24 September 2019
Text: 1 Tim 6:3-21
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
People
have all sorts of opinions and points of view.
And we are encouraged to be tolerant of those who believe differently
than we do. And certainly, there is a
time and place for this. In order to
live in a community of people with different beliefs, we need to get
along. But there is one context where
this is exactly what we are told not to do by the Holy Scriptures.
St.
Paul writes, “If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with
the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,
he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing.”
In
other words, when it comes to preaching and teaching in our churches, we are
not to be tolerant and accepting of other points of view. For in that context, preaching a different
Gospel is a sinful act of defiance. For we
submit to the Word of God – both the Word that is recorded in Scripture, and
the Word who is our Lord Jesus Christ.
False
teachers are “puffed up with conceit,” says St. Paul, much like the serpent in
the garden who said, “Did God actually say…?”
And nothing good comes from false teachings in the church: “controversy,
quarrels…, envy, dissention, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction
among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth.” And St. Paul points out a possible motive for
a false teacher – not that he is honestly mistaken, but rather that he is in it
for the money.
We
certainly see this among the false teachers of the “prosperity Gospel” and the
TV preachers who teach a “theology of glory” promising riches and wealth and
your best life now if you do things their way (and often, if you send them
money).
The
apostle goes on to say what the opposite is, what we Christians ought to strive
for, and that is “contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we
cannot take anything out of the world.
But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” St. Paul explains that the desire for riches
is a “temptation” and a “snare…. For the love of money is a root of all kinds
of evil.”
But
preachers and teachers of Jesus Christ proclaim our Lord’s sound teaching, and
we are all instructed to “flee these things” that tempt us. For lusting after money isn’t merely a sin of
lack of self-control, it leads to the Word of God being distorted – and this is
like tampering with medicine. False
doctrine and love of money lead people to hell.
And we who are rich (and if we look at how we live compared to the rest
of the world, that includes us) are warned not to be haughty, or to put our
trust in our wealth, but rather to be “rich in good works, to be generous and
ready to share… so that [we] may take hold of that which is truly life.”
Let
us be content, dear friends, content with the Lord’s grace that promises us
unlimited riches and a life that never ends!
Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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