Sermon - 1 Timothy 6:6–19 - Contentment

Rev. Jeffrey T. Howard

Pitts Creek and Beaver Dam Churches

Sermon - 1 Timothy 6:6–19 - Contentment

September 29, 2013

This morning I am continuing with my series of sermons drawn from the letters the Apostle Paul sent to a young pastor named Timothy. Last week we saw that Timothy must center his ministry on prayer, and that his church should pray for everyone including the king. Today we will see that there was a problem in the church at Ephesus which Timothy must address. This problem revolved around the way people viewed money and possessions. We will get to this, but first let's pray.

“Grant unto us, O Lord, to be occupied in the mysteries of thy heavenly wisdom, with true progress in piety, to thy glory and our own edification. Amen.” (John Calvin)

1 Timothy 6:6-19 ⁶ But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. ⁹ People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. ¹¹ But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. ¹² Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³ In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you ¹⁴ to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵ which God will bring about in his own time-- God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. ¹⁷ Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 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.

The problem in the church of Ephesus seems to revolve around the issue of money. The church was expected to be generous and provide the resources needed to maintain their building, pay their pastor, and do God's work in the world. But it seems that the people in the church are more interested in becoming rich. They long for more income and treasure. And Paul warns them that this longing can lead them into a trap set by the devil. Satan uses our longing for more money and things to lure us into evil ways. Paul wants the church to grow spiritually so that it will be more content with what it has, rather than long for even more. This will allow the members of the church to be more generous and give to the work and mission of the church. 

Paul calls this “fighting the good fight of faith”.

There are two ways to think about money and possessions. One way is to long for more. The other is to be content with what you have. I have experienced both. In my younger days I longed for more. I thought I needed more income and more savings. I needed this money to build a business and plan for retirement. And there is nothing wrong with wanting a better job, or working harder to make more. We all have to do that. But what I found is that it didn't matter how much I made or how much I saved, I still wanted more. This is what it means to long for money and possessions. Regardless if you are rich or if you are poor, you want more. Regardless if you have a high income or a low income, you always want even more. My experience was that I always needed another ten percent. It didn't matter if I made a lot or a little I just needed ten percent more to be happy.

The problem with longing for money is that you can never be generous because your needs are so great. If you always need ten percent more than you have right now then it is impossible to give anything away. This is how you can test whether or not you long for money and things. Ask yourself: Do I have enough so that I can give some away? If your answer is “no” than you believe that you need more than you have. And therefore you long for money and things.

The opposite of longing for more money and things is to be content with what you have. Contentment means that you have enough. And when you think you have enough you can be generous and give some of it away. Again, it does not matter how much you make or how much you have saved. You can be content with much or little. The amount of money you make or have in the bank make no difference in you longing for more or being content with what you have.

For years I longed for more. But as I grew spiritually though regular worship, Bible study and prayer, I have come to discover that I am now content with what I have. I make less now than I used to make. I have less in the bank than I use to have. And yet I am content. I know this because I no need longer ten percent more to be happy. I can be happy with ten percent less. Now that I am content with what I make and what I have, I have the ability to tithe. Even though I have less and make less, I am more generous and give more. I give five percent of my income to Pitts Creek and another five percent to Beaver Dam. And although this is a financial sacrifice for Grace and me, I am content with what I have left over.

When you are content with what you have then you will become more generous. When you no longer long for ten percent more you can get by with ten percent less. And it follows that if you are content with what you have you will generously give it away.

We can see this all the time in churches. The people who have been in churches for years, worshiping, praying and studying their Bibles, have become content with what they have and are now comfortable supporting the church. People who are new to the church still find themselves longing for more and are unable to be as generous. This is why it is crucial for all people in the church to attend worship regularly, meditate on scripture and pray every day, and study the Bible with others, so that as the church grows spiritually its members become more generous. And the church has the resources it needs to participate in God's work in the community.

So I urge you to do those things necessary for your own spiritual growth. Develop the habit of coming to church every Sunday. Find a small group to pray with on a regular basic. And study your Bible. Do these things and you will grow spiritually, you will become more and more content with what you have, and you will become more generous.

So fight the good fight of faith. Grow spiritually, be content with what you have and learn to be generous, giving your treasure away, while building up new treasures in heaven. Let's pray.

Father in heaven so many of us long for more money and things. We find that our needs are so great that we are unable to be generous. We feel that we cannot give to others because we need so much more. Gift us the gift of faith, so that we may grow in piety and godliness. And though this make us content with what we have and generous with our gifts. This we pray in the name of our savior who gave his own life for us. Amen.