“Do Not Store Up for Yourselves Treasures on Earth.” Matthew 6:19–34. Christ’s Ethical Teaching on Material Possessions. A Series of Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount, Part Four

Author: Boyan Mak Mihaylov

Abstract:

Boyan Mak Mihaylov, “Do Not Store Up for Yourselves Treasures on Earth.” Matthew 6:19–34. Christ’s Ethical Teaching on Material Possessions. A Series of Sermons on the Sermon on the Mount, Part Four. Sofia: Holy Trinity Christian Church, September 6, 2026

This sermon, the fourth in a series on the Sermon on the Mount, examines Matthew 6:19–34 and Christ's ethical teaching on material possessions. In a contemporary consumer culture saturated with advertising and financial anxiety, Jesus's words about treasure, vision, and worry remain profoundly relevant. The sermon argues that the passage moves beyond simplistic questions about wealth and poverty to address the human heart, its motivations, aspirations, and fears. The first section (Matt. 6:19–24) explores the contrast between earthly and heavenly treasure, showing that hoarding material wealth leads to idolatry—serving Mammon rather than God. The second section (Matt. 6:25–34) addresses anxiety about food, drink, and clothing, arguing that worry is incompatible with trust in a Heavenly Father who knows our needs. Drawing on commentators including Bonhoeffer, Stott, Luther, Spurgeon, and Gooding, the sermon challenges believers to examine what they truly value, how they view material possessions, and whether anything competes with God's lordship in their daily lives. The conclusion calls for confidence in God's providential care and a reorientation of the heart away from earthly accumulation toward heavenly treasure.

Original language:

Bulgarian

Keywords:

Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 6:19–34, material possessions, treasure in heaven, Mammon, anxiety and worry, divine providence, trust in God, Christian ethics, consumer culture¹

Introduction

This part of Matthew is extremely relevant in today’s consumer age. Advertisements in the media create the false impression that one cannot live without the next product being offered. According to ChatGPT, the contemporary person living in Western Europe is exposed to between several hundred and a thousand advertising exposures daily, especially for an active internet user. For example, a study of advertising exposure based on data from 188 countries estimates about 736 online advertisements daily for the United Kingdom.

Over the years Christians have repeatedly asked themselves whether God wants them to be poor or rich? As we will understand today, this is a superficial and wrongly posed question. The teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ extends far beyond this seemingly simple dilemma and addresses the questions of the human heart, the inner motives of man, our aspirations and fears.

Matthew 6:19–34 is part of the Sermon on the Mount, part of Christ’s ethical teaching about the Kingdom of God, who taught the crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond the Jordan (Matt. 4:25). Christ’s ethical teaching takes place in the midst of His healing ministry. The Sermon on the Mount is at the same time an ideal toward which we must strive and a transformative initiative². It is an ideal for us because we can always find greater depth in its understanding, corresponding to our knowledge of God. But it also has a practical orientation, because through it the Lord Jesus Christ gives us concrete initiatives that transform our lives.

In the interpretation of Matt. 6:19–34 there are two serious dangers. The first is to concentrate only on the beginning “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth...”. Concentration on this negative command without regard to the following teaching leads to a view of dedication to extreme poverty. It is possible that God has given certain people a special gift to live without any possessions, as for example Francis of Assisi, but this is certainly a special gift from God. The second danger is to concentrate on the end “and all these things will be added to you,” again without delving into Christ’s teaching. Thus we can read in the text a promise of material prosperity.

For a good understanding the immediate context is important. Matt. 6:19–34 immediately follows Jesus’ teaching on prayer and precedes His teaching on judging one’s neighbor. The passage can be said to be almost in the center of the Sermon on the Mount.

Treasures on Earth or Treasures in Heaven? (Matthew 6:19–24)

Storing Up Treasures (Matt. 6:19–21)

Storing up treasures (Matt. 6:19–21). The word “treasure”³ (Gk. Θησαυρός) has two main meanings. First, it means a box for valuables. Second – treasure or wealth.⁴ That is, the word denotes both the place where valuables are stored and the valuables themselves.

In Matt. 6:19 Jesus uses the word in its literal second meaning. The main characteristics of treasures in Jesus’ time are that metals corrode and clothes are eaten by moths. That is, these treasures are impermanent. But in Matt. 6:20 Jesus already uses the word metaphorically, since obviously in heaven there is no point in storing physical treasures.

Application. If we transfer Jesus’ words about 20 centuries forward into our contemporary world, then in a modern context “treasures” can include money, real estate, possessions, investments, and everything material that a person collects as wealth. The main emphasis is on hoarding earthly wealth, not on a prohibition against owning things!

But Jesus does not stop there. In Matt. 6:21 He says that where our heart is, there our treasure will be also. How should we interpret this? Jesus appeals to the human heart, on which it depends whether a person will show greed by storing up treasures.

Application. We can imagine the human heart as a treasure chest, in which there is either a desire for giving or greed. It depends on us what we wish to put into this chest and what we will take out of it.

