2/25/24 “The Sermon on the Mount - Part 5”

“The Sermon on the Mount – Part 5”

Mathew 6:16-24

(Show picture of Bosco cat)

This morning, I’d like all of you to meet Bosco.

Bosco is a cat (In case you didn’t notice that)

Bosco is 9 years old now and began his life with Lisa, myself, and our two daughters when they were in in late middle school/early high school.

When our oldest daughter, Lindsay, moved off to college, Bosco went with her.

Then, when Lindsay graduated & got married, Bosco (Along with his sister, Vespa) moved in with my Mom & Dad – and they’ve been the monarchy in that house ever since.

Now, back when Bosco lived with us, we noticed that he had gone missing for a couple of days.

This was very unlike him since he enjoys numerous mealtimes throughout the day, and he’s afraid of pretty much everything…..so, usually he stays very close to home.

Well, after a few days Bosco was back – but we noticed something…

He now had a noticeable limp – a “Hitch in his Giddy-up”, so to speak.

We never found out how it happened, but we gave him LOTS of extra attention and love because something traumatic had obviously happened to him.

Well, the days went by…but Bosco’s limp didn’t improve.

Soon, the weeks began to pass by….still no improvement.

Finally, after about 2 months with no change in his “Hip-Limp” I decided to make an appointment for Bosco to go see the vet.

A few days before the vet appointment, I just happened to be looking out the kitchen window and saw Bosco playing with his sister….

He was RUNNING after her…..with NO hitch in his giddy-up whatsoever!

I thought to myself “This is either a miraculous healing, or I’ve been played by a 12-pound chunk of fur and fleas…

So, I went outside to check on him and just as I turned the corner of the house Bosco saw me….and as soon as our eyes met, guess what…his limp was back!

Bosco proceeded to limp his way over to where I was standing, expecting to receive the extra amount of sympathy rubs & attention that he had grown used to over the past couple of months.

Well, other than being slightly amused at his selfish cleverness, I was not happy with Bosco cat.

In fact, I believe that I called him a few names – ‘Furry Hypocrite’ being one of them – and marched back into the house without giving him as much as a single pat on the head.

Not surprisingly, Bosco’s limp cleared up very quickly over the next couple of days after realizing that we were on to his deceptive & manipulative scheme for sympathy.

Cats are devious creatures…don’t ever let anybody tell you different.

This type of behavior may be amusing when performed by a 12 pound, 4-legged ball of fur– but it becomes much less amusing when facilitated by a full-grown human being.

In Verse 16 (Matthew 6:16) of today’s passage, Jesus begins a section on the issue of fasting and describes a similar scene of deception, manipulation, and hypocrisy…

But in this case, housecats were not involved.

Rather, it was the established religious leaders and teachers who were acting in a hypocritical and deceptive manner….

Respected men who were supposed to set the example of faith for everyone else in the Jewish community were acting no differently than a furry creature with a 2” brain….

First of all, in verse 16 (Matthew 6:16) Jesus begins by saying “When you fast….”

Fasting was a common practice among many Jewish people of faith, including the Pharisees, who would traditionally fast for 2 days out of the week…usually the 2nd and 5th days of the week.

The word ‘Fast’ (Gr. Nesteia) literally means to refrain from eating…to abstain from food.

Fasting was traditionally practiced for a 24-hour period at a time, with water as the only substance ingested into the body during the fasting period.

There was only one command in scripture for the Jewish people regarding the practice of fasting, and that is found on two occasions in the book of Leviticus.

Leviticus 23:27 states: “The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the Lord by fire.”

Once every year, on the Day of Atonement, all of Israel was to deny themselves and abstain from any human indulgences – including the ingestion of food.

This was an ordinance set forth by God for the Jewish people meant to reorient and recalibrate their minds upon the things of God - His faithfulness, His righteousness, and His forgiveness of sins.

Unfortunately, by the time of Christ, the act of fasting had been twisted and distorted by the religious teachers of the day, becoming a pretentious ritual designed to gain merit with God and to garner sympathetic attention from others…

Kind of like a certain 12-pound fleabag who faked a limp just to get attention from his owners!

Earlier I had mentioned that the Pharisees fasted two days out of the week, generally on the 2nd and 5th days of the week. (Monday and Thursday)

…and guess what? These two days of the week were also - by far - the busiest days for the local marketplace.

