Seize Life / Based on 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31 / Delivered on September 25, 2016 to CCH

20160925 Seize Life

Based on 1 Timothy 6:6-19, Luke 16:19-31, and Psalm 91

Delivered on September 25, 2016 to CCH in Hudson, WI
Hymns: Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart, Come and Find the Quiet Center, On Eagle's Wings.

1 Timothy 6:6-19

6:6 Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment;

6:7 for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it;

6:8 but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.

6:9 But 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.

6:10 For 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.

6:11 But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.

6:12 Fight 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.

6:13 In 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

6:14 to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ,

6:15 which he will bring about at the right time--he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

6:16 It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

6:17 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.

6:18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share,

6:19 thus 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.

I’ve read the lesson from 1 Timothy.  I’m also going to be referencing two other scriptures that are possibly familiar to you.  The story of the rich man and Lazarus from the Gospel of Luke, and Psalm 91 which is where our song “On Eagle’s Wings” comes from.  You’ll get a few bonus scriptures thrown in too.

My hope is to weave these scriptures together to communicate three ideas.

Eternal life is now

We are called to seize “real” life

Trust in God

Eternal life is now. 

In 1 Timothy vs 6:12 Paul told Timothy “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.”  We don’t know for sure, because it isn’t named, but some Bible scholars believe that “good confession” was his baptism.  Eternal life is not something we look forward to.  It is something that has already arrived because Christ brought it into our world with him.  He conquered death before he returned to be with God.  I believe it is what Jesus meant in Luke 17:20 “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”  The King James translation of this scripture is “Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”  In baptism we become a member of God’s family.  That means God is our Father right now, and will always be.  We are loved right now for all eternity.  We are right now in the presence of God.  We may not see him clearly quite yet, as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12 “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”  Don’t let the fact we can’t see clearly make you doubt your place in God’s family.  We do not have to wait until we transition from earth to enter into our eternal life with God.  We are already in it, or maybe better said, it is already in us.

We are called to seize “real” life.

The words translated “take hold” can also be translated as “seize”.  Just as Timothy was advised to seize eternal life, his is advised to seize the life that really is life.  Paul continues in verse 17-19 “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.  They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus 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.”  That is to seize “real” life.  The lesson for Timothy is to be warry of the love of money and instead verse 11 tells him, “But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.”  We bring nothing into the world as far as possessions, and we can take nothing out.  Certainly we need to be good stewards of what we’ve been given, but focusing our love on things moves us toward idolatry.  It is only God that deserves that level of devotion. 

The story in Luke 16 of the rich man and Lazarus bring out this lesson.  Luke 16:14 tells us Jesus audience for this story, “The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.”  The lovers of money.  I’m going to paraphrase it.  There was a rich man who had all good things.  At his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, who was starving and covered with sores.  They both died.  Lazarus was carried away to be with the angles.  The rich man suffered in Hades.  The story doesn’t say the rich man was a bad man.  He did nothing to harm Lazarus.  It doesn’t say he caused the suffering.  He just didn’t see the poor around him and also see his call to hospitality.  One of the dangers of wealth is this type of blindness.  He ignored the suffering that was at his own gate.  We know he physically “saw” Lazarus because he called him by name.  He failed to take hold of the life that really is life.  He failed to be generous and ready to share his material things, which were not important, to provide love and hospitality to another, which was important.  Everything we own will fade away.  Our possessions do not make us who we are.  Our behavior is what defines who we are.  Our money and possessions do not contain life.  Life is present in how we live with others.

Trust in God

Our society teaches us to put our trust in wealth, yet this scripture asks us to set our hope “on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.”  In the story of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man learned the hard way he could not trust his wealth.  Lazarus learned he could trust God.  Toward the end of the story in Luke, the rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his brothers so they don’t repeat his mistake, and Abraham reminds the rich man that his brothers have been given the writings of Moses and the prophets to warn them what kind of foundation they were building for the future.  We have those writings too.  They are there to teach us where to put our trust.

There were two Psalms assigned to the lectionary this Sunday.  Both are Psalms of trust. 

Psalm 146 tells us “Do not put your trust in princes, in mortals, in whom there is no help.  When their breath departs, they return to the earth; on that very day their plans perish.  Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them; who keeps faith forever.” 

Psalm 91 is a favorite of mine.  I’m going to read the verses chosen for this Sunday and we’ll echo them again as we sing our final hymn.

91:1 You who live in the shelter of the Most High, who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,

91:2 will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress; my God, in whom I trust."

91:3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence;

91:4 he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.

91:5 You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

91:14 Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name.

91:15 When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them.

91:16 With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

We may not be in our heavenly home yet, but we are living within God’s sheltering love right now.  Eternity with God has already begun for us, and forevermore nothing can separate us from God’s love.  As Paul said in Romans 8:38 “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love.” 

Seize “real” life and fight that good fight as Paul advised.  Remember that our possessions do not represent that life.  Life is in how we live, not what things we live with. 

We can’t trust our possessions but we can trust God.  This little message was filled to the brim with scripture this Sunday, and for good reason.  We don’t need to test God to learn to trust God.  Let the experiences of others that have been captured in scripture strengthen your trust.

May we each feel God’s amazing love and, by trusting God, live our life sharing that love with others.

Amen