What Your Life Can Truly Be

1 Timothy 6:6-19 RSV

There is great gain in godliness with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world; but if we have food and clothing, with these we shall be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and hurtful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all evils; it is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced their hearts with many pangs. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; aim at righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 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 to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ; and this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. As for the rich in this world, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on uncertain riches but on God who richly furnishes us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good deeds, liberal and generous, thus laying up for themselves a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life which is life indeed.

Sometimes an odd flowing together of events contributes to the development of an upcoming sermon. You guessed it. This one was one of those!

I began by reading over the scripture passages appointed in the lectionary for today several times over two or three days. There was one from the Old Testament Book of Jeremiah, where the prophet was sequestered in the king’s court while Jerusalem was under siege from the armies of Babylon, and Jeremiah followed God’s vision to put his money down on a piece of land. There was another from the Book of Luke about the rich man and Lazarus, where poor Lazarus and the rich man both go to their rewards, and Lazarus does considerably better. And then, there was this passage today, from 1^st Timothy. I spent some time seeking God’s guidance on which direction to go.

It’s always an amazing and awe-filled responsibility to find myself at the intersection of God’s Word and a congregation!

Because of the wisdom of the developers of the lectionary, all of the passages for this week have something to do with keeping our eyes on the big picture, you know, the really, really big picture of life’s meaning and purpose, in the midst of things which can distract. Different passages, different distractions: In the case of the Jeremiah passage, the city of Jerusalem being under siege distracted them from the big picture. In the other two, it was the lust for things like riches or power.

I have a sense of humor about God’s role in these sermon preparation coincidences when they happen. I just hope that God can use them for good whether it’s divinely inspired or not. The first one happened as the background noise of the tv lurched into the foreground while I was reading the 1^st Timothy passage one more time. The science channel was on, because I enjoy watching episodes of “How It’s Made” when I have the time. I just like to know how things work and how factories make things, you know! You already know me as a frustrated amateur engineer!

Anyway, there I was reading this passage from I Timothy about those who are pulled off center by the lust of accumulating wealth, when a show started, highlighting a number of inventors. There were three segments about folks who were compelled to pursue their inventions for the good of humankind, while a number of forces ranging from big businesses… to the military seemed to be conspiring to either siphon off… or suppress their work for less than noble reasons. This is the kind of show that people that love to see a conspiracy behind every rock love to watch. I’m not one of those, but I looked up and kept watching.

These inventions had to do with alternate energy sources and anti-gravity devices. Joe Newman had developed a energy machine which could power a big turbine fan with the energy from a few 9 volt batteries. John Hutchison had developed a way to combine several kinds of radio frequency energy to make large objects levitate and change shape and form. A third segment talked about another group of inventors across the country pursuing small scale levitation devices.

I was hooked, because I once had a childhood fantasy of creating an anti-gravity device which I had to try to keep out of the hands of folks who wanted to use it for the wrong reasons. Those were the days of the Dick Tracy wrist TV and the space coupe which used anti gravity to go from place to place. Boy, it’s great to think Cub Scout thoughts again after a few years have gone by.

Do you remember the Disney Film staring Fred McMurry, called the Absent Minded Professor which first came out in 1961. In the movie a professor invented a process which would allow a car to give up it’s gravity pull and fly through the air. Now, I don’t remember whether my childhood fantasy came before or after I saw that movie, but Fred McMurray and I were on the same track… and the movie was about the same kinds of issues: how do you keep a good invention on track to help the world and out of the hands of greedy people who want to hoard the money to be made from it, or the use of it to clobber someone else over the head.

I guess that since the dawn of time, every new invention (like the spear or the wheel or the hammer) has been used first to get food or clothing if possible and then picked up by the makers of war for weapons… or suppressed by a company whose old technology will be made obsolete.

A few Sundays back, one of our church members, Chris Olson, mentioned in the prayer time that his invention which has been in development for many years is beginning to generate some serious interest from countries whose people could benefit greatly from it. I have enjoyed talking to him about his invention and some of the struggles involved in trying to use a new energy source to help others. I’m so proud of him and his family for keeping their eyes on using his invention to help people have a better life.

So, as I read the passage from First Timothy, the confluence of ideas from the program, my childhood inventor fantasies, and the big picture about the meaning of life came together in a kind of catharsis, as if several trains of thought snapped together in one moment. When that happens, I tend to pay attention, because sometimes it’s important.

