You cannot serve God and mammon

 

 "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.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the Lord's Prayer.  He said, "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."  By attaching ourselves to treasures on earth, my study Bible says, we cut ourselves off from heavenly treasures.  In this way, people become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  It says that the heart of discipleship lies in disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, 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 explains that the mind (in Greek, νοῦς/nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure, it says, is fundamental to the Christian life.  

 

  "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."  As slaves who serve two masters, people seek to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  My study Bible calls this impossible, since both demand full allegiance.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control that it has over people.  

 

What does it mean to serve two masters?  We live in a world where we can pursue different passions, ambitions, goals.  In Christ's teaching, there is one great and first commandment:  to love God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength; and there's a second which is like it, to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.  Let's note that the world love is the active principle in both of these two great commandments.  These are, after all, the two commandments which Jesus teaches contain all the Law and the Prophets (see Matthew 22:35-40).  And in this context we are invited in to consider Christ's words in today's reading.  He speaks of two masters in order to tell us that for we human beings, this is impossible.  We can't serve two.  We will have to choose what we place first.  Jesus speaks of riches in a way for us to understand what hold our own desires and focus have on us; that is, whatever it is that we place first in life.  This word mammon (μαμωνᾶς/mamonas in the Greek) becomes personified so that we can understand this sort of relationship we establish through such choices.  The word had come to mean riches or wealth in Christ's time, but importantly comes from a root meant to indicate what one puts trust in.  When we consider that the root of the word translated as faith or belief in the Gospels means "trust," then we come to understand the competing realities Jesus is talking about.  We cannot trust in both God and mammon; we have to choose one, because it will determine the value of everything else.  What is our true treasure?  By what do we measure the value of all else?  In this context, also, it's important to see that when we make anything our master short of God -- where that depth of trust belongs -- then we become slaves of that thing.  True freedom is found in the reality which Christ brings to us and offers us.  So wealth, once we make it our ultimate treasure, becomes the thing we slave for; this in turn in our modern age can be seen also in the images of addictions of all kinds, whether that be drugs, or gambling, another person, a cult, or whatever else we give our souls to.  In short, worship -- faith -- only belongs with real confidence in one place.  Jesus literally speaks of treasure, which is another definition for mammon.  What is our true treasure?  What do we place first in substance, power, authority, value?  What do we treasure first?  All else will be subject to that.  He speaks of the eye; how do we see things?  What do we gaze upon to want or desire?  If it's not the light of Christ that fills the eye, then we have darkness -- and how we see determines our whole lives, even the place of the soul and the path it follows in life.  In His explanation of the parable of the Sower, Jesus illustrates the pitfalls of those who cannot produce good fruit by suggesting "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" as thorns which choke the good word (see Matthew 13:1-23).  Let us understand this is a choice of what we put first, what we cherish.  In our very next reading, Jesus will expand upon this subject, addressing our anxieties over the material things we need in this context.  He will teach, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you."  Let us choose wisely what and Whom we serve, and all else will be placed in proper relationship.  For this is the very definition of righteousness.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

 

 "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.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus gave us the prayer we call the Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father:  "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 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."  By attaching themselves to treasures on earth, my study Bible says, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures. This attachment makes people become slaves to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  My study Bible tells us that the heart of discipleship lies in first disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and then attaching ourselves to God, who is our 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 says that the mind (in Greek, nous/νοῦς) is the spiritual eye of the soul. It illuminates the inner person, and governs the will.  So, to keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to the Christian life.  

"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."  As slaves who serve two masters, my study Bible comments, people attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  But this is not possible, because both demand full allegiance.  Here, Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

If we look up the definition for this word mammon used by Jesus (μαμωνᾶς/mamonas as transliterated in the Greek), we find it is Aramaic, a Semitic term.  According to HELPS Word-Studies it means "the treasure one trusts in."   As such we may easily view what Christ is saying as a kind of competition for our trust, or where we choose to place that trust.  In the Greek of the New Testament, the word that is often translated as "believe" has as its root "to trust."   This is the word, for example, in John 6:29, in which Jesus teaches, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  So Christ asks us to trust in Him -- and if we link this to the teachings and meanings surrounding mammon, then we see a side-by-side choice:  we can put our trust, the full weight of our faith, in riches -- or we have the choice to put that trust in God and rely upon God.  Jesus puts it starkly, in clear terms:  "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."   This is all about how we think, what we put our faith into, where the weight of value rests for us.  Jesus begins, in today's reading, by speaking about the things we treasure, where our treasure is:  "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth . . .but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . . For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  What is the heart?  It is the center of who we are; it tells us what we trust, what we love, where we place our values and what we give the most substance.  In the Orthodox tradition, the mind and the heart are closely related, and a true balance when we pray is "with the mind in the heart."  Here Jesus is teaching us to place our values correctly, so that our understanding is based on light, because the way we "see" will determine everything about who we are.  There is a negative corollary to an eye full of light, and that is what is also called in Scripture an "evil eye" (Matthew 20:15).  Actually the word in today's text which is translated as "bad" (in "if your eye is bad") literally means "evil" in Greek (πονηρὸς/poneros).  Most often the evil eye is connected with envy, and we can see how that is linked to where we place our treasure, and what we trust in.  To be full of light in this spiritual sense is to be illuminated with the light of Christ, to see things as He asks us to see them, and to understand as He asks us to understand.  But to do this requires placing our values first on the rock of faith, putting our trust in Him as the One we count on for the ultimate good, the fullest truth -- and perhaps most importantly, our deepest sense of who we are called to be.  Let us serve God in all things, this being the measure of how we live, and what we bring into being.  Our foundation begins with our trust, our treasure, and what and whom we serve.   Let us set our hearts on what is of the greatest value.  Material goods can be gained, worked for, manufactured.  But the treasures in heaven are priceless.

If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

 

 "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 reading through the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5 - 7).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught about prayer:   "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."  My study Bible comments that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  One becomes a slave to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  This is also a part of the cultivation of dispassion, detachment.  It notes that the heart of discipleship is in disentangling ourselves from the chains earthly things would place upon us, and attaching ourselves to God, who is 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 explains that the mind (in Greek, nous, the root of words like "noetic" in English; metanoia in Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person, and governs the will.  To keep one's mind wholesome and pure is fundamental to Christian life.  

"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."  As a slave who serve two masters, people try to keep an attachment both to earthly and heavenly things (note the keyword "attachment").  But this kind of slavish attachment to both earthly and heavenly things is impossible -- both demand full allegiance, my study Bible tells us.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

What is mammon exactly?  Some translate this word as "riches."  Others suggest "treasure."   When these Gospels were written in Greek, apparently their authors did not feel there was a sufficient Greek word that captured it exactly and so we're given mammon.  Here and in Luke 16:13, Jesus speaks of mammon in a personified way, and indicating opposition to God, so suggesting an evil force akin to a god or the demonic.  Originally it seems have been a Chaldean word that indicates "what is trusted in."  So taken altogether, it seems that the point of Christ's juxtaposition of God and mammon here is teaching us about valuing the material, or what we "treasure up," as if we rely on it to save us and fulfill all the needs we have.  This is by nature, effectively, something that is opposed to God, as it is God who not only truly saves us, but God who asks for our primary dependence and loyalty.  Elsewhere, in the parable of the Sower (Matthew 13:1-23) -- Christ's foundational parable for His gospel mission -- Jesus speaks of the "deceitfulness of riches" as that which is symbolized in the thorns that choke the word of God in human beings.  That "deceitfulness of riches" gives us another key to Christ's view of the character of mammon, akin to one we think is a friend, but who betrays us.  This is the sum total of the effect of trusting in mammon, and Jesus' warning takes on a greater weight as He speaks of needing to choose whom we serve.  Whether or not we'd like to say we're capable of choosing both or of loving or serving more than one thing at once, Christ's words are true -- this is the way that life works.  It is the foundation of creation itself; we seek Creator first to set all things in order.  To choose to serve the "creature" or even something man-made like material treasure is to be out of balance, confused.  In a sense it is the blind leading the blind; or, in this case, something with no capacity for understanding leading us altogether, like the Israelites using a golden calf to worship God (Exodus 32).  Jesus begins today's reading by speaking about treasure and the heart.  Many interpretations suggest that this is about using one's wealth in an unselfish way, through charity.  But clearly the teaching on mammon asks us what we trust in, and to make a choice what we will serve first (and obviously, we may also serve God through acts of charity; see James 1:27).  The single-mindedness Christ asks us for is embodied in His use of the eye as metaphor.  Our focus must take in the light of God to guide us, leaving out the darkness that would fill us with its own bad effects.  The nature of the mind is one that does not compartmentalize efficiently or well, and certainly not for a lifetime; our own self-contradictions if not resolved will result in a darkness indeed.  Jesus says, " If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"   He warns us about a kind of darkness that is like a black hole; it simply keeps absorbing whatever there is into its darkness.  Christ always portrays human beings as those who are on a path somewhere, and so we must carefully choose what we follow, what ultimate guides us, where our loyalty lies.  A truly materialistically-minded person may choose to believe that we are simply a bag of cells, components of matter, and so a kind of neutral -- even stagnant -- entity which outside forces can't much change.  But this kind of trust in matter alone is deceitful and blinding, for life and the forces around us are persuasive indeed, especially when we're not really paying attention and not making a clear choice.  Christ emphasizes over and over again the importance of our focus, and here indicates the stark choice of what we serve first -- for this choice will come up over and over again in our lives.  Let us consider where our heart is, and where our eye (our mind) is focused. In the Greek text, the word rendered "good" (in if therefore your eye is good) can literally be translated as "single" or "simple," but that word is used in the Gospels to mean "pure" or "unadulterated."  If we take these meanings altogether, we have an admonition regarding how we look out at the world, and what kind of things block not only our vision but the light that illuminates our minds, bodies, and souls.  Jesus speaks of a wholistic life, and the importance of our own clarity and direction. 

