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| Title: | What Makes A Person Rich- God's View on Money |
| Reference: | 1 Timothy 6 |
| Notes: | 1 Timothy 6: 3-10: What’s Makes A Person Rich?
Money mentioned often in the NT: 500 v prayer. 500 v faith. 2000 v money. Half Jesus’ 38 parables
Kerri Platais of Garrett Park, Maryland, the mother of two children, says that she has been listening to conversations in the neighborhood, at church, and outside where her children play games Told the Post, as the economy melts down, she’s hearing people ask themselves “about life’s larger priorities—about what is important and why.” “We have to go back to the things that are really important: people, relationships, love, your faith, and your neighbors.” Church families are getting back to basics as well looking for creative ways of serving and sharing w those who are struggling. Sharing hope to hopeless:
We are seeing healthy signs of renewed spiritual yearnings. This is a time to be aware that many people are questioning, seeking something solid and real. The economic downturn is a wake up call for all.
Many are asking: What makes a person rich? Successful?
Our society markets discontent. Americans are taught to be consumers and that true happiness is only one purchase away. . One mother said her son’s first words were: “I want.” Kids in store. We are taught that more equals better: one dies most toys wins? Average American is exposed to 400 ads per day. The message of these ads are: your desires should not be denied & cure for any problem is a new product. Everywhere we look we’re reminded of stuff we don’t have and shouldn’t live another day without.
Someone has said:*An American is someone who spends money they don’t have, to buy things they don’t need, to impress people they don’t like. Being home w my parents, 60 years of stuff, stuffed everywhere.
* The four words that you need to remember this morning are guard, goal, gutter and give.
Paul tells Timothy to guard the gospel against false teachers who would use ministry for financial gain. The goal in life is to learn to be content with what we have instead of always seeking more money/ stuff.
The gutter is where we find ourselves when gold becomes our “god”. We know we’re on the road from the gutter to the true God when we learn to give our money & possessions away and serve others in love.
*GUARD the Gospel vv. 3-5: Paul is calling Timothy to set an example of godliness and to guard the gospel from false teachers and their false doctrine. Those who would steer people from the truth, use their ministry for financial gain. Bob Tilton healing. Key: we need to study/ grow up in faith. Growth goals?
*The GOAL: vv. 6-8 When God is first/central, there develops in us a contentment born of faith.
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.” Godliness is an attitude where we desire to please God.
True godliness has many benefits: wisdom here & prepares us to live forever with God in the next life. Contentment is the process where we learn to be satisfied with what we have in this life and resist always seeking more. As Paul says, “If we have food and clothing we will be content with that.” Right? thrift/ gs
Contentment is the ability to stop comparing yourself with others and start thanking God for who/ what you have right now. Contentment doesn’t mean being lazy or complacent. Contentment doesn’t cancel the Biblical commands to work hard, earn a living, save some, give some, invest what you make wisely.
Contentment means learning to enjoy what we have right now. When we’re constantly seeking more, we’re rarely thankful for what we have right now. Ironic: so busy making a living we forget to live life: jl
Prov. 15: 16: “Better a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth with turmoil.” $ complicates…
* Prov. 30: 7-9, "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die... give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal and so dishonor your Name.”
Chesterton: “Two ways to get enough: One is to continue to accumulate more and more. The other way is to learn to desire less.” JD Rockafeller asked, “How much money does to take to satisfy a person?”
I think of the Pittsburgh man who tried to pass off a counterfeit bill at bank. He went for it: $1 millon dollar bill:
Contentment is not found in things but in people/ relationships & ultimately in the Person of Jesus Christ.
Ancient Greeks taught contentment meant self sufficiency/ learning to rely on one’s own inner resources. Paul re-defines contentment from “self sufficiency” to “Christ sufficiency.” Contentment comes from God who fills us with himself to the point where we don’t need anything else to feel fulfilled or satisfied. Like Paul says in Phil. 4:12 “I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation: thro feast or famine, in abundance or poverty. I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength… because I know 4:19: My God will meet all my needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”
Contentment comes from realizing that all we have is a gift from God. Deut. 8: speaks of the Israelites finding new wealth in the promised land, becoming proud/ independent, Moses says, “Remember the Lord your God, (don’t forget God!) for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth…” God owns everything. I am only a steward. We are called to be thankful and learn to distinguish wants from needs: tv
Jesus said, “What does it profit a person if they gain the world but lose their soul.” Then he tells the story of a Rich Man whose fields produced an abundant crop. Built bigger barns. Kept it all. Rest. You fool.
