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

 

 "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 were 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 boy 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).  On Monday, our readings focused on Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount regarding three basic practices of our faith: almsgiving, prayer, and fasting.  Embedded in those teachings were Jesus' specific gift to us of the prayer we know as The Lord's Prayer, or the Our Father.  Yesterday we read that section of the sermon.  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 were thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."  My study Bible comments here that by attaching themselves to treasures on earth, people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures.  It says they become slaves to earthly things rather than free in Christ.  The heart of discipleship is found first of all disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and secondly by 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 boy will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!"  According to my study Bible, the mind (νοῦς/nous in Greek) is the spiritual eye of the soul.  It illuminates the inner person, and governs our will.  It adds that keeping the 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."  If we are slaves serving two masters, then we attempt to maintain an attachment to both earthly and heavenly things.  My study Bible comments that this is impossible, as both demand full allegiance.   Here, it says, Jesus calls mammon ("riches") a master not because wealth is evil by nature, but because of the control it has over people.  

 

 Jesus' teaching regarding the inability to serve two masters bears more scrutiny to understand Him better.  In today's age of multi-tasking we might find it a little hard to understand.  But Christ's understanding is of the working of the heart and the soul, not simply the intellectual processes that distract us.  Moreover, we might further take a look at this word "mammon," which has a deeper meaning than simply material riches.   According to Strong's definitions, it comes from a Chaldee/Aramaic word that implies wealth as personified, the wealth in which one places confidence or trust.  This should recall to readers in the United States a motto which is printed on all U.S. currency:  "In God We Trust."  While this is, in fact, the official motto of the country, printed on our currency it implies a familiarity with this teaching by Christ.  It suggests to us in our contemporary period that while we enjoy incredible prosperity and wealth in our country as a whole, our confidence belongs somewhere else.  Our real confidence rests in real power, and there is no greater power nor authority than God.  To trust in riches in the context of Christ's teaching implies this confidence and faith placed in material things, without regard for a higher power or spiritual reality.  It's a reminder of St. Paul's teaching, "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" (1 Timothy 6:10).  This teaching is popularly misquoted, failing to distinguish between money as subject and the actual subject of this statement, which is "the love of money."  This love implies a kind of loyalty, a depth of trust; in effect, at is to make an idol of money.  (The word in Greek translated as "love of money" - φιλαργυρία/philargyria -- literally means "friend of silver," as the most common forms of currency were in weights of silver.)  We can look at the story of the rich young ruler to take another look at this problem of the love of wealth (Matthew 19:16-22).  A young man comes to Christ, asking what he must do to attain eternal life.  He tells Christ that he has followed all the commandments from his youth.  He likely comes from one of the wealthy ruling families in the temple, perhaps from what was considered a type of aristocracy of Jerusalem.  In this sense, then, his wealth would be connected to family identity and inherited position.  But St. Mark tells us that Jesus loved him (Mark 10:21), and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me."  The young man went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.  Jesus does not tell this man to sell his possessions and give to the poor simply out of a sense of social justice, conscience, or other politically or socially compelling reason.  He doesn't say that his wealth is evil.  He does not tell this man to do so because he is in some sense "bad."  But it was his attachment to that wealth that was a hindrance to his following Christ, to fully loving God with all his heart and soul and mind and strength (Matthew 22:37-39).  We do not know exactly what type of stumbling block it provided; perhaps through family obligation.  St. John Chrysostom teaches that the command to sell all of his wealth was the first and easiest; and that it is far more difficult to follow all of Christ's commands for one's life.  But nonetheless the sacrifices any of us would be called to make in discipleship are different and specific for each person, and this was necessary for that particular young man.  Jesus encourages us all to detachment, to the understanding that our love of God must come first before all things, for we cannot serve two masters.  Let us understand ourselves as we are created to be.  We will always have such a choice, for this question of serving one master or another is a fitting and pertinent description of our nature, whether or not we want to accept it.  We will always have to choose one first, and cultivate detachment from the other.  Of course "mammon" or "riches" can come in all kinds of forms.  But it's always a question of what our ultimate love is, and where we are headed.  What do we treasure most?  Where is our true good in life?  Everything depends upon how we see -- with eyes guided by the light of Christ, or the darkness of idolatry?  

