DRAFT ONLY

Introduction
      Our passage is part of the first discourse, the sermon on the mount. Having exposed an external religious piety that is little more than outward show 6:1-18, Jesus calls on his disciples to exhibit an internal piety of loyalty v19-24 and faith v25-34.

The passage
      v19. Jesus points to the danger of selfishness and misplaced values. His disciples must choose to possess either God or mammon. The mammon, "the treasures of earth", may be clothing, easily fretted away by moth, rats, mildew and the like, or more solid possessions easily stolen by a thief who digs through the mud walls of the house and has them away.
      v20. Instead of living to possess ephemeral mammon, Jesus' disciples should live to possess "treasures of heaven." The Rabbis taught that certain earthly pursuits had eternal significance. The New Testament ran with the same idea, eg. suffering for Christ, forgiving one another..... these have eternal "reward", 2Cor.4:17. The practice of these qualities shape Christ-likeness within us and enable us to better reign with Christ in eternity.
      v21. The thing most highly treasured takes control of a person's inner being shaping mind, emotions and will. "If pleasure is the highest good, then men will degenerate into sheer self-indulgence", Calvin.
      Jesus' absolutism seems to again undermine the sensible use and enjoyment of the things of this world. Yet scripture itself extols the virtue of work and provision for the future, Prov.6:6-8, provision for relatives, 1Tim.5:8, and the enjoyment of God's good creation, 1Tim.4:3-4, 6:17.
      v22-23. The body finds its way through the eye. Where the eye is sound the way is enlightened for the body, but where the eye is damaged the way for the body is darkened. If the eye views what is itself dark, then the way for the body is darkened, although it doesn't know it is proceeding in darkness. With this metaphor Jesus is teaching that a self-centred focus on possessions inevitably undermines a person's direction in life, making them spiritually blind.
      v24. "Jesus now explains that behind the choice between two treasures (where we lay them up) and two visions (where we fix our eyes) there lies the still more basic choice between two masters (whom we are going to serve)" Stott. Jesus is simply saying that God is served with single-eyed devotion, or he is not served at all. He is like a slave owner requiring full-time service. The word "money" or mammon (a transliteration of the Greek and Aramaic mamona) refers to worldly things in which we place our confidence. This can be money or property, but also something like intellect.

The gift of loyalty
      As with chapter 5:21-48 we are again faced with Jesus' absolutism, the purpose of which serves to expose our sin rather than direct righteous living. Difficult though it is, we are forced to admit that we do serve "mammon". We are men and women of divided loyalties. Jesus calls for a piety of unswerving loyalty, but our hearts are here on earth, and the light within us is darkness. We are again forced to rely on the gift of righteousness in Christ through faith. He was the only truly loyal man, only in his loyalty can we stand. The "righteousness (that) surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law" is not something we do, nor can do, rather it can only be ours as a gift of grace appropriated through faith.
      The wonder of free grace often prompts the retort, "why not do evil that good may abound?" If loyalty counts for nothing, why not be disloyal in the extreme? Greater disloyalty would surely produce greater mercy. The apostle often faced this criticism, but put it aside because the way of grace is better able to promote godly living than the way of law. A person under grace, and thus led by the Spirit, tends not to "gratify the desires of the sinful nature."
      So in these words of Jesus on loyalty to God we find first and foremost a reminder to stand in Christ's loyalty rather than our own. Our devotion to God will always be compromised and so if single-eyed devotion is His requirement for "entry into the Kingdom of Heaven" then we are going to have to rely on a loyalty credited as a gift. Second, we find in these words of Jesus an ideal of loyalty that will serve to discipline our Christian life. When handling this world's things we are reminded of the danger of selfishness and misplaced values.
      It is interesting to note how the way of grace through faith motivates greater loyalty to our Lord than does the way law obedience. The theological principle that covers this idea is stated by the apostle in Galatians 5:18. "If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law". When we lay law on a believer to promote loyalty to God, such as "do not store up for yourselves treasure on earth", we end up promoting selfishness and thus guilt. The function of the law is to make sin more sinful and thus lead us to Christ for salvation, Gal.3:24. To return to the law is to undermine our salvation, Gal.3:3, 5:4. On the other hand, when we recognize that God, as a gift of grace, views us as loyal subjects on the basis of Jesus' loyalty, then loyalty begins to naturally flourish in our being. The instrument of this miracle is faith in the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. It is his task to shape us toward the righteousness we already possess in Christ.