Scripture: Psalms 24:1- 10

Text: 1 Timothy 6: 17-19

Weekly Bible Study: Randy's Weekly Blog

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A couple of weeks before I came back to work, I met Ryan Hazen at Eddy’s for lunch. We talked about how the summer and my role in the groundbreaking service.  He said, “Your sermon title is ‘On Promise Road.’ You can choose your own scripture. We didn’t want to hamper your creativity.” I thought for a moment and said, “Okay. I’ll figure something out.”  If you’ve been in worship any of the last four weeks, you know that I didn’t preach just one sermon “On Promise Road.” We used the theme for a four week sermon series about the early church and the steps they took to launch the mission of Jesus Christ. “They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, breaking bread and prayer.” (Acts 2: 43)  It was a good theme and I appreciated asking myself if I was devoted to Bible study, communion and prayer. That might sound odd to you but it’s true. The first person a preacher preaches to is himself; I’m the first audience of every sermon I preach. In fact, I hear the sermon over and over again. The On Promise Road theme was a good one, helpful for me and I hope also for you.   

 

As we were leaving, Ryan handed me a paper. He said “In addition to the ‘On Promise Road’ sermon, in October you have a three week sermon series titled ‘Extravagantly Generous.’  The theme was developed by the stewardship committee and the staff. Here’s the detail.” I took the paper, said goodbye and didn’t think about it for a week. When I finally read it, I discovered that this time, they chose my scripture passage. In fact, they printed it out because they liked a contemporary translation of the passage called The Message. I read the first verse and thought, “Well, great. I wondered how they’d get back at me for the extra work they did in my absence.  Let me read it to you

 

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage - to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life. (1 Timothy 6: 17-19)

 

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money. (1 Timothy 6:17a) Thanks a lot guys. Now no one will listen.

 

When preachers talk about money, people get squirrelly. I know this. Some of you just shut me down. Someone said this week, “When it comes to stewardship sermons, it’s all bad news. You want more money. Give more money isn’t good news. It doesn’t excite anyone.”

 

I run into this every year but this year, the theme verse is targeted at rich people. I don’t know anyone who thinks they are rich or at least admits it.  It’s a funny thing. We are proud of all sorts of things. I could ask all the IU grads to raise their hands and across the sanctuary, I’d get a good response. Boilermakers? Up the hands go. Up they go. Tall people, raise your hands. Even something like, “If you are you athletic, raise your hand.” Some hands would shoot up fast and others of you might need some encouragement, an elbow in your side but eventually, you’d put your hand up. But if I asked all the rich people to raise their hand, there would be two experiences. One, nobody would do it and two, you’d look around the room and think “She should put up her hand; or, why doesn’t he put up his hand?” [1]

There is a reason for this. We live in a culture that constantly sends the message that you don’t have enough. The message is you need more and more and more to be happy. We all get caught up in it. In this kind of culture, you never feel rich, the line between rich and not rich is always shifting or at the very least, invisible. When you step over an invisible line, you don’t know you’ve crossed it.  There isn’t a sign out there that says, “Welcome to Rich.” If we knew we’d crossed that line, we could jump around and high five and say, “I’m rich.” Then we could hold up our hand with pride. But because the line is so invisible to us, we never have this opportunity.

 

Let me show you how invisible this line is. A Gallup poll not too long asked people to define where that line is. They asked a number of different groups of people the question, “What’s rich?” The first group of people asked made less than $30,000 dollars a year. They said that if they had $74,000, they’d be rich. Basically, that group said, “If I double my income, I’ve made it. I’m rich.” Now in this community where the average household income is well above $74,000, I suspect that there aren’t many here who’d say, “Yes, that’s right. I make $74,000 a year and I’m rich. You got me, I’m rich” But if you make $74,000 a year,$30,000 a year folk say, “You are rich.” 

 

The next group of people surveyed had incomes between $30,000 and $50,000 dollars. They said if you have an income of $100,000 you are rich. Again, this group doubled what they make to get a definition of rich.  I’m pretty confident that our $100,000 a year earners in this community are thinking, “No way. Do you know how much it costs to live in this community, not to mention rear kids and save for college? If you saw my checkbook, you’d know I’m not rich.”

 

 The Gallup poll did a broad survey trying to find a medium of what the average American thinks is rich. The figure is 120,000 a year. Again, I am sure that if I went up to someone in this congregation who makes $120,000 and said, “You’re rich!” I’d get this look which said, “You’ve got to be kidding.” You don’t think you are rich but the majority of Americans think you are.

 

The last group surveyed was top income earners in the country. Top income earners said, “If you have 5 million dollars of liquid assets and all your bills are paid, you’re rich.” Sounds good to me; how about you? The point is this; if you ask someone with 2 ½ million dollars of liquid assets and all his bills paid, if they are rich, he’d likely say, “Nope, not me. I’ve need more. I need to double my assets to five million before I feel rich.”

