One Box Life, Endless Wealth | 1 Timothy 6:6-10 | Pete Snow

When my granny died some years ago, she left

me a stack of Charles Dickens books, of which

this is one, and they all look like this. And

I felt they were lovely, a beautiful bit of the

past. And then last Christmas, I realised I'd

never read A Christmas Carol. I'd seen it on

screen. I knew the story about the grumpy guy

and the family and the greed and all of that.

But I thought, I have to read it. So I got this

book. These old books are so heavy, they're really

hard to read in bed because you're trying to

hold it above your head. So they weren't designed

for that. But I thought, it's a beautifully drawn

picture. If you've read the story, you've seen

the story. Scrooge. is a disgustingly greedy

man isn't he only such a guy is there is there

another portrait of financial greed in all of

literature or film as good as him he's so well

drawn you know he's he his business partner Marley

is dead but it doesn't seem like he ever liked

him anyway he is a nightmare to work with he's

got the one employee Bob Cratchit who's a nice

bloke but um Scrooge sits next to this little

coal fire which Dickens says is quote a very

small fire because he's too stingy to put more

fuel on the fire. But then Cratchit is only allowed

a smaller fire than Scrooge. So Cratchit is allowed

one lump of coal on his fire. He is so greedy,

this man. Everybody is glad when they hear Scrooge

is dead in his vision of the future, even his

distant relatives. And then Dickens draws the

contrast with the Cratchit family, which is utterly

beautiful in my mind, especially Tiny Tim. Scrooge

gets this vision of the Cratchit family on Christmas

Day. They live in a humble home. There's Peter

who's hoping to get a job and he's practicing

being a man of business. So he's got a big collar

and stands up really tall and he's practicing

what he'll say and everybody laughs at him. And

then Martha has a job as an apprentice milliner

and she's just got one day off on Christmas Day

and she's really looking forward to a lie -in.

They pass the chestnuts and the jug round and

everybody is happy and Mrs. Cratchit's made this

tiny little Christmas pudding which she's so

pleased with and everybody gets a spoonful. And

then Tiny Tim comes in with his crutch and he

sings a song in his little voice. There you go,

there's a picture. Then Dickens says, thank you,

let's have the quotation. There was nothing of

high mark in this. They were not a handsome family.

They were not well -dressed. Their shoes were

far from being waterproof. But they were happy,

grateful, pleased with one another and contented

with time. Scrooge had his eye upon them and

especially on Tiny Tim until the last. How can

we be a tiny Tim for our generation? How can

we be aware of money but unspoiled by money?

How can we, in other words, be content? I was

asked to preach on 1 Timothy chapter 6 for a

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

church last Sunday. They needed help and they

needed 1 Timothy chapter 6. So I preached, I

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

agreed to preach the whole chapter. I basically

regretted it because there's so much in 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6. And I thought, oh, goodness. So thank

you for the opportunity to have me this lunchtime.

