Life That Is Really Life: 1 Timothy 6:6-19 - Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Last week’s men’s retreat was an amazing experience on so many levels.

One of the best parts was that we did not adhere to a schedule, because we were so focused on each other. We talked for hours on about practically everything: work, relationships, hobbies, and sports. Some in our group talked about how their families survived when money was tight: by hunting and trapping wild game, growing fruits and vegetables in the garden, making homemade clothing, hiring themselves out to do odd jobs. We also spoke of our struggles with physical and mental health, our battles with sin and temptation. We shared questions about God, faith, and the Bible. We told stories about miracles we witnessed and received. 

We were reminded, once again, that our healed wounds and forgiven sins bear witness to the saving grace of Jesus in ways that health, wealth, and success do not. 

Today’s reading from 1 Timothy takes that idea one step further: that the want and love of riches “plunges people into ruin and destruction.” “The love of money,” Paul writes, “is the root of all kinds of evil.” 

You need not look far to find proof. Behind the kingdoms men build to glory in their greatness are hellscapes of ruin and misery: the mines, sweatshops, and construction sites where men, women, and children work themselves to death for pennies a day; landfills, wastelands, and polluted waterways; wasted food and life-giving; people left to die of addiction, homelessness, and disease.

Then again, our modern world tries to keep these things “out of sight, out of mind.” 

The devil will never show himself as the monster he is. Instead, he disguises himself in that which man wants most of all: in power, riches, and success. 

Modern is designed to convince you that you aren’t good enough and your life isn’t good enough because you do not have, but that you can have it all if you are willing to pay the price, jump on the bandwagon, and hand over your body, mind, and soul. 

To make matters worse, the Christian faith is often touted as a means of securing endless prosperity. It is a disgrace to the gospel that some of the most powerful voices in Christianity live in mansions and travel by private jet, all the while invoking the Name of the one who had no place to lay his head and traveled on foot, except for when he rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. 

Our small congregations appear weak and ineffective alongside the nondenominational megachurches with their state-of-the-art facilities, flashy worship services, thousands of members, and Sunday offerings that often exceed what we receive in a year. Are we small and struggling because we aren’t good enough? Would everything be better if we had more money?

Do you covet the life of Jesus, the love of Jesus, and the righteousness of Jesus as much as you covet wealth and worldly treasures? Do you covet keeping up with Jesus as much as we covet keeping up with the Joneses?

The message of the cross and the truth of the Gospel flies totally in the face of everything this world values and teaches. 

The world expects you to be perfect and have it all together. But Jesus reveals himself to the world through those whose lives have been ruined by sin but are forgiven and reborn in righteousness. 

The life of Christ isn’t bought with money or achieved through hard work. It’s born into you through suffering and weakness—all the things this world teaches you to avoid. It is impossible to become like Jesus if you’ve never had a cross to bear. We gladly bear our crosses because Jesus bears them with us. Every cross you bear in life puts to death the person who tried to live apart from Jesus—and the resurrection life of Jesus is born in its place. This is why we aren’t afraid of loss, rejection, or failure. We thank God for our crosses we’ve had to bear.

For as much as we wish our churches had more people and more money, what we really need is more Jesus. This is his church, not ours. After all, the aim of the Christian is not self-realization, but Christ-realization. God will always provide, even working miracles, if that’s what it takes for Christ to live through you and us. God’s only interest in worldly treasures is when they are used for eternal purposes.

So the next time you feel a tinge of envy for what others enjoy when you don’t have; whenever you find yourself imagining how much better your life would be if were rich and successful; whenever you’re caught in that anxiety that you don’t have enough or that you’re not good enough; whenever you’re worrying about making ends meet, remember what you need and who you need: not more stuff, not more money, not to be like that friend or influencer. Jesus Christ and his righteousness alone who gives you the life that is really life.