In his letter to Timothy, Paul does a beautiful job trying to help Timothy keep his eye on the big picture.

He begins by saying that there is great gain in “godliness combined with contentment.” I love the way it’s paraphrased in The Message, “A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God.”

Then he reminds us of the obvious, that we pulled an empty U-Haul trailer into this life, and we’ll leave it the same way. So Paul suggests to us that we should be content with life’s essentials like food and clothing and (however blessed we may be), not be consumed by the scramble for bigger bank accounts and larger houses.

The Message puts it this way, “But if it’s only money these leaders are after, they’ll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after.”

Of course you know that this passage in earlier translations is one of the most mis-quoted passages in the entire Bible! “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Taken in the fullness of this particular passage, money is not seen as evil, or course! The love of it, or the lust for it, is the evil thing. Money is just a tool for projecting your influence where you can’t easily go yourself.

In a Children’s sermon last year, I brought in some shoe banks to illustrate how shoes are a wonderful symbol of money given to God. If you can’t go personally to Russia of Africa or Cuba, sending money there will allow you to extend yourself somewhere you can’t go right now. Or if you’re working each day and can’t be personally present in places of need, you can underwrite the needs of those who are able to do it.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard on tv or in conversation somebody say, “Well, you know it’s been said that money is the root of all evil.” It happens so often, that I don’t even bother to shake my head anymore!

Let’s give Paul credit for not going for the cheap shot! Paul’s not calling what is simply a tool of all civilizations “evil”. He’s simply reminding us that to focus too much twisted love on it throws all our values out of whack! What does he suggest instead?

Again, The Message: Listen to this beautiful paraphrase! “But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life – a life of wonder…, faith…, love…, steadiness…, courtesy…. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.”

Paul then goes on for a verse or two to urge Timothy to keep the faith and stand strong in values that are a part of a life lived with a bigger time horizon in mind – eternity.

The Bob Translation… “You came into this world with no money, you’re going to leave it with no money, so don’t lose sight of the currency of eternity (your faithful character) in your quest for a few coins you’ll have to leave behind anyway!”

Now, I might have picked the Jeremiah passage or the Luke passage for today, had it not been for a final bit of confluence at the next verse.

Just as the science show went off, Macy’s just had to tell me about it’s Fall sale set to the tune of a tune by Earth, Wind, and Fire, called… Shning Star. You know, “Shining Star for you to see, what your life can truly be!” It’s also been re-done recently by Hannah Montana. There’s a very dramatic effect at the end of the original song used in the Macy’s ad, where, after this driving tune with lots of screaming brass and lots of audio processing in the studio has grabbed you, cuts out all the processing for the kind of sound that comes out of studio reference monitors during play back. No reverb. No chorus. No Delay. Just flat, in tune, acapella, sound: “Shining Star for you to see, what your life can truly be!”

After reading the full lyrics on the internet, I’m convinced that this song could have been composed on the basis of this passage. Whether you’ve noticed it or not, the full lyrics (not in the Macy’s shorter version) include: “The shining star, lucky you, The sinful redeeming shall be true, On an adventure of the sun, Yeah it´s all awake and just begun”

The Message: Verse 16… “He’s the only one death can’t touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He’s never been seen by human eyes – human eyes can’t take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

… which leads us to this… The Message: Verse 17… “Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage - to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.”

How can you say it better: “Shining star for you to see, what your life can truly be!”

I can’t remember the location exactly, but as a young man, one of the inventors, Joe Newman, was stationed in at a place where a natural catastrophe killed hundreds of residents. In the program, he stood on camera and pointed over his shoulder at a mountain peak. You know, I was raised in an orphanage, and I know about having a hard childhood. When I heard the media describe the 300 people here who died as if they were pigs, I stood up there on the mountain and promised God that I would dedicate myself to making life better for people who don’t have much.

At 67, after years of trying to avoid those who would use his invention for selfish purposes (and turning down huge sums of money from those with that end in view) or working though roadblocks set up by those who would try to discredit his invention as a threat to the status quo, Joe is still plugging away. You’ll find him in shopping mall demonstrations and science forums around the country, trying to promote his invention to make life better for folks who need it, talking to anyone who will listen, working to fulfill a promise to God he made long ago.

Paul says, Timothy… “Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage - to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.”

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