Sermon preached by Pam Northrup at St. Philip Lutheran Church, Raleigh, NC. July 1, 2018.
Let us pray: Generous God, as we have been generously loved by you, grant that we will find joy and contentment in loving generously. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
On my way home from the beach this week, I listened to a collection of Neil Diamond songs. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing him in concert a couple of times and have always enjoyed his music. Now, I realize that some of you may have no idea about who I’m talking about, so google him when you get home. He is a singer-songwriter, musician, and actor who has been active in the entertainment industry since the early 1960s. He has sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time.
One of his songs includes these lyrics:
Money talksBut it don’t sing and dance
And it don’t walk
Money talks. It communicates all sorts of things. It speaks about what’s important to you. I suspect that this is why Jesus offers more wisdom and has more to say about money than any other subject besides the Kingdom of God. In fact, eleven of the 39 parables that Jesus tells are about finances.
Money talks.
You’ve probably heard this phrase: money is the root of all evil. It’s our focus today in this continuing series on Half-Truths, sayings we think are in the bible but really aren’t there in the way that we’ve come to use them.
We started with “God said it. I believe it. That settles it.” And concluded that the Bible is more complicated than that. It’s our book of faith, a love story about God and God’s creation.
Next, we looked at the saying “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” And concluded that God’s relationship with us is grounded in love and so we adopted the promise that “God is with me and will help me handle everything.” which is more accurate, more scriptural, and hopefully more encouraging and helpful.
Then we talked about the nuances of the saying “God helps those who help themselves” and concluded that it’s just too simple, its missing the complexity of how God is engaged in our lives.
Last week we tackled “Love the sinner. Hate the sin.” And concluded that while loving the sinner is always the right thing to do, how can we, better who are we, to hate something that God has forgiven.
And now today, we debunk the saying “money is the root of all evil.” This phrase is spoken as if it’s a verse in the bible. Often in a way to make people with money feel guilty, embarrassed, or uneasy about their wealth. The truth is that this statement is not a “half-truth” – it’s simply untrue; completely untrue, an untruth, if you will.
This morning, we heard the verse that is often truncated to reflect the sentiment that “money is the root of all evil” but that is not at all what Paul’s letter to Timothy says or means.
Hear these words again from 1 Timothy:
Those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
You see, money itself isn’t the problem. Money is neutral – it is neither good nor evil. It is merely a means to exchange value. For generations, bartering was the only kind of commerce. People traded one valuable possession for another to get what they needed. Eventually, coins and other currencies were made to represent value and to facilitate the exchange of goods and services.
Money can be used as a tool for good or a tool for bad. It’s like a shovel. A shovel is a useful tool in your garden. One can use the shovel to dig a hole to plant a tree, or one can use a shovel to hit somebody over the head. How the shovel is used determines its goodness. The same is true for money. Money, by itself, is morally neutral. It is not the root or source of any kind of evil.
However, the LOVE of money is where we get into trouble.
The consuming love of money is a bad root. If you spot a thriving weed in your garden or yard, what do you do? You tear it off at the stem, right? That’s the easiest and quickest thing to do but we all know that this is only a temporary solution.
You’re better off digging it up by the root. If you only remove the part above the ground, the weed will always grow back because the root is still alive. To get rid of the weed, you must dig deep below the surface and remove the root.
The consuming love of money acts much the same way. It’s like a root below the surface that others may not see. The love of money, this root, will produce a toxic growth of suffering for you and for others. If you don’t destroy the root level, your life will be continually attacked by the regrowth of greed.
Paul writes to Timothy, “in their eagerness to be rich some people, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”
The writer of Ecclesiastes writes: 10The lover of money will not be satisfied with money; nor the lover of wealth, with gain. This also is vanity. 12Sweet is the sleep of laborers, whether they eat little or much; but as for the rich, their abundance permits no sleep.
The consuming love of money drives us to want more – more money, more stuff, bigger stuff. We think that more stuff will make us happy, that with more money and more stuff our worries will come to an end. We’ll have more friends and be seen by others as more important.