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?

You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God

 "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant 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."

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

"The law and prophets were until John.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."

- Luke 16:10-17(18)

Yesterday we read that Jesus said to His disciples:  "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.  So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?  Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'  Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?  For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.  I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.  I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'  So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'  And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'  So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'  Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'  So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'  And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'  So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.  And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

 "He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant 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."  Jesus has just told the parable of the Unjust Steward (see yesterday's reading, above). In that parable, the unjust steward, who had earlier squandered his master's wealth, used "mammon" (wealth or money) with mercy, "making friends" with those who owed money to his master.  Here Jesus speaks of being faithful in terms of being faithful to God, even in the ways in which we use our wealth.  He compares the riches of the world (unrighteous mammon) to the true riches of the Kingdom and of faith, the things of God.  My study bible explains that what is another man's is also wealth -- that is, the wealth we should distribute through almsgiving and mercy.  Whatever we have really belongs to God.   What Christ is getting at is the root of selfishness; our love and faithfulness to God will determine the ways in which we use whatever is at our disposal.

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."  My study bible says that the things which are highly esteemed among men include money, power, position, and praise.  We revisit Jesus' words elsewhere.  In chapter 11, Jesus expresses the "woes" coming to those in leadership for their conduct.  Among other things, He lists their love of worldly honor and position:  "Woe to you Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces" (11:43).

 "The law and prophets were until John.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."  In chapter 11, Jesus also criticizes the Pharisees for the fact that they follow the letter of the law as regards tithing, but fail to practice the true mercy of God:  "But woe to you Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone" (11:42).  Here, He compares the Old Covenant and the New; He is the fulfillment of the law and prophets, and His ministry brings the fullness of the ultimate aim of the law, which is true righteousness.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."  This verse is seemingly out of place here, disconnected from the surrounding passages.  But it is linked in terms of the themes which concern the Pharisees (divorce and remarriage under the Mosaic law were highly contested and debated issues among the religious leadership, with the Pharisees coming down close to Jesus' position on the matter).  Remarriage also involved questions of dowry and wealth, and was also therefore subject to specific regulation.  What ties this passage together with the themes already expressed here and in the earlier parable of the Unjust Steward is righteousness, mercy, and the use of possessions.  Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce in terms of its easy and simple access for men under the Mosaic Law and the abuse of the practice.  Women could not sue for divorce; only men could do so, and for what amounted to nearly arbitrary reasons.  Here Jesus holds fidelity to a very strict standard; to treat a wife as traded commodity is sinful.

