Let's pray together again as we look at God's Word. "Lord, we would humbly confess to you that we are quite capable of having cold, fickle, and easily distractible hearts, even when we choose to place ourselves under the ministry of your Word, our hearts can wander. And so, we pray in this moment, not because it's a formal, religious habit, but because we recognize our desperate need for the operation of your grace even in this moment. We would pray for eyes to see and ears to hear, hearts that would gladly receive your Word.
I Was a Very Angry Man
In Jesus name, Amen. I was a very, very angry man. I was a pastor. I didn't know I was an angry man. My wife knew I was an angry man; my children knew I was an angry man, but I didn't see myself that way at all. I was a man who was in the midst of destroying his marriage and his ministry. And I had no idea. Luella, my dear wife, would be very faithful in coming to me; she did it in wonderfully godly ways and bringing before me that anger and my failure to love her in the way that I should. I was unwilling to hear; I would wrap my robes of righteousness around me and tell her what a great husband she had.
I told her again and again that I thought her problem was just discontent, and I would pray for her. That helped her. That was a joke for those of you who aren't awake yet. At one point, Luella came to me, and she was confronting me about my anger, and I said this deeply humble thing to her...I actually said this; this is embarrassing to admit this. I said, "Ninety-five percent of the women in our church would love to be married to a man like me." How's that for humility? Luella very quickly informed me that she was in the five percent.
I was on a weekend with my brother, Tedd, much like this day that we were spending together. And at the end of that weekend, we were driving home; we had quite a distance to drive, and, as we were in the car, Tedd said to me, "You know, Paul, we probably ought to make what we've learned today practical to our own lives. Why don't you start?" And I will never forget this moment; I will be thankful for ten-million years into eternity for this moment. Tedd just began to ask me questions, and as Tedd was asking me questions, it was as if God was ripping down curtains.
And I was seeing myself with clarity for the first time in years. I couldn't believe that I was watching me do the things that I did. I was hearing myself with clarity; I couldn't believe that I said the things that I said; I was grieved and broken. I couldn't wait to get home to talk to Luella. I got home quite late, and I am a man with a lively sense of humor; I usually enter the house humorously, some way; Luella could tell by the look on my face that something was up. And I said, "We really need to sit down and talk."
I said to her, "I know for years that you have tried to talk to me about my anger, and I have been unwilling to listen, unwilling to hear. I can honestly say to you, for the first time this evening, I want to hear what you have to say to me." I'll never forget what happened next. Luella burst into tears; she told me that she loved me, and she talked for two hours. And, in those two hours, I want you to get my language here, God began a process of radical undoing and rebuilding of the heart of this man.
"Process" is the operative word, because I wasn't zapped with lightning; there wasn't an immediate change. But I'll never forget months, months down the road, coming down from our upstairs and seeing Luella sitting in our living room with her back to me, and as I saw her profile, I couldn't remember the last time I felt that old, ugly anger toward her. Now I'm not saying that I had risen to a level of my sanctification, that it was impossible for me to have a moment of irritation, but that life dominating, life shaping anger was gone.
Praise God! Praise God! I put my hands on her shoulder, and she looked up at me like this, like you would when somebody comes from behind, and I looked down at her and I said, "You know, I'm not angry at you anymore!" And, together, we began to laugh and cry at the same time at what God had done. Now, I have spent a lot of time trying to exegete my anger. What got me there? And one of the things I have written about in a new book that is coming out, and this isn't meant to be an advertisement, is that there is a big piece of that mess that I had gotten myself into that was the product of eternity amnesia.
It's the thing I actually want to talk about. My concern, my heart for this day and the days to come is: It really is the passion of my ministry...that these doctrines, that we hold dear, that we say that we believe, would be formative of the way that we live. That theology must not be just an item of academic or conceptual commitment. We must reject any form of theology that's an end in itself. Did you hear what I said? We must stand against any form of theology that is, in itself, an end. Theology is a means to an end and the end is a holy life.
We better get it right! You can feel my passion. And, I was a man who would preach a sermon on eternity and live as if it didn't exist, and so, I set myself up as a little self-sovereign. I thought it was my job to control things I couldn't control; I was constantly angry at things that were in my way; I was a mess. And so, I'm here with you ministry people, not to talk about the people that you are going to minister to, but to talk about you...because I have learned the hard way that your ministry is never just formed by your knowledge and skill.
Your ministry is always formed by the condition of your heart. Knowledge and skill are very important; I would not diminish the importance of those things at all. But ministry is shaped in powerful ways by the condition of your heart. I would like you to turn with me to, what I think is, an incredibly helpful passage of scripture (Well, the whole Bible is helpful.)...oh, why would I say such a thing? It's really helpful in terms of this topic... What does it look like to live in light of eternity?