 

 

 

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

 "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!

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

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

"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 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!"

- Matthew 6:16-23

Over the past week, we have read from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Beginning with the Beatitudes, or blessings, we then moved to Jesus' teaching to His disciples that they are the "salt of the earth," and the "light of the world." Expanding on the statute against murder, Jesus taught about inciting hatred and damaging relationships; and using the powerful imagery of parts of the body, Jesus taught about guarding our thoughts and discerning what we keep in our minds, choosing what we dwell upon. Next He expanded upon the statute regarding justice, and taught true righteousness. And finally, He taught about prayer, and spiritual discipline, religious practice. He gave us the prayer which begins Our Father in heaven.

"Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites, with a sad countenance. For they disfigure their faces that they may appear to men to be fasting. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly." In every teaching on spiritual discipline, Jesus preaches against hypocrisy. In the divine economy, the whole notion of how God relates to us and we in turn relate to God, there is the important understanding of heavenly realities, what lives in secret, the life of faith. Fasting was and is an important religious practice; as we move toward Lent we begin to consider the purpose of discernment, making choices, not being led by our passions alone in life, but understanding ourselves and being free enough to choose what is best for us and our spiritual lives. Fasting is a means of learning such discipline - and we also fast from sin, from dwelling on the thoughts Jesus has taught do us no good, leaving aside the things we're better off without - not having as a part of ourselves. But here, He speaks about the inner life and its reality: our relationship with God. The whole point of fasting is to cultivate that relationship. My study bible says, "For the one who fasts, the compassion of God outshines physical discomfort: joy overshadows sorrow."

"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." Here we have the "nuts and bolts" of spiritual economy, the relationship we have with our Source, the Father in heaven. There is a spiritual reality that lives not in some far away place we call heaven, but with us in the here and now. And we store treasures there that properly belong to this realm that is such a basic and essential part of ourselves, without which we do not truly have life. The treasures we store in heaven are those things that are the fruits of a spiritual life, of a life lived in relationship to the heavenly things, to our Father in heaven and all that is in His name. We create real values, true treasures, by living such a life. And it is again a teaching against hypocrisy: with what do we fill our true lives, that which is within us? What do we love? We have to make a choice.

"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 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!" The eye is the spiritual eye of the heart and mind. How do we perceive? Are our "eyes" working as they need to? How we perceive, then, determines the health of all of what we are, our souls, our being. Jesus is talking about the care of the heart and mind, the true center where we decide what we love, what we treasure in life, what is essential and most important. It is the care of this, then, that is the primary point of our existence and the choices we make in life. With what instrument do we perceive? We are lost or found depending on that "eye" and its health.

Jesus' teachings today emphasis our inner lives, the power of that "eye" that is within us for perception. Is it healthy or darkened? 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 (Grk. nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul: it illuminates the whole inner man." Most importantly and consistently in today's reading, Jesus teaches us the power of the "hidden" - the reality that is within us. We are not just beings made for show. It is not the opinions of others that determine who and what we are -- it is the opinion of the one relationship we need before all others, that of our Father who is in the secret place. And it is this central reality, the secret relationship with the Father in the secret place, the inner life, that determines all of what flows outward from it -- just as the lamp of our inner lives illumines the whole body. How do we dwell in this place? How do we understand the true relationship to the Source of all light? Jesus gives us the ways to remember God, to live that relationship, and to cultivate our "eye" that is full of light. To grow treasures in heaven is to cultivate that life, to be aware of what we dwell upon, what we seek and love in life first and foremost, above all. It begins with that place within ourselves, with the Father in secret.

With God all things are possible

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."

Then Peter answered and said to him, "See, we have left all and followed you. Therefore what shall we have?" So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first."