What does it mean to possess wealth?  Perhaps Jesus, in speaking of divorce, wants us to consider how or whether or not we treat fellow human beings as things we own, aspects of our wealth.  Surely our relationships are wealth, but they can't be thought of as "mammon," commodities of ownership.  Jesus seems to be asking us repeatedly to consider that whatever we have truly belongs to God in the first place, and therefore the rules or laws which govern how we use what we have -- no matter what that may be -- aren't the laws of balancing the books or even following a code of tithing.  Rather, the law that governs the way we choose to live our lives is that of faith -- love and trust in God and extending God's righteousness through whatever we might control.   This is contrasted with a selfish attitude of needing to gain the whole world.  Indeed, Jesus contrasts the eternal nature of the possession of soul with the desire to grasp all the world:  "For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost?" (9:25).  The Pharisees, while they are righteous according to the law, are men who seem intent on gaining the whole world, which includes "the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces," and honorific titles.  But the Cross to which Christ calls each one of us is one that asks us to exchange one life for another -- a worldly perspective for one that sees all the wealth of the world as a gift for which we are stewards who seek to please our Master.  In this way, Jesus' teachings really echo what He calls the two greatest commandments:   "'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets" (Matthew 22:37-40).   Let us remember that whatever we possess, whether that be talent or material commodity, we each share the capacity to practice the perspective Jesus teaches us.  We each may practice mercy, or give of our time, our kindness, the grace God gives our hearts.  In a society that has so much wealth, it has also been found that the intangible gift of attention, respect, and recognition of a fellow human being makes the greatest difference to those who may be "the least of these."  Over the course of the past week's readings, Jesus has given us repeated teachings on humility, and in particular to the great men among the rulers of the Pharisees.  Let us consider their righteousness, and what they yet still lacked.  Humility is the key to understanding how and with what each of us may be blessed, and how we may use whatever we have to serve God with love.  We live in a world that magnifies position given by the praise in popular media, and therefore particularly that of image or appearance.  In modern talk, this phenomenon is frequently referred to as "virtue signalling," used as a form of public relations.   Let us consider Jesus' warnings about basing our lives and values exclusively on that which is highly esteemed among men.

You cannot serve God and mammon

"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant 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."

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

"The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."

- Luke 16:10-17; Luke 16:18

Yesterday we read that Jesus taught His disciples,  "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and an accusation was brought to him that this man was wasting his goods.  So he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you?  Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.'  Then the steward said within himself, 'What shall I do?  For my master is taking the stewardship away from me.  I cannot dig; I am ashamed to beg.  I have resolved what to do, that when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses.'  So he called every one of his master's debtors to him, and said to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?'  And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.'  So he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.'  Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?'  So he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.'  And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.'  So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly.  For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.  And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by unrighteous mammon, that when you fail, they may receive you into an everlasting home."

"He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much.  Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?  And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own?  No servant 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."  My study bible tells us that the test as to whether God will bestow heavenly blessings (true riches) on a person is directly related to how that person spends his or her money.  It says that the money that we consider our own is actually another man's.  In other words, we are stewards of what belongs to God -- and therefore also to the poor.   The Fathers universally see a person's failure to give money to God's work as stealing.  Theophan calls it "nothing less than the embezzlement of money belonging to someone else."  Chrysostom preached that the excesses of personal expenditure on frivolous household luxury took bread out of the mouths of the poor who were fellow Christians.  Basil the Great taught that the unused coat hanging in a closet belongs to the one who needs it.

Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him.  And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts.  For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God."  My study bible says that the things which are highly esteemed among men include money, power, position, and praise.  That is surely a description of the priorities which Jesus criticizes about the Pharisees.

"The law and the prophets were until John.  Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail."  Jesus speaks about a new time, but is saying that this new time of everyone pressing into the kingdom of God is founded upon the law and its fulfillment.  A tittle is the smallest stroke in certain Hebrew letters -- so the whole of the Law is affirmed as the foundation of Jesus' new teaching.  It is His Passion and Resurrection that will be the fulfillment of all.

 "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery."   Under Mosaic Law, there was an easy access to divorce, which was widely misused.  Jesus repeatedly condemns divorce but does so through emphasizing the spiritual and eternal nature of marriage as a sacrament.  In other passages in the Gospels, Christ allows for possibilities of divorce based on infidelity, and the early Church would expand grounds for divorce.  But what Christ is teaching here is about relatedness and relationship.  It fits in the context not only with caring for others including the less powerful, but also about the attitude toward property -- we note that it is addressed to men, not to women.  We note here the emphasis on a man who divorces and marries another.   Given the rules of dowry, this is also a disincentive to divorce and remarriage for the sake of potential financial gain.

