It is by chance that Damian discovers a huge bag of money near his home. It is just days before British pounds are converted to Euros and the old money is worthless. In the scenes that follow, Damian and his brother spend money as fast as they can, with Damian giving to the poor. Their father eventually discovers their secret, and Damian learns that the money was stolen. This is the moral dilemma and plot of the movie Millions.
The thief who lost the money soon figures out that Damian is the finder. They break in and tear up the family home looking for the loot without success. Damian's father empties out the bag of British notes onto the kitchen table. He is angry, "This is what they were after. They took our Christmas. We'll take their cash."
"You can't keep it!” Damian protests, “It belongs to the government."
"They were going to burn all this money. That's a crime if you ask me."
"But stealing is wrong."
"If you steal something, you have to steal it from somebody. Who would we be stealing it from?"
"It's not right!"
"My house has been ransacked. I work every second God sends to cover the mortgage to give you a decent home. Now it's been wrecked. I am owed this. Go to bed. Now!"
Damian lies awake. His father comes in, "Do you want a story?"
"It's wrong."
"Who says?"
"God."
"Yeah, well…"
"'Yeah, well'—what? Don't you want to go to heaven?"
"Look around you, Damian. We're on our own. No one is smiling down on us, Damian. No one is looking out for us. So we're looking out for ourselves."1
Money, particularly if unearned, is a test and revealer of character; it is an old story line and interesting for what it dredges out of the human heart. Damian is young and idealistic, his father older and jaded. Damian’s first impulse is to help the poor, his father’s first impulse not so noble, and in an outburst reveals his beliefs to the boy, "Look around you, Damian. We're on our own. No one is smiling down on us, Damian. No one is looking out for us. So we're looking out for ourselves." It is the same philosophy which stands behind Mark Twain as he mocks the first question of the Westminster Catechism:
“What is the chief end of man? To get rich. In what way? Dishonestly if we can; honestly if we must. Who is God, the one and only true? Money is God. Gold and Green Backs and Stock- father, son, and ghosts of same, three persons in one; these are the true and only God, mighty and supreme.”2
This article of faith is echoed in the remarks of Paul Dinin, a 20-year-old employee of a web company in Atlanta. When asked what were his prized possessions, he listed four cars, including a Jag and a 1981 Delorean. When asked for his philosophy, Dinin confessed, "It's all about money. All those guys who say they just want to make a difference in the world, that's bull."3
Is it common sense? Practical atheism? Gross spiritual deception and a sign of hell on earth? Which is it? And does it matter? That depends; it depends on whether there is a personal God, of what character this God is, whether or not Jesus is the ambassador of this God, and whether we believe what Jesus said is true, not only about the next world but about this one. At the core of Jesus’ teaching is the claim that God the Father is not only watching but actively watching over us, and that reaching for the mercy and guidance of the heavenly Father is always smarter than any merely human scheming or calculation, no matter how tough the circumstances or how difficult the outcome.
There is another world above and ahead of us, one called heaven; this life is prelude and testing ground for the next. Life is a morality play, not without spots of joy and rest along the way, but in the end not trivial but serious- eternally so, and the decisions of this life both reveal and form our character, either toward or away from the God who offers new life in Jesus Christ. The most important question is not net worth or achievements; it is, Do I know the true and living God? And secondly, If arrested for this faith, would there be enough evidence to convict? To make it simple, Do I know this God, and does it show?
As soon as you have said the word God you have already set up the plot of two worlds: this one and the next, earth and heaven.4 And if you go beyond that to say the word Jesus in any genuinely revelatory sense, you are already deep into a whole range of commitments that bear on every issue in life, including how we think about and use money. And if you say Holy Spirit and Church to complete the doctrine of the Trinity and the community liked to that truth, then you affirm that Jesus is more than a great example or even a living Lord; he is with his people now by the Holy Spirit, bringing old truths to life in new circumstances. Jesus Christ is available for engagement by all seekers. Not as an abstract principle, not as a disembodied religious idea rattling around in your head, but as self-authenticating Presence lurking around the edges of life. He is after people every day all day long. Whatever I think I know about a person, I do know this: they are pursued by Christ who is working through the concrete details of life to get their attention. Someone is looking for them, and my chief job as a pastor is to say, “I think I see him here. What do you think?”