And I just thought, well, let me try and just

do it shorter and better and hone in on the one

paragraph where I really felt the Lord was speaking

to me. And I hope this might be a blessing to

you. 1 Timothy 6, 6 to 10. 1 Timothy is a pastoral

letter. It was written to a junior leader. And

although it covers many topics and there are

many... topics that young leaders need to be

addressed with. The focus on money in 1 Timothy

1 Timothy 6 · chapter mention

chapter 6 is striking. We have it there in front

of you, just money services in verse 5. It talks

about godliness being a means of financial gain

to some people. It runs into the next paragraph,

6 to 10, where we'll focus. But then it repeats

again at the end of the chapter in verses 17

following. It's as if the apostle couldn't conclude

his pastoral letter to his young pastor in training

without saying, Tim, look out for money. I know

ministry brings its own pressures and trials

with money. So I'm speaking to myself as much

as to you when I say, should we just come back

to this issue of greed and money and search and

ask God for contentment such that we could say

in every season of life, I have God, I have his

gospel, I'm okay actually. I don't need anything

else. If you're interested in that, then I'd

love to speak to you. Because it's financial,

it's quirky, but I'm going to try and do this

in two financial equations. Okay, so the first

one goes like this. Godliness plus contentment

equals great gain. This is verses six to eight,

first of all. Godliness plus contentment equals

great gain. Let's begin in verse six. But godliness

with contentment is great gain. Do you see how

the apostle deliberately reaches for a financial

word to describe a non -financial thing? Gain

is a profit word, it's a financial word. So he's

saying, you actually are rich if you have godliness

with contentment. I think the way he contrasts

it with verse five means you are richer if you

have godliness with contentment than if you had

it. A bank account bursting with cash. Godliness

is a key word in 1 Timothy. It comes up in chapter

2, chapter 3, chapter 4, several times in chapter

6. Let me just show you one which I think helps

inform this. If you have a Bible there, chapter

3, verse 14. Chapter 3, verse 14. Here you find

the author's purpose in 1 Timothy, as you may

know. Paul says, although I hope to come to you

soon. I'm writing to you with these instructions

so that if I'm delayed, you will know how people

ought to conduct themselves in God's household,

which is the church of the living God, the pillar

and foundation of the truth. Beyond all question,

the mystery from which true godliness springs

is great. And then he goes on to talk about the

Lord Jesus Christ. He appeared in the flesh,

was vindicated by the spirit, was seen by angels.

was preached among the nations, was believed

on in the world and was taken up in glory. So

godliness for Paul springs from Christ. It's

this deep appropriation of the mystery of God

the Son incarnate, the risen and reigning Lord.

Okay, can you come back with me to chapter six

and you just use that to flesh out our statement,

godliness plus contentment is great gain. Can

I... Can I therefore fill in that word godliness?

I think what he's saying there is I have Christ

in everything that comes out of him, Christ in

all the gospel, and I'm content with that. That's

great game. That is enough for me. I think I

would say if I could have that godliness and

contentment, then that is a warm -hearted evangelicalism

that I can spend my life in. By implication,

I think it's possible, would you say, to have

godliness without contentment? I think the apostle

is implicitly saying, you could have godliness,

you could have the gospel, you could know doctrine,

but not be content. And that, to my mind, is

a kind of miserable orthodoxy. Like, oh, I know

the truth, I'm just not happy with it. I'm not

content. I'm not interested in that. I am interested

in that, but it just didn't go far enough for

me. I was here as a student 10 years ago and

graduated nine years ago from Oak Hill. I feel

now my Oak Hill friends' main ministry to me

is to pick me up off the floor when I'm very

weary and discouraged and saying stupid things.

And they say to me, come on, Pete, you have Christ.

He is enough. Go and tell them about Christ again.

So if you feel you might need that today or at

some point, then can I say to you, Godliness

with contentment is great gain. Let's continue.

Verse 7. We brought nothing into the world and

we can take nothing out of it. When a baby is

born, they don't come with luggage, do they?

As their life goes on, they acquire clothes and

books and appliances and all sorts of things.

We brought nothing into the world and we can

take nothing out of it. Yesterday, I phoned up

a removal company. And I said, this is going

to sound crazy, but you actually moved me last

time I moved house. Could you just tell me, I'm

a vicar researching a sermon. Can you tell me

how many boxes on average does a person move

with? And the woman on the end of the phone,

she was so nice, but she said, you're crazy.

But since you ask, it's between 100 and 150 boxes,

she said. 100 and 150 boxes. I said, okay, here's

another question since you're so nice. do you

think that over time people are acquiring more

possessions so you need bigger removal lorries

and they are getting more and more boxes she

said yeah absolutely that is happening she said

i was speaking to one of our removal men last

week he's been doing this job for 30 years he

says people have more stuff than they used to

have and not only that they have more valuable

stuff so in the old days when he started in the

90s people basically had white plastic garden

furniture kind of what everyone had And nowadays,

he says, she says, that they all have these heavy

metal garden furniture, like statement furniture,

and people have an outdoor kitchen that also

needs moving and all sorts of stuff. So we have

more stuff and we have more valuable stuff that

we're like dragging around with ourselves. 100

to 150 boxes. And yet, do you know how many boxes

we all end up with? Right, it's one box, isn't

it? Because... However much stuff you accumulate,

there's one box that you're going to get buried

in. You get taken to the crematorium or you get

taken to the cemetery in one box. It doesn't

matter how many things you accumulated into your

life. We brought nothing into the world and we

can take nothing out of it. Could the church

not stand out in the years to come by being content

with a simple life? As the West just accumulates

more and more staff and the removal lorries get

bigger and bigger and bigger to accommodate it,

could we not stand out simply by saying, are

you okay? I shouldn't have got God in the gospel

and I'm content? Maybe that's a more radical

thing than we ever thought it might be. Stick

with your white plastic garden furniture and

you'll be like the counter -cultural guy in your

neighbourhood. Verse 8, let's carry on. If we

have food and clothing, we will be content with

that. I found this a useful principle for thinking

through social action and giving. I think the

implication of verse 8 is it is hard to be content

if you don't have food and clothing. It's hard

to actually genuinely be content if you're hungry

or cold. So why don't we work to feed and clothe

people the world over. Aren't we keeping a sort

of Christians who can see orphans and widows

and foreigners and say, you don't look like you

had enough food or you look like you need to

be warm or sheltered. Can we help you? One in

12 people in the world don't have enough food

today. Chronic hunger is increasing. So now I

try and say to my own church, if God has given

you enough food and clothing, if you are blessed

to be above like a basic. poverty line, then

please consider giving some of your excess away.