Brad Pitt in RS: “The emphasis today is on financial success and personal gain. I’m sitting on it and I’m telling you, that’s not it. I’m the guy who has everything. I know. But I’m telling you, once you’ve got everything, then you’re just left with yourself. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: money doesn’t help you sleep any better and you don’t wake up any better of a person because of it.”
The story of the Rich Ruler: good person but… money can be the force that keeps us from following.
* The GUTTER: vv. 9-10 People who want to get rich often find “ruin and destruction.”
People who want to get rich fall into temptation & traps, into many foolish & harmful desires that plunge people into ruin & destruction. Seek more things, live for ourselves we drown in sea of greed: Gov. B/ Ill
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. People will lie, cheat, steal and murder to get the money they think they need. Bernie Madoff investment manager who lost 50 billion lost in ponzi scheme
Some eager for money wandered from the truth and pierced themselves with many griefs. $ destroy faith.
Money is not evil. Obsession with money and becoming rich is wrong. Look closely at passage:
people who want to get rich, the love of money is evil, those eager for money fall into the gutter.
Having money is not wrong. Some of the great men and women in the Bible were rich: Abraham, Job, Solomon, Esther in OT and Joanna from Herod’s court and Susanna supported Jesus/ disciples-Lk. 8
It’s what we do with our money that matters. Money is like a gun, it can be used for good and evil
If we pursue wealth as our goal we will end up in the gutter. We know this is true. Current economy
While I was home I spent time with a wealthy relative whose kids wont even talk to him… sad…
Marcus Schrenker stock broker who jumped out of his plane over rural Alabama. His plan involved a fake distress call to air-traffic controllers, ditching the single-engine plane and riding off on a motorcycle. He was facing accusations of defrauding clients of millions of dollars. Schrenker had maps, a tent, a first aid kit, cold- and warm-weather clothes and about $2,600 in cash. "He had every intention of hiding his identity for the rest of his life." Schrenker's plan fell apart with a single e-mail to a friend. The friend turned it over to police, and they tracked its source to a laptop that accessed the Internet at a campground in northern Florida. After an intense manhunt, Schrenker was found in a tent in a KOA campground in Quincy, Fla. He faces about $9 million in court judgments and legal claims. Not long after his arrest, Schrenker was in a Tallahassee hospital recovering from an attempt to kill himself. Paul’s words are true.
Gambling & Lottery fever is fired by a basic discontentment w life and a desire to get rich quick vs work/.
-Recent article: Lottery Sales on Rise: many states are seeing an increase in lottery sales as financial insecurity is driving more people to risk more money in hopes of a big payoff that will better their life. Over 10 million Americans are compulsive gamblers- 5% of pop. 7x hit lightning. Most sales to poor:
-Evelyn Adams won the NJ lottery twice- 5.4 million. Gone in a few short years. “I won the American Dream and it destroyed me. Everybody wanted my money. Everybody had their hand out. I could never say no. I wish had a chance to do it over again.” A good portion was lost gambling in Atlantic City.
-William Post 16 million in the PA lottery who now lives on food stamps and social security. “I wish it never happened. It’s been a total nightmare. Former girlfriend sued him. His brother was arrested for hiring hit man to kill him. Arrested for firing a gun over a bill collector. Within a year, 1 m in debt.
*Prov. 23: 4-5, “Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at riches and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.”
-Article about 73 year old Eleanor Boyer hit it big in Somerville, NJ. She won th12 million in the lottery. But instead of keeping it, she gave it all away to her church and her town. She prays every morning at 5:30 and attends 7AM mass. When asked why she would give away all her winnings she said, “I have all I need. I believe in God. I know God will take care of me.” She gave it all? Ok, I’d keep some but…
* GIVING is a clear sign we’re moving from the gutter toward of goal of contentment in God alone.
How do you know that you are moving from the altar of the almighty dollar to the altar of Almighty God? How do you know if you are moving from the temporary world of things to the eternal world of God? How do you know if the godliness of contentment is growing in you? You make giving a lifestyle.