The Four Gospels give us the contents of Jesus’ biography, and we read them so we will recognize the Presence when it shows up asking for attention. The One we read about in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is still on the scene from beyond the grave, looking for students and rebuilding lives. Learning to spot what he is doing and getting in on it keeps faith from reducing itself to a list of doctrines and duties. You are looking for a person and trying to keep up with his activity. I love it when the Presence interrupts my work. Stuff happens! Quirky stuff! Stuff that make me dizzy and hungry for more. It is wisdom and revelation from God, sometimes so unobtrusive as not to be noticed till later on.
A few weeks ago I had an appointment with a woman in crisis who was referred my way by a counselor. Because of her unstable and colorful history, I invited a woman from Duncan to be present during the conversation. It is easy to be slandered as a pastor. Sometimes people do not like what you tell them and find ways to get even. It was a substantive session of about an hour and a half, and I felt good about the discussion and the prayer. Old fashioned pastoral care: listening to people while listening to God.
The next day I received a call from the girl’s step-mother begging for help. She could not convince her daughter, no matter how hard she tried, that she had not been talking to me and revealing her daughter’s darkest secrets! I laughed out loud on the phone. Because I knew what to ask and knew some other things through the quiet operation of spiritual gifts, the daughter thought her mother and I had been having secret conversations. During our interview I was not especially aware of divine presence; it was just Pastor Phil and a trusted friend caring for a bruised soul after inviting the Holy Spirit to be present. But the risen Lord was there with a flashlight! The exposure our guest felt was not from our work as private eyes but from the One who knows her best and loves her most and who is more concerned with her rehabilitation than her reputation. We were not aware of the light that was shining on this woman; it was not visible to the naked eye. Not until I received the call from the step-mother did I realize just how present Christ had been. It was a great laugh and a good lesson. Through the Holy Spirit the risen Jesus is present, granting light and offering life. The one who gives truth in Scripture does not leave us to apply it on our own. The one who spoke the words is present to those who notice and listen, even after the fact!
For the Christian, and this is one of our peculiarities, life is lived under the constant gaze and within the encompassing reality of the Triune God. Generosity and honesty are always in style in this kingdom; they are, in fact, twin indicators that one is in touch with the grace of God which is working to make us a different kind of people, people who live with open arms and open hearts and open wallets under an open heavens. Over time we learn to trust God for the need that is in front us, whatever it is: love, listening, money, encouragement, prayer, correction, healing, deliverance. Responding to the constant invitations of the invisible kingdom changes who we are and gives a new shape to life. In ways big and small we are offered a share in the life and ministry of the most authentic human being who ever lived, Jesus of Nazareth, who knew how to live under an open heaven and is willing to teach us. Follow him around in the gospels; where he goes the unexpected happens; divine provision is given. Over him the heavens are open.
One of the gifts of living with trust in the Trinitarian God is regularly being startled and surprised. Since I love reading, it often comes to me through the perceptive comments of an author, and one of the best is Dallas Willard, a philosopher who doggedly teaches that what Jesus said is not to be admired as wise and deep; it is meant to be practiced by his students because it is true, and demonstrably so. Obedience is the path into the experience of the kingdom of God. Admiration is not enough; faith is a beginning; trust is always ongoing, and Jesus asks for serious obedience, which he meets with serious engagement. His word is bread and designed to sustain us as agents of the parallel kingdom.
Willard stands against the popular notion that you can decide to enjoy forgiveness at Jesus’ expense and have nothing more to do with him. Getting a ticket to heaven with a quick sinner’s prayer and then going back to your old life is not a viable option. He writes:
“This ‘heresy’ (i.e. a false idea) has created the impression that it is quite reasonable to be a ‘vampire Christian’ (I love his imagery!). One in effect says to Jesus: ‘I'd like a little of your blood, please. But I don't care to be your student or have your character. In fact, won't you just excuse me while I get on with my life, and I'll see you in heaven.’
But is this really acceptable to Jesus? ... how could one actually trust him for forgiveness of sins while not trusting him for much more than that?
You can't trust him without believing that he was right about everything and that he alone has the key to every aspect of our lives here on earth.”
