16th Sunday after Pentecost (Prop 21 – C)
I Timothy 6:6-19
September 28, 2025
Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
The text that I have chosen for this morning’s sermon is from Saint Paul’s first letter to Saint Timothy.
The Founding Fathers wrote in the Declaration of Independence: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In the minds of the patriots, the pursuit of happiness wasn’t looking for it or chasing after what made a person happy. Instead, it was the freedom to pursue goals, to have a meaningful life, and to serve the common good, all without interference from the government. While wealth can be an element of a good life, it’s not central to the pursuit of happiness. The Founding Fathers knew, as we do, that not everybody is going to be rich and that most people won’t be. Because God doesn’t promise that we’re going to be part of the idle rich, Paul today teaches us to have a different goal – to be content.
Paul writes, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.” Do you feel like Paul is exaggerating just a little bit? He sounds a little over the top. He’s not. How many sins come down to greed? Stealing, being envious of the blessings of others, wanting their lifestyle and not ours, coveting the life God gave them and withheld from us. It certainly violates the First Commandment when we fear, love, and trust in these things more than God. How do you know when you’ve come to love money more than God? Look at what your heart desires. Just wanting something isn’t a sin. Wanting more money isn’t a sin. It’s a sin when we allow our love of money to blind us to the giver of the money and our blessings. Jesus says, “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” (Matt 6:24). People still try. Christians still try.
The phrase “Keeping up with the Joneses” means having the latest and greatest things our friends and neighbors have. It’s to fall for the temptation to compare ourselves to others. “I wish I could go to Mexico. I wish I had a new shouse. I wish I had a new truck.” Isn’t this the goal of advertisers? They want you to want what they’re selling with the threat that you’ll really be missing out if you don’t. Our culture is all about accumulation and if we don’t have what we want, we’re missing out. Keeping up with the Jones will cause some to fall into financial ruin. For Christians, greed and the lust for money threaten far more than bankruptcy. Paul warns, “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. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Is Paul exaggerating again? Hardly. Those who are immersed in the pursuits of money cannot pray, give thanks, or hear the Word of God because their focus is elsewhere. The love of money stirs up obsessiveness, workaholism, neglect of our families, and a lack of contentment. We can’t let our pursuit of wealth and material blessings cost us our salvation.
In his epistle, Paul doesn’t focus only on the have-nots, He also addresses the haves. While those who lack strive for what they don’t have, the rich are tempted to strive for more of what they have. It’s tempting to want to hold on to what we have, to clench it between our fingers lest someone steals it or we drop it. But you can’t take it with you. Everything you have is temporarily in your possession. We don’t own anything; we’re stewards of God who gives all good things. This is why Paul encourages those who have wealth to “not to be arrogant, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” I don’t think Paul is only talking only about the rich, for even those of us who aren’t in the top tax brackets are pretty blessed. To be a good steward is to use our wealth and income for the good of others. We’re generous because God is generous. We do good works and share with the needy because we love our fellow men and women. You support Emmanuel so that we can be the light of Christ in Lake View. You support Emmanuel as we support missionaries and Lutherans for Life and several others. You support Turkey Drives and Shoeboxes because you have love for the those who lack. And when we use our wealth for the common good, when we strive to be good stewards, Paul tells us that we are “storing up treasure…as a good foundation for the future, so that [we] may take hold of that which is truly life”. Jesus puts it this way: “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:19-21).
In the middle of the Epistle between telling us to be content with what we have and the rich to share, Paul inserts a hymn of sorts: “I charge you 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, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will display at the proper time – He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” Why do you suppose Paul sticks in these verses that don’t seem to fit with the rest of the chapter? A life of covetousness and greed stains the riches that we have through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Only reliance on our all-sufficient Christ gives lasting contentment, since He alone supplies what is necessary for our eternal welfare. Contentment with what God has given us, in Christ, and in material possessions, is the true issue, not our relative wealth or poverty compared to others. Contentment, fighting the good fight of faith, and making the good confession all are based on the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Christ had not lived and died, we would have literally nothing. We’re blessed in every way because Jesus went to the cross. We’re blessed with eternal life because He has gone ahead of us to prepare our rooms. That place contains unsurpassed riches, it’s free of greed and comparisons, it lacks only sin and the lust for money and power.
Saint Paul was certainly one of a kind. He was stoned, scourged five times, shipwrecked three times, imprisoned, beat, starved, and frozen. Yet, he happily says, “Godliness with contentment is great gain, 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 will be content.” Paul’s contentment flowed from Christ and trusting that He provides for His people. Our contentment is likewise found in Christ. It’s not found in chasing money, coveting the blessings of others, or clinging jealously to what we have. It’s found in serving Christ, being His faithful stewards, and being content with the temporary things because eternal riches await us. Let us stand with Timothy and listen as Paul encourages us to “[Store] up treasure…as a good foundation for the future, so that we may take hold of that which is truly life.”
Amen
Now the peace which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen