Sermon: Wittenberg Academy – Sept 24

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.