Readings:
Sermon:
We are going to focus on the reading from 1 Timothy which is a passage that looks primarily at the heart and what the heart desires. As we live through this cost of living crisis that we find ourselves in and consider the needs of Church and neighbour it’s important for all of us to consider our hearts and whether they are desiring the riches of this world or the riches of God.
Paul in his letter to timothy is addressing issues around false teaching within the church of Ephesus. These false teachings focused on controversy, quarrels of words and took the church away from their correct focus and led people to be “robbed of the truth”. For Paul, he closely ties false teaching and a love of money, the two often go hand in hand and in Ephesus part of the false teaching also included a teaching that godliness was a means to gain.
This view of godliness as a means to gain, is a common trap that many Christians fall into. How often do Christians think that if I practice godliness, such as saying my prayers or reading the bible that it will result in an improvement to my quality of life in some way? This can often be the heart behind what we as individuals do too.
However, Paul says that this should not be your heart but that you should practice godliness with contentment. If you have what you need, and I trust that the Lord will provide you with that, then you should be content. UK and Western society and culture is designed to make you believe that you want and need more than what you have. The mindset of this society is not one of godliness with contentment.
Some figures which I think may help highlight this issue taken from the world inequality report are as follows:
- If you have an annual income of £2500 then you are in the top 50% richest incomes globally. That’s just under £50 per week.
- If you have wealth of over £3000 then you are in the top 50% wealthiest people in the world. (Wealth is calculated by adding up the value of everything you own such as clothes, furniture, housing, cars, bank deposits etc. and taking away any debt you have).
Now, these may not necessarily be enough to live off in the UK, but it is quite stark that the majority of the UK will be well above these figures. When people have the basics of what we need to live, and lets be clear, not everyone does have that in the UK, and people find themselves in the richest and wealthiest in the world yet are still not content, what does that say about the hearts desire?
It should be said though, that being rich isn’t in and of itself a bad thing, there are plenty of rich faithful people in scripture and in life today but the key is the desire of the heart and that contentment.
Paul says in verse 9 a love of money leads to ruin and destruction and in verse 17-19 that we need to put our hope in God and not money. We need to desire the riches of God and not the riches of money. Love of money is like an addiction: it tempts us, it traps us, it causes us to do foolish things, it is hard for us to break free from the bondage it puts us in and actually, we may not even recognise we have a problem. We may make excuses for our desires. There’s always one more thing a person could have which would make life that bit more comfortable
The gospel has the power to bring freedom from this “addiction” and as a freed people to seek sound teaching and a love of God. In doing so, when the believers heart is correctly aligned, it is possible to follow the commands that Timothy is instructed to share: to put our hope in God and to be rich in good deeds and to be generous and willing to share.
If you get your heart right, pursue what is good, flee from false teaching, do not have a love of money but have an open and generous heart then you can truly take hold of the life that Jesus gives to you. You can enjoy the provision of God, enjoy your relationship with him and truly enjoy the gospel and be a faithful gospel worker
Question:
- What is your hearts desire? Is it God, his heart and his glory or is it the comforts and values of this world?