The essay ends with a challenge:
“But, someone will say, can I not be saved- get into heaven when I die without any of this? Perhaps you can. God's goodness is so great, I am sure, that He will let you in if He can find any basis at all to do so. But you might wish to think about what your life amounts to before you die, about what kind of person you are becoming, and whether you really would be comfortable for eternity in the presence of one whose company you have not found especially desirable for the few hours and days of earthly existence. And he is, after all, One who says to you now, ‘Follow me!’"5
Follow him. But where? Into a new world in the midst of the old where treasure in heaven is as compelling as treasure on earth, a world of spreading light through inspired generosity, a world of simplicity where you live before an audience of one. And the good thing is that we not only have the teaching of Jesus, we have in our tradition an example of one who lived this way. It is extreme because of his singular devotion, but it demonstrates that Jesus’ teaching is to be practiced, not just talked about.
John Wesley- born in 1703, died in 1791- knew plenty about economic uncertainty. In his day, Britain experienced rapid urbanization and the beginnings of industrialization. Rural economies began to collapse and problems flooded city centers: overcrowding, disease, crime, unemployment, debt, substance abuse, and even insanity (London established its first asylum in 1781). Meanwhile a small upper class spent large sums to distance itself, literally and figuratively, from the growing problems. This top five percent of the population controlled nearly one-third of the national income.
Wesley... consorted mostly with people who worked hard, owned little, and could never be certain of their financial future. But he preached so widely and became so well known that his income eventually reached 1,400 pounds per year, equivalent to more than $160,000 today. Still, he chose to live simply but comfortably on just 30 pounds while giving the rest away. In fact, he donated nearly all of the 30,000 pounds he earned in his lifetime. He once wrote, "If I leave behind me ten pounds, you and all mankind [can] bear witness against me, that I have lived and died a thief and a robber."6
The early Methodists lived lean and talked straight. We also note that Wesley died a widower without children. Still, his example is a powerful testimony of obedience.
So we have Jesus and his teaching; we have the nagging presence of the Holy Spirit, and we have annoying examples in saints past and present. All to raise a question: What if the teaching is true? What if it is possible to live in a radical partnership with God? What if greed and the lust for always more is a deadly sin and foretaste of a hell where yearning is forever and forever unsatisfied? What if generosity, especially to those who do not in any way deserve it, is the light of God refracted through the lens of a human soul? What if treasure in heaven, meaning an immensely valuable partnership with God, is not just then and there but here and now? What if there is another way to live, and if it is hidden from all who do not obey Jesus?
TURNING TO THE TEXT
a) vv.19-21 Choices About Two Treasures.
In her book 9 Steps to Financial Freedom, Suze Orman writes of a visit to Mexico. A merchant was selling parrots; they weren't in cages and didn't fly away. Orman was fascinated, "Do these birds just love you so much they have no desire to fly away?"
"No," he said, "I train them to think their perches mean safety and security. When they come to think this, they naturally wrap their claws tightly around the perch and don't want to release it. They keep themselves confined, as if they've forgotten how to fly."
“Was this hard to do? she asked.
"With little birds it's very hard, sometimes impossible; it's easy with the large birds."
In her book, she writes, “Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head. We are just like those poor parrots. We have been taught to clutch our money as tightly as we can, as if our money is the perch of our safety and security. Like the parrots, we have all forgotten how free we really are—with or without the perch. The more afraid we are, the tighter we hold on, and the more we have trapped ourselves.” When she realized this, she asked the parrot man how he would go about un-teaching this behavior.
"Easy," he said, "You show them how to release their grip; then they can fly as free as they want."7
Most of Jesus’ teaching challenges conventional wisdom, the sort of common sense everyone accepts, which means that to be his follower requires a great deal of un-teaching and un-learning and re-programming. Life as a companion and understudy of Jesus is most often upside-down, inside-out, and bottom-side-up from the way the world operates under current management. Our first impulse is to domesticate the teaching and take away the edge. Think how crazy it sounds to be invited to make deposits in an invisible bank:
“Do not make a habit of laying up for yourself treasures on earth, where moths eat holes in the fabrics and where mold rots the grain, and where thieves break in and steal your jewelry; lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where none of that happens because everything stays new and forever uncorrupted. Make a more secure investment! Adopt a kingdom of God investment policy!”
