1 Timothy 6:6-12 GODLINESS WITH CONTENTMENT IS GREAT GAIN
I would like to start out this sermon with a story – listen closely, and see if you can get the point. Once upon a time there was a White Knight looking for adventure. He came to a village where legend told of a terrible ogre in a pit. Bravely the White Knight took up the challenge. He would do battle with the terrible ogre in the pit. The people there remembered several courageous men who had climbed down into the pit, but no one could remember even one of those champions returning.
The White Knight stood looking at the deep, dark hole. The opening was so narrow that he took off his armor and almost all of his clothing. He took only a long dagger, which he tied around his neck with a leather strap. After secruing a rope at the opening and testing its strength, he gripped it firmly and began lowering himself, hand under hand, letting the rope slip between his feet. Soon he felt the cool, smooth floor of the chamber. It took several minutes for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, but soon he focused on a large mound. Then he realized that it was the bones of his predecessors, along with their assortment of weapons. A little way off he spotted another mound, but he wasn’t sure what it was.
Suddenly he was surprised by the inhabitant of the pit – surprised because he didn’t anticpate that the ogre would be only as tall as a rabbit. The little creature waved his arms and screeched with its squeaky voice, trying to appear as fierce as possible. The White Knight picked up a sword from the floor and prepared to do battle, but quick as a rat, the little creature ran into a hole near the second mound.
The White Knight followed, and as the second mound became clearer, he again was surprised. Before his eyes glittered giant pieces of gold, as big as apples, and giant diamonds, each one as big as a plum. With only a small part of that treasure, any commoner would be a prince for life. The little ogre lost its importance in view of this great treasure.
But the White Knight had a problem. How would he carry it out of the hole? He had no pockets.
Suddenly he had an idea. He would put one of the giant diamonds in his mouth and carry it that way as he climbed out of the hole. He could always come back later for the rest. Hurriedly, he chose the largest diamond he could find, put it into his mouth, and began the difficult climb out of the pit, hand over hand, gripping the rope with his feet. His tongue held the diamond tightly to the roof of his mouth. Higher and higher he climbed until he began to lose his breath. He would have to breathe through his mouth in order to get some air. As he took in a large gulp of air, the diamond slipped and stuck into his throat, and the knight fell to his death on the mound of bones below.
You see, the terrible ogre in the pit wasn’t that little troll. The ogre in the pit was greed. It was greed that had killed all those men before the White Knight. And it was greed that killed the man in our story. (This illustration, and others in this sermon, are taken from “Illustrations Unlimited,” Tyndale House Publishers, 1988).
Today, we live in a world that is choking itself to death on money. The medical field will tell you that we Americans are literally eating ourselves to death. Financial experts will tell you that we are literally spending ourselves into bankruptcy. We live in a culture that encourages you to shove as much food into your mouth, and as much money into your pockets as you can. But a Christian is someone who is the opposite of all that. Instead of being greedy, a Christian is someone who is content. And instead of being greedy, a Christian is someone who is generous.
Look at how the Apostle Paul talks about contentment in our text for today. Verse 6 says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it.” Contentment starts with realizing that all the material things you have are only temporary. The story is told by the chief accountant of one of the wealthiest men who ever lived – John D. Rockefeller Sr. Someone asked the accountant one day, “How much did Rockefeller leave after he died?” Without hesitation, the accountant said, “Everything!” And so it is with you – contentment starts with understanding that everything you own, everything will eventually be left behind.
Contentment is also described in the Bible as being satisfied with the basics. Look at verse 8: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” But then there are those who aren’t satisfied with the basics. Look at verse 9: “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires.” The picture here is of someone who sees a dollar bill hanging from a tree. And as that person walks forward and reaches for that dollar bill, they fall into a trap set for them by the Devil.
In an old edition of Life magazine, there appeared a picture of a young David Kennedy, sitting outside the White House. The picture had been taken several years before by his Aunt, Jacqueline Kennedy, and was inscribed by his Uncle John with the words: “A future president inspects his property.”
Though he had name, status, wealth, and all that money could buy, in 1984 David Kennedy was found dead by his own hand at the age of 28. He was rich, but he was filled with so much emptiness and grief that he killed himself. The Apostle Paul was alluding to this when he wrote, “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.”
All of us struggle with a love for money. We are like that White Knight who filled his mouth with diamonds, only to choke himself to death. We know that we will someday have to leave everything behind, but we still have a desire to pile things up for ourselves. We all want to get rich, even though God tells us right here that this attitude will only get us into trouble.
When God looks into our hearts, what he hopes to see is contentment and love for Christ. But all to often what God sees instead is our love for money, our greed, our desire to be rich. All of us have sinned in the eyes of God. All of us have fallen short of God’s glory.
And yet, even though we deserve to be punished by God, what happens instead? God sends his Son, doesn’t he? When Christ came into the world, he was thinking about something more important than money – he was thinking about you. We are all impressed when we hear about someone’s net worth – but have you ever considered the net worth of the Son of God? How much do you think that would be? Trillions? And yet, Jesus put it all aside, for you. He had you in mind when he was lying in a feeding trough in a barn. He had you in mind as he wandered the countryside, preaching the Word, without a place to sleep. He had you in mind when he was arrested and beaten and finally crucified.
Jesus gave up everything, so that you could be rich spiritually, so that you could be forgiven of all of your sins and have the gift of eternal life. We all check our bank accounts from time to time to make sure that we’re not going into the red. Do you realize that you have an “off-shore” bank account, something that no one has access to you but you? It’s your spiritual bank account. Have you checked your balance lately? Do you realize just how rich you really are?
You have the forgiveness of sins in your spiritual bank account, and that is worth far more than having million dollars in your earthly bank account. And not only do you have the forgiveness of sins. You also have in your spiritual bank account a guarantee that you have eternal life. You also have God’s promise that he will take care of all of your physical needs on this earth. You also have peace and confidence that come from knowing what will happen to you when you die. You have all these things in your spiritual bank account right now. And that is what makes you rich, not in the world’s eyes, but in God’s eyes, and really, those are the only eyes that count.
That’s godliness with contentment. And that’s what motivates us to do what Paul says in verse 11: “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness.” When you realize that you are rich spiritually, you won’t want to spend your life piling up worldly wealth. Instead, you’ll be focused more on pursuing the things of God.
May God fill you with this kind of contentment. And may that attitude in your heart blossom into all kinds of good works that glorify God and his kingdom. May it fill you with a spirit of peace, and a spirit of generosity, as we saw in our Gospel lesson for today. The widow, that Jesus watched at the temple – she literally didn’t have a dime to her name. And yet, she was generous toward God, and the reason why, is because she was content, she trusted in God, and she wanted to glorify God. May God fill you with that same spirit of contentment. Amen.