I'm trying to challenge myself and them to give

away 10 % because I think although that is a

principle that's out there, it's not often attained

by our brothers and sisters in the church. I

say to them, please give some of your giving

to the local church and then just give some away

to other people who need it or don't mind where

you give it. Just be generous. And when I see

people thinking, they don't always say it out

loud to me, when I see them thinking, do you

know what you're asking? 10 % of my income is

such a lot of money. Do you know what that means?

I'm going to try and gently say back to them,

do you know how rich you are? If you type how

rich am I into Google, there is a wealth calculator

that will tell you how rich you are in global

terms. Have you ever done this? Here's some statistics

that I did so you can tell it, okay, my household

income is £25 ,000 a year and I live in the UK.

It will tell you this answer. You are therefore

in the top 5 % of the global population. Isn't

that something? £25 ,000 because you're in the

top 5%. You are eight and a half times richer

than the median person in the world. Or if you

say, next slide, my annual income is £45 ,000,

which if you have a stipend and an accommodation

package, you're blessed to have that, then I

think that's basically where that puts you. Then

you are in the top 2 % of the richest people

in the world. That's me. I am 15 times richer

than the median person in the world. And as Richard

Garnett used to say when he was here and you

got him onto the subject of money, if God wanted

to talk to the rich people in the world, he would

come and talk to us. And he would say, could

you help out those other guys? So godliness plus

contentment is great gain. There's one other

mathematical equation I want to give you, and

that's the second one. greed plus time equals

many griefs paragraph starts off with these positive

statements about contentment and then it finishes

with these negative statements about greed so

let me try and put it this way greed plus time

equals many griefs versus nine to ten those who

want to get rich Okay, it doesn't use the word

greed, but you recognize the concept of greed.

Those who want to get rich fall into temptation

and a trap and into many foolish and harmful

desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

For the love of money, the love of money is a

root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager

for money have wandered from the faith and pierced

themselves with many griefs. You see how the

last statement in the paragraphs, many griefs,

it actually negatively parallels the opening

statement in the paragraph which talks about

Great gain. Great gain? I draw on many griefs.

I don't know which one I can say. Thank you very

much. The apostle has seen greed often enough

to generalize in these verses. Greed is such

a boring trick of the devil, but he just is such

an effective one. He keeps using it. Make people

greedy. Trap them in their love of money. Of

course, he would love to trap us with other things,

sex, power, other boring tricks of the devil

that he continues to use on us. But how many

Christian leaders have been led astray by a love

of money? I say greed plus time because greed

is shy. It's a shy vice. It doesn't get out there

and go, whoa, sexual temptation is like, I'm

just going to grow quietly. You're going to be

too embarrassed to say that you're greedy, but

I'm going to grow quietly in your heart. It takes

time to show itself. And when it says it is a

root of all kinds of evil. You don't see roots,

do you, until they put forth a shoot and they

put forth growth and produce bad fruit. But it's

there. It also causes people to wander from the

faith. And wandering takes time, doesn't it?

That's not a quick word. It's a slow, tragic

word. Until you pierce yourself with many griefs.

Ebenezer Scrooge, I think he was pierced by many

griefs. If you know the story, he is so lambly.

Even his distant relatives hate him. His employees

despise him. The people down the street know

how greedy and obnoxious he is. He is discontent

despite having all the money and he is filled

with regret. His working relationship is actually

brittle and difficult because of his greed and

the way he treats people because of it. So don't

end up like a Christian version of Scrooge. Greed

plus time equals many griefs. Okay, let me try

and wrap this all together. How could we be like

Tiny Tim? How could you be like the Christian

Tiny Tim in your generation? Because that's what

I'm interested in. That is, how could we be content?