In the company of Jesus we learn the joy of kingdom generosity and the truth of his teaching. Not that we don’t work or own or manage wisely, only that we don’t trust in stuff for security, and everything we own is available should it be requisitioned. We hold possessions loosely and refuse to let their presence or absence define who we are. God is our source, and what God does not supply, we do not need. Are you there yet?
Tithing, defined as ten percent off the top to God through the church, is not the goal of giving but the beginning; it is a minimum standard of faithfulness. And when that is established, and for some it takes a while, an interesting dynamic begins. You care about the church and its work in ways you never did before. It becomes dear to you; you look for ways to enter in and find a place of service. From time to time you are moved to give extra because it feels like an investment in something valuable beyond yourself. And then a miracle happens. At some point you shift from an ownership mind set to a stewardship mentality; then all God has to do is squeeze you gently for gifts of time and prayer and service and money to flow freely, like honey from a full honeycomb. Such people are conduits through which God can pour all sorts of resources. Calvin Miller wrote, “The world is poor because her fortune is buried in the sky and all her treasure maps are of the earth.”8 No shortages in the kingdom of God; what God asks of you, God finds a way to pay for.
Jesus understood motivation; why should that surprise us? We see behavior; he saw the depths and in verse 21 gives a summary of his findings. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” People care about where they are invested: their children more than others, their team, their branch of the military. Where we invest, our heart follows. You learn to love whatever you give money, time and effort to. Notice that Jesus did not say for where you heart is, there will your treasure be also because that is not the same idea. Just the reverse. It is not so much that dollars follow heart as heart follows dollars, and dollars are nothing but congealed sweat turned into marketable paper. Make a risky decision as an experiment of faith. Change your use of time and your financial commitments in the direction of the kingdom of God as best you understand it, and guess what? You will soon find new and supportive affections bubbling up from within. Jesus did not say feel-it-and-then-do-it but do-it-and-then-feel-it. In the hierarchy of human capacities, the will is the executive function, the emotions a supportive function.
The modern idea that I must feel something before I act in order to be genuine and true to myself is not integrity; it is psycho-babble self indulgence. The old hymn got it right, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way- to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.”9 Sequence matters: first trust, then obey, then happiness in Jesus. Good feelings are the fruit of obedience, not the starting point. Get it backwards, and you will always be frustrated. If you wait for emotions to propel you to right actions, you will remain an immature Christian because that is what children are, captive to their feelings. Maturity is when commitments are greater than moods. You are more likely to act your way into a new way of feeling than of feeling your way into a new way of acting. Your heart will follow the lead. Jesus said so, and he knows how we work. Put your time and money in the things of the kingdom as best you understand them, then watch as your feelings adjust and find new delights. It is possible, I am told by the advanced in these matters, to get to the point of trusting God for everything when you have absolutely nothing. You and the Lord have developed a deep partnership and a track record with one another. No scheming. No anxiety. Can you imagine the freedom?
When the fourth-century desert Egyptian monk Macarius returned to his cell one day, he found a thief stealing the few possessions he owned. He reacted calmly, though: he even helped the thief load his donkey with the objects from his cell. As the thief departed, Macarius said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
To us that sounds insane; but from across the threshold of divine revelation and inside the kingdom of plenty it makes perfect sense. The one who gave it could supply more, and did. If all I have is what I can scrape together and protect and worry about, then I am poor and will spend most of my energies on empty things. Not long before he was martyred in the jungles of Ecuador, Jim Elliot wrote, "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." I know where you heart is; the same place as your treasure is, and where is that? Your banker and broker know more about your faith than I do.
b) vv.22-23 Choices About 2 Eyes.
When the last of the Star War’s series was released, creator George Lucas described how the young Anakin Skywalker became the evil Darth Vader:
“He turns into Darth Vader because he gets attached to things. He can't let go of his mother; he can't let go of his girlfriend....It makes you greedy. And when you're greedy, you’re on the path to the dark side, because you fear you're going to lose things, that you're not going to have the power you need.”10
What is it about the eyes? Some say they are windows into the soul, a sentiment with which Jesus agreed. A range of vivid expressions about the eye have grown up over time. A drunk is said to be red-eyed or bleary-eyed. Lovers are moon-eyed or dreamy-eyed. The crafty person has an eye for a deal. Someone who is cock-eyed has a distorted view of reality, while an excited person is said to be bug-eyed.11 And when Crystal Gayle sang Don’t it make my brown eyes blue? we knew it was not about eye color.
