I Timothy #6
CHCC: May 20, 2007
For the Love of Money
I Timothy 6
INTRODUCTION:
This is our final sermon in the First Timothy series. I enjoyed studying this letter because it addresses very real problems any Church Congregation might have to deal with. In fact, of the 13 letters attributed to the Apostle Paul, I’d say it is one of the most PRACTICAL.
This final chapter is just as practical as the rest of the letter. And what could be more down-to-earth than the topic of MONEY? Most people have heard the quote “Money is the root of all evil.” Well, that’s actually a MIS-quote of what Paul told Timothy in I Timothy 6:10.
Paul did NOT say that money --- in and of itself --- is evil. It’s the LOVE of money that causes trouble. Here’s exactly what Paul told the young preacher named Timothy: 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.
I Timothy 6:6-10
It’s not money, but the LOVE of money that is at the root of all sorts of evil. When Homicide detectives try to solve a murder, the first thing they do is look to see who would gain financially from the death. Crimes of all kinds can be solved is you “follow the money.”
I read a recent survey where people were asked, “What would you be willing to do for $10 million dollars?” Two-thirds of Americans polled said they would do one or more of the following:
§ Give up American citizenship
§ Abandon their Church
§ Withhold testimony and let a murderer go free
§ Kill a stranger
§ Become a prostitute for a week
§ Leave their spouse
§ Put their children up for adoption (Man’s Control Dissipates Power by Rick Stacy)
If you asked me, that’s a pretty good description of “all kinds of evil!” Paul gave Timothy practical advice for how to avoid the ruin, destruction, and grief that comes from the love of money. The first step is to PUT YOUR HOPE IN GOD.
1. Put your Hope in God I Timothy 6:17
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.
Maybe you’re thinking, “Well, I can take my Sunday morning snooze now. This part is for someone else! I may be many things … but I am NOT rich!” Well, don’t doze off yet. By First Century standards, every one sitting in this Worship Center today IS a rich person. In fact, by the standards of most of the World today, all of us are incredibly wealthy.
I found a Website where you can plug in your Annual Income and find out how wealthy you are in comparison to the other 6 billion people on the planet. (The website www.globalrichlist.com is listed in the sermon notes part of the bulletin this morning … so you can take a look when you get home.)
I put in the very modest figure of $12,000 dollars per year. That is the official relative poverty level for a family of 3 in the USA. What I found is that someone living on the edge of poverty in our country is among the 12% richest people in the world. Most of us are probably at LEAST in the top 10% of the Richest people in the World. So guess what: when Paul talks about those who are rich in this present world --- that’s US!
Our first instruction is this: Put your Hope in God --- not in your income, or your 401 K, or your credit cards, or the government, or the lottery, or inheriting from granny.
How can you tell if you are putting your Hope in God? Well, Paul put this command in the context of our MONEY. So it stands to reason that your check book is going to SHOW where you are putting your Hope. When you get home today, take a look at your check register … or whatever method you use to keep track of your spending. What is at the top of your list? What do you spend money on consistently, month after month or week after week? What kind of priority does God have in your budget?
Years ago a man in the first church I served said something I didn’t understand…at least not at that point in my life. He said, “I used to think I couldn’t afford to tithe, now I know I can’t afford not to.” You see, I had grown up tithing since I was a small child. (My dad taught me to bring the two dimes to church that represented a tithe off of my two dollar allowance.)
It was just an easy habit I had until years later --- when I had my first experience with really tight finances. Susan and I were newly married, and we literally felt like we didn’t HAVE two dimes to rub together! But, you know, we kept on TITHING anyway. And the truth of the man’s statement came alive to me.
Later on, when we were having tight finances again, I read a statement by a Chinese Christian named Watchman Nee. He said, “When you encounter hard times financially, give something away; it opens up God’s floodgates of blessing.”(my paraphrase) Well, I tried it. I received about $400 from a small life insurance policy I was cashing in. In the same mail, I received a heart-breaking letter from a Preacher in India whose wife needed life-saving surgery. I sent him a check for $400. To tell you the truth, I can’t even say how it happened. But right away my finances took such a noticeable turn for the better that there’s no way I could fail to notice it.
There’s an amazing promise in Malachi 3:10. If you’ve never heard it before, make a note of it: In Malachi 3:10 God says this: 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. Malachi 3:10
You need to realize that this is the only place in the Bible where God invites you to test Him. In other circumstances, God says “You shall not put the Lord, your God to the test…” But here in the matter of tithing, God INVITES you to test Him … He invites you to see if he doesn’t keep His promise … in a way that’s so noticeable that it will overwhelm you.
To tell you the truth, I don’t know any better way to build your faith in God than to meet the challenge of Malachi 3:10. I’ve heard testimony after testimony from those who have learned to put their Hope in God by making the Tithe the first check they write. Once you do it a few times, it becomes a habit you don’t ever WANT to break --- because the pay-off is just too good.
The HARDEST part for you, though, may be doing it the first time.
After you see God’s faithfulness in action, it will be easier to trust Him the next time, and the next and the next. As for me, I will ALWAYS choose to live on 9/10th’s of my income --- with God’s blessing --- rather than ever try to live on 10/10th‘s without the promise of God’s blessing.
The first step to avoiding the LOVE of money is to put our HOPE in God. The next step is to build up some Heavenly Treasures. It’s the only “get rich quick” scheme that is guaranteed to work:
2. Be Rich in Good Works I Timothy 6:18
Paul told Timothy to command those who are rich in this world to put their Hope in God. And then Paul added: Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, and to be generous and willing to share.
