1 Timothy 6.6-19 (NRSV)
6Of course,
there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 7for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing
out of it; 8but if we
have food and clothing, we will be content with these. 9But 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.
The Good Fight of Faith
11 But as for you, man of
God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance,
gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to
which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13In 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, I charge you 14to keep the commandment without spot
or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15which he will bring about at the
right time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord
of lords. 16It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honour and eternal dominion.
Amen.
17 As for those who in the
present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on
the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with
everything for our enjoyment. 18They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to
share, 19thus storing up for
themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may
take hold of the life that really is life.
When one is
in a right relationship with God, things fall into place. I well remember when
I came to Christ, my intellect was set free and I rejoiced in the new found
liberty to think and question and challenge and grow. But this alone does not
always lead to contentment. Barclay suggests that the original word used can
best be translated as self-sufficiency.
The Stoics, when they used this word, referred to a frame of mind which was
completely independent of all outward and external things. Barclay writes:
“Content never comes from the possession of external things ... Contentment
comes from an inward attitude to life.”
Epicurus,
that much misunderstood Greek philosopher stated: “To whom little is not
enough, nothing is enough. ... Add not to a man’s possessions but take away
from his desires.”
This is
echoed in the ancient Rabbinical schools where there was the saying: “Who is
rich? He that is content with his lot.”
This is
something that our society has forgotten and so, while we might be in a bit of
an economic pickle at the moment, we are still (materially speaking) much
better off than we have ever been. Yet people have seldom ever been quite as
miserable! This is because they fail to realise that “... it is never in the power of things to
bring happiness ...”
Happiness
comes from personal relationships. Without friendship and love, no matter how
much money we might have, we will never be happy. Happiness lies in people and
never in things.
Seneca made
the obvious statement: “You cannot take anything more out of this world than
you brought into it.” But we can take our ‘self’ and so we would do well to
build up a self and a character – a heart and soul – that we are proud to take
with us into the presence of God. If the secret to happiness lies in
relationships, then the most important of all the relationships is the one we
have with God. Barclay concludes:
“Content comes when we escape the servitude to things, when
we find our wealth in the love and the friendship and the fellowship of others,
and when we realise that our most precious possession is our friendship with
God, made possible through Jesus Christ.”
What lovely
thoughts from Barclay as he reflects on verses 9-10of this wonderful epistle.
Barclay
suggests that there are the following dangers associated with money:
Firstly, the desire for money can become an
insatiable thirst. There is a Roman proverb that states that wealth is like
sea-water: the more one drinks – the more one needs to drink because the thirst
is never quenched. For many people, there never comes a time when they can say
that they have enough;
Secondly, the desire for wealth is founded on
an illusion: the illusion that wealth will provide security and the illusion
that wealth will provide comfort and luxury. But wealth cannot buy security and
it cannot buy true comfort and luxury because the most important things cannot
be bought: love, health and safety from sorrow and death.
Thirdly, the desire for money tends to make
people selfish because this desire makes a person focus on himself and not the
needs of others, indeed ‘others’ can becomes mere means to his ends.
Fourthly, the desire for wealth tends to lead
to worry and anxiety. The more a man has to keep, the more a man has to loose!
Fifthly, the love of money can lead people
into wrong ways of getting money and this leads to pain and regret and remorse.
It can even be literally true in that it can affect a person’s health and
realise too late the damage he has done to others.
Barclay
concludes:
“To seek to
be independent, to be able to pay one’s debts and to provide a house and a home
and an opportunity for one’s family, prudently to provide for the future, is a
Christian duty; but to evaluate everything in terms of money, to make the love
of money the driving force of life, cannot ever be anything else than the most
perilous of sins.”
In verses 11-16, Barclay sees great significance in the
title the author uses for Timothy – ‘... man of God ...’ This is one of the
great titles of the Old Testament and was used for Moses, Samuel and the
prophets. It is wonderful to note that giving Timothy this title the author is
not being reminded of his sin and inadequacy or helplessness, rather he is
being reminded of his great honour of being’s God’s man. Timothy is being
challenged to be what he can be. Barclay comments:
‘The Christian way is not to fling man’s humiliating past in
his face, but to set before him the majestic splendour of his potential future.
The very fact that Timothy was addressed as “Man of God” would make him square
his shoulders and throw his head back as one who has received his commission
from the King.’
The virtues that he needs to aspire to are set plainly
before him as we read in verses 11b-12:
‘...pursue
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. 12Fight the good fight of the
faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which
you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.’
Timothy
is also to ‘remember’: He is to remember the fact that when he came to faith,
he made the same confession that Jesus made before Pontius Pilate that he was
King. When a Christian confesses their faith, they do what Jesus did, when a
Christian suffers for their faith, they suffer what their Lord has already
suffered. Barclay suggests that we can say the following:
‘Brothers and sisters, we are travelling where the
saints have trod ... I stand with Christ ... and surely such a memory must life
up our hearts and inspire our lives ...’
We
know that Christ will come again and so it is our duty to make sure that what
he finds what we have done and are doing is fit for him to see. We are not
working to please people, we are working to satisfy Christ. Barclay continues:
‘We must take every task they do and offer it, not
to men, but to Christ. The question which the Christian must always ask himself
is not: “Is it good enough to pass the judgement of people?” but: “Is it good
enough to win the approval of Jesus Christ?”’
We
must remember God! We remember that the one who is king above every other king,
and Lord above every Lord, the one who possess the gift of eternal life to give
to people this God loves us and only wants what is best for us. ‘...to him be
honour and eternal dominion. Amen.’
Good
challenging thoughts from our friend William Barclay yet again ...
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