Living the Good Life
(1 Timothy 6: 3-19)
After I graduated from the Houston Police Academy in 1977 Teresa and I bought us a little 800 square foot house twenty miles from downtown. Two bedrooms, one bathroom, no central heating or air conditioning, and no garage to park my used VW Bug in. It was just a little rectangular house, the color of a saltine cracker. Just big enough for us and our brand-new baby daughter. I remember scraping up just enough money each week where we could go down the road to Charlie’s Hamburgers and ordering one cheeseburger, one hamburger, one order of fries, one coke, one bottle of beer, and sitting outside hoping someone would drop a few coins in the jukebox. Believe it or not, we were pretty content, and I felt like we were living the good life.
It was different for a few of my classmates who, once they got off our one-year probation and were officially Houston Police Officers. With their new-found stability and a bump in pay they started buying new cars, trucks, boats, and houses in neighborhoods they couldn’t afford and began taking on off-duty jobs just to pay for the new purchases they didn’t have time to enjoy. I remember one of them, while hanging out in my front yard, remarking that “I had it all.” I knew what he meant, but I still had to laugh at the irony of the realization. God had provided all Teresa and I needed to live within our means and were very content with what little we had in material goods and not worrying about how we were going to pay for something we couldn’t afford and didn’t need. We could just concentrate on building our lives together and living into the future.
And that’s what the apostle Paul is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning in his letter to Timothy. He wants us to lead lives that honor God, centering our desires on him, live contentedly with what we have, and appreciate what God is doing in our lives.
Paul had written this letter to Timothy in preparation for sending him to Ephesus to address a matter that was dividing the church. Paul had planted the church in Ephesus on one of his missionary journeys and had returned there spending three years building up and strengthening the church before he moved on in his evangelism carrying God’s Word to other communities. Ephesus was a wealthy city which meant that the Ephesian church probably had many wealthy members and, as we all know, an unhealthy love for money can be the root of all kinds of problems. Paul is impressing upon Timothy the importance of staying away from those who just want to make money from preaching, and from those who strayed from the sound teachings of the gospel into quarrels that causes strife in the church. Stay away from people who just want to argue. Sound advice.
We pick up with Paul saying: If anyone teaches anything different and doesn’t agree with sound teachings about our Lord Jesus Christ and teaching that is consistent with godliness, that person is conceited. They don’t understand anything but have a sick obsession with debates and arguments. Paul is talking about people he knows, people he has given the gospel of Jesus Christ. They know Christ’s teachings, but for them, the gospel runs counter to the way they want to live their lives. It’s an inconvenient truth. They want to reinterpret these teachings to comport with their lifestyles and still be able to call themselves Followers of the Way. It’s all about them first and Christ second if he’s lucky. He continues stating: This creates jealousy, conflict, verbal abuse, and evil suspicions. There is constant bickering between people whose minds are ruined and who have been robbed of the truth. They think that godliness is a way to make money!
When you consider the current state of Christianity in America today it’s hard to remember that Paul wrote this letter almost two thousand years ago. While no church is immune from infighting and power struggles this problem has really manifested itself within the churches that consider themselves “evangelical” and find themselves buying into the Christian Nationalist movement and all it advocates in the name of Jesus Christ. The “woke Jesus” narrative doesn’t fit in with their ideas of what one nation under God should look like. They don’t want to hear the truth of the gospel and are obsessed with debates and arguments that support their beliefs and quest for financial security. And, as Paul predicted, there is jealousy, conflict, verbal abuse, and evil suspicions. Their minds have indeed been ruined and robbed of the truth. At the root of this conflict is the prosperity gospel, the belief that God will reward your faithfulness with great wealth and riches beyond your every need. Everybody else is on their own.
Paul believed that the pursuit of money was and is a source of temptation that led some away from the faith. For him, the person of God flees from these temptations and pursues righteousness, holy living, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness which is what he meant when he said: Actually, godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have. He points out the obvious when he reminds us that we came into the world with nothing and we’ll go out the same way, that we should be happy with the food and clothing we have, that which meets our daily needs. He makes the point that people who are obsessed with trying to get rich fall into temptations in their quest for more and more. They are trapped by many stupid and harmful passions that plunge them into ruin and destruction. He says: The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. He observes how some people in their quest for more money have wandered away from the faith and have impaled themselves with a lot of pain because they made money their goal.
Paul is encouraging us to compete in the good fight of faith, to grab hold of eternal life, to do what we were called to do, making a good confession of it in the presence of many witnesses. Let people see you living for God and not for your pursuit of material things, wealth, power, and status. And he encourages us to tell people who are rich not to become egotistical and not to place their hope on their finances, which are uncertain. He’s talking about those who spend more time watching the stock market than spending time in the Word. He says: Instead, they need to hope in God, who richly provides everything for our enjoyment. Tell them to do good, to be rich in the good things they do, to be generous, and to share with others. Paul wants us to reassure them that if they, or we as the case may be, will save a treasure for themselves that is a good foundation for the future and, that way, they can take hold of what is truly life.
The Apostle uses active and forceful verbs to describe the Christian life such as flee, pursue, fight, and take hold. This is contrary to the belief some hold that Christianity is a passive religion that advocates waiting for God to act. If you know God, you know that this is not the case. We’ve been given the gift of the Holy Spirit who is there to lead, guide, and advise us in all that we do, to take the initiative and actively and aggressively do what Jesus would do. It is crucial to the re-establishment of the kingdom that we have an active faith, that we train for what lies ahead, that we work hard, willingly make sacrifices, and do what we know is right when it needs to be done.
God has blessed us with so many good things like time, talent, and abundance and he wants us to use what we have to do his good will. He wants us to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share. So, no matter how much money you have or don’t have, your life should demonstrate that God controls the wealth that he has placed under your care so that you, your family, and anyone you come into contact with can live the good life.
Let us pray.
Gracious and all wise God, we pray that you keep us focused on what is important to you and the restoration of your kingdom here on earth. Move us by your Spirit to make your holy Word the cornerstone of our lives so that in all we do we remain grounded and firm in our faith. May we follow the teachings of your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ as we walk the path of his righteousness. By your mercy and grace, we pray that we live a good life that is pleasing to you and serves as a light that attracts the lost to you. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
No recording of this weeks service
9/28/25
Living the Good Life
Actually, godliness is a great source of profit when it is combined with being happy with what you already have.–The Apostle Paul