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*Topical: The Idol of $$$*
*1 Timothy 6:6-10*
*/October 18, 2009/*
*Main Point(s) of sermon:*
· Money is one of the biggest idols in our lives.
· The desire to be rich (for its own sake) is a sin.
· Giving is a spiritual discipline just like prayer or Bible reading.
· Giving is a vital investment in the work of the church.
*Objectives of sermon:*
· To help us remove the idol of money through the grace of giving.
* *
*Prep: *
· 027, 077, HP 06, 090,
· Luke 16, 1 Tim 6,
· Listen to Stewardship Sermon
· “Preach for Commitment”, Leftovers
*Scripture reading: 1 timothy 6:6-10*
Intro
An idol is anything we worship above God.
Worship does not necessarily mean building temples, but rather honoring something, making sacrifices for it.
It means to love and adore.
· Money is one of the biggest idols in America, arguably the biggest.
When I spoke of being shaped unknowingly by the world, nowhere is this truer than our view of money.
If we are honest, we (me included) simply don’t believe what the Bible says about money.
· We are that immersed in the world.
When Peter preached about giving, he joked about our habit of saying “If you are visiting...” But the idolatry and giving part does apply to all of us.
The specifics of /where/ to give change.
· I hope to offend all of us a little.
Prayer
Our world is run on money, and all our life we are taught to view success on money and the things it buys.
Help us to see how temporary it is, and set our minds on eternal things.
defined by money
The Bible talks a lot about money (there are many statistics, not sure which are accurate).
That’s because it’s such as huge part of our existence.
One third of our life is spent earning it, another third spending it, and the rest is sleeping.
· Our life is defined by money, if we make a lot we are successful, if we don’t we aren’t.
· We make constant comparisons.
We never have enough or make enough – when I graduated from college, I didn’t make very much, and wanted to make just a little more.
I have gotten several raises since then, but still want a little more.
· Somehow my spending has managed to keep up.
More stuff won’t make you happier.
We know this because we now have what we thought would make us happy 4 years ago, but we are not happier.
Ecclesiastes is a prime example.
· Ad agencies work on creating discontentment.
· Contrast that to what Paul says:
* *
*1 Timothy 6:6-10 * 6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.
Given that we are not traveling preachers, I think we can reasonably add “shelter” to that list.
Given that list, I think all of us have reason to be content.
But we are not.
· Here is the part we don’t believe:
9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.
It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
Do you catch that?
Paul is warning against wanting to be rich.
That’s crazy and totally counter-culture.
That’s un-American!
Being rich is not a sin (as we will see in a minute), but pursuing wealth is dangerous to our souls.
Q Do you hear this verse quoted at Amway conventions!
I remember being invited to an Amway meeting and had a rare moment of clarity, that the huge emphasis on getting more money, it was taking advantage of their greed.
· It’s easy to poke fun at Amway and other “MLM” groups, but any pursuit of money is dangerous.
A cruel god
So why is this such as big deal?
Because sin is that which separates us from God.
*Matthew 6:24 * No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.
You cannot serve God and money.
Money is a cruel master – it demands all of your time, energy, and allegiance, all for temporal things that will not last.
God also requires all of your time, energy, and allegiance, but in order to give us what we really want.
· Money fails us, God doesn’t.
Is it a sin to be rich?
Some passages make it sound that way, such as James (speaking to non-Christians) and statement to Rich Young Ruler.
*1 Timothy 6:17-19 * As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, 19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
Riches are dangerous, but not evil.
In fact, they are a powerful tool.
It is not a sin to be rich, but those who are blessed have obligations.
Notice the three things Paul says to the rich (BTW: Paul would have considered pretty almost all of us rich):
1.
Don’t be proud of your riches.
2. Don’t place your security in them.
3. Use them for God’s glory.
Stewardship
God’s view of riches is again in direct contrast to ours: We are blessed to be blessing.
Nothing belongs to us, it is all God’s.
We may think that we earn it, but:
NIV *Deuteronomy 8:17* You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.”
18 But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth...
The theological term is “stewardship.”
It means we’re managers, not owners, like a Costco manager can’t take or give away stuff.
· We are God’s portfolio manager, are we managing God’s money well, or do we have a Madoff scheme going?
· If we are a bad investment, he will not give more to us.
When he gives us more, it is to be used to bless others.
God blessed us so that we can be a blessing and the question is not how much do I have to give away but “how much of God’s stuff can I keep?”
· Driscoll: Put Jesus’ name on your credit card.
Conflict of interest
Admittedly, there seems to be a bit of a conflict of interest here: Money is dangerous so give it all to me, I mean my church!
· But this is something I both believe in and practice.
How many jobs require giving back part of your income to the company?
But Marilyn and I willing do it because we believe it glorifies God, builds his kingdom, and benefits our souls.
· We just lost a portion of income and we’re scrambling, but not giving isn’t even an option.
I would do this for free if I could.
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