The Pharisees enjoyed being seen by as many people as they could while – at the same time – trying to look as sickly and downtrodden as possible…just to receive pity for their false piety.

They would walk around in old, shabby clothes – covering themselves in ashes as well as applying white makeup in order to look as peaked as possible….

These guys were serious about their ungodly desire for sympathy, respect, and admiration amongst the people…

This is just one reason why Jesus was so harsh on the Pharisees – not only were they living in sin, but they were proudly living in sin!....not thinking for an instant that they were in need of repentance.

As far as the New Testament is concerned, fasting is mentioned around 30 times – as a legitimate form of spiritual devotion and cleansing.

By saying the words ‘When you fast” in verse 16, Jesus is making the assumption that people of faith will choose to fast from time to time…

but he does not give a specific command as to when, where, or what type of method is to be utilized when we decide to fast.

Something to remember concerning fasting is that – despite the assumption that we are to engage in it - fasting is not to be considered an ordinance of the church alongside Baptism and observance of the Lord’s Table.

Fasting is also never shown in scripture to be the means to some sort of heightened spiritual experience…or a channel to special spiritual insight or awareness of some kind.

Fasting is meant to be a time of spiritual cleansing and renewed focus upon God and His faithfulness in our lives…

and, as believers, we are expected to engage in the practice of fasting from time to time.

Many times, Christians naturally fast during times of trial and sorrow.

Jesus’ disciples did not fast while Jesus was with them, but they would fast after his departure as they mourned over his absence.

Maybe some of you have experienced stressful trials in your life when food was the last thing on your mind…you just wanted to be in prayerful communion with God for the day because your soul needed spiritual sustenance much more than it needed physical nourishment.

It is in those moments when God can speak to us the loudest…and when we are usually the most attentive to His voice.

In scripture, fasting is always linked to prayer.

Biblically speaking, one can pray without fasting, but it is impossible to fast without praying….legitimate fasting needs to be saturated in continual prayer in order for God to align our will with His….and to provide us His perfect and supernatural peace.

Verse 19 (Matthew 6:19) begins a new section of this famous sermon where Jesus turns to the subject of….money.

Because we live in a country where we have a very high standard of living (As compared to the rest of the world) these 5 verses are some of the most challenging verses in all of scripture.

For some context, listen to these statistics: If you make $25,000 a year, you are earning more than 93% of the rest of the world….you are in the top 7% of wage-earners worldwide if you are making 25 grand.

If you are making 50K a year, you are richer than 98.2% of the global population….you are in the richest 1.8% of people on earth.

If you are making $100,000 (Which, today, isn’t all that uncommon) you are richer than 99.5% of the world population…you are in the top .5%

We indeed have a VERY HIGH standard of living compared to the rest of the world.

These facts aren’t meant to put a guilt trip on all of us this morning, they’re simply meant to grab our attention…and hopefully dispel any kind of thinking that any of us are somehow financially exempt from these convicting passages of scripture.

Jesus begins this section by stating in verse 19 (Matthew 6:19) “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth….”

We humans are natural hoarders…aren’t we?

Have you noticed the number of storage sheds that have been built around here over the last 30 or 40 years?

In some ways we’re like overgrown squirrels stowing away nuts for the Winter, but unfortunately, the nuts we continue to stow away never get used up!

Recently, I was in my garage looking for a tool when I stumbled upon an old boombox of mine that just plays cassette tapes…we haven’t had audio cassettes around the house for decades…

Why was this thing taking up space in my garage???

Even worse, when finding it, my first thought was to just put it back where it was on the shelf in my garage…I said to myself, “I’d better hang on to this thing…audio cassettes might make a comeback”….SQUIRREL!    

Fortunately, common sense won the battle in my mind and I got rid of it…

We humans naturally want to hang on to everything we have…

Ever tried doing a closet purge? Well….I’d better not throw those jeans from 30 years ago away, you never know, I could suddenly lose 60 pounds….and then what would I have to wear?....SQUIRREL!

Look, if you lose 60 pounds…you deserve to go out and buy yourself a new pair of jeans, ok?

Jesus is telling us in verse 19 (Matthew 6:19) that we should not only avoid overaccumulation….but also that we should avoid being too attached to the material things of this world – that we ought not “treasure our earthly treasures.”

