Scripture Text (NRSV)
1 Timothy 6:6-19
6:6 Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with
contentment;
6:7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take
nothing out of it;
6:8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with
these.
6:9 But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are
trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into
ruin and destruction.
6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in
their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and
pierced themselves with many pains.
6:11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.
6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal
life, to which you were called and for which you made the good
confession in the presence of many witnesses.
6:13 In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of
Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good
confession, I charge you
6:14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the
manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
6:15 which he will bring about at the right time--he who is the
blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
6:16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in
unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be
honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
6:17 As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not
to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but
rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our
enjoyment.
6:18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and
ready to share,
6:19 thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good
foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that
really is life.
Comments:
Timothy is reminded of the confession he made at his baptism and of
its implications for daily life. His priorities will be different from
those of people who merely want to be rich.
The misplacement of trust, from God to wealth, makes an appearance
here. This passage is the source of the familiar adage, "the love of
money is the root of all evil," a fitting comment on the Lazarus
story.
Timothy gets warned, and we who count ourselves "people of God" are
likewise cautioned, against spending life in a trivial pursuit of
wealth. The characteristic naughtiness of the rich: haughtiness (v.
17). Acting superior to others. You don't want to be like that. Huh
uh.
If we scratch the surface of the naughty haughty, we find they have
"set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches" (v. 17). Mammon becomes
the master people cleave to, rather than Christ. "Trapped by many
senseless and harmful desires" (v. 9), addicted to stupid and
destructive behaviors, "they wander away from the faith" (v. 10). Uh
oh.
Did they do it to themselves? Have they "pierced themselves with many
pains" (v. 10)? Was it the fault of desires that "plunged them into
ruin and destruction" (v. 9)? Perhaps it was simply a case of having
both hands otherwise engaged, when "the life that really is life" was
offered? Say "all of the above." God, who created a world into which
we brought nothing, also demands that we take nothing out. Except by
his gift. When this life is over, those who lived for this life are
done. Suckered by an illusory hope, they will have only gone around
once. Hah!
But there is another who was pierced. Another made the good confession
in the presence of Pontius Pilate (v. 13). An other who also, by the
way, shunned "all this" (e.g., the love of money, v. 11). He is
present now to Timothy (v. 15), and is guarantor by his blood that
Timothy (and we) will have a real life. (And look at him now, dwelling
in unapproachable light! Rich much!) Christ conquers death, with the
mother of all succor punches. Heh, heh!
Timothy and we make the good confession out of hearts that are fixed
on nothing so "uncertain" as the physical world (i.e., money, v. 17),
but rather on a promise of something more lasting: Life. (The eternal
sort.) It's a fight, but a "good fight." The confession is at first a
sort of "taking hold" but, finally, a seizing of the right object (vv.
12, 19). Aha!
Out of such a heart, even those who happen in the course of events to
be rich in this world can produce something truly rich, if they are
generous in providing aid (succor) to others. For if "sin" means to be
"curved in on self" (incurvatus in se), those who are godly are curved
outward, toward others. "A good foundation for the future" (v. 19) is
constructed not by acquiring but by sharing. Ho, ho, ho!
Marcus Felde
The sin of "Dives" in the Gospel and of many others who are wealthy is
not that they are rich; it is when they (we) become haughty or set
their (our) hopes on riches and on ourselves--our ability to get rich
and to hold onto riches--instead of on God. Paul counsels contentment
with whatever we have, and generosity if we have more than we need to
live. Is it fair to understand that Jesus, by his parable of the rich
man and Lazarus, is also counseling reliance not on self and wealth,
but on God? In Luke 16:15, after all, he states that "what is prized
by human beings is an abomination in the sight of God." Reliance on
wealth??
Heidi in MN
6:6 - there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment.
Whose gain? I serve a church of very contented godly people and
they're dying.
Sally
Amen, Sally, Many are content with their notion of godliness, which
fails to see the poor at their doorstep. (Lutheran Lectionary has Amos
6 as First lesson, which says "Alas to those who are at ease in Zion"
(content?)
Godliness such as the Pharisees demonstrate in Luke the last few
weeks, misses the point. Kind of like the old saying "Cleanliness is
next to Godliness". (Where does the Bible say that?) Which implies
that anyone who is dirty/poor is ungodly.
Hopefully the world around us makes us uncontent with the way things
are, and makes us want to do something to make things better.
Lots of places to "afflict the comfortable" this week.
JRW in OH
We're both pastors - decent income. We have wealthy friends and
relatives who buy every new "toy" that comes along. Constantly
improving or looking for bigger houses. We consider ourselves blessed
with a very nice home (not huge), healthy family, etc. We are content.
