{"id":8268,"date":"2022-09-20T05:18:19","date_gmt":"2022-09-20T12:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=8268"},"modified":"2022-09-22T09:57:28","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T16:57:28","slug":"godliness-with-contentment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=8268","title":{"rendered":"
Godliness with contentment<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Timothy 6:6-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I Timothy 6:10 states: \u201cThe love of money is the root of all evils.\u201d You\u2019ve heard this this saying, quoted like a proverb, but also recognized that it\u2019s a verse in the Bible. It\u2019s rather sweeping. It doesn\u2019t say: \u201cThe love of money is the root of a lot of evil.\u201d Or: \u201cThe love of money is the root of many kinds of evil.\u201d But rather: \u201cThe love of money is the root of all evils.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money is a frequent theme in the Bible. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) at first seems to be about riches. Amos 6:4-7 is about the rich, and Psalm 146 is about riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the Gospel of Luke there is not only an emphasis on the poor, women, lepers, and the weak, but also an emphasis on riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Luke 12:13-21 there is the account of the man who had a good crop and built more barns for his future but that night his life was required of him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 16:1-9 has the parable of the steward and how he made use of his master\u2019s money. Luke 18:18-30 is about the rich young ruler who asked: \u201cWhat must I do to be saved?\u201d And when the answer came: \u201cSell all that you have and follow me,\u201d he left sadly. In that same chapter and in two other gospels is the saying: \u201cIt is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven\u201d (Matt 19:24, Mk 10:25, Lk 18:25).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 19:1-10 has the story of Zacchaeus, the little man who climbed the tree to see Jesus, and says: \u201cHalf of what I have I give to the poor; and if I have defrauded any one of anything, I restore it fourfold\u201d (Luke 19:8). Luke 21:1-4 is about the widow who gave everything she had, even though all she had was what was called, the widow\u2019s mite. Look at James 5:1-3:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCome now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure for the last days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are some of the well-known passages about riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Throughout the Bible covetousness is condemned. For example, both the Ninth and Tenth Commandments. There is something about money that grabs us. What if when we have the offering and pass the collection plate, we ask you to put in the deeds to all your property, your stocks and bonds, and all the rest?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this is not what the Bible is trying to tell us. It\u2019s wrong for three reasons. First, it\u2019s wrong because of what it says about creation. In the ancient world as well as today we have that idea that the material world is evil, and what we need is the \u201cspiritual\u201d world. That\u2019s eternal and that\u2019s good. We should detach ourselves from this material world. In ancient times as well as today there were and there are people who withdraw from the world. They are called ascetics. They want a simple life. We see it in monasticism. Remember that monasticism is found in Hinduism and Buddhism as well as in Christianity. It is the idea that we have to get away from this world and live in a \u201cspiritual\u201d world. In the Nineteenth Century there were all kinds of experiments in simple, communal living. And all of these experiments collapsed of themselves. A good example is Tolstoy, who spent his fortune in the last part of his life trying to live according to the Sermon on the Mount. It collapsed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second error is about the use of the Bible. For example, the text about the rich man and Lazarus is not about the rich and the poor. It\u2019s a parable and parables have one point, which comes at the end of the parable. In this parable that is verse 31: \u201cIf they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1 Timothy 6:6-19 the first four verses are about money as the root of all evils. Then come about six verses about the Lordship of Christ. And then three verses which say something quite different about the rich:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed\u201d (I Timothy 6:17-19).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, if one stays the love of money is the root of all evils, what does that do to the First Commandment? The First Commandment says the root of all evils is idolatry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third reason for putting the texts about riches in a proper context is creation itself. It says in the first chapter of Genesis that creation is good. God created it, it\u2019s good, and it\u2019s to be used for his purpose. Earlier in 1 Timothy there is a warning to watch out for deceitful spirits \u201cwho forbid marriages and enjoin abstinences from food which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving\u201d (1 Timothy 4:3-5).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do we sort out what the Bible says about covetousness? In 1 Cor 3 Paul talks about laying a good foundation. 1 Cor 3:11: \u201cNo other foundation can any one lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.