To have that hope of eternity be formative in the way that I approach the situations and locations and relationships of everyday life? What does it look like to live eternity in the here and now? Not to just have this as a significant item of commitment on my theological paradigm, but to have something again that shapes those places where I live every day. And, what does this life of eternity amnesia look like? Well, Matthew, chapter 6, I want to read for you a lengthy passage of scripture, verses 19-33.
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, 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, so if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, then how great is the darkness!
No One Can Serve Two Masters
No one can serve two masters; for 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 God and money. Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow, nor reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more valuable then they?
And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to its lifespan? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field; how they grow, they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more cloth you, O you of little faith? Therefore, do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all of these things; and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you. Before we look at this passage in particular, I just want to concentrate on verses 19-25 this morning. I want to lay out these two principles. Here's the first one because they are important to frame what we are going to look at...here it is, first principle: Human beings, made in the image of God, do not live life based on the facts of their experience, but based on their interpretation of the facts.
Let me say that again: Human beings, made in the image of God, do not live life based on the facts of their experience, but on their interpretation of the facts. You are always bringing some kind of interpretive system to everything you face in life. By means of the plan of the Creation, the hardwiring of the Creator, you are an incessant interpreter and whether you realize it or not, you are always bringing some kind of interpretation to life. Now, I have used this illustration many times: My wife, Luella, and I will go to a movie, one of her movies.
And in the middle of the film, Luella, will be doing this...(sniffle, sniffle)...she's not caught a cold; she is having an emotional reaction to the film. About then, I am thinking..."This is the best candy I have ever eaten. It is the candy of the greatest quality. I can't wait until the film is over, so I can talk to the owner of this theater and find his source for this candy because I need this candy in my life." Luella comes out from the film and she says, "Paul wasn't that a wonderful movie?"
I said, "Did you taste the candy?" Now what is going on there? We are two people in the exact same situation, and we have dramatically different interpretations. You must realize that you are never just responding to the facts of your experience; you are always bringing some kind of interpretive system that you carry into that experience that actually shapes that experience for you...what a profound and holy thing that is! You're unique in creation as a human being made in the image of God with your ability to do that.
Second principle: I always say when I say this one, often people laugh, but I'm really quite serious. Here it is: "No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do." People smiled. You are in a constant conversation with yourself: No one is more influential in your life than you are because no one talks to you more than you do. You are in constant conversation with yourself. And the things that you say to you about you, about God, about life, are profoundly important.
You are preaching to yourself all of the time. You're counseling to yourself all the time. You're exhorting yourself all the time; you are defending yourself all the time. You are in a constant conversation with yourself all the time, and that conversation is profoundly important. Now, with those two principles, I want to frame this discussion. Let me read 19-25 again: Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, 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 eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for 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 God and money. Now let's start here. This passage lays out for us three significant treasure principles that you need to understand, and these three treasure principles will lead us to this issue of eternity amnesia.
Here's the first principle: Everyone lives for some kind of treasure. It is the theological assumption of the passage that, by means of being a human being, you are inescapably value oriented. You are inescapably importance oriented; you are inescapably investment oriented; you are inescapably treasure oriented. That's everybody. Everybody lives for some kind of treasure; you live purposefully whether you realize it or not; you live in pursuit of something whether you realize it or not. Everybody does that.
Second principle: The thing that is your treasure, will control your heart; the thing that is your treasure, will control your heart. Now, remember I talked about this yesterday, I don't know how many of you were there, but when the Bible uses the word "heart", it means the causal core of your personhood; that is what the heart is. The heart is the causal core of your personhood, it is the seat of your emotions; it is the seat of your motivations; it is the seat of your thoughts; it is the seat of your desires.
The Causal Core of Your Personhood
The heart is the causal core of your personhood, so it is very, very important when Scripture says, "Whatever becomes your treasure..." then rules your heart. We could spend the next week in unpacking that little insight. Third principle: What controls your heart, will control your behavior. What controls your heart will rule, shape, control your behavior. No one can serve two (What's the next word?)... "masters". Master is a term of control; whatever controls your heart, will rule and shape your behavior; that means your behavior is always heart shaped and heart exposing.
Now, those are the three treasure principles. Now, here is what is profoundly important to get in this passage: Christ only gives us two categories of treasure; that's what makes this passage so helpful and important. Notice what he says, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal." So, my life is always directed by what I would characterize as earth-bound treasure, or it is shaped and directed by treasures in heaven.
