Taking Hold of Life

In the musical The Greatest Showman, Jenny Lind’s character sings a song called “Never Enough.” Dressed in this beautiful ballgown she sings “all the shine of a thousand spotlights, all the stars that fill the night sky would never be enough, never be enough, for me.”

This is quite a contrast to the Beatles’ song “All You Need is Love.” But when it comes to love and money, is there ever enough?

Today in 1 Timothy, we encounter the famous and often misquoted verse: money is the root of all evil. Perhaps you know that the author actually said “For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.” None of us like talking about money, but it really isn’t the money we don’t want to talk about. It is our relationship to it.

We all have a relationship with money, and this passage is specifically speaking against this belief that godliness will lead to financial gain. If you are an outstanding moral citizen, then it will lead to benefits and you will be blessed right? In other words, don’t fake following Jesus for monetary gain and reputation.

Maybe this is an extreme example, but what about using our money as a means of control as if to say, “don’t you know how much I give?” Our money becomes a tool of influence rather than a means of generosity, a purchase of power rather than a stewardship of giving. 1 Timothy says that when we chase wealth we wander from the faith and pierce ourselves with many pains. We begin to crave controversy. We are envious. We are without truth. And nothing is ever enough.

Chasing wealth is built on the mantra of never enough that flows from a vocabulary of scarcity. Scarcity leads to the desire to be rich, the desire to have more, the longing for enough.

You got the promotion, but there’s still another tier to climb. You got the album, but there is a new edition coming out. You have a decent house, but you really need more space. You want to be with your kids more, but there’s always stuff to get done. You have retirement savings, but you need to work so there’s more. You would give more, if only you had more to give right? But there just ..isn’t....enough. Day by day, we gamble, pulling down on the slot machine of life and ask it for more.

But what if there is enough already? What if we take stock of our life, and we find that we already have…enough? More than enough? 1 Timothy says in 6:6 that “Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.”

1 Timothy takes us from the language of scarcity- of never enough- to sufficiency and contentment. Discipleship isn’t meant to lead us into a life of excess or surplus. It is meant to lead us into a life of sufficiency and stewardship.

1 Timothy 6:11 says , “But as for you, man of God, shun all this.” Literally run away, flee from chasing wealth. Run towards and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight. Take hold of the eternal life. Not false positivity. Not life in the future. Eternal life breaking through in the present. Life, that really is life.

We fight against “not enough” by pursuing the way of God, the way of contentment, the way of sufficiency. Lynne Twist calls this the cultivation of the “you-and-me” world instead of the “you-or-me” world.

So often we hear of taking the bull by the horns, of taking control of the situation. But generosity isn’t about holding on. It’s about letting go.

Of course all of this can be easier said than done. On mine and Jim’s ninth wedding anniversary, he came to my office not long after lunch. I thought he was surprising me with an early dinner, but he had lost his job. We both went into a frenzy of worry and grief. Suddenly the support structure we had built was ripped from beneath our feet. How were we going to make it? Would we have to move? My salary alone wasn’t enough. We looked at our expenses and started slashing. Subscriptions here. Eating out there. Then we came to the tithe. It seemed like a logical option. Like a a business decision. The church would still go on without it.

But my mom would say “Hannah, remember who God is. Remember all that He has brought you through. Remember what he has done for you.” It made me think of how in the Old Testament when the Israelites were in the wilderness generations later and they had forgotten the story of their ancestors, the story of who God is and what God rescued them from. And so I would lie in bed and start reminding myself of all God had done, of all He had brought us through so far. I started listing it out. It sounded like that song that says, “and all my life you have been faithful. All my life you have been so, so good. With every breath that I am able, oh I sing of the goodness of God.” Gratitude became my song. The sufficiency of grace became my story.

And so we kept tithing, and God kept being faithful! Jim and I grew even closer as we leaned in to the sufficiency of the life we had. It had been right in front of us, and it was enough.1 Timothy says to “fight the good fight, to take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” If you are member of this church, when you joined you were invited to come to the front. Before the witness of this body of faith you made your first pledge. Now maybe it felt rushed at the end of a service. Maybe the pastor rattled off the question so fast you weren’t sure what you got yourself into.

But you made a pledge to be faithful in giving of yourself through your prayers, your presence, your spiritual gifts, your tithes, and your witness. This is what I call whole-soul stewardship and is what we have been talking about this month, giving our whole selves to God.

Lynne Twist talks about aligning our money with our soul, where money becomes an instrument and expression of our soul. Have you ever known anyone like this?

I remember a 98-year old church member who would call us every day to check on us and see if we needed anything. Once a month drive himself up to the church, barely moving, to give us his tithe. I remember a man who had a dream of feeding kids over the summer and suddenly it turned into something the whole community became involved in. I have heard of money being sent to cover funeral expenses, victims of disaster, and medical bills. I know some people who probably won’t have a dime left to their name when they die because they have lived their live giving it all away. Maybe you know people like that, people who never leave you empty-handed. When money and soul align, money becomes an instrument through which the kingdom of God is expressed. When money and soul align, there is enough to go around.

A few weeks ago we mailed out pledge cards and service commitment forms for the 2023 year. It can be so easy to write down what you’ve always written, to throw it away, or to never turn it in. I encourage you to take those out and pray over them if you haven’t, to take a second look. If you don’t have one, we can get one for you.

There will be time here in a moment during our closing hymn where you will be invited to come forward and bring your cards forward and lay them on the altar. Today is a chance for you to make a pledge again- with your prayers, your presence, your gifts, your tithes, and your witness. May you come forward, and take hold of life that really is life.