“Take Hold of Eternal Life”

1 Timothy 6:6-19

⁶ Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. ⁷ After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. ⁸ So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

⁹ But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹¹ But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. ¹³ And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. ¹⁵ For, at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. ¹⁶ He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

¹⁷ Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. ¹⁹ By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

This morning’s reading reminds me of the one about a group of men who was at the gym club one day when a cellphone rang. One of the men answered it. “Yes?” the man asked. “Hon, is that you? I can hardly hear you.” “Hello!” the man exclaimed. “Are you at the gym?” asked the woman. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. Whatcha need?” “Well, I’m in front of the fur shop and they have this beautiful mink coat. Can I buy it?” “How much is it?” “About five thousand dollars.” “Okay, but buy a matching purse that goes with it too my love.” “Well, it also turns out that I stopped by the car dealership today and saw they have a brand-new BMW on sale. It’s the last one.” “How much is the sale?” “Only sixty thousand dollars! Can you believe that?!” “Fine, buy it, but you have to get it with all of the accessories, and if it costs a little more, I won’t get mad.” The woman, realizing all of her requests were being approved, decided to take a risk. “Honey, remember that I told you that my mother wants to come live with us? Is it okay if I invite her over for a month, just to try it out, and after a month we can talk about it again.” “Okay, fine, but don’t ask me for anything else okay?” “Yes, yes, I love you so much, baby!” “Yes, yes, love you too. Bye!” As soon as he hung up, the man turned to look at the group and asked, “Does anyone know whose cellphone this is?”

Ha! And here you thought ole boy was an extremely generous partner to that woman! A new fur coat and BMW, decked out with all the accessories, in a single day? Not to mention a month of living with the mother-in-law? Talk about a day! Perhaps you’ve known a day like that in your lifetime but me…that’s the stuff of dreams! But it shouldn’t be. No, we should live in a world where people are just that generous. Not everyone might have the ability to share such material wealth but the desire to share with such generosity should be in everyone. Can you imagine what this world would look like if everyone had the same sense of generosity as that man? Well, for starters, no one would be without. No one would suffer from not having what they need. Maybe not what they want but certainly what they need. And if everyone had what they needed, I suspect there would be a whole lot less suffering in this world. Heck, I wonder how much sin there would be in this world. I suppose there’s always going to sin in this world as long as there are “wants.” Just because we all have what we need, it’s the “wants” that cause all the problems. So then the question is, how do we get rid of all the “wants” in the world? Well, that’s a question to tackle another day. Today I’d like us simply to reflect on generosity.

Paul had some good wisdom to impart to Timothy, and us, when it comes to wealth and riches in this world. All too often we fall into the trap of amassing material wealth just for the sake of amassing. We gather more than we could ever possibly use ourselves and expect joy to be found in what we’ve amassed. Our love is placed on material wealth…material wealth is utterly incapable of reciprocating that love! It might give opportunities for love to be shared but material wealth does not guarantee an actual exchange of love. No, love is a free gift to be shared freely. And oh, what a gift it is! Arguably the greatest gift! Paul certainly believed it to be the greatest gift, and I tend to agree with him. There is nothing quite like love. You’ve heard me say it before but I strongly believe that love and love alone is what makes the world turn. Without love our world wouldn’t exist. Our very existence relies on love.

Now then, Paul told us not to place on our love and trust in money, only in God alone. It’s God and God alone who gives us what we need. Maybe not to all of us but He is the source of all that we need. I especially appreciate what Paul advises to those who have received generously from God. He writes, “Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.” You’ve heard it said, “Give generously as God gives generously,” and that couldn’t be reiterated too much. Generosity is a quality of God. If we are to strive to live godly lives, then we must be generous in all that we give. God doesn’t give just enough. No, God gives generously so we out to give generously too. Recall the words of Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians. “Remember this—a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop.” (9:6) Of course, we can hear that selfishly…that the only reason we give generously is to ensure we will receive generously. But there’s an assumption that that generous crop will benefit more than just the farmer. We are given generously so that we can give generously to others! Sadly, we live in a world where all needs aren’t met, which means there are always opportunities to help meet the needs of others. Just look at the world around us! Needs are always being unmet!

The wisdom of Proverbs tells us, “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” (11:25) And Psalms says, “Good comes to those who lend money generously and conduct their business fairly.” (112:5) Both these statements can reinforce selfish motives. Or they can reveal that love of God. God wants us to know his goodness and refreshment. God loves us! We know his goodness and refreshment by living generously. Last week we were encouraged to live patiently and this week we are encouraged to live generously. There is great reward for living as such! Let us live patiently and generously and give thanks. Thanks be to God!

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.