as being “for the common good,” put into the service of benefiting others in accord with God’s will – is clear evidence of the sins of selfishness and idolatry that persist in plaguing us. That all of this is forgiven and washed away – so that as we live in the assurance of God’s great and ongoing love for us we have opportunity to adjust our view, our priorities, and “WHERE OUR HEART IS,” is all to the praise of God’s wondrous grace and mercy, His gift to us in Christ Jesus!
Application: Hopefully, rather than ridiculing Jesus and rejecting His teaching, we will soften our hearts in repentance and open them to the gentle and renewing teachings of His love for us – that we may indeed receive the “true riches” from Him! That would include understanding that we cannot serve two masters – and also understanding the great blessedness of serving God rather than money or anything else!
Conclusion: God knows our hearts – and He is joyful over our repentance and our knowledge of His gracious forgiveness and love. He knows our hearts – as we grow in our love for Him, a love for Him that is above all other things. He knows our hearts – as we gradually grow in our desire to serve Him only, looking at all our life, being, and possessions as means to serve Him, by serving the common good.
This is what truly matters to God – our great blessedness, and the goodness of heart that His love produces within us! May He grant such joy and blessedness to us all! Amen.
Votum: And the peace of God which surpasses all human understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds in the true faith, which is in Christ Jesus, even unto life everlasting, Amen.