Those are the two options. Earth-bound treasure is all about present relationships, present possessions, present experiences, the now-ism of this life that I live in. And treasures of heaven means I relate to all of those things that I deal with every day, with the larger perspective of God's eternal plan. I face the things that I face every day seeking and pursuing, not just what these things can give me, but relating to those things from the vantage point of the promises and the hope and the sure destiny of eternity.
Now, I don't know what you heard when I said that, but that is not just a theological thing; that's intensely practical. That this moment that I'm in, this relationship that I'm in, this situation that I'm in, my response to what is before me, is always shaped by a heart driven pursuit of earth-bound treasure or shaped by a heart driven pursuit of treasures in heaven...things of eternal significance, things that would not make any sense whatsoever if there weren't an eternity. You're always pursuing one of those two categories of treasure.
And eternity amnesia means: That I lose sight of God's plan; I lose sight of all the hope of glory; I lose sight of the fact that this is not a destination, but this is meant to be a preparation for a final destination, and I find myself ruled and controlled by the desires, the pressures, the experiences, the relationships of this moment. I'm living in that moment as if I have no past; I am living in this moment as if I have no future; my heart is shaped and controlled and my behavior formed right here and now.
That's it. You say, "Paul, I don't have a clue what that means." Well, let me give you an illustration. My 16 year old son comes to me and asks me if he can spend a weekend with one of his friends. It's a young man from our church; I have no problem with that; I know his family well. I said, "Sure, have a good time." The fact of the matter is, I don't know this...that he is not going to his friend's house. This is a kid whom we had built a great trust relationship with; he seemed like he was doing very well.
We thought we could have confidence in him. He's not going to his friend's house; he's lied to us; he's going someplace we would never allow him to go. And he's asked his friend to lie for him, to cover him. So, that's what's going on; I don't know that. Saturday afternoon, I get a call from his friend's mother. His friend got feeling guilty, confessed the plot to his mom, his mom calls me. I was, then, her pastor; that was a hard call for her to make. Now, I got off the phone, and I immediately thanked God for this moment of ministry.
If you believe that, I have some swampland in America I could sell you. I was livid! And I am thinking, "How dare he do this to me? Who does he think he is? He looked me in the face, me! Me!...His dad!" Who paid for every piece of food he ate? Who's been supportive of him all these years? Who was willing to trust him? He lied to ME! Do you see what is happening there? There is no eternal perspective in that at all. None! There's no treasure of heaven stuff ...I'm going to talk to you about the difference.
So, I march upstairs to my wife and I say, "You want to know where our trustworthy son is right now? Huh! " She says to me, "Paul, I think you should pray!" I said, "I can't pray for him right now." She said, "No, I think you need to pray for you!" As I prayed, God got ahold of my heart and opened my eyes, and I realized this magnificent thing...that God, in glorious grace, had already begun the work of rescue of my boy. It's God who pressed in on the conscience of his friend; it's God who gave him the courage to talk to his mom; it's God who caused that mom to make the call to me.
That was all the Lord! And all of a sudden, this thing got dramatically bigger than just, "How dare he do this to me. I can't wait till he gets home because I'm going to give him, 'what for'!" That's earth-bound-stuff. It's an amnesia of redemption; it's an amnesia of the eternal value of that moment; all of the plan of God is being played out in this moment. Praise God! Every piece of it! This is redemption being played out in this moment. This is eternal redemption, the full plan of God; the drama of the plan of God is being played out in the Tripp family in this moment.
I saw none of that; how scary! When I got that phone call, this is embarrassing to say; there was no God; there was no redemption; there was no zealous grace. There was no glory; there was only a lying son and a mad father. How dare I live that way! That's the danger; that's what I am concerned about; that's why I am here in South Africa...because I think that's so tempting, and it is so easy. The narrative of redemption is being played before me. This is a God of eternity who is drawing the heart of my child to the glory that can only be found in Him.
So he would live for something bigger than this moment of pleasure that gripped his heart. That's not where I am. Thank God for a godly wife. That's eternal glory too, who was smart enough to know that I was too mad for her to talk to...so she essentially said, "Don't talk to me; talk to your Father; go to your Father; go to your Father, go!" And as I stood before my Father, I saw eternity. Now, had that not happened, I would have met Justin at the door. And some of you are parents; you know what it's like when your kid is messed up, outside of the house.
Gotcha!