- Matthew 19:23-30

Today's reading takes us further into the territory of detachment and faith - what it is to practice the kind of humility that gives us repentance of the most profound type. We have read (in yesterday's reading) about the young man with many possessions, who has followed perfectly the Law all of his life. In order to be perfect, Jesus told him, he should sell what he has, give to the poor, and he "will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." But the young man "went away sorrowful," we are told, "for he had great possessions."

Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." When the disciples heard it, they were greatly astonished, saying, "Who then can be saved?" But Jesus looked at them and said to them, "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." As in the recent reading on marriage and divorce, the disciples react to this hard saying by remarking on its difficulty! Previously, they remarked that it is better not to marry, given Jesus' teaching. Today, they respond to the teaching to the young man with many possessions by asking, "Who then can be saved?" So, Jesus' deep teachings on detachment, humility and the cultivation of relationship are difficult even for the disciples, and they express for us (especially Peter, as is frequently the case) our own reaction to these teachings, so that Jesus may answer.

My study bible has a note on the whole of today's passage: "Various interpretations have been suggested for the impossible image of a camel going through the eye of a needle: e.g. that the word was not camel, but 'rope'; or that the eye of a needle was a city gate through which the camel might barely squeeze. (The Talmud uses a similar expression, 'for an elephant to go through the eye of the needle.') But whatever the phrase refers to, it displays the difficulty of salvation for those who are attached to riches. The disciples and others give all will receive a hundredfold (v. 29) in the Kingdom." I agree with my study bible in the sense that this saying is meant to convey extraordinary difficulty, because of the responses of the disciples. We are told that they were "greatly astonished." Their question implies that given this saying, perhaps no one can be saved. And Jesus' reply also implies the impossibility in the worldly sense, or point of view: "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." We are at the point of a strange paradox: Jesus says that his teaching is impossible for a mere human being to achieve through personal effort alone. This saying is possible only with God's help: "with God all things are possible." So, we are entering into territory here where the personal relationship with God becomes a requirement for the teachings of Jesus. Without this "walk with God" we cannot cultivate the necessary detachment for the great devotion to the kingdom that he asks of his disciples, his followers.

Then Peter answered and said to him, "See, we have left all and followed you. Therefore what shall we have?" Peter is the first to point out that the disciples have "left all and followed you." He asks, "Therefore what shall we have?" -- he wants to know what is gained in exchange for such a transfer of allegiance, attachment. I think it's of tremendous importance that the gospels teach us about the disciples' worldly, emotional perspective -- their "great astonishment" and their doubts that anyone can follow these difficult teachings. We also have Jesus' replies. Peter speaks for all of us to come, and asks the questions we, too, would ask.

So Jesus said to them, "Assuredly I say to you, that in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." The disciples are taught -- as was the young man -- about the "treasures in heaven" that await them. They themselves are to sit in exalted places in this kingdom, when the judgment is to come. I think that for many people, this would not only seem like a reward that is not necessarily compensatory - and also the fact that it is a promise for something in the future may be an element many people discount in favor of reward in the here and now. Moreover, this promise is one that is believed in faith. It is not something physically proven to them. Speaking for myself, their faith demonstrates in itself the possibilities that come "with God," with God's help. As are the apostles, we are transformed in the presence of God, through faith and relationship. This union, this faith, transforms us: the things of God become as treasures to us. This change is what is represented most profoundly by the Greek word for repentance, metanoia - which means, literally, "change of mind." We change, we are transformed with God's help. That is why "with God all things are possible." Of course, to hold this position in the judgment is a tremendous spiritual honor reserved for the apostles, who have responded with faith to Christ's call.

