Taking Hold of Real Life

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

September 30, 2007

Text: First Timothy 6:6-19

Money: We can’t live without it, but we have a hard time living with it!

Fred Craddock has written, “Hold a penny at arms length and it will appear as a dot against the sun, but hold it next to the eye and it will cover the sun.” (Preaching the New Common Lectionary)

Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, was speaking to a gathering of seminarians. He asked them whether it was possible to have a home that is sinfully large. The whole group said “yes.” Then he asked them, “When would it be sinfully large?” There was a long silence. Finally, one courageous student spoke up, “”When it’s bigger than mine!” (Source lost)

The love of money is “a plague that so seizes all, some more, some less, but all in a degree….Like a fire catching wood. But since the love of money is a matter which is willed, not fated, its cure lies in a rebirth of the willing.” (Chrysostom, 349-407AD, quoted in Tom Oden’s Interpretation commentary on I and II Timothy and Titus.)

When we believe in God, entrust our lives to God, know the love of God for us just as we are, God liberates our wills. We begin to recognize that someone changed the price tags.

Van Harvey wrote in 1968, “What we once ignored we now find most important, and what once seems important pales into insignificance. What we once regarded as folly, we now see as wisdom; what once seemed weak, now seems powerful. The seemingly impersonal order which once impressed us as a sign of the utter indifference of the world, now we regard as the essential conditions of life, of freedom, and of responsibility. What we once called the absurdity of being thrown into existence, we now call the gift of creation…. .(Van Harvey, Perkins School of Theology Journal, Spring, 1968)

We can be, in Paul’s word, “content.” Not content as a passive uncaring attitude, but as a positive virtue. This word can best be translated “secure in our hearts”. Or, as Eugene Peterson has translated this passage, “A devout life does bring wealth, but it’s the rich simplicity of being yourself before God.” (I Timothy 6:6, The Message)

So how does this freedom play out in real life? How do we use money as a means for serving God, without becoming enslaved to money?

I instinctively turn to John Wesley (1703-1791) on matters of the practice of Christian life. John and his brother Charles were the founders of the Methodist movement in England. They were priests in the Church of England who saw as their mission the renewal of faith and holiness in their Church and in all of the British Isles. John wrote and preached on the subject of faith and money early and often.

The Wesleys were pietists. They believed that we are saved by grace through faith and thus freed for faithful living. But God pushes and pulls us onward in our lives so that in every aspect we can be transformed. We are moved by the Spirit to deeper faith and broader service until that time we are made perfect in love. By “perfect” Wesley meant full maturity in Christ. In this life-long growth, we are given the presence of God (through prayer, scripture study, conferencing, the sacraments, etc.) and the guidance of God to empower us for a disciplined life. To aid the Methodists, John gave rules or guidelines----including three famous ones on the subject of money:

Gain all you can.

Save all you can.

Give all you can.

Over the years of his ministry, he observed that, as people came to believe in Christ and sought to live disciplined lives of discipleship, they often prospered financially. He saw this as a great danger and a great opportunity. So he laid out for the Methodists these principles to guide them. These three principles have been often been quoted----but usually without Wesley’s careful footnotes, provisions and conditions.

So, as we begin the “stewardship season” leading up to Sunday, October 21, when we will be asked to make commitments to the mission and ministries of the church for 2008, I thought it would be helpful to start with Wesley’s wisdom.

John Wesley’s strong counsel to those who would be Methodists can be summarized as follows, taken from two of his sermons, “The Use of Money,” and “The Danger of Riches.”

It is not money that is evil but the love of money. (I saw a cartoon recently which showed two men at a blackboard, working on a long list of numbers and equations. The caption read, “The banker and the mathematician concluded that money is the square root of all evil.”) (From Reverendfun.com)

Wesley wrote, “The fault does not lie in the money but in them that use it. Money may be used for evil or for good. “It is of unspeakable [immeasurable] service to all civilized nations in all the common affairs of life.” For Christians, “it is “food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked….By it we may supply the place of the husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless; we may be a defence for the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ease to them that are in pain. It may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the lame; yea, a lifter up from the gates of death.”

So Wesley urged upon the Methodists these guidelines.

We are encouraged to “gain all we can.” “Here we may speak as children of the world.” But Wesley put some very clear conditions on “gaining.”

We must not be so dedicated to gaining money that we ruin our own health. This is spelled out by Wesley to include life-styles which cause us to work such hours that we do not get enough to eat or enough sleep. (How much money do we need, Cornelius Vanderbilt was asked, to which he replied, “Always a little more.”) He even cautions us against jobs which cause us to sit too long in unhealthy positions! And, if our jobs cause us to work in conditions which ruin our health, we should, as soon as possible, get other jobs.

