MAKING SENSE OUT OF DOLLARS

MAKING SENSE OUT OF DOLLARS 1 Timothy 6:17-19 November 27, 2005 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction This morning I want to preach on money. I realize a lot of people think that’s all the church ever does is ask for money. Well, I’m proud to say that is not the case here. I looked over my records and in the past year you have heard two Sunday sermons on financial giving. So I thought I’d begin this morning by apologizing for not talking enough about money! I have good news and bad news. The bad news is this: I did not save a lot on my car insurance! The good news is the Word of God teaches us principles that can not only help us be more effective servants for the Lord, but they will also bring us a sense of true and lasting contentment. Of Jesus’ 38 parables, 16 were about money. There are 500 verses in the Bible about faith, 500 on prayer, and over 1,000 on the subject of money and how God expects his people to behave financially. Money--we never feel we have enough, and many are willing to do almost anything to get more. Years ago, the story goes, a San Diego bank hired a private investigator to track down a bank robber and retrieve stolen funds. The search led to Mexico. The investigator crossed the border and then, realizing he would need a Spanish interpreter, opened up the telephone book and hired the first interpreter listed in the Yellow Pages.   After many days, he finally captured the bandit and, through the interpreter, asked him, "Where did you hide the money?" In Spanish, the thief replied, "What money? I have no idea what you're talking about." The translator related his answer in English to the investigator.   With that, the investigator drew his pistol, pointed it at the suspect, and said to the interpreter, "Tell him that if he doesn't tell me where the money is, I will shoot him where he stands." He told the thief in Spanish, and the bank robber said to the interpreter in Spanish, "Se?r, I have hidden the money in a coffee can, under the fourth floorboard, in the second-floor men's room of the Palacio Hotel on Via Del Rio in La Paz." "What did he say?" the investigator asked the interpreter. "Se?r," said the interpreter as he thought for a moment, "he says he is prepared to die like a man!" Here are the top ten signs you are broke: 10. American Express calls you & says: "Leave home without it!" 9. For dinner tomorrow you're formulating a plan to rob the local food bank. 8. Long distance companies never call you to switch. 7. You rob from Peter...and then you rob from Paul. 6. You finally clean your house, because you hope to find some loose change. 5. You think of a lottery ticket as an investment. 4. Your bologna has no first name. 3. Sally Struthers sends you food. 2. All your kitchen condiments come to you courtesy of McDonald’s restaurant And The Number #1 Sign You Are Broke Is: 1. At worship you take communion and then go back for seconds. “Making Sense Out of Dollars” is the title of my message, but I decided to change the text from the one printed in your bulletin. Quite honestly, after wrestling for several days and many hours with the text at Matthew 19:16-26, I still didn’t feel like I could preach it. I will continue to work on it and when we return to the ongoing series in Matthew we’ll cover it. At the rate we’ve been plowing through Matthew, that should be sometime in 2009—seriously, sometime in early Spring. Let’s read our replacement text. It is at 1 Timothy 6:17-19. Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.” Who Are the Rich? The first question that comes to mind in this passage is, Who are “the rich” Paul is telling young pastor Timothy to preach so forcefully to concerning their use of money? And that isn’t a hard question to answer, really. Or is it? Who is rich in our society? Someone with a mansion, a half-million dollar portfolio and a steady 6-figure income? Does that person have to have more than three automobiles to qualify as rich? A wallet full of platinum cards (with zero balances)? A million dollar nest egg in a retirement account? It’s pretty difficult, honestly, to quantify who is rich and who isn’t. We have to assume that Timothy had at least a rough idea of who Paul meant when he wrote those who are rich. The interesting modifier is that little phrase in this present world. The apostle tips his hand a little, indicating that the riches he is talking about are not spiritual riches but the kind of monetary and proprietary riches that have value only in this fleeting life. The rich are those in any culture who are comparably “better off” than others They are the “haves” as over-against the “have-nots”. They are the powerful, the land-owners, the vassals, the upper crust, the CEO’s. Many of them were believers in the church at Ephesus, and Paul has some very practical exhortation for them. The rich are identified as those more vulnerable to certain temptations 1. Arrogance This is pride and it is sin—living under the mistaken belief that I am better than other people who do not have as much as I have. Paul says in no uncertain terms the rich should not be arrogant. We are never to take pride in our economic status for at least three clear biblical reasons: 1) we are all equal in our humanity, created by God in His image; 2) we