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17As
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.
When I
first arrived as the pastor of this church in 2004 I looked at College
Ministries as a mission field. 45,000 students are across the street,
each of them at a place in his or her life that will set the course
for the rest of life. What an awesome opportunity and responsibility
for us. Shortly after that I started meeting some of our college
students (all of whom have graduated). I discovered a lot of
Christians who were very mature in their faith. I realized that we
had the opportunity not only to be missionaries to those who were
searching for spiritual meaning in life, but also that we could be
partners in ministry with those who were searching for ways to express
their faith. Shortly after that a third realization struck me. The
stronger our ministry to and with college students is, the stronger
our non-student parishioners become. There is a symbiotic
relationship between our college related ministry and our entire
ministry as a Christ-centered community of faith. What all that means
is the longer that I serve this church as pastor, the more exciting
ministry is becoming.
Of
course, there is another, rather personal element about our ministry
to college students. Sometimes I think I am one again. When I was in
college I weighed 140 pounds, had long hair, was unable to grow facial
hair, and had the least amount of money in my whole life. Potted meat
and Pringles was a meal for me. Even though I had a full time job, I
did not qualify for a credit card. Shortly after Tammy and I were
married and she was working for Shell Oil, we got our first credit
card. It was a Shell Credit Card. Do you know what kind of food they
sold at the Shell stations in the 70’s? Potted meat and Pringles. I
have never felt poorer, but even then I would have qualified as rich,
according to the one verse in I Timothy that was just read. I had a
car. Only 8% of the world owns a car. I had drinking water, which
one billion people in the world do not have. I had food that
800,000,000 people did not have yesterday. Even in my poorest days, I
was rich. Rob Bell cautioned his viewers in one of his Video Lessons,
“It’s a dangerous thing when we start to think of our world as
the world.”
I’m not
going to spend a lot of time establishing a case for this verse
applying to us. Let me just say that according to globalrich.com a
household income of $50,000 qualifies as in the top 1% of household
income globally. $34,000 still ranks you in the top 5%. So let’s
just accept that all of us here, even the poorest college student, is
the subject in this one verse:
17As
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.
This
one verse contains the cautions and comforts about our stuff.
God
Cautions Us about Our Stuff
There
are really three cautions expressed in this verse. The first one is
actually implied. Paul described the people with more stuff than
others as “those who in the present age are rich”. The implication is
that these rich people will not be able to carry their stuff beyond
the present age. So, the first caution is that stuff is temporary.
We know that on the basic level. Those of us who have received our
W-2 realize that we made a lot more money than what we thought we
spent last year. “Where did it all go?” is a frequent response to our
first sight of Box 1. My family was caught up in a dispute about my
grandma’s will a little over eight years ago. I cautioned them, “At
our rate of spending, whatever we receive will be gone within a year.
Be careful that we do not inflict wounds that last much longer.”
That’s when I was reminded of the passage, “A prophet is without honor
in his hometown.” Wounds were inflicted that are just now starting to
heal. Stuff is temporary. Even if we hold onto our stuff for more
than a year, place it in Money Markets then Stocks and then Bonds all
at the perfect time – when we die, it stays and we go. Caution #1
– Stuff is temporary.
Caution #2 – Stuff is tempting. Paul told Timothy to tell those
with more stuff to be careful not to be haughty. The Greek word is
actually a compound word that would literally be translated,
“high-minded”. It carries the connotation of condescending, looking
down on those who have less stuff. And that still happens. It is a
temptation. I remember one of my favorite doctors in the hospital
where I was a chaplain, yielding to that temptation once. We were
walking together at a brisk pace talking about who knows what when we
entered a stairwell. The doc pushed the door open and nearly knocked
the custodian, who was changing a lightbulb, off his ladder. The
custodian started fussing in Spanish, and the doctor apologized in
Spanish. The custodian was not finished and continued his tirade,
when the doc simply said to me in English, “I don’t have to take
this.” I decided not to ask him why. I think I knew. Don’t be too
harsh on my doctor friend, I have done this more often than I ever
witnessed him or anyone else doing it. I’m just not as comfortable
confessing my sins. Caution #2 – Stuff is tempting.