We should gain all we can without hurting our minds. To have a “healthy mind” means avoiding employment which requires us to cheat or lie, or engage in other immoral or illegal activities. “Every person must judge for himself, and abstain from whatever he in particular finds to be harmful to his soul.”

We also cannot be making money by hurting our neighbor “in his body” or in his “substance,” or his “soul.” “We must not sell anything which tends to impair the health” of others. We cannot be so competitive with our neighbors that we “seek our neighbors’ ruin in order to advance our own.” And, our gaining should not be made by promoting products or activities which deaden people’s souls. (His examples are diversions such as playhouses, taverns, etc. It would be enlightening to make our own list!)

Within these boundaries, we are called to be diligent in our work, following the biblical dictum: “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”(Ecclesiastes 9:10) Use your creative gifts, improve your skills, learn from others, and “make the best of all that is in your hands.”

So far so good. Here is a straightforward admonition to be industrious in ways that are consistent with the proper regard for your own health and the well-being of your neighbor---a practical application of the love of neighbor as you love yourself.

The second rule which Wesley set forth is “save all you can.”

This sounds like simply prudent practice. But Wesley asks his Methodists to prepare for savings by economizing, or refraining from spending money “merely to gratify the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life.”

What should we spend our earnings on? We are “allowed” to “provide the necessaries and conveniences” for ourselves and those of our own households. If we are in business, we are to “lay up” as much as necessary for the continuance of the business. We are to “leave our children what will supply them with the necessaries and conveniences after we have left this world.” (Wesley was ahead of his time is advocating that we not give our children so much that it would lead them to adore money, or live lives of indulgence----for this would place their souls in jeopardy.) In addition, we should be sure save enough to pay our debts when they are due.

The words about “necessaries and conveniences” leave a loophole big enough to drive a tank through----especially in a time when we are so manipulated about what we really need, and which things would be convenient to own and use! Wesley knew this, of course, and gave this advice:

“4. If, then, a doubt should at any time arise in your mind concerning what you are going to expend, either on yourself or any part of your family, you have an easy way to remove it. Calmly and seriously inquire, "(1.) In expending this, am I acting according to my character? Am I acting herein, not as a proprietor, but as a steward of my Lord's goods? (2.) Am I doing this in obedience to his Word? In what Scripture does he require me so to do? (3.) Can I offer up this action, this expense, as a sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ? (4.) Have I reason to believe that for this very work I shall have a reward at the resurrection of the just?" You will seldom need anything more to remove any doubt which arises on this head; but by this four-fold consideration you will receive clear light as to the way wherein you should go.

“5. If any doubt still remain, you may farther examine yourself by prayer according to those heads of inquiry. Try whether you can say to the Searcher of hearts, your conscience not condemning you, "Lord, thou seest I am going to expend this sum on that food, apparel, furniture. And thou knowest, I act herein with a single eye as a steward of thy goods, expending this portion of them thus in pursuance of the design thou hadst in entrusting me with them. Thou knowest I do this in obedience to the Lord, as thou commandest, and because thou commandest it. Let this, I beseech thee, be an holy sacrifice, acceptable through Jesus Christ! And give me a witness in myself that for this labour of love I shall have a recompense when thou rewardest every man according to his works." Now if your conscience bear you witness in the Holy Ghost that this prayer is well-pleasing to God, then have you no reason to doubt but that expense is right and good, and such as will never make you ashamed.” (From Wesley’s sermon,“The Use of Money”)

So, we are guided to think through our choices based on biblical principles; and we are to pray as if God is really watching and listening---and holding us accountable. A prayer meeting before each closing on a new home, a new car, a work of art, a new suit, fertilizer for the yard, and new sneakers for my grandkids! If nothing else, this would slow down consumer spending!

The third rule which Wesley sets out is “give all you can.” (It is those words “all you can” which haunt us.)

After we have earned all we can and saved all we must, then we must give all we can. After we have made provision for the things “needful” for ourselves and our families, and others who may be dependent on us, we should give all we can to those of the “household of God.” If you have some left over, “do good unto all men.” All our expenditures should be seen as offered up to God. “You ‘render unto God the things that are God’s’, not only by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in providing things needful for yourself and your household.”