are all equal in our sinfulness before our holy God, the Word making it abundantly clear that all sin is rebellion before God demanding judgment; and 3) what we think we “have”, whether much or little, all belongs to God and is on loan from God to us, and we don’t “merit” any of it. We are to see all that we handle as gifts on loan from God and not as our own. 2. Idolatry The rich in this world, says Paul, are vulnerable to the sin of idolatry—devoting themselves to their prosperity to a degree that exceeds their devotion to God. I want to add here the truth that idolatry of money and possessions is also a problem to the poor. Paul wrote earlier in this chapter that anyone who wants to get rich falls into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. (1 Timothy 6:9) But just as the temptation to break your diet is more volatile if there is a plate of warm, fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies setting before you within easy reach, so rich people who have the means to satisfy the lust for more and more are all the more vulnerable. 3. Selfishness The apostle’s strong counsel to the rich is to resist the temptation to heap up, hoard and hang on to riches. And the best way to fight that temptation is to give it away and let it be used in wise and godly ways to meet real needs. Timothy is to keep on encouraging these well-to-do church members to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share. That is in verse 18, and look at the well-tailored appeal he makes in verse 19. He says that being rich in good deeds, generosity and sharing is an INVESTMENT. This will get their attention, Timothy—tell them it is an investment—the rich love investing. But of course, such generous giving is an investment not for gain in this world, but in heaven. …they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age… (6:19) How do you fight selfishness? Give away what God has given to you. Tom Brokaw said, “It's easy to make a buck. It's a lot tougher to make a difference.” Seneca, back in the first century, said, “We should give as we would receive: cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.” Disciplined, intentional and generous charitable giving is the best antidote to selfishness. 4. False Values The fourth temptation that the rich are uniquely vulnerable is false values. It is really an extension of idolatry, the clinging to materialism as a means of medicating the soul. Paul describes it as putting their hope in wealth. We always think that if we only had this much more money, we would be satisfied and finally happy. But wealth never satisfies. Ask Jewell Whittaker, the wife of the man who took home the richest undivided jackpot in lottery history—a cool $314 million. One year ago next week she said, “I wish all of this never would have happened. I wish I would have torn the ticket up.” And I know you’re fantasizing the same thing I thought, “No, don’t tear it up! I’ll take it!” There was a bounty of $5,000 offered for each wolf captured alive in a western state. It turned Sam and Jed into fortune hunters. Day and night they scoured the mountains and forests looking for their valuable prey. Exhausted one night, they fell asleep dreaming of their potential fortune. Suddenly, Sam awoke to see that they were surrounded by 30 wolves with flaming eyes and bared teeth. He nudged his friend and said, "Jed, wake up! We're rich!" Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy in August, 2003, after making over 300 million dollars in the nine years preceding 2003. Putting your trust in the illusory prosperity of this world is a grave mistake, primarily because it robs you of your greatest privilege—putting your hope in God. So, who are “the rich” referred to in 1 Timothy 6, who are vulnerable to temptations of arrogance, idolatry, selfishness and skewed values? WE are the rich! If rich is defined in terms of being comparably “better off,” then we are unquestionably rich! The total average income for the rest of the human race is $70 a year. Author Norman Cousins said that each year the average American loses $75 a year through dropped, misplaced or stolen funds. Sure, the cost of living is higher, but estimates show that our average wage-to-need differential is still over three times that of the rest of the world, including the developed nations. Bill Boice wrote this inspiring observation: Dear Lord, I have been re-reading the record of the Rich Young Ruler and his obviously wrong choice. But it has set me thinking. No matter how much wealth he had, he could not ride in a car, have any surgery, turn on a light, buy penicillin, hear a pipe organ, watch TV, wash dishes in running water, type a letter, mow a lawn, fly in an airplane, sleep on an innerspring mattress, or talk on the phone. If he was rich, then what am I? It is not hard for anyone in this church, for anyone in our neighborhoods, to put food on the table. .We often thoughtlessly think families around us are living in substandard conditions because it has become harder every day to have two cars, a DVD player and TIVO, a timeshare at the lake or a motor home. It’s criminal and ungodly to see a message going out to young couples that somehow their marriage will be better or their family life more fulfilling if they can only get another piece of junk