Donny’s in Matthew 6 this morning and he’s going straight at something we all feel but don’t love talking about in church: what role does money play in our relationship with God?
He’s going to start by taking the easy answer off the table. Wealth isn’t the issue.
He’ll point to David Green, who built Hobby Lobby into a multi-billion dollar company and is one of the most generous Christian philanthropists alive. Truett Cathy, who built Chick-fil-A and closed every store on Sundays because he believed the Sabbath mattered more than revenue. Robert Onstead, who built Randall’s Food Markets the same way. These are wealthy people whose wealth didn’t keep them from God. So the question isn’t how much you have. The question is what you’re doing with your heart.
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23. That verse is going to anchor the whole sermon.
Then Jesus — Matthew 6:19-21. Don’t store up treasures on earth where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in. Store up treasures in heaven. Because where your treasure is, that’s where your heart will be too. And then verse 24, the one that doesn’t leave any room: “No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Donny will bring in Bonhoeffer here — “Our hearts have room only for one all-embracing devotion, and we can only cleave to one Lord.” That’s not a suggestion. That’s the reality of how we’re wired.
From there he’ll walk through two stories.
First, the Rich Fool from Luke 12. A man whose fields produce a huge crop. His response? Tear down his barns, build bigger ones, store up everything, and coast. “Take life easy. Eat, drink, and be merry.” God calls him a fool and tells him his life is being demanded that very night.
Donny will make a distinction here that’s easy to miss: the problem with the Rich Fool wasn’t that he took his crops and stored them. The problem was that he took his crops and put them in his heart.
Second, the Rich Young Ruler from Mark 10. A man who runs up to Jesus, falls on his knees, and asks what he has to do to inherit eternal life. He’s kept every commandment since he was a kid. And then comes the moment — Jesus looks at him and loves him. “One thing you lack. Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
The man’s face falls. He walks away sad, because he had great wealth.
Same thing. His problem wasn’t the money. His problem was that his heart valued his possessions more than his relationship with God.
Donny will close with Ecclesiastes 12:13 — “Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” — and a question that deserves more than a quick answer: what are you investing your life in?
God doesn’t want to share the throne of your heart with anyone or anything. That’s the treasure principle.
Scripture References:
Matthew 6:19-24 · Proverbs 4:23 · Luke 12:15-21 · Mark 10:17-23 · Psalm 20:7 · Ecclesiastes 12:13