You are pacing by the door. And when your child opens the door, you don't even say, "Hello!" You pounce! "Gotcha!" And there's a sick sort of satisfaction and power that you caught them; it doesn't have anything to do with redemption. But I'd seen the glory of eternity; I saw the narrative of eternity being played out in my home with a God who is zealously after the soul of my son. And so, when he got home, I stayed away. I said, "Hello", to him and I let him sort of get into his room and relax a little bit, and I came down to his room after a couple of hours, and I said, "Justin can I come in and talk to you?"
He said, "Sure, dad." I said, "Well would you turn down your stereo?" And he said, "Yah." I looked him in the face, and these are the exact words I said to him, I said, "Justin do you ever think about how much God loves you?" He's a little bit confused about why we are talking about this at this point. I said, "I'm serious. Do you ever take time to reflect on how much the grace of God is operating in your life?" He's getting a little bit interested at this point. I said to him, "Is there any time this weekend when you thought how much God's grace was working in your heart, even this weekend?"
You know what he said? "Who told you?" Now, it's not this ugly confrontation between the dad and a son... now, this thing is way bigger. And then, I looked this young man in the eyes, and I said, "For 16 years, in ways that have so encouraged your mom and me, you've lived your life in the light, and, today, you took a step toward darkness. And what I want to say to you is, "Justin, don't go there." You can live in the darkness; you can learn to be a good liar; you can learn to create a good back story; you can learn to surround yourself with friends that will cover you; you can learn to live a double life and be a manipulator; or you can say, "I don't want to live that way; I want to live in the light."
Now brothers and sisters, I have to tell you, apart from that time of prayer, I would've never had that conversation with my son. I had to see eternity; I had to see the plan of God played out in front of me before I was ready to be an instrument of eternity in the life of my son. I said to him, "Justin, right now that's all I want to say to you". I've got to tell you what happened next. I said, "That's all I want to say to you," and I started to leave the room. And as I turned my back, I heard my son say, "Dad, please stop!
Don't go!" I turned around and there are tears streaming down the face of this 16 year old, and he says to me, "Dad, I want to live in the light, but it is so hard; won't you help me?" "Won't I help you? There's no greater joy in my life than helping you." I mean, who doesn't long to have a teenager that says, "Help me live the life God has called me to live?" Now there it is; there's played out those two types of treasure: Earth-bound treasure that shrinks this moment to the physical people and physical experiences this moment; here's what earth-bound treasure does: It makes it all horizontal; it loses the verticality of life; it makes it all present; it loses the eternal nature of life.
It makes it all human; it misses the spiritual nature of life; it does all of that. And I am convinced that what Matthew 6:19-32 does, it is an elaborate unpacking of what happens when you live that way. That's why the first word of verse 33 is what? "But"- that's the transition word of the passage-don't live this way. I am going to unpack the second half of this passage later on today. Now, let's...having made that contrast, let's talk about the danger of earth-bound treasure. Here's the first thing.
I want to use an illustration; this is sort of like Sunday school class. I have in front of me a 20 rand note. I will confess that I have no idea what this is worth, whatsoever. But I want to get you to think with me. Why is this worth 20 rand? Well, it's not first because it's 20 rand of paper or 20 rand of ink. It's not actually intrinsic value; it's assigned value. This government has decided to assign this particular piece of paper with these graphics on it, the value of 20 rand. That's why the old saying says, "When we talk about treasure, it says that one's man's trash is another man's treasure."
Because few of the treasures that we would pursue, actually have intrinsic value, it's assigned value. And now, stay with me, once I assign this piece of paper the value of 20 rand, it begins to shape my life. The amount of these that are offered to you will probably help you to make the decision whether you take that job or not. The amount of these that you have will determine the kind of house that you live in, the neighborhood that you live in, the cuisine that you eat, the kind of holidays or vacations that you take, the kind of retirement you may have; it may even determine the clothing that you wear, or, maybe sadly in some situations, the kind of people that you are willing to hang out with.
Once this is assigned this value, it begins to exercise control over your life. Now what that says is, the issue of earth-bound treasure is not just that there are valuable things, and they hook me. The fact of the matter is, I am giving them their value; I'm assigning things value, and once I've assigned them value, they begin to exercise rulership over my life. The things that I value now form the way that I approach life. Now think about this, one of the spiritual things that's going on in you all the time is you are value-rating life.
And what that means is there surely is a potential for things that are not as valuable as I'm now making them, to rise in levels of value way beyond their true intrinsic value and to begin to control my life. Comfort, pleasure, respect, success, control...none of those are evil things in themselves, but they must not rule me. And so what this means is, stay with me, that this side of eternity, it is very difficult for me to keep as important the things that God says are important. Did you hear what I said?