In Jesus’ day there was a pair of proverbial expressions about the eye, and beyond the eye about the disposition of a person. One with a single eye was generous to the poor; a person with an evil eye was stingy with the needy. The way a person looks at you, their nonverbal language, particularly of the eyes, tells much about them, particularly whether they are approachable or not. And the poor see it instantly.
The modern knowledge of optics is that light comes from outside and strikes the retina where the process of sight begins. But that is not how the ancients understood the eye; for them it was not a light receiver but a light emitter.12 As a man of his age, this is what Jesus thought as well, “The eye is the lamp of the body,” and a lamp is a light giver. What you saw in life and believed about it was a reflection of who you were, what we would call your world view. And so while they were functionally wrong, the ancients were philosophically and religiously correct. We see the world not as it is but as we are. A generous person shines out light from within like a candle through the eyes; a stingy person shines out nothing but darkness. Greed and fear blind spiritual sight; they are growing cataracts on the sensors of the soul. But if God is a generous supplier, and if I see that people are in God’s image and therefore of supreme value, then an open heart and an open hand are the only proper response. It is not eyes that determine sight and insight but character. Those who know this God see the world differently, not because they are naive but because they have accepted Jesus’ invitation to prove the presence and resources of the parallel kingdom.
So what we feel for the blind, which is compassion, we should feel for the stingy and fearful for the same reason: they do not the see the God of the kingdom or the grand opportunity before them. To behave differently they must first see differently, and only Christ has power to open inward eyes. Of such people Jesus said sadly, “If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness.” The world is full of Darth Vadars. Remember Lucas’ words, “And when you're greedy, you are on the path to the dark side, because you fear you're going to lose things, that you're not going to have the power you need.”
Have you asked Dr. Jesus for an eye exam lately? Do you see the poor, or are they invisible? Are your eyes kind and generous? Is your heart and hand open? And if you do not have any face-to-face relationships with the chronically poor and the chronically ill and the ever-needy and the never-get-betters, if they never cross your path and make demands because you have successfully insulated yourself behind tinted windows and locked doors and friends like yourself, then you are in a dangerous spiritual condition and slipping farther are farther from the kingdom of God. You are in danger of the evil eye and of growing spiritual darkness, which when it is complete is invisible, but only to you.
a’) v.24 Choices About 2 Masters.
The Maninka tribe in West Africa have a proverb about dual loyalties. They smile and say, "The man who tries to walk two roads will split his pants."13
The New Testament does not argue for or against slavery; rather, it assumes it as a social institution in a fallen world that will vanish with the coming of the kingdom of God. In the early church all were family, even if outside the circle roles were not drastically changed. Over time the larger culture was undermined by the church’s witness and influenced to reject the institution of human ownership.14 Our own history shows how long it takes to root out such structures of sin. Some places have still not gotten the word.
It was the teaching method of Jesus to take common proverbs and expand them with kingdom content. Seeds of wisdom were already there; they waited to be unpacked in the light of what God was now doing in Jesus through the Spirit. Because the proverb was accepted folk wisdom, it was a ready bridge to kingdom insights. So far we have dealt with two of these: v.21 on motivation, “For where your treasure is, there will you heart be also,” and the first part of v.22 on character, “The eye is the lamp of the body.” Now a third, which comes from the experience of slaves, verse 24: “No one can serve two masters.” Loyalty is a number not divisible by two. Torment is defined by Jesus as seeking to please two bosses who have different agendas; despite the best intentions to keep both happy you will prefer one to the other. Jesus use of the contrasts of love and hate and devoted and despise is a vivid way of speaking about forced choices.15
Now in stating the two masters proverb and exploring the dynamics of preference Jesus said nothing but what was known; he brought the obvious to light. He saves the punch line to the end when he names the two masters that compete at a higher level for our loyalty, “You cannot serve God and Mammon.” Mammon was a neutral word for stuff or property; it had no negative connotations.16 Mammon was not a bad word but a useful one. But if it is capitalized, as I think it should be, and if it is paired with the word God as an alternative deity, then Jesus is saying that possessions and our attitudes toward them is not a matter of indifference. Behind apparently innocent things is an alternative spiritual power begging for loyalty and strutting itself around as an alternative to God. What was true in the world of slavery was an insight into the way things are behind the scenes for everyone. It left his hearers with a disturbing question: Who is your God? To what are you giving loyalty?
