Lesson 12/18/05

TIMOTHY - THE GREAT GAIN OF GODLINESS!
I wonder how he felt -

That innkeeper who turned them away
And sent them out to the barn in the back -

How did he feel when the star hovered
Over the stable instead of his hotel?
How did he feel when all those
Shepherds came and the scholars who
Brought all those expensive gifts?

Did he know about it when the baby
Grown to man turned water into wine,
Fed the crowd with five loaves of bread,
And stopped the storm at sea?

Did he care about what happened that
Day up on that hill called Calvary?
And did he ever wonder what happened
To the empty tomb?

I wonder if that innkeeper might
have felt like people who buy
Christmas gifts but don't know why.1

      Bethlehem, at the time of Jesus' birth, was crowded with out-of-towners who needed to register in the census as ordered by Caesar Augustus. Economically it was a good time for Bethlehem. Those coming in from out of town booked hotel rooms, enjoyed the local restaurants, and bought souvenirs to take back home. Just as the upcoming Fiesta Bowl will be good for the city of Tempe the census was good for Bethlehem. It meant that money flowed into the pockets of the local merchants.
      Today, like that first Christmas season of long ago, the flow of money is still very much a part of the season. Some merchants, of course, know that the season really isn't about money. They know that Christmas is a time to celebrate the birth of Jesus, Emmanuel - God with us. Others, as you can easily imagine, simply see it as an opportunity, a very good opportunity, for financial gain.
      Such was the case in Timothy's day.   There were those within Ephesus, and even within the church, who simply saw godliness as a means to financial gain. Today we would call them religious hucksters (charlatans); those who exploit the church and its various holidays for selfish gain. In Timothy's day they were called false teachers! We read about them and their impact upon the local church in I Timothy 6:1 - 10. We read:
      Christians who are slaves should give their masters full respect so that the name of God and his teaching will not be shamed. 2 If your master is a Christian, that is no excuse for being disrespectful. You should work all the harder because you are helping another believer by your efforts.
      Teach these truths, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. 3 Some false teachers may deny these things, but these are the sound, wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they are the foundation for a godly life. 4 Anyone who teaches anything different is both conceited and ignorant. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, fighting, slander, and evil suspicions. 5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they don't tell the truth. To them religion is just a way to get rich.
      Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth. 7 After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is at the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
      In Timothy's day, as in ours, the stipends associated with ministry were attractive. Church leaders, in part, were to be chosen from those known for their "freedom from the love of money." And Peter, in I Peter 5:2, encouraged them to watch over the flock for the right reason not "for what they could get out of it."2 3
      But clearly there were some who were in it for what they could get out of it. What they taught didn't agree with the "sound teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ." Nor did it match up with the teaching of Paul which was in tune with the Spirit of God. Perhaps they taught that slaves who had come to know Christ were no longer bound to their masters; that they had no obligation to continue serving them.
      Or maybe they taught that those masters who had come to know Christ had no reason to change their attitude and/or their behavior toward slaves. After all, slaves like oxen were nothing but property. They were simply an economic investment and, as such, were to be treated as an investment.
      Either way, such teaching would have tickled somebody's ears and enriched the pockets of the false teachers. But it didn't promote the health of the body, nor did it glorify Christ Jesus. It wasn't sound teaching. It simply promoted controversy and ultimately friction within the local church.
      Paul acknowledged the yoke of slavery and earlier in this letter (1:10) had condemned slave traders. He knew full well that slaves were considered as property in that they were bought and sold. He knew they were wholly subject to another's authority. And he knew their labor was often obtained by coercion. Nevertheless, he taught that slaves should respect their masters; especially those who belonged to Christ. In this way God's name, as well as the sound teaching of Paul and Timothy, would be held in high regard. So Paul's teaching wasn't about money, nor was it ever about money.   It was about God's name being held in high regard.
      Then, with a twist of irony, Paul told Timothy that in this matter of godliness that the false teachers supposedly possessed they were right about something. They think godliness should yield dividends. They are right, godliness should yield dividends. In fact, there is great gain in godliness provided you have found a contentment with the basic necessities of life as opposed to always wanting more and more stuff. In short, Paul said:
Godliness + Contentment = Great Gain
      To underline this "great gain" Paul went on to expose the folly of those who want to be rich. He does so by looking at what we would call the "poor." On the one hand, he says, we have the contented poor. They understand something most of us try to forget. Like Job of long ago, they understand that we came into this world naked and penniless and when we die and are buried we are naked and penniless again.
