Sermon: Leave the Cult of Mammon!

Julius: Matthew chapter 6 beginning at verse 24 and this will serve as the sermon text this morning. No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon. For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life. What you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Which of you can add a single moment to his lifespan by worrying? Why do you worry about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. But I tell you that even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow, is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, will we eat or what will we drink or what will we wear? For the unbelievers chase after all these things. Certainly your Heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. The gospel of the Lord. Praise be to you, O Christ. Renee Lindell looked like she was living the best life. but she was in a cult. For the first 15 years of her life, everything was going well until her father died. And then she started searching, spiritually searching. She wondered, how can I find peace? How can I defeat death? Where can I find purpose? What's the point of it all? And so she was searching and searching and searching all the way until the age of 33. She walked into this meditation seminar and she expected to find some Buddhist monk wrapped in orange robes, but she found this young woman dressed in a suit. who put on sunglasses and techno music and said, let's meditate. And it worked. It was like she had a conversion experience. All of sudden, everything went white. She felt like she was at peace. She thought, is it. This is what I was looking for. And so if you stopped in that moment from the outside looking in, everything would have been going well. And you would thought, okay, good for you. But then they roped her in. Class after class, they thought, you're doing well, you can improve, you need a better teacher, costs a little more, but I think you can do it, okay, so she moved on to the next teacher and paid some more, and then to the next teacher and paid some more. Well, if you really want peace, if you really want enlightenment, then you gotta move on to this teacher. On and on she went, and while they did that, they started giving her jobs. They started investing her. Don't you wanna help other people? And so they gave her task after task in this group. until she was so busy she started cutting off family and cutting off friends and cutting off work until this was the only thing left in her life, the only support group she had. And that's when they started knocking out that support. They said, you're not progressing anymore. You're plateauing. And it's your fault. You're not giving enough. You're not doing enough. You need to pay more. You need to do more. You need to give more. It's your fault. After seven years and a near-death experience, she finally escaped. And it took her years to recover. Later when she was talking about it she said, they demanded everything until my whole life was theirs. And the tragedy there is that while at the start it looked okay, any one of us from the outside looking in could have figured it out that she had joined a cult. Do you see what they're doing? They're taking everything from you, especially your money and your time and your devotion, and they're giving you nothing but worry and stress, but she couldn't see it when she was in it. Jesus looks at the world today. He looks at what we're born into by nature, and he says, don't you see it? And with such pity and care in his heart today, he tells us, leave that cult. What cult, what cult are we all born in by nature that we all join without even thinking about it and it looks good until it doesn't? Well, Jesus tells us it's the cult of mammon. He talks about it Matthew chapter 6. First, Jesus states this general truth, you cannot serve two masters, and we understand this. You go around Nebraska and you look in the garage and there's always that sign that says, basically family priorities, God first, family second, then Husker football. And you think, yeah, and that's right, that's correct. There has to be an order. God has to come first. You can't share first place with football, things like that. But this does mean that you're gonna have to make decisions sometimes. You can't serve both, not really. I think about this coming Thanksgiving. Most of you probably aren't looking ahead, but I'm a closet packer fan down here, but I've looked ahead at the schedule and you know what they've done, you know what they've promised. every Thanksgiving Eve, Wednesday, every Thanksgiving Eve from now on, the Packers are going to play. And I'm thinking, now we moved church from Thursday to Wednesday so people would have time for their turkeys and their families and their food and that's all fine but we still wanted some time to give thanks to God so we picked that, that's good, right? And now football took that and a lot of people are going to be testing that sign in their garage, aren't they? This is what Jesus is saying. When it comes to a master, you have to make choices because only one person can be in charge. And that's the language he uses here when he says you'll either love one or hate the other, be devoted to one and leave the other. Love and hate in the Bible is choice language. If you choose one thing, it's like you love it. And that means you have to say no to something else. It's like you hate it just for a little bit because this is more important. And Jesus says there can only be one. And mammon says pick me. Now mammon is an Aramaic word that Jesus was using here and it can be translated money, but it's more than that. It's like stuff, the stuff of this life. Money and comfort and vacations and success and security, all of those things wrapped together, that's mammon. And it makes such promises. It says, you just make more of me, then you'll never be worried again. but it can't fulfill those promises, can it? Ask any billionaire, how much money is enough? Surely you have enough not to be worried anymore and they say, just one dollar more. Mammon says, if you pick the perfect job, the perfect career, the perfect major, if you do all of those things, then your life will be fulfilling. But it can't deliver because you make it into that job and that career and you've got this nagging doubt, is this my dream job? Is this gonna be where I need to be? Did I pick the right path? Mammon says, if you just really buckle down and focus on your health and wellness, you might not be able to stop yourself from dying, but you can put it off basically forever. But it can't deliver on that promise. No, if you're the healthiest, most well person in the world, there's still death coming. And once in a while you're reminded that sometimes that doesn't even matter. A healthy 20 year old dies while the 100 year old person smoking three packs a day survives. Mammon can't deliver. Mammon says, if you live a good enough life, if you volunteer enough, invest enough, then maybe you can get your name on the building. And you'll live on after you die. but it can't deliver. Pretty soon people will be driving past that building going, who is that again? And that's when mammon shows itself to be a cult, because it turns itself around and it blames you. Well, if you're still worried, it's because you didn't make enough money. That's on you. If your career's not working out, well, you should have made