\u201d 1 Cor 2:2: \u201cFor I decided to preach nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the basis for our lives? The logo for Prudential Life Insurance features the Rock of Gibraltar. That\u2019s understood to be that which you can depend on. The Rock of Gibraltar is a formation from the early Jurassic age, 200 million years old. Before that there was no Rock of Gibraltar. It\u2019s not eternal. It reminds us of the famous parable at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:24-27 about the one who built his house on the rock and the one who built his house on the sand. Which is it going to be?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First, we look at this in a practical perspective. Luke 12:34: \u201cFor where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.\u201d 1 Timothy 6:7: \u201cFor we brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out of the world.\u201d Naked we came. Naked we leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second, what is it to be rich? A young American college student traveled to  Botswana in Africa. She wrote back to her parents: \u201cYou have no idea how bad it is.\u201d We in the West have many serious problems; nevertheless, we are rich.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Third, we have the illusion that we can manage to get away from the temptations of this world. But \u201cthe simple life\u201d is not really so simple. Some say we should withdraw from all the temptations of the world. This idea is that we can only escape from the \u201cworld\u201d itself by doing simple things. The Amish only go through eight years of education and only use simple tools. But they use our modern roads. And when needed, they use our modern medicine. Even their \u201csimple life\u201d takes advantage of this modern world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Roman Catholic nun told of her effort to live in the slums among the poor. She came out of it saying the experience was hokey because: \u201cIf I needed to, I could always leave. And if I needed medical help, I could get it through my Order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How then can we as Christians live practically? Matthew 10:16 says: \u201cbe as wise as serpents and innocent as doves.\u201d It\u2019s counter-cultural but not in the way we think of counter-cultural. What does it mean to live \u201cin but not of\u201d the world? (\u201cin but not of\u201d is not a Biblical phrase but helpful here.) It means that we\u2019re just tourists here. We\u2019re just visitors. \u201cHere we have no abiding city\u201d (Hebrews 13:14). As Paul writes in Philippians 3:20: \u201cOur commonwealth is in heaven.\u201d We are to have this perspective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are we to do here and now? Not build the kingdom of God. The Lord builds his kingdom by himself, without our help. Matt 3:8-9 says the Lord does not need you and me. John the Baptist was disputing with the \u201csons of Abraham\u201d who had a high regard for themselves and John says to them: \u201cGod is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.\u201d Church slogans like \u201cWe are the kingdom builders,\u201c and \u201cGod\u2019s work, our hands\u201d are not correct. The Lord builds his kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luther saw this. He \u201clet God be God\u201d and said our job in this world is to use common reason and common sense in order to restrain evil. Heiko Oberman used the term \u201cbetterment\u201d to describe what Luther did in his time (Luther: Man Between God and the Devil<\/em>, 79-80). Luther was no theocrat. He used practical reason to address the problems of his day. He was like Paul. In Romans 13 when Paul talks about the Ten Commandments, he sums them up in Romans 13:10: \u201cLove does no harm to the neighbor therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.\u201d We are to use our best common reason to figure out how to minimize harm in our day, knowing we live by forgiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings us back to 1 Timothy 4:4-5: \u201cFor everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving; for then it is consecrated by the word of God and prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are called to live in this world with a gospel sense of what life is about. As Luther wrote in his Small Catechism: \u201cI believe in Jesus Christ . . . who has redeemed me . . . in order that I may be his own, live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as he is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity.\u201d Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

A sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I Timothy 6:10 states: \u201cThe love of money is the root of all evils.\u201d You\u2019ve heard this this saying, quoted like a proverb, but also recognized that it\u2019s a verse in the Bible. It\u2019s rather sweeping. It doesn\u2019t say: \u201cThe love of money is the root of a lot of evil.\u201d Or: \u201cThe love of money is the root of many kinds of evil.\u201d But rather: \u201cThe love of money is the root of all evils.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Money is a frequent theme in the Bible. The parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) at first seems to be about riches. Amos 6:4-7 is about the rich, and Psalm 146 is about riches.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Throughout the Gospel of Luke there is not only an emphasis on the poor, women, lepers, and the weak, but also an emphasis on riches.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=8268"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8279,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8268\/revisions\/8279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=8268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=8268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=8268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}