"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and inherit eternal life." This promise, however, is to all of us - to all of Christ's followers who learn to practice this sort of detachment. At least, that is the way that I read it. There are many ways of leaving everything behind, of practicing detachment. It is not necessarily so that all of us leave homes, property and families behind in a literal or physical sense. But to do so in a spiritual sense is something that faith will compel us toward. This may be a lifetime process of learning to cultivate detachment, to put the kingdom - and faith - first, so that all is in service to the kingdom. Every choice we make may be one in which we "seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness," and in this way we learn to practice the detachment that leaves all behind for this kingdom. We are told in the teaching on Solomon in all his glory that we should seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and "all these things shall be added unto you." Here, "a hundredfold" represents a similar teaching. Faith, a walk with God, also gives us an appreciation for the treasures of the kingdom and their great worth to us, an internal feeling of joy in that beauty.

"But many who are first will be last, and the last first." This saying occurs in other parts of the gospels as well, and it is used in the sense of the cultivation of humility among the disciples. Surely we can see for ourselves, that they who come first will perhaps wait the longest for their reward - to see the day of the judgment. They will also suffer martyrs' deaths, they will give up much more for the sake of the gospels once Jesus' earthly life is over, and after the coming of the Spirit. And many saints and martyrs will also do the same. Today, we have the benefit of many structures of the church, the dissemination of information and teachings, institutions and so much more that has been established to support the faithful. But these, "first," were those who accepted in faith to establish this beginning of the church in faith, and who walked with Christ before the Spirit was given upon all, before all that we have now. It remains, however, a great teaching on humility in the hierarchy of the church and the nature of authority as Christ wished to convey it to us. They who will sit in judgment must be "last of all" - they will serve all.

So, these teachings on a radical kind of humility remain with us and continue to teach us what to be as models of faith. Everything goes into service for our faith. We are to learn the type of humility that aspires to serve all in ministry to faith. We know the tremendous difficulty - Jesus calls it "impossible" - this conveys. Are we to be stoics who face all out of our own energy and capacity? No, this is not his teaching here to us. We are to walk with God in faith, and "with God all things are possible." It is not our own strength alone that gives us the capacity to have faith, and to change and transform in that faith. This is what is given to us via grace. It is still our choice that facilitates, that opens the door to the connection to the work of the Spirit. But we merely have to open the door and God makes things possible in us. These are not teachings that ask of us tremendous feats of our own strength. But they are teachings that set us down in a place where we are to understand the depth of change from one sort of "worldly" reality to another, a heavenly reality which is given to us, and in which we are allowed, through relationship, to participate. We grow through detachment (to all sorts of things and ways of thinking) into deeper faith. How then do you experience the help of the Spirit today? What ails you that you need to let go of - which new form of humility will help you to heal as a spiritual person, to change? What new detachment is necessary for growth and healing, and the deepening of one's life in this kingdom? Turn to God in prayer and ask, and help for it all will be there. This is the spirit of mercy that Christ teaches - and in our detachment and humility we are healed. To experience the beauty of the things of heaven is to be transfixed by that beauty and to experience the joy of it and its uplifting reality in our lives. Mercy is God's medicine that makes all things possible.

No one 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 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

As we have been for over a week, we continue today with the readings of the Sermon on the Mount. For previous readings and commentary of this Sermon, in order, please see The Beatitudes, Salt and Light, Till heaven and earth pass away, You shall not murder, If your right eye causes you to sin, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, Your father who is in the secret place, and Our Father in heaven.

Today's reading ties us in with the teaching conveyed in the readings and commentary in If your right eye causes you to sin. In today's reading, Jesus has just finished teaching us about prayer, and about the importance of prayer, fasting and alms-giving done in secret, in a hidden place (see Your father who is in the secret place). This is in order to cultivate the understanding of the spiritual life; that it is not a matter of appearances only, of good worldly works, but of the cultivation of a spiritual life in the intimate relationship with God. The reality of this spiritual dimension that is within us is something we cannot forget nor neglect; it is the root of our whole notion of relationship and relatedness, the root of love and righteousness. In today's reading, we get a deeper understanding of the importance of this "hidden" life.