a better plan. If you're sick, you probably ate that gummy bear 10 years ago. That's on you. If people don't remember you, it means you should have made a bigger legacy. That's the problem. It turns it around and blames on you so that there's more and more worry and more and more work for you to do that will never pay off. Do you feel Jesus' heart when he looks at this from the outside? And he says, leave. Leave that cult of worry and work it'll never deliver. But here maybe we get a little suspicious of Jesus. He says no one can serve two masters. Well, he just wants me to leave one cult and serve another. Jesus, you just want me to work for you instead to give you my money and you my time and you my devotion. And to that Jesus says, take a look. Take a look inside my group. Look at my people and compare. See how they have it. You know, in a real cult, the doors are always closed. They don't want you to see what really goes on in there because they know that if you are on the outside looking in, you can tell. Jesus, on the other hand, throws the doors wide open and he says, I want you to look at the people who serve me. Exhibit A and exhibit B. Exhibit A, the birds, and exhibit B, the flowers. They're in my cult, they're in my group. Let's see how they have it in life. Jesus says, For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or gather into barns and yet your heavenly father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? Look at the birds. Study the birds, Jesus says. This was my homework this week. So one morning I stepped out on the front porch and for 10 minutes I just looked at this bird sitting on a branch. And he just sat there for 10 minutes tweeting. And it wasn't one of those pretty birds making pretty noise. This is one of those ugly noise birds. 10 minutes. And I'm, I got to go to real work. Bird, are you going to do something? No. Stood there doing nothing. I'm thinking, bird, I can see you don't have any pockets. Where's your lunch? Where's your dinner? Ever think about that? No, no, no. So I left, okay bird, it's on you. You know what, I came back later that day, we had that gush of rain, that really quick gush of rain, and I came back and there were a bunch of birds in our backyard, and I know that was one of them, and he was sitting there, sitting on the lawn as the worms crawled themselves up through the dirt into its beak, still not doing anything. I thought, that's not fair. You sat around all day and the worm just crawled into your mouth. And Jesus says, That's what it's like when you serve me. That's my bird. That's my bird. And I care about that bird. and by the way, don't I care so much more about you? That's exhibit A. Exhibit B, the flowers. Jesus says, Which of you can add a single moment to his lifespan by worrying? Why do you worry about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith? Homework assignment number two for you this week after you spend some time looking at a bird, spend some time looking at a flower. Maybe if you're lucky, you have time to go to the Sunken Gardens. Just go. Just go to the Sunken Gardens and look. All of these flowers laid out in incredible pattern. You could spend an hour looking at just one and how intricately it's made. Better clothed than Solomon in all his royal kingly robes. And what did the flowers do to make this happen? Nothing. someone else planted them, somebody else arranged them, somebody else watered them, God gave the sunshine and God gave the growth and here they are. And Jesus says, by the way, those flowers are only going to be around for two months! And yet, if they serve the Master just by being flowers, then the Master says, I am going to make those the most beautiful two months a flower has ever had. That's how much God loves flowers in His service. Here one minute burns the next. And Jesus says, what about you? Not here for a couple months, but here for eternity. How much more is your master going to look down and say, I am going to make sure that that's the best eternity you ever had? That's what it's like in God's service. And yes, it's okay to think I'm not a bird, I'm not a flower, I have things to do, and that's true. You are a human. God made you a human. And he says at the end, each day has enough trouble of its own. That implies there is trouble in each day. And you don't just get to sit and tweet all day like a bird or sit around and sunbathe like a flower. You do have jobs and things to do and the Lord gives you that. The Lord gives you that every single day. But he's not saying, all of these things or else. Do all of these things really well or you won't be provided and you won't have peace and I can't take care of you. No. He's saying, do all of these things knowing whom you serve. knowing that your heavenly father values you and loves you and will care for you no matter what just because he has made you his child. How do you know you're so valuable to the Heavenly Father? Well, because Jesus did not come into this world and become a bird. He did not come into this world and become a flower to save flowers. He came into this world as a human to save humans. To leave everything so you could have everything. Always. He promises that to you. He died on the cross to secure salvation, to write your name not on a building but in heaven. He's truly human. He knows what it's like to be hungry and to wonder where's the next meal coming from. He knows, He knows. But He's also truly God. Ruling on high, ascending all things, He is able to provide all that you need. And that's His promise. This is why when Jesus at the end of this reading says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, it's not really giving you something to do. Okay, you better seek this first so that I can give you these other things. Now when Jesus says, seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, He's really saying the same thing as when He says, don't worry. What He's saying is, trust me. Trust me and it's all yours. It's kind of like that old Willy Wonka movie. I love it. You probably love it. Remember when they come into the factory, into the main room? And it's beautiful. It's fields of edible plants, a river of chocolate, and Willy Wonka sings, if you want to view paradise, take a look around and view it. In other words, you don't have to go looking for paradise, it's already here. When Jesus says, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, He's not saying, do more for me, give me more money, work harder for me. No, He's saying, if you want to view the kingdom of God. Take a look around and view it. You're in it. The Heavenly Father who rules all things for the good of birds and flowers is ruling over all things even more for you. That's a cult I'd like to join. It's hard to leave one, it's hard to leave a cult. Renee Lindell, when she left that cult, it took her five years to get her life back. And yet, she said, I would never go back. Neither will we. Yes, it's hard to leave a cult. We're born into it with this sinful nature. Every day we have to repent of our worry and trust in God's promises again. Yes, but we would never go back because we know that our spiritual search is over in Jesus. In Him we have everything we ever need for life and eternity. So trust in him. How about this, trust Him today and trust to Him tomorrow and look forward to eternity with Him. Amen.

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