Preached in Markham Baptist Church, November 19, 2006

“Is it wrong do you think to be ambitious?”  It’s hard to know how to answer that question.  We’re uncertain.  And our uncertainty is expressed in this – that we blame people for having it and we blame people for not having it. “He’s very ambitious!” and that’s the story of a life. “Ah poor man, he has no ambition.”  

Is it wrong, do you think to be ambitious?

Let’s define it.  In dictionary terms it means “a strong desire to achieve success.”  Therefore, ambition has a bad image, a selfish flavour.   So the prophet Jeremiah says to Baruch in Jeremiah 45:5, “Do you seek great things for yourself?  Seek them not.”  Clearly in that sense ambition is not something to desire. 

But ambition can equally refer to other strong desires – unselfish rather than selfish, godly rather than worldly.  In other words it is possible to have a godly ambition.  Read through the letters of Paul. Romans 10:1says,  “Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.” 

Romans 15:19,20 says, “From Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.  It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.”

Or in Philippians we read, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.  Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brother, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:10)

It is possible to have a godly ambition. So we would have to say that ambition is not wrong.  What we need to check is the object of our ambition - the focus of our ambition. 

Indeed, all through our passage this morning Jesus seeks to put two alternatives before us as He continues to do heart surgery on us.  You will remember that in the previous verses He has been asking us, what is the focus of our acts of righteousness? Is it for the applause of men or for the applause of heaven?  And how He asks us what is the focus of our ambition – is it for self or for God?

He has already called us to look into the deep dark recesses of our heart and He does not stop – He continues to call us to examine our hearts – because that is the place, the centre of the kingdom of God, that is where it begins for you and me – that is why it is so important.   The kingdom of God is not out there, it is in here – in the heart.

So Jesus continues to call us to look to our hearts – what is the focus of your ambition?  And He puts before us two alternatives.  Two treasures, two costs, two masters, two preoccupations – there’s two of everything here in this passage but in the end there is only one choice.  We are either ambitious for one or the other.  You cannot have both in this life.  We are ambitious for and preoccupied with our own security or we are ambitious for God’s kingdom, His rule and His authority.  

Jesus isn’t telling us that it’s wrong to be ambitious.  Just as He told us it wasn’t wrong to be angry, or to pray in public.  That is not the issue – to be ambitious is a normal part of life.  But He asks us, what are you ambitious for in life?  What is it that you are seeking?  What treasure are you hoping to find and accumulate?  What is it that you are after? What is it that drives you?  These are the questions that Jesus is asking us this morning.

So in verses 19-21 Jesus puts before us two treasures.  Treasure on earth, or treasure in heaven.

For which are you ambitious?  Jesus says, in effect if you are ambitious for treasures on earth, then let me tell you what you may already know in your head, but not in your heart, and that is (verse 19) that the treasure of earth is fleeting - it is destructible, it corrodes, it can be stolen.  It does not last. 

And we know it in our day – only in our day we would use different language.  We wouldn’t use the metaphors of moth and rust. We would say that the wealth of the world is susceptible to inflation, or devaluation, or recession, or fraud, or even theft. 

We know it to be true, we see it every day.  It was only ten years ago that a tiny Calgary-based mining company announced that it finally hit pay dirt, finding what they said to be the world’s largest gold deposit, possibly worth 20 billion dollars.  Over night the Bre-x company became the hottest stock on the market.  But then just as quickly it was announced that the find was suspect and may in fact be fool’s gold.  Overnight the Bre-x company became the worst stock on the market. People jammed the Toronto Stock Exchange - they couldn’t dump the stuff quick enough. 

“Why do you store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy?”  This isn’t a sermon against investing and saving – Jesus is saying, where do your ambitions lie?  If it is for the things of this world, you will come up empty.

Do you know what the comedian Jim Carrey is quoted as saying in the recent issue of Readers Digest?  It really is quite insightful.  He said, “I think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.”  That’s quite an insight for a man who is usually quite loopy. 

Jesus goes on to speak in verse 20 of another treasure, one of infinite value.  A treasure that is kept in heaven, where there is no rust, or theft - where treasure is eternal and everlasting.  What would this treasure be?

I think verse 33 of our text is the very treasure Jesus is referring to – “Seek first the kingdom of God.”  Seek His rule in your life, seek His priorities, seek His will, seek a deeper relationship with Him – that is the treasure of heaven. 

