Really Living

Trinity Presbyterian Church of Bethesda
09.30.07; Rev. David Williams

Scripture Lesson: 1 Timothy 6:6-19

The world is filled with people telling you what not to do. Pretty much every single day, there’s some new study or some new research sternly warning all of us that something we eat, drink, or wear is no longer permitted. How often does the desperately concerned anchor on News Center 5 at Seven look straight at the camera and say, “A new study reveals that a product you may have in your kitchen now might pose a significant danger to you and your family. We’ll tell you what that product is right after these messages.”

These warnings and alerts come at us from all angles. We get home after a long day and all we want to do is collapse on the sofa with a bag of pretzels and a cold frosty one. But when we turn on the mindsucker, we’re at CNN, and the anchor shouts: This evening it’s official: America is suffering under an epidemic of obesity! So you drag yourself up to go jogging, but getting out means exposure to the sun--and the anchor whispers that The American Institute of Dermatology today announced that exposure to ultraviolet radiation could increase your risk of several forms of skin cancer! So we’ll stay in to play calorie-burning games on our Wii. Nintendo has been forced to respond to concerns that the Wii controller can cause property damage or serious injury! OK..so.. we go to get into our SUV to drive to the gym. NASA satellites reveal more startling evidence that human carbon emissions are bringing about global warming! Alright, already...can I just wear a hat and long sleeves and walk there? A recent alert from the Department of Transportation warns that new traffic levels are causing an increased level of pedestrian fatalities..walk at your own risk!

So perhaps I should just stay home and have dinner. Can I have a hamburger? Johns Hopkins researchers released a new study this week showing the link between red meat consumption and colon cancer! How about a nice healthy salad? FDA investigators yesterday revealed that pre-made salads are possibly infected with salmonella! Maybe...a glass of milk? The effects of bovine growth hormone on human beings are worrying, scientists say! Can I please have just a little glass of water? Washington area officials today reported serious concerns with the local waste treatment facility. Maybe...maybe I’ll just lie down quietly on the floor and curl into a fetal ball. Have you recently tested the air in your home for radon? Radon, the silent killer returns...more after this.

How much preaching have you heard that seems designed to make you feel the same way, full of fear? Hopefully, not too much of MY preaching...I mean, sure, sometimes some of you look a little glazed out there, but I’m assuming that’s not because you’re paralyzed with fear.

There’s that horrific tendency of preachers to focus relentlessly on telling you what you shouldn’t do, on what you should avoid, on the horrors and terrors that await your soul the very moment you step outside of the sainted halls of their sanctuary and stop clinging to every word they say. Every action or failure to act could mean the difference between an eternity of euphoric delight and spending your infinity getting slowly and painfully pickled in a jar buried in Satan’s backyard. The life lived in faith can become a life lived on the defensive, constantly terrified that somehow, some way, you’re going to inadvertently do something wrong.

There are plenty of folks who carefully cultivate such fears. They warn their children that Halloween is Satan’s night. There’s nothing more terrifying and clearly evil in the sight of the Lord than a little cluster of first graders dressed up like ninjas. They tell them that Santa is a demonic tool to turn people from the love of Jesus. They stand up in front of their congregations and proclaim that allowing your children to play with Pokemon cards will turn them away from the true faith. “The Bible sez that Saitan fell from heaven like a flash of lightning...and Pikachu has lighting for a tail...cain’t you see the connexshun???!!!”

If you’ve been around Jesus people long enough, you’ll have heard every one of these assertions, spoken with absolute sincerity and a glint of fear in a trembling eye. According to some folks, if you set foot outside of the church, if you read something not written by a Christian, or hear a song that’s not Christian, for even one moment, you may as well just resign yourself to being a tasty side dish for Beelzebub’s dinner guests.

That’s like the madness that’s afflicted some corners of Christianity around the Harry Potter books. Here you have books written by a Christian. Those books praise the highest virtues of Christian faith, and in many ways intentionally mirror the stories of the Gospels. J.K. Rowling even sneaks in quotes of scripture. But for those for whom faith means fear, they must be evil...have to be evil!

That fear can paralyze Christians, and it can also make them clumsy witnesses in the world around them. If we spend too much time lamenting evil and too little time doing and speaking the good, then those around us will see and hear only evil. And who wants to be around that?

That, in large part, is what the author of 1 Timothy is warning against. Scholars are divided about who actually wrote this book. