1 Timothy 6:6-19

⁶Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; ⁷for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; ⁸but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. ⁹But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. ¹¹But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of the faith; 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.

¹³In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will bring about at the right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. ¹⁶It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. ¹⁷As 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. ¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, ¹⁹thus 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.

Sermon:  Fighting the Good Fight , preached by Rev. Sandi Anthony, 9/29/19

A number of years ago we made a 10-day trip to Colorado.  While we were gone, contractors were putting in a pool in our back yard, and they had somehow disconnected electricity to the house and never restored it.  No one was there to notice.  We came back after vacation to a refrigerator—and particularly a freezer—full of rotting, stinking food.  When I began to pull things out and toss them, I marveled at how much I had stuffed in that freezer, and I have to admit that I felt pretty embarrassed.  Maybe it’s just my participation in the Costco generation, but I sure did have way more stashed in my freezer than my family would ever need in a reasonable amount of time.  Served me right for losing it all!   I remember posting on Facebook that night: What part of “Give us this day our daily bread,” did I not get?  The Germans, it seemed, had it right in the village where I used to live.  They shopped for most essentials daily—bought a loaf of fresh bread from that bakeri for the day, a few sausages from the village butcher for their dinner, and a few fresh fruits and vegetables.  They did not seem to stock up on huge quantities of food or anything else like we do at Costco for that matter.  I might have learned something from them, you’d think.

Today we continue in 1 Timothy, this time examining a passage about the love of money and excess—about not setting our hopes on the uncertainty of accumulation earthly riches—all kinds of baggage—but upon God, who calls us to good works and sharing and to real life.  The author of our passage urges Timothy to fight the good fight, which I take to mean battling our tendencies to store up treasures on earth at the expense of living a paired down, faith-filled life, focusing on others rather than ourselves.  The author of 1 Timothy goes on to point us to Jesus as our ultimate example of someone who fought the good fight of the faith in the face of all kinds of temptations—including the testimony he made in front of Pontius Pilate in the face of crucifixion.  Remember how Jesus too was tempted by the devil with material wealth and power during his time in the desert, right after his baptism.  We’ve talked about that scripture here numerous times.  But we know that he resisted.

Let me review the background on Timothy that I provided last week.  First and Second Timothy along with Titus are commonly called the Pastoral letters.  These letters are traditionally ascribed to the Apostle Paul, but there are problems associated with assuming Paul’s authorship, including the letters’ vocabulary and style and some common Pauline themes, which are prominently missing.  So, the authorship of 1 Timothy is disputed.  Back then, there was a widespread custom of a loyal disciple of someone writing under another’s authority.  What may have happened is that someone incorporated fragments of letters written by Paul or framed the letter with Paul’s personal greetings to give Paul’s authority to the teachings in these Pastoral letters.  That’s why Paul is identified in the greeting; if you go back and read the first chapter, just prior to today’s passage, you will see that.  Suffice it to say that whoever wrote 1 Timothy, this person wanted “to bring Paul’s word to bear on a situation that developed after the apostle’s death” (Harper Collins Bible Commentary, Jouette M. Massler, p. 1137).

Regardless of authorship, in short, the dual purpose of 1 Timothy is to provide guidance in the problems of church administration and to oppose false teaching in the Christian community.  The author, a veteran missionary, writes to Timothy because Timothy is a younger colleague responsible for a group of churches.  The veteran missionary exhorts Timothy to preserve the church in Ephesus from destructive influences on the outside as well as dissidents from within.  Timothy, we know from I Corinthians and Romans among other places, was a trusted companion, travel partner, and co-worker of Paul. 

We know that Timothy, who was from Lystra in Asia Minor, had an exceptional reputation among local Christians and that he came from a mixed racial background (his mother, Eunice, was Jewish and his father was Greek).  Both Timothy’s Jewish mother and grandmother, Lois, prepared Timothy’s heart to accept Christ by teaching him the Old Testament Scriptures.  They also prepared him from infancy to recognize the Messiah when he appeared.  Paul considered Timothy “a true son in the faith” and said of Timothy that he had a “genuine faith.”

And remember the cultural and political context, because this helps us understand what this epistle communicates to its original hearers.  Timothy’s time, which was either late 1st century or first half of the 2nd century AD, was a world dominated by Roman imperial power and might.  Being a Christian then and being a subject of Rome were heartily in tension.  Christians had to find ways to worship and live out the faith.  Christianity rightly practiced was subversive and at odds with the state.  Jesus was called Lord, not Caesar, for instance—and this was the time of the cruel emperor Nero.  Caesars were divinized—this did not sit well with Christians.  Christians talked about the kingdom of God, which was readily understood as a challenge to Roman power.  Christians chose to live a counter-cultural kind of life, lives that repudiated the military force of Rome and shared wealth communally.

And so, the author provides exhortations to Timothy—this time about wealth.  Last week we read that the first exhortation was to pray first and foremost—for everyone and particularly mentioned were kings and those in authority.  Prayer should be the first characteristic of Christian worship in Ephesus.  This week we are examining the author’s communications to Timothy about riches and wealth.  You will note that money isn’t the problem per say in this text.  The problem is the love of money.  Per 1Timothy’s author, “those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”  And how often have we all prayed, “O Lord, just give me the chance to be so wealthy so I can prove that wrong!”  I’d like to think that I wouldn’t change if I won the lottery—I’d still shop at Ross and clip coupons and try to live close to the earth.  I’d pay off this church’s mortgage first with that money and wouldn’t insist on my own way about anything.  But apparently that is naïve.  A recent study I read says that money and the power it brings actually change our brains.  Because with money comes power, and then we can really throw our weight around—and attach our own strings to any charitable giving we might offer.   