Caution #3 – Stuff is tentative. Now I realize this seems a bit
of a stretch for the sake of alliteration. However, the Webster
Dictionary defines tentative as, “not fully worked out or
developed.” This is where I apply the uncertainty of riches. I was
talking to my mom a couple of weeks ago and she told me that my
brother, Kyle, who is a year younger than I am, took a polar bear swim
on New Year’s Day. That is, he put on his swimming trunks and went
down do the lake where the water was 33 degrees under the ice and the
air was 18 degrees. The townspeople broke through the seven or eight
inches of ice and cleared an area large enough for all the
participating polar bears to take a swim. Later that night I was
talking to my brother, Kemp, who is a year older than I am. We agreed
that we must have consumed all the common sense genes before poor Kyle
was born. Then we recalled when we were boys and unwillingly joined
the polar bear club. We were walking on one of the iced over creeks
that feed the Blanchard River when we heard the unmistakeable and
terrifying sound of ice fracturing underneath our weight. Before we
could move we were in the water and screaming for mercy. We walked
home with our bell bottomed jeans frozen stiff on our shivering
bodies.
This
seemed to have been what happened about a couple of years ago. It
seemed like almost overnight we heard the ice cracking over what was
consider a sound economic climate. The Dow Jones plummeted 37% in a
matter of weeks, the unemployment rate continues to climb in its
double digit percentage points, banks went out of business,
foreclosures skyrocketed, the economy tanked and not just in the
United States. People started worrying a lot about the uncertainty of
riches. CNN did a survey in October, 2008 of 7,000 Americans. 80% of
the respondents were stressed about the economy. 52% reported staying
awake at night worrying about their money and their jobs. Adam
Hamilton identified the problem as one in which our entire culture is
culpable. He wrote in his book, Enough, “American consumers
abandoned financial wisdom and prudence and borrowed beyond our
capacity to repay in order to buy houses, cars, and whatever our
hearts desired…We used tomorrow’s money to finance today’s
lifestyle.” It was a very tentative situation to which Hamilton
wrote, “It is time to say Enough.”
That’s
why we are distributing this little book to every household of our
church. Now we realize that we missed some, but we are not sure who
we missed (something about queries in a database that I don’t
completely understand). Nevertheless, we want every one to read this
book. So, if you do not receive your book this week, please pick one
up at the Involve Table next Sunday. If you are a visitor or a
college student and want to join us in reading this book, you are
welcome to get yours next Sunday at the Involve Table in the Welcome
Center. This little book is one of the best resources that I have
discovered on viewing our stuff in proper perspective. In addition to
this book, we will show a 15 minute video every Wednesday at 6:15 p.m.
in the Great Hall. Those who are able and want to discuss the video
will remain in there for Table Discussions related to prepared
questions about the video segment. The real benefit of this series
will come in the form of the Enough Small Groups that we are
forming. They will meet for four weeks, beginning next Sunday. I
strongly encourage you to fill out the insert in today’s bulletin and
become part of this four week ministry that can change your life, your
perspective on your stuff, and the collective health of this church.
So, we
have been cautioned about our stuff. It is temporary –
restricted to this present age. It is tempting – luring us
into be being high-minded or condescending. It is tentative –
there is an uncertainty about riches. However, just as God cautions
us about our stuff…
God Also Comforts Us about Our Stuff
It is obvious in just this one verse that having stuff, being rich or
relatively affluent, is not a bad thing. It is not wrong, but it does
place us in a position of responsibility. There are two comforts
offered in this one verse. Comfort #1 – God provides abundantly.
God is not stingy. God did not instruct the Israelites to leave
Egypt and go to the land flowing with milk and honey as a trick to
starve them (as some thought). God provided manna, quail, and water
in abundance. To those who claim to be self made men and women God
reminded them in Deuteronomy 8:17-18, “Do
not say to yourself, ‘My power and the might of my own hand have
gotten me this wealth.’ But remember the Lord
your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth.” God
provides abundantly.
We witnessed this in the last few weeks as
we have sought to respond to the crisis in Haiti. A couple of months
ago the Portable Medical Clinic that this church built with about 40
volunteers and for about $12,000 was deployed in Haiti. It was the
only Portable Medical Clinic placed in Haiti by the Christian Alliance
that survived the earthquake of January 12. Toward the end of last
year our Invest Team decided it was time to build another one. We
hesitated, because we knew finances have been tight in so many homes.
But we went on faith. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect that the
bulk of the financing for the second container came from members of
the Invest Ministries Team. We had just enough to order it - $6,000.