Statistics are a reality check here. In 2003 the average American family with at least one credit card owes $9,205. 1.6 million filed for personal bankruptcy the same year. Fully 30 percent of Americans believe they will always be in debt. The savings rate has declined for a decade and has now dropped to levels of the Great Depression. In June of 2005, the savings rate fell to 0.02 percent; Americans spend 99.8 percent of their after-tax income.17 Ninety million go to casinos each year. One financial writer observed, "Living within your means today is counter-cultural.” Yes, and living below your means because you tithe and put God first is nothing short of radical. It is taking less and less to be above average.
CONCLUSION
Years ago Dan Crawford was a missionary. He was returning from Africa to the States which meant leaving the interior where he worked to go to the coast to catch a ship. So as not to make the trip alone, four men to whom he had ministered went with him. As they walked, Crawford told his friends about the glories of the coast, a sight they had never seen. He told of the light that did not have a flame, of wagons without animals, and about storing food that would not spoil. He knew they would all be impressed.
As they walked, three of the friends entered the conversation. After a few days Crawford found it irritating that this lone man was not excited about getting to the city, "Aren't you eager to get there? Don't you want to see all these things?"
That black brother responded with wisdom, “Mr. Crawford,” he said, “to be better off is not to be better."18
The novelist John Updike put his finger on the pain of our prosperity with this observation, “The fact that we still live well cannot ease the pain of feeling that we no longer live nobly.”19
Of money and its limits, someone said:
“It can buy you a house, but not a home.
It can buy you a bed, but not sleep.
It can buy you a clock, but not time.
It can buy you a book, but not knowledge.
It can buy you a position, but not respect.
It can buy you sex, but not love.
It can buy you medicine, but not health.
It can buy you blood, but not life.”20
What is Jesus after? He is after it all; it is the only way he can save us. It’s why we call him Lord, and why Christians who do not know the meaning of that word are some of the most conflicted miserable people alive. And if you sneak up behind them and look down at their hind ends, you will see that their pants are split!
1. PreachingToday.com search under Mt. 6:19-24.
2. Ibid.
3. Business Week Online, May 29, 2000.
4. The insight of Jewish apocalyptic, which Ernst Kasemann labeled “the mother of Christian theology.”
5. “Why Bother With Discipleship?” as reprinted in Dallas Willard, The Great Omission: Reclaiming Jesus’ Essential Teaching On Discipleship (San Francisco, CA: HarperSanFrancisco, 2006), 13-17.
6. Elesha Coffman, editor, Christian History Newsletter, November 30, 2001.
7. Three Rivers Press, 2000, 262
8. PreachingToday.com search under Mt. 6:19-24.
9. The UM Hymnal, No. 467.
10. Time, April 29, 2002.
11. David Dockery & David Garland, Seeking the Kingdom (Wheaton, ILL: Shaw, 1992), 90.
12. Dale Allison, The Sermon On The Mount (New York, NY: Herder & Herder, 1999), 142-145.
13. PreachingToday.com search under Mt. 6:19-24.
14. For the history, see Vincent Carroll & David Shiflett, Christianity On Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry (San Francisco, CA: Encounter Books, 2002), Chapter 2, “Christianity and Slavery,” 24-53.
15. Charles Talbert, Reading the Sermon on the Mount (Columbia, SC: USC Press, 2004), 123.
16. Idem.
17. Adapted from Stacy Teicher, "King Kong Debt Meets Middle-Class Life," Christian Science Monitor, August 16, 2004; "Savings Rate Falls To Almost Zero," Los Angeles Times, August 3, 2005.
18. Haddon Robinson, "A Good Lesson from a Bad Example," Preaching Today, Tape No. 56.
19. Leadership, Vol. 16, no. 2
20. PreachingToday.com search under Mt. 6:19-24.