Matthew 6:19 Commentary - Dr Peter Masters

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Matthew 6:19

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(Synoptics: Matthew 6:19-21) The sermon now moves to a consideration of right attitude to the things of this life, which continues to the end of the chapter. It moves from the more obvious fault of the accumulation of riches, to the more subtle problem of anxiety about the provision of basic needs. In these famous words we see the lifestyle of believers laid down: is it God or mammon? There is a tremendous battle for the heart of believers. The enemy of souls will constantly try to draw us from whole-hearted devotion and commitment to Jesus Christ, the Lord, and more often than not by the attractions of this present world, and by busying us and immersing us in the details of this present life, causing us to fuss unduly with attention given to mere earthly things. What a difficult thing it is because we do have a genuine duty to properly care for our families and for ourselves. We do have a very right and reasonable task to improve the lot of our own and those around us, and yet the devil, knowing that, will seek to draw us over a line into the unnecessary and into the excessive. Literally the Greek says, ‘Do not treasure to yourself treasures.’ Do not revel in things, covet things, over value things in this life. Do not struggle desperately to possess, to achieve, so that your heart is in these things. In those far off days they had clothing that they inherited; clothes were made to last a long time. Fabric was expensive; fashions never changed. You had things all your life, and you might say this will stand me in good stead for life. But no, it will not, because of the moth, the invisible moth that gets in; and in those days you cannot do anything about it. Before long the garment is falling apart and full of holes, and it becomes corrupt – actually the Greek says, cause to disappear. You see the consequences of things vanishing before your eyes. ‘So,’ says the Lord, ‘here is an easy way to recognise things. If it is transient, if it is time bound, if it is material, do not set your heart too much on it: to do so is offensive to me. These things are not substantial.’ Often possessions and ambitions are wrested away from us. They do not just fade away; they are snatched away. ‘Where thieves break through’, and the Greek is ‘dig’. The idea is you have got a house, you want to keep the thieves out. So what do you do? You have a double thickness timber door, and you have the most elaborate locks you can find, and you bar the windows and nobody can get in. Yes, but do not forget the walls are of soft clay and the thieves may dig through and take your goods. So there is no defence against things being snatched from you. Things mean so much to you, but you get a little older and you move on in life and the things you have spent so much time and attention on have been snatched from your grasp by the events of life. How foolish for people who have Christ the Lord, who have wonderful blessings; how foolish to focus go to the things on this present life for comfort. Christ is not condemning all worldly good; he is speaking of priorities. He is not calling us to renounce all. Many things are necessary, but wealth is damaging for a number of reasons. It generates covetousness. The Lord may himself give riches to some, but if they shut out the kingdom, they can damage believers. Wealth also generates reliance. Our trust is transferred to earthly things. Wealth causes us to have a false evaluation of ourselves. It is remarkable how it tends to make you feel special, superior. Wealth demands dedication; it becomes a little god to you that changes the whole direction of life.

Application

As a believer, have we slipped? Have worldly things become too important to us? This is not necessarily about things that are morally corrupt in themselves. We can start needing ordinary things too much, and become reliant on them. ‘I have to be well-known or to be famous, or to have plenty of money, or to have children that do far better than anybody else’s children.’ Why do our minds fix on these on things for comfort and for succour? It may well be because we have not been valuing our faith and we are not close to the Lord. We do not admire him and wonder at him and our souls are not currently thrilled by Christ the Lord and all that he is. We have lost our sense of the power and goodness of our faith, and what God is doing, and the calling that he has for us, and so worldly things become too important.

It is then not surprising that you find that in some churches there is not much Christian service organised. There is not much going on, and so the people lack the assurance and the excitement of answered prayer for lost souls, and the accomplishment of hard tasks that can only be achieved by the strengthening of the Lord. Without these things life is dull, life is flat, and so they drift into earthly satisfaction.

To the one who still belongs to the world Christ says, ‘Do not be someone who cannot function without a storehouse of things on earth. That is pointless, powerless.’ It is not that money is unimportant. He later says that our heavenly Father knows we have needs. But these things are only of value on earth, and only of limited value anyway. We cannot take them with us into the next life. We are spiritual beings with a soul, the organ of worship. None of the things we acquire on earth are use of use to the soul, or to the mind or the character. They are not deep things. How can we nourish the soul and see life in perspective if we have no knowledge of why we are here? No knowledge of our Creator? Earthly things are very costly. They often cost character as well as time and effort, because we have to cut corners to get them. They may also involve cruel disappointment. Earthly things lose their value. We go after a costly objective which soon becomes out of date, out of fashion. We also go off things. Once we acquire something, we soon get bored with it and are seeking something else. So the treadmill continues without end. Simple things excite children, but they soon grow out of them and want more sophisticated things. We are like children in the way we pursue earthly pleasures.

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Matthew 6:19 Commentary and Bible Study