The Life that is Really Life

They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions 5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.

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 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people 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.

Final Charge to Timothy

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.

Our scripture for this morning is one of those that has about four different sermons in it, which means I hope you are ready for the long haul this morning. ;)  I am kidding, kind of.  I will do my best to move quickly through them so we can get to the many great messages Paul provides for us this morning.  Remember, this is a letter to his buddy.  This letter is a correspondence from a pastor to one of the sheep in his flock.  This letter is similar to the many conversations I have had with any number of you.  This is Paul encouraging and teaching Timothy in the ways of Christianity.  Remember, that Christians are on a little, itty-bitty island amongst an ocean of paganism and many others who are proclaiming and promoting heretical teachings.  

To better place our scripture within its context, I will read to you 4b-5: “They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.”  We so often easily forget about history in the sense that we allow the present to dominate our thought.  In other words, we often feel the present is the thing relevant and what is happening today is not what was happening in the past.  When I read these words from Paul, I felt like I was hit by a truck because I could not believe how relevant these words were.  “Unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels”?! How familiar does this sound as we get closer to Election Day?  “Words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, and evil suspicions”?! Again, sound familiar? The news media, social media, and daily conversations are filled, absolutely filled with this garbage every single day.  It is nearly impossible to escape from it.  “Constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain”?! SERIOUSLY, PAUL, ARE YOU WRITING FROM 2016??!!  Most often, the garbage I was referring to, doesn’t originate with us.  It comes from the constant friction of people with corrupt minds who are seeking financial gain.  Think about it.  Who benefits from strife, disagreement, and discourse between two groups of people?  It’s not the ones involved in the conflict, it is the ones who have something to sell: commercial slots, patriotic paraphernalia, books, etc.  You see, friction sells.  

BUT, but, Paul tells Timothy that godliness with contentment is great gain.  Sounds great, right, but the friction and conflict we have had shoved down our throats tells us that we cannot be content, because the other side will win if we do not fight.  As the political season comes down the home stretch, seek the godliness found in contentment.  Do not give into the friction and conflict.  God calls us to rise above it.  You may not like how the election turns out but you are the one, the only one, who determines what kind of person, and what kind of Christian, you will be after the results are finalized.  This contentment that Paul is calling us to seek is not one of inaction or outward blindness.  Rather, it is an inward attitude to life.  The ancient greek philosopher Epicurus once said, “To whom little is not enough nothing is enough.  Give me a barley cake and a glass of water and I am ready to rival Zeus for happiness.” And when asked about the secret of happiness, Epicurus said, “Add not to a man’s possessions but take away from his desires.”  This is so true.  Possessions do not make us happy.  It is really the sins or deviant desires we pursue that take away from a natural happiness that we are born with.  A happiness that is freely given from God.  Paul reminds us of this: “For we brought nothing into the world and, we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.”

So far, we have learned to avoid unhealthy controversies and quarrels and we have been instructed to seek contentment through a change in our inward attitude.  The next point in Paul’s pastoral letter to Timothy is warning about the entrapment of the unhealthy seeking of riches.  William Barclay wants us to understand that this is not a calling by Paul to seek poverty but it is a warning about the unhealthy seeking of riches: “[This scripture] pleads for the realization that it is never in the power of things to bring happiness.  Happiness always comes from personal relationships.  All the things in the world will not make a person happy if they know neither friendship nor love.  The Christian knows that the secret of happiness lies, not in things, but in people.”  BOOOOOM!  So many self-help books encourage us to think about the things we want and somehow the universe will delivery them to our front step.  No.  While I do encourage positive thinking and encouraging self-talk, our happiness and the good things we desire in our lives are not found in money or possessions.  It is found through the messiness of conversion and relationship with one another and God.  If you want to be truly happy, converse with strangers.  You want to get that promotion at work?  Network, build relationships, get to know the people around you and that is in contrast to seeking friction and controversy with those whom may be up for the same promotion.  Do not tear someone down to build yourself up and this applies in all facets of life.  “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.”  Not money itself.  Money can do so many great things but it is the love of money that Paul is warning us against.  Jealousy of someone else’s money also falls into this category.  

Paul suddenly turns from teaching Timothy to encouraging and giving him the keys to success: “But you, man of God, flee from this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  Fight the good fight of the faith.”  Flee the conflict, flee from the love of money, flee from division and separation.  FLEE.  RUN. SPRINT! Paul is painting a picture of someone sprinting away from our evil desires with the speed of Usain Bolt.  That is how we must approach the sin and desire that keeps us from happiness and the glory of God.  We cannot leave tentatively.  We cannot simply start to walk away and keep looking over our shoulder.  There is nothing tentative about what Paul is expecting here.  There cannot be indecision.  If we want to escape those things holding us back we must pursue and chase and seek, unequivocally, all that is good and righteous.  Flee from what is evil and pursue what is good.  If you are running away from something, you are also running towards something else.  You have the freedom to make that choice.  I encourage you flee from evil and run towards what is good.  Are you seeking freedom from your vices, your sins, your earthly desires?  Then flee from them and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  PURSUE IT!

In closing, Paul offers every single one of us some words to live by because everyone one of us here is “rich” given the worldly standard.  BBC news reports that the world income is $70 trillion and the world population is 7 billion meaning that the average income worldwide is nearing $10,000 annually.  So, let all of us take these pastorally words from Paul to heart: “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. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 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.”  What Paul outlines for us in his letter is the secret to life.  The life that is truly life.  Flee from the love of money, our own earthly desires and sin, flee from unhealthy controversies and quarrels. Instead, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.  FLEE AND PURSUE. Amen.