So wouldn’t this treasure consist of a life lived in the light and love of Jesus Christ?  A life that seeks to please Him in all that we do?  Would it not be a life that seeks the increase of faith, hope and love for as Scripture says only these three abide?  Wouldn’t it consist of a life that seeks to emulate the actions and thoughts and ways of our King, Jesus?  Wouldn’t it be a life that uses its money and influence for Christian causes - because it is the only investment whose dividends are everlasting?

This is the only thing that rightly can be called treasure because in comparison, the world’s treasure is simply more fool’s gold.  This alone, says Jesus, endures and is of any value. 

Do you know what we must consider is that we are eternal beings?  So, we have to ask ourselves, how important the things of this world will be – fame, power, wealth - to us fifty billion trillion millennia from now? 

One of the greatest theologians of our day, Don Carson, writes, “It is a poor bargain which exchanges the eternal for the temporal regardless of how much tinsel is used to make the temporal more attractive.” 

Two treasures, be careful how you choose – because Jesus says in verse 21 it will expose the condition of your heart.  If you treasure that which is of this world, then that’s where your heart is and therefore you really can’t be part of My kingdom, because it is the heart that matters in the kingdom of God.

It is no wonder that Paul wrote to the Colossians saying, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”  (Col. 3:1ff)

Or again in 1 Timothy, “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.  Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.  In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”  (1 Timothy 6:17-19)

Jesus puts before us two treasures.  But only one is of any value. 

Jesus then puts before us two costs in verses 22-23.  If you seek this treasure, it will cost you.  If you seek this treasure it will cost you this.  Jesus says, “The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are good your whole body will be full of light.” (That is one cost).  “But if your eyes are bad your whole body will be full of darkness.” (That’s the other cost.)

There are two pictures here – one is the body – and the other is of one of those old-fashioned candles with a glass chimney.  So here is a body, with an eye and the purpose of the eye is to give light to the whole person, just as one of those lamps gives light to a whole room.  If the light is bad – that is if the flame is smoky, or the glass caked with soot, if the wick is untrimmed or the fuel depleted – the person remains in utter darkness. 

What does it mean that light is good?  That adjective good in the original Septuagint means singleness of purpose, undivided loyalty. The good eye is one fixed on God, unwavering in its gaze, constant in its fixation.

I believe that Jesus is simply asking us here, what is your ambition costing you?  Because whatever you are after it is costing you something.  Your time, your energies, your skills, your family your enjoyment of life.  Ask yourself what is your ambition costing you and is it worth it.  Jesus has put before us two treasures, one earthly and one divine and now He says here are the two costs - one will bring darkness and the other light. 

Gordon Macdonald in his book entitled “Christ Followers in the Real World” tells of a man who became addicted to profit.  Macdonald was driving with the man and they came to a point on the interstate where they could see the buildings the man had built, which housed his most recent flourishing business.  Everything on that property was a monument to achievements that people who think success is everything could want.

As they drove past the property, Macdonald realizing the effort and the work that the development demanded, said to the man, “You must be very proud of all this?” to which the man replied, “I hate every square foot of it.  It’s cost me my marriage, my family, my health, and my relationship with God.  I wish I’d never seen any part of it.”

What’s your ambition costing you?  If you’re after earthly treasure and think that it will bring light to you, you are wrong. It will only bring darkness – and not a slight darkness, but a deep darkness - a darkness that deceives and parades itself as light.  “If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?”

Two treasures, but Jesus says in effect only one is worth the expense.  Only one treasure is worth giving yourself for.  Only one treasure is worth the expenditure of your time and energy and skills and desire.  That is the treasure that will never fade or perish – the treasure that will bring true light to your existence. 

So, two treasures but only one is of any value. Two costs but only one is worth the expenditure.

Next in verse 24 Jesus speaks of two masters but you can only choose one.  “Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve both God and money.” 

Now of course, Jesus is not saying that we should not provide for our families.  We have this admonition in the sixth chapter of the book of Proverbs.

“Go to the ant, you sluggard, consider its ways and be wise!  It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.  How long will you lie there, you sluggard?  When will you get up from your sleep?  A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man.” (Proverbs 6:6-11)

No, Jesus is not against making provision for our family or for the future.  He is rather against the selfish accumulation of goods, of seeking to put the world before God, of seeking the world’s treasures before seeking the treasures of the divine.  How is your heart?