I love the parable that Jesus tells in the 12th chapter of Luke concerning the rich farmer.

He begins in verse 16 (Luke 12:16-21) “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘what shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.” “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself’? “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”

The rich man in this parable is stockpiling his wealth simply for the sake of his own comfort, laziness, and prestige….and all of it is fueled by the consuming fire of greed.

Human beings are naturally greedy….that’s why Jesus told the young rich ruler in Matthew 19:21 to “…Sell your possessions and give to the poor…”

Jesus knew that this man did not own his possessions, but that his possessions owned him.

This man worshipped his material treasures, rather than treasuring the immaterial and almighty God….

his wealth had become an idol, and sadly (Unless he repented) he would never experience true, eternal treasure in heaven.

We are all born with the sinful desire to worship our possessions rather than possess a true heart of worship toward God.

This is why Jesus says in Matthew chapter 19 (Matthew 19:24) that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven….

If you, brother or sister in Christ, live a “comfortable” lifestyle with a healthy bank account, take warning from these words of our savior.

Now, there’s also a very important nugget of truth to remember about this parable concerning the young rich man: The problem was not in the wealth itself, but the man’s unwillingness to part with it.

Both the Old & New Testaments recognize the right to material possessions, including money, land, animals, houses, clothing and every other thing that is honestly acquired.

The Bible describes numerous individuals who – by the world’s standards – were rich, but who also never allowed their riches to become an idol in their lives.

Abraham, Joseph, David, Job, Lydia, and Joseph of Arimathea were all very well off…yet none of them allowed their wealth to come between them and their devotion to God.

All of these people understood that security could not be found in their money or their material possessions – but only in God’s faithfulness and provision.

During his long ministry back in the 1800’s, John Wesley earned a considerable amount of money from the publishing of his sermons and books.

Yet he only had 28 pounds to his name when he died because he continually gave what he earned to the Lord’s work.

We have dear family friends – a husband & wife -  who have made millions of dollars over the course of their careers….BUT they have also donated millions of dollars to ministries all over the world.

They live in a nice, but not extravagant, home…they drive nice, but not extravagant, vehicles…

they understand the difference between owning something, and having something own them.

I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that if God asked them to sell everything tomorrow and give it all away, they would do it in a heartbeat….because their hearts beat only for their savior - Jesus Christ.

Jesus goes on to say in verse 21 (Matthew 6:21) that “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Want to know if you’re truly saved or not?....Then ask yourself this question: what do I treasure most in life?

Do I treasure the pleasure that I receive from my money and possessions above all other things?...or do I treasure being involved in bringing hope & joy to others above everything else?

Do I treasure compliments and praise from other people because it feeds my prideful ego?....or do I find satisfaction in building others up through my words and deeds?

Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also!

So often, we are tempted to want to have one foot in this world, and one foot in God’s Kingdom….but the Bible informs us that such a position is actually to have both feet in the world.

Jesus tells us in verse 24 (Matthew 6:24) that it is impossible to simultaneously live like the world AND to live as citizens of God’s kingdom…

Verse 24 reads: “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.”

Like it or not, we are all slaves to something….and MANY people in our world are slaves to the almighty dollar rather than being servants of the almighty King!

In the larger context, we are either slaves to sin, or we are slaves to righteousness…it has to be one or the other – it cannot be both.

In Revelation chapter 3, the church of Laodicea is called out for being lukewarm – in other words, they tried to have one foot in the culture and the other foot in God’s Kingdom.

It didn’t work. Jesus tells them that their carnal brand of Christianity really isn’t Christianity at all – and that he is about to spit them out of his mouth! (Revelation 3:16)

The Church of Laodicea was a wealthy church. They had plenty of money – both individually, as well as the corporate body.

It was this love and thirst for money (And the things money can do) that wound up being their destruction….an eternal destruction.

Paul warns us in 1 Timothy 6:9-10 that “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men 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.”

John Calvin once said “Where riches hold the dominion of the heart, God has lost His authority.”

Our treasure is either on earth, or in Heaven.

Our spiritual life is either full of light or of darkness.

And our master is either God, or ourselves.

Brothers & sisters, let’s make sure that we are living for the Lord – whether its through fasting or through the way we interact with our money –

Let it all be done to His honor and His glory.

Let’s Pray.