1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word, as we begin our Stewardship Series, “Bringing Out the Best” is taken from 1 Timothy 6:6-19, it’s entitled “Money: The Problem with Money,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. A wealthy Texan liked to give special gifts to his dad on Father’s Day. One year it was lessons on hang gliding. Another year, the father received the entire collection of Johnny Cash’s hits. But last spring the rich Texan felt he had topped all other years. He bought a rare kind of talking bird. Besides speaking five languages, this bird also could sing “The Yellow Rose of Texas” while standing on one foot. The talented bird cost $10,000, but the Texan felt it was worth every penny. His dad would never forget this Father’s Day gift! A week after Father’s Day he phoned his father. “Dad,” he asked, “how did you like the bird?” “Fine,” the father responded. “It was delicious!”
3. The problem you and I have with money is not with money itself. It is with what we do with that money. Like the rich Texan’s father with the bird, we fail to see all the possibilities to use money in God-pleasing ways. Instead, we see money as something to consume. When we learn what we have missed, we realize that: the problem with money is not really with money, but with me.
4. St. Paul addresses this when he writes in 1 Timothy 6:6-19, “6 But godliness with contentment is great gain, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and[a] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. 11 But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before[b] Pontius Pilate made the good confession, 14 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. 17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
5. We are tempted to think that if only we had enough money, we could really live. In the words of St. Paul in the second half of v 19, we think that money will make us able to “take hold of the life that is truly life.” But we leave God out of the picture. We’re like the little girl who was given two dollars by her father. He told she could do anything she wanted with one dollar, so long as she gave the other dollar to God on Sunday at church. She nodded happily and started skipping toward the candy store, holding the two bills tightly in her hand. But she tripped and fell. Then the wind blew one of the dollar bills into a storm drain at the curb. The little girl rose to her feet, looked at the dollar still in her hand, then at the storm drain and said, “Well, Lord, there goes your dollar.”
6. That little girl had the same attitude toward money that you and I often have. We see what money can buy for us, and it becomes more important than God. Usually, our love for money isn’t as bold or brash as the little girl’s. But it’s there. We make money into a false god, a little idol, which becomes more important than God. That’s sin.
7. It’s also foolish. To depend on wealth is to hope in something uncertain. That’s why Paul writes in v 17: “Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth.” Riches are uncertain for two reasons. First, what they buy may not bring happiness. Have you ever bought an expensive meal or a car that you thought would make you very happy . . . and it didn’t? I have. What money buys can disappoint us.
8. Second, wealth is uncertain because it doesn’t last. When the stock market crashed in 1929, the newspapers carried stories in following days of persons who committed suicide because they were wiped out financially. Money can be stolen or burned or taken away by a lawsuit. If we depend on wealth to provide hope for our future, we are foolish. In fact, you never see a Uhaul moving van following behind a hearse, as Job says in Job 1:21, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
9. Instead, Paul says in v 17 that we are to place our hope not on the uncertainty of wealth but on God, “who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” What does God give us? Everything . . . but everything starts with Jesus. Because God supplies all our needs, Jesus came to pay the debt we owe to God because of our sin. In Matthew’s Lord’s Prayer (Mt 6:12), Jesus uses the word debt—what we owe—to describe our sins. Those debts are like a big minus sign in our account at God’s First Bank of Heaven. But Jesus comes through and puts a big plus sign in that account by going to the cross. By putting his body and soul right in the middle of our negative, our minus sign, Jesus makes our relationship with God positive. Our sins are forgiven, wiped out, the debt paid off.
10. When we acknowledge that in faith, we are empowered to use our resources to be rich in good deeds. You and I are called to be stewards, or managers, of wealth. “But wait,” you may be saying, “I’m not rich.” No? Here’s a fun fact for you. To be among the global top 10 percent of wealthy people in the world, you may not need as much money as you think. According to the 2018 Global Wealth Report from Credit Suisse Research Institute, you don’t even need six figures. A net worth of $93,170 U.S. is enough to make you richer than 90 percent of people around the world, Credit Suisse reports. The institute defines net worth, or “wealth,” as “the value of financial assets plus real assets (principally housing) owned by households, minus their debts.” More than 102 million people in America are in the 10 percent worldwide, Credit Suisse reports, far more than from any other country. In fact, you need significantly less to be among the global 50 percent: If you have just $4,210 to your name, you’re still richer than half of the world’s residents. In the eyes of billions of other people, we are rich. That’s why Paul really is talking to us when he urges in v 18: “Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.” That is God’s will. It also is the way to be really rich, to be really blessed. In fact, my wife and I are blessed to give at least $5,000 in offerings to our congregation every year, since I started here as Pastor here at Grace. I praise God that our family is able to do that for our congregation through the gifts God has given to us.
11. For people who are willing to share their wealth with others, money may become a foundation for the future. Paul writes in v 19: “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.” It is, of course, true that we cannot “buy our way” into heaven. But when we are cheerful, generous managers of what we like to call “our” money, then we are reflecting God’s great gifts of love toward us.
12. Then, in the area of money and other financial resources, we are “bringing out the best,” which is our theme for this year’s stewardship emphasis. We rejoice that the heavenly Father has brought out the best by giving his Son, Jesus, as our Savior, and so we respond by “bringing out the best” in ourselves by the way we manage the money he has loaned us for this life. Thus, the money problem has been solved. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.
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