And the question arises -when have I crossed the line that exists between the working and providing a healthy environment for my family and becoming a slave to my possessions and hungering for the worlds’ goods and treasures?

It’s difficult, isn’t it?  Because we middle-class North Americans tend to pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves and say, “Well we’re not really rich, and Jesus words are truly aimed at the rich here, so we are okay.” But the truth is there has never been a more materialistic culture than the culture in which we are now a part of in the history of the world.

Here are some questions for us to consider to help decide whether or not we’ve crossed the line between simply providing for your family and greed.

1. How much time during the week do you give to your work so that you can provide materially for your family?  Calculate that, then figure out how much time you give to provide spiritually for your family?  How does it compare?  Which is more important?

And I hope that you find that that is a hard question to answer because you can’t divide it up.  It is not that this time is for God and this time is for work.  I hope you discover that what you do in your work is for God.  If you can answer that way then you can know that you haven’t crossed that line.

But here are some other questions -

2. Do you give freely to those in need?

3. What is it that makes you truly happy?  A bigger office, a new car?  Or the opportunity to share the gospel with your neighbor through the spoken word or a kind act. 

4. What story in the newspaper would you read first, a story about the continuing fall in the stock markets, or a story about the refugees in the middle east?

5. Whom do you seek to emulate?

Think about those, and let the Spirit speak to you and He will tell you whether or not you have crossed the line from responsibly providing for your family to greed and becoming a slave to possessions. And do not be mistaken, Jesus is quite clear here that you cannot serve both masters.  It is either one or the other.

So what have we discovered?  Two treasures but only one is of any value. Two costs but only one is worth the expenditure. Two masters and must choose one, we cannot serve both.

And then at verse 25 there are two preoccupations, but only one is worth seeking.

You can be preoccupied with what you will wear and what you will eat and what you will drink or you can preoccupied with God. And Jesus says that our preoccupation with God is the only preoccupation worth having because then all these other things will be added to us.

Jesus is not saying that we need to be irresponsible.  What He is teaching us is that even material necessities are not valid causes for us, heirs of the kingdom to worry.  Our physical needs, what we will eat, what we will drink, what we will wear may be very legitimate, but don’t let them drown out your commitment to God and His righteousness.  If we do worry about these things it betrays a lack of trust, we are no better than non-believers who never trust God for even the basic necessities. 

Do you know Romans 8:32? “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”  God has already given us his best gift; how much more will He give us lesser gifts!!

You may ask how this is done.  How can I stop worrying about these things?  How can I stop being preoccupied with the worries of life?  And Jesus gives us the answer - don’t be preoccupied with worrying about the things of this world but be preoccupied with seeking first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added on to you.

It’s what C.S. Lewis called the principle of inattention.  It means that there are some things that you can’t get by going after them. There are qualities in life that are like that. Happiness is like that.  Seek it out and you won’t get it.  

Humility is like that.  Have you ever tried to be humble? What if you succeed?  Do you tell your friends, “I have done it.  I’m tops in humility!” You cannot achieve humility.  Truly humble people never think of it. So with the things of this world.  Don’t worry about them – how?  Seek first the kingdom of God – let that be your preoccupation. 

C.S. Lewis wrote, “Look for yourself, (have an eye on yourself and your needs and your desires) and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin and decay.  But look for Christ (have your eye firmly fixed on Him, on serving Him, loving Him, exalting Him, proclaiming Him) and you will find Him and with Him everything else thrown in.” 

What are you ambitious for in life?  It is an important question.  Because our ambitions tend to dominate our lives.  We give our energies, our thoughts, our skills, and our time to achieving our ambitions, and so if our ambitions dominate us to such a degree we had better know what it is that we are after so that we can ask ourselves, “Is it worth it?” 

So with our ambitions, there are two treasures, but only one is worth seeking.  There are two costs but only one is worth the expenditure. There are two masters and we must choose one if we are going to part of the kingdom. There are two preoccupations but only one is worthy of an heir of the kingdom.

Is it wrong to be ambitious? No.  But let your ambition be for God and His kingdom, His values, His agenda alone. 

Copyright MBC and Tom Cullen - November 2006

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