Matthew 6:19 - 34

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, of which we are knee deep, is nothing less than an invitation to a radically different way of living. 

But, as I process his words, I face a very specific challenge. This sermon can be either good news for living, or a great weight of discouragement.

I wrote here asking whether our religion is rules-based, or value-based.

For me, I know the right theoretical answer. However, I find I need to have a process to stay in the values-based lane.

Today, to stay in this “values-based” lane I need to recognize that Jesus is asking about my ambition. Not my ambitions, plural. No, he is asking what is my Number One ambition?

Is it money?

Can I pause here and just observe how this teaching, given on a hill some 2,000 years ago, is completely relevant today. Remarkable.

Jesus, in all of chapter 6, gives us 4 Steps for Staying-on the Values-Based path.

STEP ONE: Don’t replace God with Religion

In 6:1-18 Jesus is saying, “Once you decide to follow me to the Father, then stay focused on the Father and not your religious piety.

STEP TWO: Don’t make God the object of your religion, make him the object of your life!

In 6:19 – 21 Jesus gives us more than an image, he makes sure we haven’t placed a false divide between our sacred and secular lives. He addressed our so-called “sacred” lives in verses 1 -1 8. Now he drives home that there really is no divide. Everything is under God’s rule. 

Jesus therefore challenges us to decide about our ambition. Where do we want all the fruit of our labors to be stored, on earth or heaven?

His words are brilliant. Rather than lay on rules about money, he does what all great leaders do—he invites us to be part of a vision. 

STEP THREE: Keep your vision of living for God clear

In 6:22 – 23 he tells us to be careful. It is one thing to state a grand ambition to live for God, it is quite another to live it day-in and day-out. 

Consider, beyond our minds, our eyes are one of those senses that are almost always “on”. He asks what lenses have crept over our eyes? Lust, jealously, anger, greed? We need to be careful. We are living in a world with a completely different value system. The air we breathe is latent with lies and false promises

STEP FOUR: Use your built-in diagnostic tool to course correct

In 6:24 – 34 Jesus points out to us that God has actually provided for us a “built-in” diagnostic meter. We literally have, inside ourselves a gauge, a warning light, that tells us when we are drifting off the value-path of follow God. It is the warning light of worry.

Consider. Worry is not a little weakness. R.H. Mounce says, “Worry is practical atheism and an affront to God.” Ouch!

When we worry, we are in essence not trusting God. 

Yet, let’s use it for its diagnostic benefit. “What is it I am worrying about?” Is it money, health, family? Perhaps you fill in the blank.

It is not wrong to be good stewards of our money, our health, our family, etc. In fact we are called to be. It is when one or more of those slip into the top priority of our life. It becomes our focus. 

So now, not only is worry an afront to God, but that thing we are worrying about may have displaced him. We have fallen off our Value-Path of living for God. We have stopped storing up our treasure in heaven. 

Jesus, in chapter six, has given us a remarkable picture of how we can live a radical life. We can live this way because our relationship with God is secure in Jesus.

Which of these “Four Steps” speak loudest to you? Take it to your Father in prayer.