Jesus teaches us about fidelity, and about choice.  Overall, He's teaching us about the essential importance of fidelity to God in our choices.  In some sense, even mentioning marriage and divorce in this context can have a kind of resonance on a theological level.  To what are we loyal?  Where is our first loyalty, our top priority?  Whom do we serve, God or mammon?   The 'law' of marriage takes on a higher concern in that context, God's intention and God's kingdom.  Everything in Jesus' teaching comes back to a kind of inclusivity that is the full focus of righteousness or justice and of mercy.  What it seems to me He is saying is that without our top priority on God's purposes, we'll fail to fulfill even the Law itself properly.  And here is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets, Christ Himself, who is preaching both about the openness of the Kingdom to repentant sinners as well as those who assume they are a part of it who fail to put the love of God first and don't make this choice between masters.  We are always called by Christ into a place where it is God's love that matters most deeply, and God's love translates into community -- something these experts in Moses' Law should understand.  The question is always how we can serve the true master, even down to the smallest details.

You cannot serve God and mammon

 "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 reading through the Sermon on the Mount.  We began with the Beatitudes, then we read You are the salt of the earth, Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.  I did not come to destroy but to fulfill, Whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment, Let your "Yes" be "Yes," and your "No," "No," Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, and Pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught more about prayer, and gave us a prayer.  He said, "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. "  My study bible tells us that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  They instead become slaves to earthly things, rather than free in Christ.  Here's the heart of discipleship, it says:  we disentangle ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and attach ourselves to God, the true treasure.  There is a correlation with what we think is essential in the heart -- what we love the best -- and forms of idolatry, where something else takes the place of the Kingdom for us.   This is about what we 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 tells us that the mind (Greek "nous") is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person, and governs our will.  So to keep our mind wholesome and pure, to watch and guide our own thoughts, is fundamental to Christian life.   What gives us light?  How do we see?

"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."  If we serve two masters, we're slaves caught in the middle of a kind of trap, trying to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  Jesus tells us that this is impossible, that both demand full allegiance.  The points of view are poles apart, and everything depends on what illumines us, what gives us light so that we see a certain way.  Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master, says my study bible, not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  He's speaking of a material viewpoint, without benefit of the light of God.

Jesus asks us to make a choice.  Actually, He's trying to get us to notice that life is all about a choice.  We've got a "worldly" point of view (mammon) and a faith point of view.  What this means is that we live in a world created by God, via the Word (who is Christ).  Here He is, as a human being among us, and He's trying to get us to open up our eyes.  That's the point of discipleship.  If we think the world is just strictly material, then we're on the wrong track, and we don't have the light that must illuminate the way that we see.  And it all begins with what we treasure.  That is, what we hold in our hearts as truly precious.  There are things that are intangible, that aren't just materially graspable and measurable, but which live in the light of wisdom and truth.  This is the treasure in heaven. These are things we know and feel in the heart, and carry with us.  They make us truly rich.   They add to who we are.  Moreover, they give value to the whole of the worldly life around us, true value.  That is, if we see our lives and whatever we have in the light that Christ gives us, then we see truly, we understand our world and what we're doing in it better than if we miss out on this light.  But it all comes down to a choice.  It's a world illumined by the light of God, or living in a kind of darkness that takes away and blinds us to layers and layers of meaning, value, treasure, love, richness.  What are the treasures in heaven?  How about learning what love is and practicing it?  Escaping from the so-called law of the jungle to something better, we find ourselves free in ways that are impossible otherwise -- free to make choices for what is better, for what we will truly treasure, what we will choose to love.  "Mammon" -- whether we think of ourselves in full control or not -- demands our allegiance and slavishness.  Isn't it better to choose a loving Master?  One who knows us better than we know ourselves, and always wants what's best for us?  Isn't it better to be unlimited, and on a pathway to growth and wisdom?  What's really to our best advantage?  This is the light of a single, and unconflicted, vision.  It's all about what we choose to serve.  Do we slave to impress others with the stuff we have?   Are we working for a car, a house, an image of ourselves in the eyes of the world?  Or are we going to stick with what will lead us through everything and give us a bigger, broader vision that has some joy in it -- that doesn't depend on "the world" and that limited message of the purely material?  He offers us a choice, His light, His treasure.  With Him, there will always be something more.  It all depends on what we idolize, what we worship -- it's up to us!  If we really think about it, all choices come down to this, no matter what kind of conflict or confusion we seem to find ourselves in the middle of.  The next time you need to make a choice, consider this spiritual paradox, the real dilemma, and see if that doesn't illumine the things you're choosing between.  It may just open up new alternatives you haven't yet seen!

