Pentecost 16 (6)
Notes
Transcript
1 Timothy 6:6-16 (NIV)
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 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. 10 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. 11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time--God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.
Proverbs 10:22 (NIV)
22 The blessing of the LORD brings wealth, and he adds no trouble to it.
Today’s sermon is about two goals that are directly opposed to each other. Serving God and serving Money. Jesus himself teaches that they are opposed to each other and warns against serving the one and encouraging his followers to serve the other. The two times Jesus is recorded as saying this show how important this teaching is. In the second, it almost immediately precedes our Gospel lesson.
Matthew 6:24–27 (NIV84) 24 “No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money. 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
13 “No servant can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.” 14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.
The parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus comes several verses later in the chapter.
“What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.”
What is highly valued among men?
Certain professions.
High quality “stuff” (examples)
Powerful automobiles.
Luxurious homes.
Extravagant vacations.
Fine clothing and jewelry.
Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995.[1] The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates.
It was hosted by Robin Leach for the majority of its run.[1] When Leach was joined by Shari Belafonte in 1994, the show was renamed Lifestyles with Robin Leach and Shari Belafonte. Leach ended each episode with a wish for his viewers that became his signature catchphrase, "champagne wishes and caviar dreams."
Some believe that since many of these homes were in prime vacation destination places, it was a not so subtle plug for those of us who are not so rich and famous to go to these areas and resorts mentioned on them for our own little getaways.
I think we would rather be rich and affluent than poor and strapped for cash. It is human nature to want more than what we have. Is this wrong?
Well, if people were content to just subsist you would see very little progress.
We have seen fantastic advances in medicine, science and technology especially in the last century. Civilization has come a long way over the years in so many areas. If mankind were content to just focus on food and clothing, the world would be a completely different place.
And even though having just food and clothing would be enough, does not the Bible remark on how God does bless his people with so much more? (See unused passages from last week’s sermon.)
Deuteronomy 7:12–15 (NIV84)
12 If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your forefathers. 13 He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land—your grain, new wine and oil—the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land that he swore to your forefathers to give you. 14 You will be blessed more than any other people; none of your men or women will be childless, nor any of your livestock without young. 15 The Lord will keep you free from every disease. He will not inflict on you the horrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all who hate you.
Malachi 3:10 (NIV)
10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.
Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
So what is the problem? The proper attitude and use of wealth.
So what is the problem? The proper attitude and use of wealth.
We have the potential of producing more than we need. Do we use the profits from that selfishly to enjoy our own lives or do we divest of that to enrich others? Several weeks ago we were warned of the foolishness of storing up treasures for ourselves and not being rich toward God in the parable of the Rich Farmer.
I thought of this several weeks ago when we took a pontoon ride around Lake Minoqua. The pilot kept telling us about the rich and famous people who own vacation homes on the lake and how much those secondary homes were worth. One was owned by a well known cheese maker. I thought, “Well, if he charged less for cheese, I could eat more cheese. He could certainly afford to do that.” He could also have provided his workers with better benefits and paid the hard working farmers more for their milk. But that is not how the world works. So often the rich get richer and may even at times take advantage of the poor. (Warnings in the Old Testament).
1 “Why does the Almighty not set times for judgment? Why must those who know him look in vain for such days? 2 There are those who move boundary stones; they pasture flocks they have stolen. 3 They drive away the orphan’s donkey and take the widow’s ox in pledge. 4 They thrust the needy from the path and force all the poor of the land into hiding. 5 Like wild donkeys in the desert, the poor go about their labor of foraging food; the wasteland provides food for their children. 6 They gather fodder in the fields and glean in the vineyards of the wicked. 7 Lacking clothes, they spend the night naked; they have nothing to cover themselves in the cold. 8 They are drenched by mountain rains and hug the rocks for lack of shelter. 9 The fatherless child is snatched from the breast; the infant of the poor is seized for a debt. 10 Lacking clothes, they go about naked; they carry the sheaves, but still go hungry. 11 They crush olives among the terraces; they tread the winepresses, yet suffer thirst. 12 The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the souls of the wounded cry out for help. But God charges no one with wrongdoing.
4 Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, 5 saying, “When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?”— skimping on the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, 6 buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. 7 The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done.
14 Do not take advantage of a hired man who is poor and needy, whether he is a brother Israelite or an alien living in one of your towns. 15 Pay him his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and is counting on it. Otherwise he may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man— 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? 7 All man’s efforts are for his mouth, yet his appetite is never satisfied.
16 Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. 17 Better a small serving of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred.
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”
St. Paul applies this truth to the life of a follower of Jesus. 1 Timothy 6:6–10 (NIV84)
6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 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. 10 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.
Example of Judas Iscariot. The character flaw that he is known for his greed. He would steal from the treasury of Jesus and sold our Savior out for 30 pieces of silver. His life ended in despair and suicide.
Crimes of extortion, embezzlement, theft, etc. are cautionary tales of how greed leads to dismal failure.
Greedy People Don’t Learn From Their Mistakes
Greedy People Don’t Learn From Their Mistakes
In a study conducted by Mussel and his colleagues, they learned that greedier people struggled to learn from their mistakes. The researchers had 20 subjects, all economics students, complete a survey. Then they were asked whether they believed that man was predisposed to greed or not. Finally, the students had to inflate a virtual balloon. Whoever inflated it the most had a higher chance of winning a cash prize offered to the participants. But if the balloon exploded, they were disqualified. Even if participants had burst their balloon on their first try, they failed to learn from their mistake, and tried again, inflating until the balloon popped. The mechanism that allows the brain to learn from its mistakes doesn’t work as effectively in greedy people. The researchers concluded that greedy people tend to ignore warning signals from the brain – and therefore, take on higher risks.
Famous Examples of Greed
Famous Examples of Greed
“The greatest company in the world” – that’s how CEO’s Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay described their company, Enron. The two were always hungry for more, and when energy and gas weren’t enough, they took on more, adding coal and insurance to their company’s repertoire. They took on riskier deals, and purchased new companies. In December 2001, Enron went bankrupt. In the course of uncovering their bankruptcy, a huge betrayal came to light: for years, Enron had cooked their books. Their investors lost billions, their 20,000 employees lost their jobs. Lay died during the trials against him, and Skilling is still sitting prison today for his crimes. The two acted recklessly, and acted as though their injustices would never be uncovered. The fact that their actions damaged countless other people’s lives doesn’t seem to affect them – yet another side effect of greed on the human spirit.
Rather than focus on accumulating the things of this world that will not last (treasures on earth), we are commanded over and over again to pursue those things that will have eternal results.
Treasures in heaven.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
Look for an illustration
17 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. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 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.
1 All depends on our possessing
God's abundant grace and blessing,
Though all earthly wealth depart.
They who trust with faith unshaken
In their God are not forsaken
And e'er keep a dauntless heart.
2 He who to this day has fed me
And to many joys has led me
Is and ever shall be mine.
He who ever gently schools me,
He who daily guides and rules me,
Will remain my help divine.
3 Many spend their lives in fretting
Over trifles and in getting
Things that have no solid ground.
I shall strive to win a treasure
That will bring me lasting pleasure
And that now is seldom found.