      In respect to our earthly possessions, our entry and our exit are identical. So our life on earth is simply a pilgrimage between two moments of nakedness. As the pastor said at the funeral of a wealthy lady, when asked by the curious as to how much much she had left, "She left everything."
      It's a perspective that should influence our economic lifestyle. For possessions are only the traveling luggage of time; they are not the stuff of eternity. Therefore, it would be sensible to travel light; to not spend all that we have storing up for ourselves treasures on earth. The contented poor understand this and are more than satisfied with simply having the basic necessities of life.
      On the other hand, there are the covetous poor, those who want to be rich. Long ago Solomon , who knew what it meant to be rich, tried to warn us against wanting to be rich when he wrote these words:
      Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. 11 As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? 12 The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. (Ecclesiastes 5:10 - 12)
      A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 28:20)
And Agur was smart enough to say this:
      "Two things I ask of you, O LORD; do not refuse me before I die: 8 Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. 9 Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. (Proverbs 30:7 - 9)
      But the covetous poor, those who want to be rich, ignore the wisdom literature of the Old Testament and plunge themselves into ruin. They do so by first falling into temptation and a trap. The lifestyle of the rich and famous looks so good to them that they give into the pursuit of it and soon find themselves trapped in the never fulfilling greed of materialism. Some, as we know by reading the newspaper, even sacrifice personal ethics and moral responsibility to achieve wealth and fame.
      Second, they fall into many foolish and harmful desires. Greed itself is a harmful desire but it fuels other desires. Such as the desire for power over others. For money is a drug, the more you have the more you want and the more you think you deserve it. So stepping on others is no problem.
      Third, their wrong desires plunge them into ruin and destruction. They pierce themselves with many griefs. For in trying to grab everything up in this life they end up with the loss of their integrity and themselves. For as Jesus said,
"What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mk 8:36)
      Now what does this have to do with us? First of all, I want you to know that Paul isn't talking to us for most of us, by the world's standards, are rich. He does have something to say to the rich in v. 17 of this chapter. But right now he is talking about the contentment that can come through godliness. A contentment that is available to the poor and rich alike. And in the first half of chapter six, he is focusing his attention on the poor.
      But at this time of year, in the materialistic culture in which we live, as parents and grandparents, especially as grandparents, we can easily communicate the message that Christmas is all about stuff. For traditionally, our way of celebrating Christmas is built around spending money. A practice that many people, including grandparents, hope will bring fulfillment to those they cherish.
      But research done by a man named Joe Dominguez, as if research needed to be done in this area, shows that spending can reach a point at which it brings less and less fulfillment. Mr. Dominguez's research shows that when we spend money on the basics of survival - food, shelter, warmth, and clothing we receive maximum fulfillment for the dollars spent.
      To a lesser degree, we are fulfilled as we begin to spend on a few comforts and luxuries. Then just beyond a few luxuries, and he doesn't spell out what those luxuries are, the "fulfillment curve" begins to drop - showing that we receive less fulfillment for the dollars spent.
      Picture it this way. As a grandparent you buy your eleven-year-old grandson, your only grandson, a gift. Maybe an age-appropriate electronic game. He opens it and immediately wants to install it on the family computer and enjoy it. But while shopping you couldn't resist buying him a half-dozen other gifts.
      And on Christmas morning, as you know, no gift goes unopened. So one by one Joshua Caleb opens his gifts tearing and flinging paper aside. Soon the inner monster begins to show itself as he pompously points to one gift and says, "I didn't want that CD, I wanted the newest one."   Then, as he unwraps his last gift he sulks and says, "Is this all I got?"
      You see, it's easy to communicate the message that Christmas is a means to gaining stuff. Like the innkeeper of long ago, it is easy to benefit greatly at Christmas and miss the meaning of it. It's easy to overindulge the ones we love and, without realizing it, foster discontentment with our lot in life. Of course, there is nothing wrong with giving gifts as long as they don't divert our attention from Christ Jesus who came into this world to save us.

1     Cliff Schimmels - Dr. Schimmels was a professor of Education who described himself as "the world's oldest junior high student." His poems are not highly polished, but they are reader friendly and they challenge us to think about the things we so easily overlook.
2     I Timothy 3:3 reads: "He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, peace loving, and not one who loves money."
3     I Peter 5:2 reads: "Care for the flock of God entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly-not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

IN STEP WITH TIMOTHY 12/18/05 1

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