Mary Ellen is on a little kick right now. At least, I hope it’s a “little” kick and doesn’t go on for too much longer. She has decided she wants a horse. She’s been talking about wanting a horse for quite a while, but what had been just moderate interest reached full-blown desire a couple of weeks ago. Ken and Mary Ellen had been downtown, where they encountered one of the horses pulling a carriage. They were allowed by the carriage driver to come over and pet the horse, which seems to be the “trigger” that got Mary Ellen going. She cried all the way home and for the rest of the night. She announced to both Ken and I that she was not going to sleep until she got a horse. Of course, the whole reason she was having this little meltdown was because she was tired. So after Ken tried reasoning with her for a bit, he called me to go in and talk with her and tell her to go to sleep.
So I made my way to Mary Ellen’s room, quite certain that I wasn’t going to have any more success than Ken did, but willing to try nonetheless. And here’s what I told Mary Ellen. I said, “Mary Ellen, I remember being your age and feeling like life was not fair. So I know exactly how you feel right now. But here’s the good news, I don’t feel that way at all anymore, ever. And you won’t either as you grow up. Do you know why? Because you come to understand that life is pretty good. I may not have everything I want, but I have everything I need. I have a roof over my head, and I can buy new clothes when I need them, and I eat three meals a day; which is a lot more than a lot of people in this world. And the people who have to live that way, without the basic needs of life, their lives are not fair, but our lives are, even when we can’t get everything we want.” Well, that silenced Mary Ellen’s tantrum for all of about five seconds, and then she was on it again. So I just told her “goodnight” and left the room.
I share that story with you because I think to a great extent, this is what Paul is getting at in his letter to Timothy this morning; our perspective on life. It’s so easy to get caught up in the trappings of this world, isn’t it? There’s always more we want. There’s always something else we “need.” And, of course, the only way to acquire those things is with money. So we get into the job market, and once we have a job, we start focusing on how we can be promoted so we can make more money so we can get more stuff. Before we know it, our whole life is focused around material possessions! Sound familiar? I don’t think any one of us could say that we have not wanted something at some point in our lives, even into our adulthood. Mary Ellen wants a horse, and I want the new iPhone 5s. Does either of us need those things? Of course not. Is it bad for Mary Ellen to get a horse and for me to get an iPhone? Paul seems to say that having material goods is not bad in and of itself. When the problems begin, though, is when all of our energies are focused solely on wealth and material gain.
Christ instructed his followers that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” The problem with money and material possessions, as we all know, is that they steal our focus, they sap our strength, and they consume our minds. The love, which should be focused solely on God in Christ Jesus, is consumed by love of worldly, fleeting things. What should be directed to God becomes focused on something else entirely. In a word, it’s idolatry.
But Paul didn’t focus on the problem, and neither should we. We all know the challenges we face when it comes to money and possessions. So the more important question is, how will we overcome those challenges? How will we keep the focus where it needs to be? How can we live in this world that is so centered around material gain, but keep our worship on God alone? This is what Paul wants us to focus on, and what we should be focusing on every single day. Because, you see, we are met by the temptations of this world everyday, at every turn. And if we are to remain fully devoted to God, it requires constant attention. Not only must we resist the urge to seek monetary gain simply for the sake of monetary gain, but we must also choose to use the resources we do have in ways that are consistent with God’s will and even God’s own generosity.
Perhaps you all heard last week that Bill Gates has once again been named the richest man in the world with a net worth of over $72 billion! Now, to be clear, Mr. Gates does not self-identify as a Christian, but I want to talk about him for a moment because I think he has a really healthy perspective about money. Bill Gates, of course, has famously said that the inheritance his children will receive will be a “pittance” because he expects them to find jobs and earn their own way. But even more impressive is Bill Gates work through his charitable foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Bill and Melinda Gates have made a commitment to improve global health, to reduce global poverty, and to improve education in the United States, and that’s exactly what they do through their foundation. I saw on “60 Minutes” a few months ago, where the Gates Foundation had an invention contest. And they gave an award to an inventor who developed the most effective toilet that could reuse it’s own water. The idea is that this gives people in developing countries a sanitary way to use the bathroom without contaminating water supplies, and without requiring any sort of plumbing or water source.
Then there’s the Imagine No Malaria campaign, which we are all familiar with. Well, that was started because of a challenge from Bill and Melinda Gates, who came to the United Methodist Church and said we want to eradicate malaria by 2015, and we want you to help us. They said they knew the United Methodist Church more than any other had the structure and resources to assist in the massive campaign, and they promised to match everything given through the United Methodist Church up to $75 million. To date, we have raised $53 million in the fight against malaria, and that’s because the Gates have funded the staff people and resources necessary to carry out this operation, and also because they challenged the United Methodist Church to join them in this fight. But it’s not just sanitary toilets and malaria. Bill and Melinda Gates are looking for solutions to all sorts of problems, so that people everywhere can live better lives. They, alone, have given $28 billion to improve this world through their foundation; that’s one-third of their net worth. And here’s the thing, if a man who’s not even a Christian is so willing to give so generously to improve the livelihood of people around the globe, how much more generous should we, as Christians, be?
It’s very easy for us, understandably, to look at the wealthy and to pass judgment on them because so many of them use their wealth so selfishly and so extravagantly. And that’s exactly the kind of awful behavior Paul is trying to discourage here. However, I have a healthy respect for the richest man in the world, because he wants to use his wealth to make the world a better place. And what we need to know is that we should all be using our resources to make the world a better place. We should be offering all that we are and all that we have in a way that says, “I want what you want, God!” rather than, “I want what I want and I want it now!” Because that’s what loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength is about; it’s about wanting for this world what God wants for this world. It’s about making God’s kingdom here on earth a reality, even now. It’s about creating this place where justice and peace reign, where the hungry are satisfied, the orphans and the widows are cared for, and there are no “poor.”
So, here’s what this all boils down to, I think. As with so many things in life, we have a choice. We can love money and material goods, and we can drive ourselves crazy with worry and want, all for something that will just disappear when we die, anyway. Or, we can love God, and thus see money as a resource for serving God, knowing that our “reward will be great in heaven.” Think about it this way, what do we do when we find out we’re going to get a raise? We immediately start thinking about how we will spend it, right? Maybe we can get a new car, we think, our upgrade our cable subscription, or buy some new clothes. But, what if we got a raise, and instead starting thinking about all the ways we could “give the money back to God” as we serve God in the world.
John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, figured out early on in his life the amount of money he needed to live off of from month-to-month, and over the course of a year. Early in his career, that was about 90% of his income, and of course he tithed to the church. Well, Wesley was fortunate to have a successful career and to make more and more money over time. But do you know that Wesley never took more money for himself to live off of? He lived always by the same modest means as when he began, and he gave all the extra to the church, to the poor, and needy. By the time he died, he was living off 10% of his income and giving 90% back to God.
So my question for you this morning is this: what’s your perspective on money? Do you love money, or do you love God? Because if you look at your life and see that all your energy is focused on your material possessions, you are following the way to “Death.” But, if you love God and know that money is a way to serve God, you have set yourself on the path to life. This stuff really matters. During his ministry, Jesus talked about money more than any other subject, except the kingdom of God. If you find that money is controlling your life, you might want to start by giving back to God from your first fruits, rather than your “leftovers.” If you already give, but still find yourself “loving money,” maybe this is God telling you it’s time to give more.
God does not desire that any of us would be poor. But God does want us “to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share…that way we can take hold of the life that really is life.”
Thanks be to God!