"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 notes, "By attaching themselves to treasures on earth people cut themselves off from heavenly treasures. They become slaves, not free in Christ. The heart of discipleship lies in (1) disentangling ourselves from the chains of earthly things, and (2) attaching ourselves to God, the true treasure (v. 21). We have need for certain material things (v. 25), but we use them, according to God's will and purposes." It is of the greatest significance to understand the primacy of this relationship to God, to the Lord. As the Source of love and relatedness, it is this primary relationship that teaches us, then, the relationship we must have with all around ourselves, including "worldly goods" - material things, and all that makes up for appearance to the world. We are to cultivate this inner, hidden relationship - and the treasures therein. Kindness, compassion, love, generosity, humility, peacefulness, reconciliation - all of these are treasures that moth and rust cannot destroy, and thieves can't break in and steal. They are those things cultivated through seeking the will of the Father. Treasures in heaven are those things we "build" in understanding and spiritual growth, hand in hand in this intimate relationship to the "Father who is in the secret place."

"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, "Jesus refers to things within the reach of the senses so that we might more easily grasp his teaching. We all understand the value of light in our lives. As the eye is the lamp of the body, so the mind (Gr. nous) is the spiritual eye of the soul: it illuminates the whole inner man. Keeping our spiritual eyes good, that is, wholesome and pure, is fundamental to a Christian life." I believe this teaching is a direct reflection on the thoughts conveyed in Jesus words, "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out." Practicing love, and having this "hidden" relationship, is more than doing good works. We have already reviewed Jesus' condemning words of the hypocrisy of those who do good works to be seen by others, and for the praise of men. But here, Jesus conveys the idea of a deeper relationship within the context of the intimacy of prayer life with our Father in heaven. We wish to be fully light. We wish to have our darkness taken away. For this kind of transcendence and transformation, this type of repentance (Gk. metanoia, literally "change of mind") we need a different understanding of the levels of spiritual reality that are at work within us and within that hidden relationship to the Father. This is a type of illumination we cannot create of ourselves alone. And this illumination is part and parcel of the "treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal" that Jesus is speaking of in the previous verses. What do we treasure? What do we cherish? There is our heart.

"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." My study bible notes here: "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." We are being asked to make a clear choice - Jesus is posing it in exactly those words. What do we place first? Where is our heart? If our chief concern is with the things of the world - material things alone - then it becomes our master. Without this spiritual dimension to our lives, without our understanding of that hidden reality that is at work within us and within which we cultivate our relationship in secret to the Father, we become slaves to the material world. Regardless of good intentions, I believe this is true. We will serve one thing or the other. The greater dimension of spiritual reality teaches us that God created this world, including all of its material beauty, for a good purpose. We read in the story of Genesis, that "God saw that it was good."

But to pursue a life without a cosmic understanding of this spiritual reality is to see things from a limited perspective, and without benefit of the realization of those treasures that we have within ourselves, and "in heaven" that truly make us rich, and give us blessings. A material worldly view alone makes us slaves to that particular master, we are no longer free to choose realities and values that transcend what we see, nor even to choose to base our self-worth on something beyond "the praise of men." Many people turn to Eastern thought to find words and teachings of detachment, but you can find no stronger words of detachment and dispassion than right here in Jesus' teachings. We must link them with his words about hypocrisy and the praise of men. If all we seek is an appearance, in whatever form in which we are trying to keep up with an image, then we become slaves to that form of idolatry, to mammon. In this "secret place" of our relationship with the Father, we are given a different set of values that transcend that slavery. We are then free to choose. All of this is tied to the values of discipleship conveyed in the Beatitudes. We can choose to be peacemakers, we can choose humility. Everything in life does not have to go our way, nor does the world need to praise us. Indeed, in the midst of tribulation, and injustice, we can turn to this understanding and make our eye single and bright with illumination, and know there is a better way! And that there are far better treasures to cultivate. It is for this purpose the world that is good was created, within a cosmic economy of love in which the beauty of our material world shines with light.

What do you choose and where is your treasure? This will determine how we use our world, what kind of stewards we are, what we cherish. Where is your heart? Jesus tells us we must make a choice.