You cannot serve God and mammon

El Greco (Domenikos Theotokopoulos), Christ Blessing, "The Savior of the World" c. 1600, National Galleries of Scotland

 "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 lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."

- Matthew 6:19-24

We are currently reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 -7).  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught:   "And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Therefore do not be like them.  For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.  In this manner, therefore, pray:  Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Give us this day our daily bread.  And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.  And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.  For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.  Amen.  For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

  "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."   What are treasures in heaven?  This statement comes immediately after Jesus' teaching on forgiveness, something that was emphasized twice in yesterday's reading, in which Jesus used the language of debt.  The implication seems to link our capacity for forgiveness with the treasures in heaven gained through faithful living.  My study bible says that through attachment to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  This becomes a slavish pursuit, as opposed to the freedom that we have in Christ (such as that freedom which forgiveness brings).  It adds that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things (among which we could name the pursuit of retribution or revenge, for example), and attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure.

"The lamp of the body is the eye.  If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   My study bible notes that the mind (nous in the Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs one's will.  To keep our mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  To keep one's eye "good" here, therefore, means that one's whole focus is on the good, the things of God.  This is again a subject that also links us back to mercenary, covetous, or envious thinking.  How do we see?  How do we look at others and at the world?

"No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon."  Here is another emphasis on the personal freedom that comes from pursuing spiritual truth as one's highest goal.  My study bible says that as slaves serving two masters, people try to maintain an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things.  But this isn't possible, because both demand full allegiance.  We will find this choice appearing again and again in our lives.  My study bible adds that Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control that it has over people.

What is it to be a slave?  One's will, one's choice is abrogated, taken on by others to whom one serves.  In the language of Jesus, in today's reading, slavery becomes something that steals one's soul away from oneself, taking away the freedom to choose.   In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke about forgiveness using the language of money, of accounting.  To forgive a debt is to wipe it off the books, so that it doesn't need fulfillment, one doesn't need to demand payment.  In today's reading, Jesus continues speaking about monetary matters, and forms of materialism.  He speaks of treasures on earth, and treasures in heaven.  How are we to understand these things?  If we look at life with a purely materialistic point of view, everything becomes a question of gain or debt.  This doesn't leave us free to consider what it is to forgive, or to forego material gain for the sake of spiritual gain.  It doesn't leave us with a free hand to consider what might be better for us in the long run, and those transcendent values that spiritual life gives us.  Perhaps there is no greater question to answer with regard to how we look at life  than the question of whether our higher allegiance is to God or to mammon.  (If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light.  But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.)  This basic question which Christ poses to us in today's reading is really about priorities and variables open to us in our choices.  If my life is simply dependent upon whether or not I gain materially, then this tends to overlay all of my thinking about everything.  How many squabbles over inheritance take place not because there is an actual question of fairness, but because the priority of material value overshadows all other issues surrounding the death of a loved one?  Once we make mammon our top concern, then everything is subordinate to that priority, including relationships with family members -- and even the dying loved one.  Jesus links forgiveness (in language involving debt) to these words on a materialistic outlook vs. our allegiance to God because it still pertains to our capacities for real freedom of choice.  Can we forgive any debt, or are we obliged to "get our own back" no matter what?  Are we free enough to choose a better pursuit, something that will enrich us personally far more -- even in ways which are immaterial and intangible -- than simply pursuing what we think is owed to us because of unfair dealing?  What are we free for?  Everything here is finally about true freedom that trust in God can give us, and the slavery that a purely material mindset entails.  Can I choose to give to charity as much as I want to, even if it doesn't seem to make financial sense?  Can I give to someone in need because theirs is greater than mine, even if that doesn't make purely material sense in terms of my own assets?  Am I free to pursue the life God would ask of me, even if I will not immediately see a financial reward?  These questions aren't about money per se.  They are rather about our freedom to set our priorities, freedom of the slavery to mammon.  That slavery, as Christ says, is a darkness indeed, that covers our entire outlook.  In my own personal experience, I have found no question more incisive than the one Christ poses to us regarding allegiance to God or mammon, and none more absolute in terms of a difference in outlook regarding how we conduct our lives.  Let us remember that Jesus asks us not to forego wealth altogether, but rather to choose our master.  It is a question of what we seek first.  In John's Gospel, Jesus tells us that if we abide in His word, "you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:31-32).   Let us ask ourselves whether or not an allegiance to material considerations alone opens up our possibilities for choice, or limits us to something with far less potential, and less desirable, than where God may lead us.     What is it we have to lose?