The parallel passage in Luke 12:33–34 reads: “Sell your possessions and give to charity; make for yourselves purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:33–34, Veren edition). The word “possessions” (Gk. Ὑπάρχω⁵) here has the general meaning of something that is at my disposal⁶, and not necessarily “real estate,” as we would be inclined to read in the Bulgarian translation of the text.

The well-known English theologian Prof. David Gooding comments on Luke 12:33–34:

“Our small material possessions seem so important and valuable that we are afraid of the loss we will suffer if we give them away. To counteract this fear, Christ places our possessions in their proper perspective”⁷

Another passage again in Luke reads: “But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. So be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:35)

Jesus exposes the Pharisees and says to them: “Better to give alms from what is in the heart; and behold, everything will be clean for you.” (Luke 11:41).

Similar is the understanding of the Apostle Paul in 1 Cor. 8:1–9 – a person should give voluntarily according to his ability.

Spiritual Vision (Matt. 6:22–23)

Spiritual vision (Matt. 6:22–23). The eye here is used as a metaphor for spiritual vision. It can be pure or evil. The person with an evil “eye” or with an evil view of wealth becomes an idolater. On the other hand, the believer must have a pure view of wealth. Stott summarizes this as follows: “Then what is forbidden? What Jesus forbids His followers is selfish hoarding of goods”⁸

Serving Two Masters (Matt. 6:24)

Serving two masters (Matt. 6:24). The greedy person becomes an idolater because he begins to have a master other than God. He submits more and more to his desire to collect treasures on earth. Jesus uses here the name of the pagan Carthaginian god of money Mammon, whose name becomes a byword for money.⁹ In this way serving Mammon is contrasted with serving the true God.

The German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer comments on this part of the Sermon on the Mount in his famous book The Cost of Discipleship:

“The possessions of the world have a tendency to turn the hearts of disciples away from Jesus. To what have we actually dedicated ourselves? That is the question. Are our hearts directed toward earthly things? Are we trying to combine devotion to them with faithfulness to Christ? Or have we dedicated ourselves exclusively to Christ? The light of the body is the eye, and the light of a Christian is his heart. If the eye is dark, how great is the darkness of the body! And the heart is dark when it has clung to earthly things, because then, however urgently Jesus calls us, His call fails to find access to our heart.”¹⁰

Application for Us Today

Regarding our life today, this part of the text poses three questions:

1. What am I storing up in my life that is subject to damage, breakage, or loss and is practically meaningless?

2. What is my view regarding material possessions?

3. Is there anything related to material possessions that competes with God’s lordship in my daily life?

Anxiety about Food, Drink, and Clothing (Matt. 6:25–34)

Besides idolatry of money, anxieties about food, drink, and clothing can grip the human soul. Jesus asks a rhetorical question that suggests that life is much more than these three things. He argues that worries cannot change the facts. Christ gives as an example the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, for which God cares. Martin Luther draws special attention to the fact that God makes birds our teachers, writing:¹¹

“He makes birds our teachers and instructors. The great and constant grace toward us gives rise to the fact that in the Gospel a helpless sparrow becomes a theologian and preacher of the wisest among people ... When you listen to the nightingale, you hear an excellent preacher...”¹²

On the other hand, Spurgeon focuses on the lilies: “Beautiful lilies, how you rebuke our foolish anxiety!”¹³

Christ emphasizes the fact that God is actually “your Heavenly Father,” that is, our Father! In Matt. 6:30 Jesus calls those who worry “of little faith” (Gk. ὀλιγόπιστος¹⁴). Personally, I think His goal was not to insult His listeners, but to show that believers have a Heavenly Father who cares and instead of worrying, they should have greater faith in Him.

Christ also shows the great difference between believers in Him and the Father on the one hand and pagan religions on the other (“the Gentiles seek all these things,” Matt. 6:32). Pagan religion in its essence is an attempt at a transaction with some limited deity, which should give rain, fertility, or another acquisition.

Application for Us Today

Worries about food, drink, and clothing seem to remain in the Bulgarian’s past, but they have been displaced by longings for property, a car, and a well-paid job. Again according to ChatGPT, about 2.45 million Bulgarians have at least one registered loan, according to BNB data as of June 30, 2025, according to information from the Central Credit Register. This is approximately 38% of the population of Bulgaria. Against the background of these figures, it is not surprising how many people experience fear and anxiety?

But our contemporary society seems to create its own anxieties? The problem today may be that you want to have the other person’s car, the other person’s job, the other person’s wife... If we listen to Jesus’ teaching, perhaps it is time to stop comparing ourselves with someone else, richer, more beautiful, smarter? The same applies to our country, which we compare daily with other countries.

Building trust in our Heavenly Father means seeing ourselves as valuable children in His eyes!

Conclusion

This passage from the Sermon on the Mount should make us reflect on two main questions. The first, “What do we truly value?” and the second, “What do we worry about?”¹⁵ John Stott sees in it two treasures (perishable and heavenly), two states of the eyes (being in light or darkness), and two masters (God and Mammon).¹⁶

For the contemporary Christian today, this teaching of Christ is vitally important. In this passage from our Lord’s teaching we also receive full assurance that God as our Heavenly Father has complete knowledge of our needs (Matt. 6:32). From us Christ expects us to build our faith in His care.