I have always said there is something to be said for being content
with your life and not always striving for more. Now, there are also
people who, I suppose, shouldn't be content because they are living in
poverty.....musings. Contented
Rich is not bad, materialism is bad. How are we going to counter the
on-slaught of materialism on to us today? (My 5 years old boy
constantly demand us to buy him things he saw on TV through the kids'
channel!)
The answers were presented here: Godliness and contentment. (Is there
a Godliness without contentment?) Godliness from the light of this
text is the keeping of God's commandments, and if that is being done
without gratitude, then we are missing out the contentment part.
I think I will start teaching my boy to count his blessing, to be
grateful, to practice contentment in those ways. I need to find ways
to encourage him in pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love,
endurance, gentleness. Perhaps, he will grow up in Godliness and can
withstand the coming on-slaught of materialism.
Hey, his name is Timothy! This should be a perfect model for him.
Timmy's dad.
One thing I clearly teach my grandchildren is the difference between
wanting something and needing something. We then give several
examples... We need air, water, God's love. We want the game on tv,
the new cereal, etc. It has really helped them discern what really
brings life!
Afflicting the comfortable ... or alienating them altogether?
Guilt-tripping is of no use - as in, "you're a lot more privileged
than you think compared to the rest of the world so thank the Lord
above and quit being so stingy" and yet, neither is "you're a lot more
afflicted than you think, you comfortable people you!"
Rather ... to be all 1980's about it, maybe it's time for the
comfortable to get in touch with their afflicted side and thus find
some ground to identify with (rather than sympathize) the afflicted.
... this is the treasure of a good foundation for the future ... to
take hold of the life that really is life. Not false modesty, or false
humility, or cheap grace but the ability to use our own lives to find
commonality with others.
food for thought as I munch my hot dogs and relish.
Sally in GA
I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with a guilt trip. I
remember hearing a talk about stewardship and tithing. The speaker
ended by saying that some of us might be feeling guilty because we're
not giving like we should/could but that's okay because there's
forgiveness in Jesus. There's forgiveness but once in a while we have
to be told what's being forgiven and it just might lead us to changed
lives.
Shalom: Tom in Ontario
The love of money, or the money of love; what's in your wallet (to
borrow an ad line)? An old saw is "The love in your heart wasn't put
there to stay. Love isn't love 'til you give it away." How about this,
"The money in your bank wasn't put there to stay. Money ain't love
'til you give it away." tom in TN(USA)
Sally
You serve a church of very contented godly people and they're dying.
It's because they content in the wrong thing. The text point to
materialism, not just content w/ the status quo.
Coho. (Out til next Mon.)
I appreciate the comment over on the gospel page that says something
about true wealth being measured in relationships. I talk pretty often
about how we put our trust in the security we create for ourselves,
especially with our money. But I don't always flesh that out, and this
gives the beginning of a good picture of the choices we make, one way
or the other, depending on where our trust is. Placing trust in God,
no matter how much money you have, will mean using your gifts to build
up relationships, especially with the marginalized.
It's really too late at night for me to be posting at all. Sorry if
this is useless.
Laura in TX
"Now, there are also people who, I suppose, shouldn't be content
because they are living in poverty.....musings. Contented"
I pray that this was said tongue in cheek. Why shouldn't people who
live in poverty be content with their life? I pray that we have not
become a world-wide society of middle class Pharisees saying "thank
God I am not like that (fill in the blank) over there. Bill Jones in
Porcupine
"I pray that this was said tongue in cheek. Why shouldn't people who
live in poverty be content with their life? I pray that we have not
become a world-wide society of middle class Pharisees saying "thank
God I am not like that (fill in the blank) over there."
I brought my comments above to my partner and have come to the
conclusion that there are different definitions of what "poverty"
means. We got into a great protracted discussion over its meaning. My
comments are directed to the thesis that one who lives in Poverty" can
be content within their family and their surroundings. My partner says
that because of the way society is structured that those in "poverty"
can not be content because they see the excesses of those around them.
I hope we will resolve our discussion prior to turning in for the
night or it may be a long night of discussion.
Being content to live in poverty? Is that like being proud of their
humility?
Don't let the ability to buy anything you want (with cash or credit)
allow you to think you can buy what money cannot afford--life, in this
world or the next.
It cannot buy back time that was squandered. It cannot buy more hours
in the day. It cannot prevent death.
It can provide comfortable things but cannot provide comfort.
~~Fair Isaac