To whom are we to give our gifts? In Wesley’s day, he would advocate giving to ministries for the poor and those who are otherwise powerless--- not only for their survival, but for their education and their salvation. And, since the “chapels” and “meeting houses” which the Methodists built required funds, giving to these expenses would be included. (The Church of England---of which Wesley was a priest--- was supported largely by taxes imposed on all the people.)

How much should we give? Wesley advocated giving everything, after all of the necessities were taken care of! He explicitly rejected the idea that we should be limited to a tithe. “‘Render to God,’ not a tenth, not a third, not half, but ‘all that is God’s,’ be it more or less,” as a person who is giving a good account of his or her stewardship of all entrusted to you.

There you have it. This is the advice Wesley gave to his Methodists. Were they listening? Apparently not. Before publishing the sermon “The Use of Money” in 1760, Wesley had preached on the same text, Luke 16:9, twenty-seven times.”which indicates that this topic was a constant concern and a perplexing problem.” (Albert Outler and Richard Heitzenrater, John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology, 1991)

Most Methodists welcomed the first two rules which involved gaining, spending carefully on necessities and conveniences for self, family and others dependent on them. But they balked at the counsel to “part with all but their necessities and conveniences,” that is, “surplus accumulation.” Many Methodists had done well after getting their lives together and could lay more by----and spend more on themselves. They could even invest their money in order to make money.

The world was changing, and Wesley found himself increasingly frustrated and perplexed. The economies of the world were changing. Adam Smith’s work, The Wealth of Nations, published in 1776, had an enormous influence in England, and Methodists, in line with other religious groups influenced by John Calvin, began to see their prosperity as a “sign and measure of divine favor.” Therefore, to accumulate more was a good thing.

Wesley saw such attitudes as dangerous to the souls of people, a sign that believers were naïve about the corrupting influences of money on people. He saw that the freedom we have in Christ to make decisions about our wealth could be lost, and we could very easily be led to believe that our happiness and fulfillment always rested with having more. (Outler and Heitzenrater)

What Wesley saw was that Methodists, as they became more prosperous, became more accustomed to relying on money for happiness and fulfillment. This should not surprise us. When persons become disciplined in their earning and saving they often prosper. But the danger was clear: “You know that in seeking happiness from riches you are only striving to drink out of empty cups.” We become obsessed with “a desire of having more.” We “fall plump down into [temptation]….and become utterly consumed.” We becomes “soft and delicate, more unwilling, and indeed more unable to ‘take up’ [our] ‘cross daily, to ‘endure hardship as good soldiers of Jesus Christ….” (Wesley says that, in his activities for the poor, “Am I not 78 [years old]? Yet by the grace of God I do not slack my pace yet. Neither would you if you were a poor man still.”) He asks, “Are the richest men the happiest….Is not the reverse true? Is it not a common observation that the richest of men are in general the most discontented, the most miserable?” When we have more than we need, we are so proud that we “are not so teachable as [we] were….Formerly one might guide you with a thread; now one cannot turn you with a cart-rope.” And, as we become more well-off, living high on the hog, we lose our “compassion for the ignorant,” and for those who are poor. “Gold hath steeled your hearts.”

Summary

We have come a long way, Methodists! The world and our ways of living and earning and saving and spending have changed dramatically. It is interesting to speculate what Father John would say to us today in our circumstance. (If you were filling in the footnotes to these three principles, what would you write?)

Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord, our God will all our hearts, with all our minds, with all our souls, with all our strength. And the second was like it: to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. (See Matthew 22:34-40 and parallels in Mark and Luke)

To live in faithfulness to these commands means that we “tame” our money. Our hearts belong to God, not to our portfolio. With our reason, we can sort out our financial decisions guided by love. Our souls, our precious interior selves, long for fellowship most deeply with the God in whom we live and move and have our being. And with our energies, we help shape a different world, not based on anyone’s net worth, but based on their being made in God’s image. And we use our dollars to serve the neighbor, to seek their well-being and their salvation.

To walk on such a path is to build a treasury that will really last, and it is to take hold of life that is really life.

To say it in Paul’s words as translated by Eugene Peterson in The Message, I Timothy 6:17-19:

“Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.”

Resources:

John Wesley’s Sermons and other works are easily available on line. gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/

John Wesley’s Sermons: An Anthology, Edited by Albert C. Outler and Richard Heitzenrater, Abingdon, 1991

Also: Theodore W. Jennings, Jr., Good News to the Poor: John Wesley’s Evangelical Economics, Abingdon, 1990

Richard Heitzenrater, Wesley and the People Called Methodists, Abingdon, 1995