Bible Passage: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: September 18, 2022

Bulletin September 18, 2022

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

We have chosen the words of our theme this morning very carefully.  “Wealth management strategies.”  We hear words like this quite often in our culture.  There is an entire industry built around wealth management.  Experts write books about it.  Recognized gurus on the matter travel the land putting on 2-day seminars teaching eager attendees the “secrets” of successful wealth management.  There is no shortage of ads on TV for businesses that advise their clients on investment strategies.  Rookies in the NFL attend a symposium where they are taught how to manage their soon-to-be acquired wealth.   That’s all well and good

But the other word that has been carefully chosen in our theme for today is the first one.  “God’s.”  We are not here today to give you information that you could get from a weekend seminar on investing.  We’ll leave that for the “experts.”  In this place, in this house, we are interested in what God has to say about things.  And it may come as a surprise to some, but God actually has a lot to say about money in his Word.  Let’s listen today as the Holy Spirit, through the apostle Paul, gives us God’s Wealth Management Strategies.

I suspect we don’t often think of the apostle Paul as a financial adviser.  But that is what he does toward the end of this letter to Timothy.  He wants to instruct young Pastor Timothy to have a proper view towards wealth.  And the first instruction we might summarize this way:  “Don’t love money!”

Don’t love it…because it is temporary in nature.  Paul says, For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. (v. 7)  We slide into this world without even a stitch of clothing on our bodies, and when we exit this world we leave closets full of clothes behind!  This is all temporary; it is of no eternal value.

Paul will make the point we also don’t want to love money because bad stuff can happen when a person loves money.  He writes, Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin.  For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. (v. 9-10)

The person who loves money and is governed by an insatiable desire to be rich will face many temptations.  To get more money, to get to the next level, to get the next promotion, to get ever “more,” they may be tempted to “cut corners,” to “cook the books,” to overcharge and underdeliver, to commit fraud, to lie, to cheat, to steal, to compromise their morals, to take advantage of people,  to scam people, to use and abuse people, to extort, to murder.  Before a person knows it, they can be trapped in a lifestyle of sin, like a bird caught in a snare.  Paul even describes the Christian who gets on that slippery slope of greed and finally loses their faith because money becomes their Savior and their God!  To our youngest worshippers today, listen carefully to these words.  When you are trying to figure out what you want to do in life, don’t just say, “Show me the money!”

More instruction from Paul:  Instruct those who are rich in this age not to be arrogant [money has a way of making people feel they are better than those with less] or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches…(v. 17)  Don’t trust money, because of its uncertainty.  Those of you invested in the market know all about this, don’t you?  Tuesday of this week the Dow lost over 1200 points!  For the year, the market is down roughly 15%!  Yikes!  For the person who trusts in his investments, that might be downright scary!  The Old Testament uses an illustration for relying on something weak and uncertain.  It talks about leaning against a spider web.  Good way to think about trusting in money.

So, do you want some advice about a “sure thing”?  Paul writes:  Godliness with contentment is great gain. (v. 6)  “Godliness.”  Just what is that?  Godliness is right living that is shaped by right teaching.  It is the Christian life.  The “right” teaching, the truth, has come to you.  You have come to know Jesus Christ as your Savior from sin and hell.  This right teaching has shaped the way you live.  Paul described it this way to the Corinthians, those who have come to know Jesus as Savior no longer live for themselves but for him, who died in their place and was raised again. (2 Corinthians 5:15)  To trust in Jesus and to live for Jesus, that is godliness.

And it is that truth that fills us with “contentment.”  “Contentment” is being satisfied.  How   can we not be satisfied in life?  We have Jesus!  We have a Savior who has washed from us all the guilt and shame of our sins and removed damnation from hanging over our heads.   We have Jesus, and he has given us a new identity!  We are God’s children!  We have a Father in heaven who has promised to look after us.  Jesus said in Matthew 6:  So do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”  For unbelievers chase after all these things.  Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  (Matthew 6:31-32)  Your Father knows that you need food and clothes.  Enough said!  He will see to it!

And that changes how we manage our wealth here.  We don’t have to love it or trust in it for security.  In Jesus, we have all that!  In our text, Paul tells Timothy to encourage those who are rich to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. (v. 18)  In the hands of Christians, acquisition and possession of money is not an end in itself.  For those for whom Christ is all in all, money becomes simply a means and way to love my neighbor.

In the end, God’s wealth management strategies are rather simple.  Don’t love and trust money; love and trust Jesus Christ.  Use money to love your neighbor.

Amen.