Disciples Practice Generosity (Oct. 2, 2022) 1 Tim. 6.6-19

The Beatles on their album With the Beatles had a song cover that states in the title what I believe is the cry of most people all over the world. The song was Money (That’s What I Want). Its words tell the whole story of a society. The words are these: “The best things in life are free, but you can give it to the birds and bees. I need money” and “Money don’t buy everything it’s true but what it don’t get I can’t use.” Words that spoke then and words that speak now.

Money is a tricky thing. I spoke on greed a couple of weeks ago and the words are still true. When we let greed overcome us, we serve one master and that is not God. We serve wealth. That is who we want to serve when we become so focused on money.

I also told a story of a man who amassed a great deal of land and wanted more. In the end he dies from this craving. He would have been served better if he heeded the words of the writer of 1 Timothy. This writer, whom we will call Paul for the sake of convenience, tells “Timothy” that there is great gain in godliness that is combined with contentment.

Contentment is being grateful for what one has and means that one is not taken over by a spirit of avaricious need for more and more. We are told by Paul, who is quoting a line from a well known saying, that we brought nothing into this world and it is sure we will take nothing out of it. The pharaohs of old proved this. Their tombs were filled with treasures that they would use in the afterlife. Treasures of gold and fine linen. Boats to ride the river in the underworld. All the things needed to provide them with the kind of life they were accustomed to in this world.

But what happened to those treasures? They were robbed from the tombs and the pharaohs never used them. See, they came into this world with nothing even though it was thought that they had titles and wealth coming to them. And it was surely proven that they left this world with nothing because, it turns out, they did not need any of the things that they stored in the tombs.

Paul goes on to say that if we have food and clothing (and I would add adequate housing) that we should be content with what we have. Food to keep us going in life and clothing to cover our bodies. Those are things that we really need. Adequate housing is something that should be added to that because if one is exposed to the elements then what good is the clothing that one wears. Of these three the last is the most tempting to want more. We want a bigger house so that we can fit more of our stuff into it. And then we must have yard sales because we have too much stuff in our bigger houses. And then buy more stuff. The cycle continues because we live in a society where we are told that we need more stuff: we need a newer car, we need more kitchen gadgets, we need a better yard, we need, we need, we need…. We are told this daily and we often fall for it never remembering that what we really need is food, clothing, and shelter.

We are told that those who want to be rich fall into temptation. How many of us have ever said, “If I/we had more money then I/we could do….”? I believe that we all have said this. “If I had more money, then I would able to relax more, I would be able to save more, I would be able to give more.” And so, we fall into the temptation to try to earn more money. We play the lottery to ‘strike it rich.’ We work the markets to make sure our investments play off the highest dividend. And when we fall into this temptation to strive for more and more, we become trapped by those desires and we fall into ruin and destruction.

When Paul writes “…trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”[1]he Is speaking of not only those who are desiring the things that they want, but those who lives are harmed and destroyed in the pursuit. Think of those who work in sweatshops producing shoes and clothing for a mere pittance so that we who are rich (and yes, by many standards most of us are rich) can have inexpensive clothing and shoes that give us status. Think of those who work in dangerous conditions to bring us the conveniences that make our live easier. But there is one area that needs to be addressed that is one of the most heinous evidences of people’s lives being destroyed. It is human trafficking. In 2010 it was said that as many as two million people a year fell into this black market. The trafficking then was estimated at 10 billion dollars a year. Many of these people fell into sex work but there are also those who do hard labor and servitude. They are mentally and physically abused and their lives are a living hell. If this was in 2010, imagine what it is today. This black mark on humanity shows that what Paul writes is true: The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some say that the love of money is the root of all evil. But there it is. When we love money, we wander from the path of faith and pierce ourselves with as one translation says “many a painful thorn.”

So, what can we do about this? Are we to throw away our money, our possessions, our lives? No. Paul is not saying that money is bad. In fact, in other letters he calls for the proper payment of those who are working and calls on the right use of money. What is being said here is that the inordinate lust for money and things will get us into all sorts of trouble. Paul is saying that if we love money, then we are idolaters. We serve wealth and not God. Remember what Jesus said about that? We cannot serve two masters; we will love the one and hate the other. Paul, after a brief wrap up of how “Timothy” is to live out his life with godliness, returns to how the rich are to live their lives with their wealth. He says “As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, 19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life.”[2]

The rich are to set their eyes upon God who is the only constant in this world. Here at the church, we are tracking our investments over the past few months and are worried about them as the stock market is not doing so well recently. Perhaps you are doing the same. We are not to set our hopes on the things that are uncertain because they are just that, uncertain. We are, again, to set our hope on the one God who is the only certain thing in this life.

We who are rich are to enjoy the things that God gave to us, not hoard them. But we are also called to do good and be rich in good works. We are called to help those who are less fortunate than we are, we are called to reach out to those who need a ride to the doctor or even, heaven forbid, a trip to the clinic to help with their addiction. We are called to help the least of these. We are called to do good works even when no one else is there to see us do them.

But we are also called to be generous. It is often said that if we made more money we would give more. Do you know that statistics tell us that 20% of people give nothing to charity. They spend it all on themselves. And the other 80%, with exceptions of course, give only 1 to 2% of their incomes. How can we who live in the richest country in the world give so little. It is because we have fallen into the trap of wanting more and more. But when we are generous, we build up for ourselves good foundation for living the life that we want here on earth. We find that we do not give grudgingly but that we give with an open heart. When generous, we become good stewards of what is given to us. We practice stewardship with our time and our resources.

So, what to do with all of this? How do we apply this to our daily lives? I believe that the scripture tells us what to do and how to apply. We are to love others and give with a thankful heart, not set our hearts and minds on other things such as more money and more possessions. We are to be generous and remember who gave us the things that we have. And most of all we are to remember who it is that is the constant in this world.

It is hard to talk about money in church or anywhere else. We get uncomfortable talking about it because we realize that we have fallen into the trap that the rest of the world has fallen into. When we realize this, there is the hope that we can get out of it. When we do so, we can focus on what God has called us to do and be able to use the wealth that we have to the betterment of those around us and to the glory of God. Amen.

[1] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print. [2] The Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1989. Print.