Parade: 10 Ways to Get Rich by Warren Buffet… read. “Know what success really means” giving…
Wisdom of Proverbs: Wed pm study: Keep good records. Plan your spending. Give generously.
Many live by the old saying: “Get all you can. Can all you get. Then sit on the can.” No one looks good
Giving reveals that God is working in our lives and it makes us attractive, happy people.
* Proverbs 8: 24, “One man gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous man will prosper.” A generous church will prosper. We tithe every offering and:
Malachi 3: “Bring the whole tithe in the storehouse; test in this and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not be able to contain it.”
2 Cor. 9: 6, “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, sows generously will also reap generously.
I know giving is a struggle in these hard times but God always blesses generous giving… sacrificial:
Thinking about the remarkable story of * Flight 1549 plane lost both engines & landed in Hudson River.
It provides a dramatic contrast to those who, in recent months, have ripped off people for billions of dollars and cared only for themselves. Most have heard airline pilot Capt. Chelsey Sullenberger, 57, who has spent his whole life becoming an expert in safety: glider pilot, a military pilot, and an airline pilot. There could not have been a better person at the controls. He had less than a minute to decide whether to try to land at NJ airport or in the Hudson River. No small decision. Made in seconds. After the perfect landing, he stayed with the with the plane, walking the aisles twice to make sure everyone was evacuated.
Then there’s the co-pilot who, in the process of exiting the plane, took off his shirt and gave it to man who, apparently had taken off his coat, to give to a woman who had none. And what of the flight attendants who prepared the passengers for the hard landing on the river and then directed the exiting from the plane. Outside, on the river, were ferryboat captains, police boats, Coast Guard boats who, w/in minutes, converged upon the plane, coordinated their efforts to rescue all 150 passengers: age 85 to 9 mo. Videos show divers jumping into the water from helicopters, boats positioning themselves to prevent the plane from sinking, boat-men slipping into the water to help hypo-thermic passengers into rescue craft.
There are all sorts of lessons we can all take away from this "Miracle on the Hudson."
In the actions of the pilot we see what is possible when a person is trained and disciplined in advance to face the unexpected hour. Lives were saved because a person was prepared. If we’re going to guard the gospel, we need to pray, to read, reflect and study and always be ready to give an answer to everyone…
In the teamwork of all the rescuers (flightcrew, boatsmen, divers) we are seeing a hint of the remarkable beauty in God’s original design of human beings. We were made to work together: “It is not good for man to live alone…” God never intended for us to be lone rangers. It appears to have been his primary intention that we work in concert in much the same way that we see the Trinity doing its work together. When you see people working together to handle a crisis (sports team/ church/ staff) you get a wonderful feeling in your soul. This is how it was meant to be. ABC TV show on survivors related the story of a woman biking in CA attacked by mountain lion, her friends fought for her. Support saved her…same here
One might see in the dramatic video on the Hudson the picture of God’s salvation through Jesus. Old hymn goes: “Rescue the perishing, care for the dying…” You get a picture of what that looks like when you see the assorted rescue efforts that surrounded that downed plane. Jesus came to seek & save lost.
What about the one or two ducks (geese?) that apparently brought down a multi-multi million dollar airplane. Little ducks—like the birds we see everyday at the City Park! Just little birds with great destructive power. What are the destructive ducks in your life and world: unresolved conflict? Self-centeredness and anger? Greed and money? All may seem tiny but can clog our spiritual engines? Money, which seems like such a little thing, can bring down our whole life. Money: “In God we Trust”
Finally, there is one back story of a passenger who, while evacuating the plane, insisted that she be able to take her carry-on luggage with her. Imagine being so tied to “stuff” that one is willing to risk the rescue of scores of others so you can save your stuff. In the midst of beauty, there is also of self-centeredness.
The "Miracle on the Hudson." It speaks of our reverence for life, our courage, study and discipline, team work. People willing to sacrifice in the midst of a crisis. I hope we might reflect this story as people/ church
* Be Thou My Vision
Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise. Thou mine inheritance now and always.
Thou and Thou only, first in my heart, High King of heaven, my Treasure Thou art.
Prayer:
God, you are our only true Treasure.
God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.
Hymn: “I’d Rather Have Jesus” |