Matthew 6:24-34- Trinity 15- October 2, 2011
The Service of God vs.
the Servitude of Mammon
the Servitude of Mammon
“You shall have no other gods before
Me.” This is the 1st Commandment and it sets the foundation
for all the rest. But what exactly does
it mean to have a god? What is
a god? Here is the answer that Martin
Luther gives in the Large Catechism:
A
god means that from which we are to expect all good and to which we are to take
refuge in all distress, so that to have a God is nothing else than to trust and
believe Him from the whole heart; as I have often said that the confidence and
faith of the heart alone make both God and an idol. If your faith and
trust be right, then is your god also true; and, on the other hand, if your
trust be false and wrong, then you have not the true God; for these two belong
together, faith and God. That now, I say, upon which you set your heart and put
your trust is properly your god. So
far Luther.
Martin Luther defines what a god is by
describing what faith does – by describing what takes place in the heart. He learned this helpful insight from Jesus. “Where your treasure is,” Jesus
said, “there your heart will be also.” Faith, whether it be faith in God or faith in
something else, always proceeds from the heart.
It is with the heart that we worship, it is with the heart that we seek,
and it is with the heart that we serve that which we desire most. What do we desire most? That is by definition our
god. What we most desire becomes our
master. Jesus said, “No
one can serve two masters, for 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 God
and mammon.”