into their garage. The church should be courageous enough to say, "That's a lie. Things don't make a marriage; prosperity doesn’t make a family." And I need to add that too often a similarly insidious message is being burped out of fat, out-of-shape churches that it is undeniably, always God’s will that you be rich. Just whip up a little PMA, slap a faith label on it and expect your miracle. And once you’ve heard this teaching, if you don’t get rich and stay rich, it’s because your faith is anemic. It is not only false, but it is cruel, oppressive, religious mumbo jumbo masquerading as victorious faith. And a lot of the teachers and proponents are buying Lear Jets and palatial mansions in Monaco. I want to read you a quote. see if you can guess its author. “There is no way, if you take the whole counsel of God's Word, that you can equate riches or material things as a sign of God's blessing.” Jim Bakker (from a letter to his followers from his prison cell a few years ago). A little jail time can purify one’s theology. Some of the most sinister examples of hucksterism and sham have issued from the church in the name of Christianity. Raw, cheeky, unmitigated manipulation—all to fill shysters’ coffers, and all in the name of Christ!. The audacity! The impudence to borrow Christ’s name and authority for personal gain! There is massive perversion of God’s Word for selfish gain all around us—on television, on the internet—superhighway robbery, electronic extortion. Here’s another quote: “My life could be over in March because we're not into agreement to bind Satan's power and loose the money that God says belongs to us for our needs to be met.” Twisted teaching makes you go “Hunhh?” Truth is clarion: Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. (webmasters note: 1 Timothy 6:6-11) There is no security in things and this world’s prosperity. And please, I will be most disappointed if anyone leaves here and says Pastor Bersett doesn’t believe in miracles and God’s blessing! Right smack in the middle of our text it says …God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. (1 Timothy 6:17). As Warren Wiersbe said, “There is nothing spiritual about sitting around morosely in a corner and saying, “These things will not last anyway! Why enjoy them? God wants us to enjoy his good gifts…But he does not want us to depend on things—He wants us to depend on Him.” Our calling is contentment in godliness. That simply means being radically serious about our faith in, and our service for, Christ. One brilliant author succinctly captured the contentment we are called to with this: If you have food in the refrigerator, clothes on your back, a roof overhead and a place to sleep . . . you are richer than 75% of this world. If you have money in the bank, in your wallet, and spare change in a dish someplace . . . you are among the top 8% of the world's wealthy. If you woke up this morning with more health than illness . . . you are more blessed than the million who will not survive this week. If you have never experienced the danger of battle, the loneliness of imprisonment, the agony of torture, or the pangs of starvation . . . you are ahead of 500 million people in the world. If you can attend a church meeting without fear of harassment, arrest, torture or death . . . you are more blessed than three billion people in the world. If you hold up your head with a smile on your face and are truly thankful you are blessed because the majority can, but most do not. If you can hold someone's hand, hug them, or even touch them on the shoulder . . . you are blessed because you can offer a healing touch. If you can read this message, you just received a double blessing in that someone was thinking of you, and furthermore, you are more blessed than over two billion people in the world who cannot read at all. Brothers and sisters, how rich we are! Every one of our too-often-forgotten earthly blessings of God lavished on us. And that’s not to mention the incalculably exceeding spiritual blessings! Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3) Concluding Exhortations Well, here I stand as a pastor-teacher in front of a room full of rich people. I would be crazy if I didn’t lay hold of this opportunity to bring you a concluding exhortation from the heart of this text. Here it is: You are rich because of God’s grace toward you, so GIVE! Give generously, courageously, consistently, sacrificially, cheerfully, voluntarily, enthusiastically! Disclaimer: if for any reason you feel my teaching or any other teaching from this church is manipulative and you are made uncomfortable, don’t give here. But give into the kingdom work somewhere. Find a ministry you trust and give. It’s not about our budget; it’s about you and the kingdom! Here’s how we make sense out of dollars: GIVE so you won’t be arrogant and proud of things you have but never deserved. GIVE so you will not put your hope in uncertain worldly wealth which is idolatry. GIVE to declare that your hope is in God who richly provides you with everything. GIVE and lay up for yourselves as a firm foundation for the coming age. GIVE and take hold of life that is truly life. By the authority of the Word of God, I command you to do good, to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share!   [Back to Top]