When you get right down to it, what keeps people in the Church from being generous? In many cases, they WANT to give. But their personal finances are in such a mess that they can’t pay their bills, much less share with others. I read recently that almost 70% of Americans owe so much on unsecured debt that they are paying only the minimum charge, and … at that rate … they will never get out of debt.
I heard about one young couple was struggling financially. They decided to do something about it. So they sat down together to work out a budget --- and after much analysis the young wife said to her husband: “Look, honey, this is how we can solve our troubles: if we miss two payments on the refrigerator, and one payment on the washing machine, we’ll have enough money for a down payment on a new Television set!”
We can laugh about that, but the debt trap is a serious problem for a lot of families. It’s hard --- if not impossible --- to have your life in order if your finances are out of control. That’s why I’m so glad we’ve been having the Dave Ramsey, Financial Peace instruction. Several have testified that it has changed their family’s financial picture in a dramatic way. They’ve been able to work their way out of debt and into a plan where they can actually save money for the first time in their married lives.
And even more important, they are able to fulfill the command of I Timothy 6:18: to be rich in good deeds, generous and willing to share. That is the kind of life that makes us truly RICH. Money will never truly SATISFY us. But Serving God does!
Listen to this wisdom from verses 6, 7, and 8: 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. I Timothy 6:6-8
I remember a young couple in our church years back. Their budget was extremely tight. The husband had what was called a part-time job. (the kind where you work full time hours, but they call it part time so they don’t have to pay benefits) Mom stayed home with their 3 pre-schoolers.
In spite of their tight budget, they were a happy family. One time when we were talking, she quoted the verse we just read and said, “We have plenty of food to eat and we have clothes to wear. We even have a roof over our heads … and that verse doesn’t even mention housing! So there’s no reason we can’t be content.” (And by the way, the husband eventually got a promotion and they are now doing much better financially.)
It’s amazing what can be accomplished by someone who combines the two qualities that Paul mentioned: GODLINESS and CONTENTMENT. We can see an example of this in a lady named Osceola McCarty. You my remember hearing of her in the mid 1990’s. Osceola McCarty was a quiet, unassuming woman who died at the age of 91.
She was from Mississippi and lived most of her life doing laundry for the people in her neighborhood. She quit school at the age of 8 to go to work and help provide for her family. She would have died in obscurity had it not been for the gift that she gave to the University of Southern Mississippi. Interestingly enough --- just 3 years before she died --- Osceola presented the University with a check for $150,000.
Somehow, through all of the years of her life --- up until 1995 --- she was able to work steadily, budget carefully, save consistently, invest wisely, and give generously. I want to repeat that. She was able to work steadily, budget carefully, save consistently, invest wisely, and give generously.
It isn’t any wonder that Harvard University gave Osceola an Honorary Doctorate. Bill Hybels says that she may have been one of the smartest people to have ever lived.
When asked her philosophy of life, Osceola said she believed in trusting God and living by His word. (Man’s Control Dissipates Power by Rick Stacy)
She certainly lived by the principles of I Timothy chapter 6 where Paul said: Tell those who are rich in this world 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. I Timothy 6:18-19
Osceola did more than lay up treasure on earth --- she laid up treasure in HEAVEN. That’s what Paul instructed Timothy to do. And then he gave one final instruction to GUARD THE TREASURE.
3. Guard the Treasure I Timothy 6:20
And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. (The Message)
o If you are diabetic, your Doctor will tell you to be on guard about your diet. Be on guard for your eyesight. Be on guard to take care of your feet. Be on guard!
o If you have heart problems, you have to be on guard about your stress level. Be on guard for your cholesterol. Be on guard with your exercise routine. Be on guard about your blood pressure. Be on guard!
o If you are living on planet earth, you have to be on guard against the LOVE of Money, which is the root of all kinds of evil.
Some of us think that … since we aren’t exactly swimming in cash … we don’t face any danger. But the tendency to fall in LOVE with money is a danger for everyone.
A few years back, a financial advisor named Ron Blue visited a rural village in Africa. He asked one of the villagers, “What is the biggest problem in your village?” He fully expected to hear about a food shortage or lack of medical supplies. He was not prepared for the response he received.
The man said, “Our big problem is materialism.” He explained, “If a man has a mud hut, he wants one made of stone. If he has a thatch roof, he wants a tin roof. If he has one acre, he wants two.”
Materialism, you see, is a disease of the heart, quite independent of the level of a person’s income. (The Most Dangerous Time In Worship by W. Maynard Pittendreigh)
I remember a dear friend of mine in India… who has passed away recently. I knew him in his young days … as a single-minded, dedicated Christian. But when I saw him in his later years, all he could talk about were money-making schemes. You see, he’d had a taste of financial success --- and it grabbed a hold of his heart and mind. Even in a place like India --- a place that is completely lacking in the luxuries that we take for granted --- Christians need to be ON GUARD against the pull of materialism.
CONCLUSION:
If my friend in India could be infected by the LOVE of money, I know it’s a disease that can easily grab a hold of me or to you. That’s why Paul gave this advice to Timothy: But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 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. I Timothy 6:11-12
We need to RUN the other way … the minute we feel the pull of materialism. Ask yourself today, how can you follow the advice of I Timothy 6 this week.
What can you do today to be sure you are …
§ Putting all your Hope in God
§ Becoming Rich in Generosity and Good Deeds
§ And Guarding your life against the downward pull of materialism.