The problem with the consuming love of money is that no matter how much money you have, you are never satisfied. You’ll only want more, and it will soon destroy your life in one way or another.
In a parable in Luke 12, Jesus says:
“Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” 16Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. 17And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ 18Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ 20But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ 21So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”
More than possessions, more than power – more than anything else, money has the potential to become our idol. An idol is simply anything that we fear, love or trust more than God. If your confidence and hope are in your stuff, your bank statements, and stock portfolio, rather than in God, you are putting your trust in the wrong things.
My friends, money is not just neutral. It is a gift from God– an earthly tool God uses to supply what we need to support our body and life, the people in our care, and our neighbors in need.
The question is how do we use the money to share God’s love? For that matter, everything – our marriages, relationships, possessions, time, everything – our whole person – how do we use everything God has given us to share God’s love?
The fact is, all that we have is God’s. We get to use it for a time, but it belongs to God. God entrusts us to do something worthwhile with we have received. God frees us to live generously.
The successful landowner could have used the abundance of his crops to feed his neighbors. He could have given grain away, enabling it to make a difference in the lives of others.
Instead, he built bigger barns to store what he didn’t need. He let his need for more drive the decisions he made. This is not living generously. As Paul’s writes, “this is falling into temptation and being trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.”
Money talks. It don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk – for this landowner money spoke of greed, of fear that there won’t be enough, of hoarding the abundance the earth had generously provided. So, consumed by greed – the landowner’s money couldn’t sing and dance and walk because it was held captive in barns, bigger and bigger, barns.
Paul’s letter to Timothy gives the antidote to financial greed:
Paul writes: These are the things you are to teach and insist on. 3 If anyone teaches otherwise and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, 4 they are conceited and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions5 and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.6 but godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.
Contentment requires resting in the promise that God is going to meet your needs, not your wants, but your needs. Contentment is trusting that God will take care of you. Contentment is appreciating what you do have rather than being consumed by what you don’t have.
The writer of Hebrews in chapter 13 writes, 5Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” 6So we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
Money talks. It don’t sing and dance and it don’t walk – what does your money say – does it speak of fear and anxiety, does it speak of the endless quest for more? When you look at your budget, bank statements, credit card bills – where is your money going? Is it being used for God’s glory or is it being used only for pleasure?
In the ELCA stewardship materials called the Generosity Project, a 10-10-80 formula is recommended. 10% of your money is shared, 10% is saved, and 80% is available for spending. So, for every $100 – $10 is shared, $10 is saved, and $80 are available for spending.
Money talks. So, as you look at your own financial stewardship, what is your practice of sharing, saving, and spending the money you have? Could you work towards the 10-10-80 formula? And if you are already there, can you structure your spending so that you are sharing and saving more?
My friends, what does your money say? Does your money speak of contentment, trust, and generosity? Does it reflect your values as a faithful follower of Jesus?
When our use of money reflects out contentment, trust, and generosity, I believe that it can sing, and dance, and walk. As we open our hearts and our hands to the needs of others, to the work of God in this faith community, and in this world, our money can sing of the confidence in God’s abundant grace and generosity. It can dance to the rhythm of God’s presence in creation. And it can walk in the way of God’s justice, peace, and love for all.
Let us pray. Gracious God, give us generous hearts, so we may know the joy that comes from helping others and give without counting the cost. Help us to fully appreciate all your many gifts to us. Empower us to show the world another way of living so that we may celebrate the Story that shapes our story. Grant that we may live an “abundant life” in response to all you provide. Help us share without expecting something in return, teach us the difference between what we need and what we want. Show us how to hold all our treasures in an open hand so that we can recognize the many blessings of each new day. Thank you, Lord, for so richly blessing us, grant that we may be a blessing to others as we continue to thank and serve you with humble and generous hearts. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.
Preached on July 1, 2018
St. Philip Lutheran Church