Well, fascinating in the story, Tiny Tim had

a family and particularly had a dad. And there's

a bit near the end of the story where Tiny Tim,

his dad just comes really close to him and he

holds his hand. he pulls him close. And I think

we're given to understand that Tiny Tim knew

he didn't have lots financially, but he knew

that he had a father who loved him. In New Testament

terms, of course, you have a father who loves

you. You have the assurance of his undying approval

and his never -letting -go love. You could say,

I may not be financially rich, but I have everything

I need. And the thing the apostle goes on to

say is verse 17, flee from greed and flee, if

I can put it simply, to God. I mean, he lists

a bunch of virtues. Flee towards righteousness

and godliness and holiness and truth. But he

goes on to give this doxology. So I think he

is saying flee to God and all that comes with

it. Flee, keep fleeing from greed to God again

and again and again, taking with you a knowledge

of your own insignificance. But you, man of God,

speaking to a pastor, but can we say to any Christian,

to any leader, flee from all this and flee to

God. I say taking with you a knowledge of your

own insignificance, because as Christians, we

go to God knowing we're not that big a deal and

we're going to die soon. I'm basically a one

box person. And I've got nothing, Lord. I'm going

to come to communion today. I've got absolutely

nothing to bring you, Lord. But can I come back

again? But I know you're a big deal. And I know

your gospel will never die. So to be content

with God and his gospel while I live is huge.

Wealth. Unlike all other investments, God's stock

will not decline. He will remain valuable forever.

Unlike all other variables, God is unchangeable.

He will remain certain forever. Unlike all other

possessions, you don't need boxes or a moving

lorry for God. He's just with you wherever you

go. Unlike all other Christmas presents, God

will never get boring. You won't get to next

year and think, ah, that was last year. I remember

when I was excited about that. But he's endlessly

fascinating. Unlike most other economic realities,

God's gospel will not diminish if you share it.

Because if you share something around, you've

got less of it. But God and his gospel just increases

in value as you give it away. And unlike all

finite things in the universe, you cannot get

to the bottom of God. You can't complete him.

You can't fathom him. You can't master him. You

definitely can't possess him. In fact, he possesses

you. Amen? Amen. I think closing thought, I don't

know how long I've been talking for. Can I do

a couple more minutes? I think it would be good

for us to learn generosity. Verse 18, command

them. I think I picked the right verse. Verse

18, command them to give generously, to learn

to do good, to be generous and share. There's

a very rich Christian businessman called Jonathan

Ruffer. who I found inspiring on this. He was

interviewed in the New Statesman and he said,

what a lot of money does is poison you. Quote,

it's like the digestive system. Okay, this is

kind of gross, but please, if you could bear

with, I found it's a helpful thought. It's meant

to flow through you, he says, not stop flowing.

Okay, told you it was gross. But money is supposed

to flow through you, not get stuck inside you.

I find that a helpful way of thinking about it.

Money flows through my hands. It flows through

my bank account. It's not supposed to get stuck

there. I can channel it. I can say, oh, thank

you, money. I'm going to send you over there

to a really useful end, but it's not supposed

to stop with me. And if Christians actually tithed

10 % of their income, just to circle back to

that idea, it would change the world. According

to Stewardship, they published a generosity report.

just earlier this year, the average UK adult

gives £65 per month to charity. But then they

said, the average UK Christian adult gives £124

per month to charity. That's encouraging, isn't

it? That means that the gospel changes people

and Christianity influences their generosity.

However, that's 5 % of people's income. So we're

not tithing as a UK church. But they said, The

average UK Christian adult, if they gave 10%,

would give £236. That alone, if the Christians

in this country tithe and gave 10%, that would

change so much. Feed and clothe and evangelise

so many people. We could change the world if

we embraced generosity from a standpoint of contentment.

If you feel poor in ministry and discontented,

then why not figure out, do I have enough money

for food and clothing? Why not establish clear

expectations with your church or the church that

you're going to so that they understand what

enough is and cultivate contentment? If you're

leaving this college soon, then please just be

aware of greed. It's one of the tricks the devil

will try and pull on you. He would like to trip

you up with it. But if you practice generosity

now and cultivate contentment, it could keep

you. And if you have any influence over Christians

in the years to come, would you just encourage

them in contentment and generosity? Like verse

18 says, be generous and willing to share. I

wasn't giving away 10 % of my income until embarrassingly

recently. And I wish I'd got there sooner. So

maybe you won't be as slow as me learning these

things. My friends, God is the one thing worth

fleeing to forever. Moths can't eat him, rust

can't corrode him, thieves can't steal him, fire

can't touch him, floods can't destroy him, and

death can't stop him. Amen? Hallelujah.