No man can serve two masters

"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 man 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've been reading through the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew's Gospel. Starting last Monday, we have been reading the Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew's Gospel. We began with the Beatitudes, the blessings of the life of discipleship. Next He taught, You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world - the value of discipleship to the world. Then He began to teach His vision of the Law, "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." He then elaborated on discipleship regarding several statutes; first against murder: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder;'" next against adultery: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not commit adultery;'" and then regarding vengeance: "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.'" Jesus' discussion of discipleship in His teaching involves a deepening of those statutes, in a sense directed toward our inner lives. Then He moved on in the Sermon to discuss spiritual practice, especially forbidding hypocrisy and again emphasizing the inner life in "Do not be like the hypocrites." In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught us how to pray, in Our Father in heaven.

"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." In the structure of the Gospel, we go from Jesus' teachings against hypocrisy in religious practice to these teachings. Again, the emphasis is on the depth of the person, in the sense of what we truly treasure in the heart -- the things we really put our faith in in life. This teaching takes us from a faith in appearances, in the purely material, toward a different set of values, and, I think, especially the things by which we judge ourselves and our worth in the world. In the Beatitudes, Jesus lays out the blessings of discipleship, the things that help to make His disciples the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Here He asks us to deepen, into a sense of multiple layers or dimensions, our understanding of what truly gives our lives value and meaning. It is in our heart that we must decide what truly serves worth and value, and what we love. My study bible says, "We have need of certain material things, but we use them according to God's will and purpose."

"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 says, "We all understand the value of light in our lives. As the eye is the lamp of the body, so the mind (Greek nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul: it illuminates the whole inner man. Keeping our inner eyes good, that is, wholesome and pure, is fundamental to a Christian life." I think the emphasis on the eye is a fundamental way of speaking about how we look at things, how we see things. It gives us a sense that Jesus teaches us about the importance of what we focus on. He has also taught us to shine our light before others, that a lamp belongs on a lampstand. Here, He emphasizes our inner life: in a sense, how we see determines the inner light that is allowed in. If we do not allow in that light, the depth of internal darkness is great indeed. There is yet another sense to a "bad eye" that is very powerful throughout the Near and the Mid-East, and that sense of bad eye is "envy." This is the meaning of the "evil eye" in popular understanding and cultural tradition. In this sense also, how we see is related to what we truly treasure. A poisonous, sinful envy is rooted in a kind of material-mindedness, one that does not value the true blessings of the life of discipleship, and is not rooted in the depth of inner relationship to God. Envy, we know from the Gospels, can apply even to seeing the spiritual life in others as a kind of material competition, a zero-sum game.

"No man 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." Finally, how we see is determined by what we choose to serve, what we love -- as in "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." My study bible puts it this way: "As slaves serving two masters, people attempt to maintain an attachment both to earthly and to heavenly things. but this is impossible, for both demand full allegiance. Jesus calls mammon a master, not because it is by nature evil, but because of the absolute and wretched servility it exacts." Mammon is a term that denotes a kind of servility to the material, what we truly trust in. It goes back again to what we put first, what master we serve and love with all our heart and soul and mind. In this, Jesus' teachings have been perfectly consistent.

For myself personally, the teachings in today's readings can't be overestimated. I think that we are creatures formed to worship. If we don't put our faith -- our trust, as the Greek word for faith truly implies -- in the right place, then we will be serving that which asks of us a true servility, no compromise, no light. So many addictions abound in our world; what starts out as something which seems to promise us some good can create a very deep darkness, a true slavery. This can apply to anything we put our trust into, even to other people. It is a kind of material-mindedness in any case where the spiritual life, and the inner life of relationship to God, is abrogated, denied, pushed aside. We seek to put our trust in the God who is love. It is in His teachings of discipleship that we find liberation from slavish devotion to that which really doesn't have our best interests in mind. Jesus says here that we need to make a choice, to take a stand. I find that each day, in some way or another, I'm asked to renew that vow, that purpose, with a new choice, a new decision to make between God and mammon. Staying on the road, the Way, really involves the trust that the One knows better what is best for me, so that I can be the person Christ entrusts with discipleship. I often backslide, talk myself into choices that seem good on the surface (even full of good intention), but don't help me at all with real discernment and true learning of discipleship. How do you hear that call? How do you make the choice? What is it that you think you really need?