Week 5 – Two Kingdoms Compete (SECTION 61)

Jesus said some pretty tough things - He was always hyper clear that there is a competition in our souls of who will have the throne in your heart.  The question is which King will you choose?  Jump in with us in Sections 61 of the Gospel Harmonies @ https://www.harmonychurch.cc/tracking-jesus-timeline/. IT'S EASY TO GIVE at Harmony, text any amount to (859) 459-0316  to get started (or give online @ my.harmonychurch.cc/give ). OPENING ILLUSTRATION: Do you remember the first time you got on an airplane?  For me, I was older, already an adult.  So, I remember sitting there nervously as we all boarded and sat there, the whir of the engine and the bustle of the stewardesses.  They started to back the plane away from the gate and the stewardess starts to tell everyone how to buckle their seat belts and what to do in case of a crash.  I’m listening to it and I’m studying and pouring over the pamphlet in front of me like it’s my only lifeline to reality… I can remember very vividly looking around at everyone else on the plane and being like, “if we get in a crash, I’m not helping any of you suckers out!” Ha! here’s my question… Why didn’t anyone care about the instructions about what to do in case of a crash? Cause I guarantee you, if we’d have been in a crash - it’s the first and only thing they would have cared about… At least one of the reasons they didn’t care is because they didn’t believe a crash would happen to them. They’d never experienced a crash and so they ignored the information. You might want to argue with me and say, “Or they’ve just heard it so many times that they didn’t have to listen anymore.”  I’d agree with you, except, for the fact that I’m pretty sure if you got on a plane and they said, “There’s a 90% chance that we go down, but it’s our only choice to take off right now, otherwise there’s a 100% chance we die” If that was the case, how many people do you think would listen to the instructions that time?  I’m pretty sure every single person would be dialed in, listening to every detail. The only change would be they believed they were going to need the information.. Can I take you to some of Jesus’ most ignored words? :) Jesus has been talking to people about praying, he’s been talking about fasting… He’s been sharing about what life in the Kingdom of God looks like, how to pray, how to fast. Then He gives the rules of the Kingdom that most of us listen to and then go right back to life as usual. Mt 6:19-24 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  In our modern world, this would have been, don’t store up your treasure on earth where stock markets fail and floods and tornadoes destroy… right?   Jesus is trying to help them see how the security this world offers is more at risk than we’d like to admit “Then what do I do with my treasure Jesus?” 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. More on this in a minute… 22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[a] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[b] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! ILLUSTRATION: Ever heard of an evil eye?  I’ve accidentally cut some people off and gotten this, and maybe a few other gestures…  We don’t get Jesus’ illustration here, but what you need to know is having good eyes or bad eyes was a way of talking about someone's generosity.  Kind of like how we might say someone lived their life with open hands… Jesus is saying when you live your life from a generous posture you live your life in a way that brings light! Makes sense - sounds good, not hearing the problem here Kent… 24 “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. This is where I think we all start to drift off in Jesus’ words… Now, I don’t mean to say we don’t like them, that we don’t agree with them even in a philosophical way.  What I mean is that we look at them and we say, Sounds like a good philosophy, but does it work in real-world practice?   That’s the question, right? How many of you spend the majority of your time thinking about money: how to get it, how to spend it, how to save it, how to keep it, and how not to lose it? ILLUSTRATION: When I went to work for the car dealership I worked for years ago, my boss wanted to get me to work using incentives, I told him he could do it, but I wasn’t driven by money.  He literally told me to not tell anyone because no one would trust me…  LOL, it’s funny cause that’s the one thing that helps people trust me as a pastor. Most people are driven by money. So, when Jesus says you can either serve God or money, we hear Him - but we don’t listen… Like the people sitting by me on the airplane that day… We come to Jesus and say: I’ve got to…   But I’ve got bills to pay I’ve got things I want to do I’ve got to be able to retire What is the “I’ve got to” excuse for you?? It’s interesting because Jesus knows this will be your argument because the very next thing He will say is this… Matthew 6:25-27 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[e]? Can I tell you my sneaky suspicion as to why we don’t trust Jesus that it’s shifting to storing treasure in Heaven over treasure on Earth? My sneaky suspicion is that you don’t really believe God will come through.  Money seems to come through - it puts you in control, it provides, it gives you security. But you can’t take it with you, and the happiness & security it brings is unsatisfying - that’s why you constantly want more and are enslaved by it. Let me clear something up  Jesus isn’t saying money is bad - He isn’t even saying you shouldn’t work hard and make as much as you possibly can. Jesus’ point is about WHERE you are storing the treasure.   Listen again: Mt 6:19-24 19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The only thing that will move from this present life to eternal life is people.  That’s it. Jesus will point all these people to these simple words: Matthew 6:33 ”But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Treasure, when stored in doing Kingdom-good for people, can translate into eternity… Ask this question every day:  “Who’s agenda am I after?” that’s it, ask and answer that question or God’s Kingdom and His agenda and you will naturally start finding ways to store up treasures in heaven. CLOSING ILLUSTRATION: I told you my sneaky suspicion is that you haven’t taken this step to change the leadership in your life in a real way because you don’t trust God will come through.  Maybe when you were a kid, bad stuff happened to you and you stopped trusting God, maybe you prayed and felt like your prayer wasn’t answered, maybe you tragically lost someone you loved and can’t fathom how that could have happened.  Whatever it is, can I ask you this question?  Have you ever tried honestly, moment by moment seeking first God’s Kingdom and righteousness, asking and answering the question, “Who’s agenda am I after?” and seeing if God comes through - not with all your wants - not health and wealth, but all your needs.  My guess is your lack of taking this step is bound up in this quote by GK Chesterton: “The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting. It has been found difficult, and left untried.” -GK Chesterton