I have spent my entire life looking for something that would take care of everything else. When I was around 12 years old, I saw my first commercial for this thing called the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweepstakes. I knew nothing about odds or marketing at the time, but their promise that I could enter a sweepstakes for the chance to win $1 million…I was hooked. “Mom, we’ve got to do this.” And then I would lie awake at night imagining winning and how this would get me everything I wanted. Somehow the desire for wealth began to make its way into my heart at a young age. I was captivated by the alluring promises it made to me.

Eventually I realized that the oversized check written out to me was never going to arrive at my doorstep. And thankfully I stopped seeing the accumulation of wealth as my ticket to everything I could possibly want. But money still had my attention, because our growing family had some real needs. Money was no longer about helping me enjoy luxury; it was now just about having enough for the basics.

When we moved to San Francisco, thinking about money took on a whole new meaning. I was leaving a stable paycheck. Rent for our first apartment here in 2010 was literally 5x what we had been paying in the Midwest. And as if making sure our family had enough money wasn’t enough to occupy my mind, I was now trying to bring a church into existence that would need way more money than it took to provide for our family.

I’ve also been in environments where supposedly Godly leaders enjoy making people feel guilty if they make a ton of money or enjoy some nice things in life. They quote Bible verses that are 95% accurate, but they leave out some of the words that change the meaning completely. Like this one – “Money is a root of all kinds of evil.” I think what it says is that “the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”

I’ve also been around people who have been given so much wealth, but they’ve never stopped to think about how they could leverage their wealth for maximum return in God’s kingdom.  And I’m pretty sure all of us have a relationship with money that includes at least one of these. We either see it as the ultimate treasure. Or we see trust it more than we trust anyone else. Maybe it’s that you think it’s bad to enjoy it or you think it’s only their for your personal enjoyment.

With the exception of the kingdom of God, there is nothing Jesus spoke about more than money and possessions.

Why? Because He knows that money, more than anything else, competes with God for the throne of our heart. And He knows that once money is dethroned in our lives, it can become one of the greatest tools to advance the things that are on His heart.

If you treasure wealth more than you treasure God, Jesus wants to speak to you about that. If you trust in wealth more than you trust in God for your security, Jesus wants to speak to you about that. If you feel guilty about enjoying God’s gifts, Jesus wants to speak to you about that. And If you enjoy God’s blessings only for yourself, Jesus wants to speak to you about that. In other words, I think Jesus has so much He wants to say to us today. I want to anchor us in two texts of Scripture that will shape us as disciples of Jesus, whatever our present relationship is with money and whatever our present relationship is with Jesus. I’m calling this message, “Is Wealth Everything or Nothing?”

Matthew 6:19-24 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “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.

1 Timothy 6:17-19 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

Why does Jesus talk so much about money and possessions? It seems like He’s obsessed with the topic. Jesus consumed by money? I don’t think so. But He is obsessed with what’s in your heart. “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. This word “heart” means the very center of you. It’s where your treasures and greatest affections are found. To use our vision language here at Epic, it is what you orient your entire life around.

It's been said that your heart is a desire factory. We want it all and the world continues to promise us that it’s possible to have it all. So we step into this relationship with Jesus and we genuinely want Jesus AND we still want all the other things. The problem isn’t that we want things. The issue is that we don’t think it’s necessary to force rank all the things we want. While I’m not sure that all of the 10 commandments have to be valued in the order they’re listed in, I do know that the first one is first for a reason.

Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.”

And what we’ve been learning in this year of discipleship so far and what we will continue learning is this:

Being a disciple of Jesus means that we choose Jesus over everything else.

You might not like making choices, but you don’t really have a choice about that. Jesus says you have to. “You cannot serve two masters…You cannot serve both God and money.”

While some of us are obsessed with money because of the endless things it can do for us, others of us are consumed with money because we just want to have enough of it. I get that. It takes a lot to just have enough for the essentials in life. And we have all given into the lie that first showed up in the Garden of Eden – that God is holding out on us and we lack what’s best for us. And then we get paralyzed by a scarcity mindset that tells us we better take care of ourselves and hold onto everything we have.

Do you put more trust in your provision or in your Provider?

Proverbs 18:10-11 The name of the LORD is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city; they imagine it a wall too high to scale.

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a savings account or investments. But you do need to get clear on who or what you trust the most. Jesus says that it’s not wise to store up earthly treasures because they can rust, fade, or be stolen. Paul tells Timothy to let people know they shouldn’t put their hope in wealth because it is so uncertain. Instead, they should put their hope in God.

Do you believe that your best life is in God’s good hands or by having a certain amount of wealth in your own hands?

Is it possible we want wealth to do so much for us that it removes our need to trust in God?

Who do you believe God is? Do you see Him more as a taker or a giver? Do you believe that He’s a heavenly Father who values you or that He’s holding out on you? Getting an accurate picture of God will help us to both trust Him and enjoy Him. The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. And He satisfies our desires with good things. In our Timothy text, Paul writes that “God richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Are you giving yourself permission to simply enjoy God and His good gifts in your life?

My morning practice consists of writing the word “gratitude” in my journal and I list all of the things I’m grateful for that I can think of. Most of them are things that occurred in the past 24 hours; some of them are big picture things in my life. God has given me so much to enjoy.

But He hasn’t given me everything just for myself. He wants me to be generous, to share, and to store up treasure in heaven. We have to understand what it means to be stewards of God’s resources.

stewardship – refers to the responsible and careful management of what has been entrusted to our care

God is the owner of everything and He entrusts some of His stuff to us. We can only steward what we’ve been given. God will not hold me responsible for stewarding what He has given to you. But I must steward what He’s given to me. My time. My wisdom. My influence. My money. My spiritual gifts. Jesus says the best investment strategy is treasure in heaven.

A disciple of Jesus knows that money is a terrible god, but a wonderful tool in God’s kingdom.

The more we become like Jesus, the more fun we will have thinking about how we can generously invest in the things that are on the heart of God. I live out of a life plan that has various goals and one of those goals is a certain % of money I want to give away. Another goal I have in my life plan is to one day own a retreat house that blesses our family and ministry leaders. So if God gives it to us, yes I want to enjoy it and help so many other people enjoy it. And as a church, do you know that we’ve given right at $4m to The Hope Project over the past 15 years? And when we launch the Center for Sacred Vocation, Epic’s going to fund the whole thing. But people who live anywhere in the world with internet access – they’ll be able to access it.

What does it mean to store up treasure in heaven? It means to invest in something that will never fade. What is never going to go away? The kingdom of God and the people who are part of it. So we invest in things that expose non-Christians to the good news of Jesus. And we invest in things that provide spiritual growth for disciples of Jesus. And we invest in the kinds of things that answer the Lord’s prayer – may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Response: I think we all have at least one of these that is our issue, and I want all of us to participate in this response time. I’m going to pray for us regarding these 4 categories: Treasure. Trust. Enjoy. Invest in kingdom. Which of these is your greatest struggle?

Pray for each.