In fact, I need eternity to help me keep important the things that God says are important. In fact, one of my talks coming up sometime this weekend, I don't know when, but it's coming...is called "Eavesdropping on Eternity". I think it's one of the reasons we get a window into eternity. I need eternity to help me to properly value-rate the things that are in my life because, typically, things begin to rise in value, and they begin to control the way I respond to the people in my life. I don't know if I shared this example last time I was here in South Africa, but if I did, please indulge it again.
My First New Car
Several years back, I was able to purchase, it was actually the first new car I've ever purchased in my life. It is the first car I've ever owned that I actually enjoyed. I didn't think I'd ever own a car that I would enjoy. Every car I had ever owned was a means of sanctification. Getting in the car was an act of distinct faith. I learned to pray behind the wheel, and this car was not only reliable, but it was very enjoyable, and this is embarrassing to say, but this car made me feel different. Cars shouldn't do that.
They are not to be the giver of your identity and inner sense of well-being. That's not the purpose of a car; it's a form of transportation, in case you didn't know that. Well, I'd be sitting at a light in my car, and the guy next to me would be looking in at me, and I knew exactly what he was thinking. He was thinking, "I wish I were that man. I wish I was driving that car." Well at Christmas, my niece and nephew came to visit us, and I don't know how much you know about the United States, but they live in Florida where it's very warm, and we live in Pennsylvania where it's cold in the winter.
And we invited them to come up to spend Christmas with us so they could experience a Northeastern Christmas white with snow. Well, it was way too warm to snow, but Philadelphia is a historical city, so we wanted to show them the historical Christmas sights in Philadelphia, and we were going to take them to New York City which is amazingly decorated at Christmas. Well, the day after Christmas, we went around Philadelphia to see all the Christmas sights, and I don't know what it's like here, but in holidays in America, we celebrate holidays by eating, and, so, there was just food everywhere.
We ate our way around Philadelphia. My niece and nephew were with us, eleven and thirteen. At the end of the day, as an act of love for my family, I took them to Starbucks, the coffee place. And Troy, who was 11 years old, had this big huge peppermint hot chocolate and a big brownie. We got back in the car; he's now sitting in the front passenger seat next to me as I am driving. And to get home, we had to drive on a road called Lincoln Drive; this road goes like this...it never stops going like this.
Somewhere on that road, Troy got very quiet, and he said one deadly word, "Sick!" And then what came out of Troy next could not be described. It came and came and came. I think I saw his body getting smaller. I'm thinking, "Jump out of the car or something!" And then what I said to Troy next was just not true. I said, "It's okay!" Oh, I am not done. "I love you more than I do the car!" We got home, and we formed Troy's body into a cup and then got him out of the car, and another niece helped me clean up the car.
I wasn't too upset, it's a leather seat. I woke up at night with this horrible remembrance that it has ventilated seats; it has holes in it. There it is. This side of eternity...it's very hard for you to keep what is important, important in your practical everyday life. In fact, you need eternity in order to keep things in their proper place because you're always assigning value to things. Now, second observation about earth-bound treasures: Jesus informs us that these treasures are always temporary.
They get stolen; they rust; the bugs eat them. Now, what Christ is saying to us is, because of their temporary nature, these things actually have no ability to satisfy your heart. They can't possibly give you what you're thinking, and so what they create is obsession and addiction and frustration and disappointment because earth cannot be your messiah. The creation cannot fulfill your heart. It's utterly fundamentally impossible. The purpose of your ministry is not to give you spiritual identity.
The purpose of your ministry is not to give you fundamental meaning and purpose. The purpose of your ministry is not to give you that inner sense of well-being. Your ministry will never be able to do that. That is only ever the eternal grace of God that can give you that. And when you ask earth-bound treasures to do that, people and circumstances to do that, you're always demanding; you're always controlling; you're always fearful; you're always disappointed; you're always angry; it is a mess! Your elders are not there to make you feel good about yourself.
Your elders are not there to be a prop for your reputation. The people in your church are not there to be the producers of your successes, so you can feel good about your ministry. You must not ask your ministry to be your messiah, because the minute you do that, you quit ministering for those people, and you quit ministering for God; the focus of your ministry is you...and the treasures that you demand to have because you think if you have those treasures, your soul will rest; it will never happen.
I'm spending time with pastors all the time who have made their ministry their identity and are paying the price for it. Who have asked things of leaders that they should not ask because they're asking leaders to do what only Christ can do for them--it never works. It Is amazing the amount of pastors that I talk to who are living in silent bitterness and silent anger and silent discouragement because their ministry, even though they don't know it, has been driven by earth-bound treasure even though they are preaching the gospel of the eternal King.</