We were waiting for the container to arrive when the terrible
earthquake devastated Haiti. After several questions from church
members and news media we called the Christian Alliance and asked if
we could designate our next Portable Medical Clinic for Haiti. They
said, “Yes”. We had received about $12,000 since the earthquake and
asked if we ordered a second container, could we designate it for
Haiti. They said, “Yes”. Then they asked if we wanted three. If we
said, “Yes,” that would have taken all the money that we had for the
Portable Medical Clinics. It would still take about $15,000 to
convert all three of them from empty containers to functional
clinics. While we were making the decision someone in the group
talked about a God who richly provides (and it wasn’t the preacher).
We called the Christian Alliance and told them to add two more
containers to the one that we had already ordered. The third one just
arrived. This week, doors will be cut in them, for free, a donation
of service. We have had at least one air conditioner donated.
Several supplies have been offered at cost and next Saturday,
Slovacek’s is donating one-half of their receipts to A&M UMC for
Portable Medical Clinics. Cash donations for the clinics have already
exceeded $30,000. Just months ago we were wondering where we would
get the $11,000- $12,000 to complete one of these clinics. We were
concerned if we could match the 40 volunteers that constructed the
last clinic. We already have over one hundred and expect more of you
to volunteer today in Haiti Headquarters. Comfort #1 – God
provides abundantly.
Comfort #2 – God promises enjoyment.
Paul told Timothy to tell those with relative abundance that God gave
it for their enjoyment. It is important to note that the scripture
does not say that this is for our consumption, but enjoyment.
Remember, it is not wrong to be affluent, it is a responsibility.
Hamilton wrote about our tendency to over consume in his Introduction
of his little book, Enough, “Funny thing was, all of our
consuming did not increase our joy in life – if anything it tended to
rob us of joy and increase our stress.” I realized this truth a
couple of weeks ago when I pulled out a pair of blue jeans that I have
had for years. I put them on and went to button them when I
discovered an impending crisis. My clothes were getting too small for
me. I realized that I had been over consuming for a number of months
and I was facing an economic problem of needing to replace my wardrobe
– or I could consume less. I put the blue jeans on the top shelf of
my closet and said, “I will see you this Easter.” I know how to lose
weight. I did it once before in my life. It takes a certain level of
repentance. I have to change my way of thinking and my way of
living. For instance, I love potato chips. I do not say that
lightly. I love God, Tammy, Chelsea, Zachary, and this church. Not
far behind them on the list is potato chips. However, the difference
between eating a bag and eating half of a handful is not all that
significant to my taste buds that crave them. I am not saying that I
can eat just one, but I can eat a few and know that I have consumed a
salty snack. I can actually enjoy them without over consuming.
We can do the same way with our spending.
Adam Hamilton wrote, “The primary problems that led to the economic
crisis… are spiritual issues that require a change within the
individual.” Commentators on this passage are careful to point out
that asceticism, or starving ourselves, is nowhere commended in the
scriptures. In fact, God provides abundantly and promises
enjoyment. The problem comes when we overextend ourselves into
tomorrow for what we want today, when we hoard what is intended to be
used for enjoyment, or when we keep what is meant to be shared.
My hope for you and me in this Enough
series is that we will discover joy and contentment through simplicity
and generosity. We begin our journey by heeding the cautions about
our stuff (it is temporary, it is tempting, it is
tentative) and holding to the comforts of our stuff (God
provides abundantly, God promises enjoyment). Let me
assure you as we begin this series that there is enough. “For the
beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies, for the love which
from our birth over and around us lies; Lord of all, to thee we raise
this our hymn of grateful praise.” Please stand and join me in
this hymn of joy and contentment. Hymn #92. Let us sing stanzas 1,
4, 5, and 6.
For the beauty of the earth, for the glory
of the skies,
for the love which from our birth over and
around us lies;
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our
hymn of grateful praise.
For the joy of
human love, brother, sister, parent, child,
friends on earth
and friends above, for all gentle thoughts and mild;
Lord of all, to
thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For thy church,
that evermore lifteth holy hands above,
offering up on
every shore her pure sacrifice of love;
Lord of all, to
thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
For thyself, best
Gift Divine, to the world so freely given,
for that great,
great love of thine, peace on earth, and joy in heaven:
Lord of all, to
thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.
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