Here’s an example.  I caught up with a friend from a former church a few weeks ago.  She filled me in on some of the church folks I used to know—what was going on in their lives, those who were still alive anyway.  She said, “Remember Lori, Lori who used to be so quiet and unassuming?”  I said, “Sure.”  Well, I learned from my friend that Lori wasn’t quiet or unassuming anymore.  According to my friend, Lori was “taking over the church and running afoul of many people.”  My friend didn’t know this (and I didn’t tell her, of course), but I had previously learned that Lori had recently inherited millions of dollars.  Lori, bless her heart, was contributing heartily to that church, but felt that her “say-so” there should be heavily weighted—there were mega strings attached.  And because of that, relationships there were being strained.  People were put off by her haughtiness and demands.  Sometimes relationships become ruined, destroyed, because of money; hence the author’s exhortations to Timothy.  Those of you who know of siblings being ripped apart, fighting like vultures over inheritances after their parents die; you know how money can destroy relationships.

Remember the movie or play, Steel Magnolias, about a group of southern women?  One memorable line is when Ouiser Boudreaux, played by Shirley MacLaine, says: “The only reason people are nice to me is because I have more money than God.”  Although deep down she has a good heart and is ultimately a good friend, the other side of her is tough and sarcastic and haughty; her memorable line indicates that she has been made haughty by her money—and this the Bible warns us about, not just in Timothy.   Money gives us a sense of self-sufficiency that lures us into believing that we do not need God.  

And so, here is what author of 1 Timothy says to Timothy about the similarly rich people in Ephesus’ churches: The author writes, “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. ¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, ¹⁹thus 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.”  And that’s what it is really about—it’s about taking ahold of the life that really is life, a love lived in God and in sharing and in yielding our own egos in the way of Jesus. 

It’s not the money, really; it’s the attitude that money can bring.  It’s the haughtiness, the power and control, the insisting on our own way that can take us far away from the beauties and rich relationships of the simpler life.  It’s the baggage that goes along with money our Bibles warn us about; the desire to accumulate more and more here on earth that can bog us down spiritually.  I want to end with this true story about a near-death experience reported by a woman named Ann Strieber.  Her near-death experience illustrates what baggage can do to our souls: baggage can bog our souls down in the here and now and also when we come to the juncture between life and death, which will be a place all of us will find ourselves one day.

So, Ann had a serious burst of a brain aneurism back in 2004, and she was clinically dead for a few moments, but was brought back to life and recounts this profound memory: [She writes, I found myself at a] “subway or Greyhound bus station, an underground waiting room lit with those weird yellowish lights you see in such places. The place was busy: I had the impression of lots of people around, and that they were clutching bulging shopping bags and suitcases, maybe the memories they wanted to bring with them from life.  [And I would add here, maybe that baggage actually represented sins, unresolved conflicts, unhealed relationships, forgiveness never offered or accepted, guilt, or money not shared or accompanied by strings attached.]  Ann continues, “And I somehow knew that they weren’t going to be able to go on (to catch that subway or bus) until they were willing to put their packages DOWN.  Soon after, she “heard a disembodied voice saying, ‘You can keep going if you want to.’ I think I was given a choice about whether to live or die (and get on the train or bus). I obviously chose life.” (Source: http://www.unknowncountry.com/diary/love-led-me-home#ixzz5KmIRK3Pn).

Her account causes me to reflect upon my own baggage, my own attitudes toward money.  Many of us live out our lives in denial of death, in a kind of soul-blind way.  We are so apt to focus on the material world in front of us, and it is little wonder.  We are bombarded by messages, advertising and otherwise, to buy, to consume and acquire, to live in the present, to not be concerned with the future or even preserving the planet for future generations.  We don’t even talk about the inevitability of our own death and the inevitability of our meeting our Maker and giving an account for the way we may have prevented someone else’s ability to thrive in life.  We are seduced by wanting to accumulate things, material possessions, fast money, in the here and now.  But all of this can be burdensome to carry in life, and we will one day have to give an accounting.  Remember, God wants us to store our treasures up in heaven—we read that in the Gospels and we read this again in 1 Timothy.

Friends, the Bible talks quite a bit about money—by some accounts over 120 verses reference it specifically.  Lydia’s money from her purple cloth business, remember, undergirded Paul’s ministry.  Abraham, Job, and Solomon were all rich.  God even promised prosperity to Israel if they would obey the law; they would be blessed in a land of milk and honey.  Material prosperity is by no means condemned in scripture, but it comes with heavy cautions—and our struggle with it becomes a means to fight the good fight of faith.   That fight involves self-examination so that we do not become haughty, insisting on our own way, throwing our weight around and becoming corrupted by the power money brings.  That fight involves avoiding setting our hopes on the uncertainty of riches and striving to accumulate more and more things, obsessively—because doing so belies a lack of faith.  If our lives are God-focused, rather than money-focused, we will always do good with our money, be generous, ready to share, and store up a treasure of a good foundation for the future—even for a future when our bodies no longer walk this earth.  What will be our legacy?  This is fighting the good fight per the example of Jesus.  Let us always examine our attitudes toward money and its associated power.  Amen.