 

“Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money” (1 Timothy 6: 17) This passage of scripture is for Bill Gates. If Bill Gates were here and I asked all the rich people to raise their hands, he’d have to raise his hand. If he didn’t, we’d all say, “Come on Bill.”  A few years ago, as Gates began to do charitable work with his foundation, he visited a woman half way around the world in some poor, starving third world nation. The woman had absolutely nothing and was dying of starvation. As soon as Bill Gates left her hut, a reporter jumped in, stuck a microphone in her face and asked, “Do you know that you were just visited by the richest man in the world?” She said, “Everybody who comes to see me is rich.”

 

The average American lives on $97 a day while 1.1 billion people in the world live on one dollar a day.  Internationally, if you earn $ 37,000 a year, you are in the top 4% of the richest people in the world. Make just a little more, $ 45,000 a year, you are the top 1% of the wealthiest people.  I’m in the top 1% of worldwide income and so are most of you but I didn’t hear anyone say, “Whoopee, I’m rich. I just stepped over the line.”[2]  

 

A few years ago, our daughter Claire and I were driving down the road. Out of the blue, she asked “Daddy, are we rich?” The first thing out of my mouth was, “Hardly.” Then, I mealy mouthed around and said something like, “we are well off compared to many in the world.” Why is it so hard to say? I’m going to give it a try, right now. “I’m rich.” There, I said it and I raised my hand.

 

Here is the absolute truth. You don’t stand a chance at being extravagantly generous if you think you don’t have enough. As along as you are caught up in the I need more and more and more mentality, it will simply be impossible.

 

This is why the sixth chapter of 1 Timothy 17 is important to us.  Timothy was serving the church in Ephesus. In his congregation, there were rich people. Paul or someone very close to Paul, writes Timothy with some very specific instructions about how to be rich. There is some good news in that statement. He doesn’t write Timothy about wealthy people being bad. He doesn’t say, “Make those people feel guilty.” He writes specific suggestions about what rich people are to do.

 

There is a lot of bad theology out there about rich people and faith. It ends up making rich people feel guilty about their money. The reality is the Bible gives specific guidance to rich people that is positive and affirming. This passage is telling me as a rich person that I shouldn’t be obsessed with money and because I am blessed, I have very specific responsibilities. I am to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. Did you hear that? I said it again. I am blessed to be a rich person. I raised my hand again.

 

Because I am blessed, I am to be extravagantly generous. Why are we to be generous? Because, “…we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it.” (1 Timothy 6:7)  Maybe you thought that was conventional wisdom or something that Ben Franklin said. But it is actually just a few verses earlier in this letter to Timothy. I have never seen a new born baby with cash in her hand. I’ve also never seen a hearse pulling a u-haul trailer. We bring nothing in and we take nothing with us. While we are here, we get to borrow God’s resources. Or, to put it in the words of the Psalmist, “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world and those who live it.” (Psalm 24:1a) Everything belongs to God. Everything you own is God’s. Or to put it another way, “You are living off Daddy’s money.”

 

We all know kids who live off Daddy’s money. In fact Jesus tells a story about a kid living off a Daddy’s money. What would you think of a child, who is just blowing through Dad’s dough, but when it comes time to offer him a birthday gift or a Christmas present, he doesn’t bring a gift? What would we call someone like that? Spoiled? Ungrateful? Disrespectful? Whatever the adjective, we all agree that such stinginess is just bad character.

 

It’s why the Bible instructs us to set aside a tithe, off the top, to honor God and give thanks for all the resources that God allows us to borrow. Being generous is good character; it’s a Christian virtue. Almost every year, when I teach on this biblical principle, I get push back. A lot of people shut me down and there is a reason. As long as you are caught up in the “I need more” mentality you’ll have difficulty honoring God and being extravagantly generous. 

 

As I was getting my head around what the staff had done for me and how I was going to get any of you to listen to this sermon, I found a video clip. We don’t often use video clips in Sunday worship but I wanted everyone to see it. It’s just too good.[3]

Did you hear what the guy said? “Dude, God brought the pie.” He’s just stating Psalm 24. “The earth is the Lord and everything in it.” 

 

Sometime over the next three weeks, as you prepare to make a pledge for 2008 to support the church, I hope you consider this. Everything you have is a gift from God. How are you expressing your gratitude for what God has given you? Are you caught up in wanting more from God, or are you so grateful that you can’t imagine doing anything less than a tithe? What is the character of your generosity?

 

As I began this sermon, I told you that preachers preach to themselves as well as those sitting in the pew. I’ll admit to feeling a little squirrelly about the passage assigned and the reason had less to do with you and more to do with me. I have trouble saying, “I’m rich”, but I am. There, I did it again. “I’m am blessed; I’m rich.”

 

So let me ask you to join me, not just in a tithe but admitting the truth. I know this is tough, maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever asked you to do. In fact, some of you won’t be able to do it but I’m going to ask anyway. If this sermon has connected with you, if you have heard something true about the way you approach money, can you, will you repeat after me?  Here we go. I am blessed, I’m rich. Will all the rich people please raise their hands.

 

If you did it, you just taken a step toward being extravagantly generous.

 

 

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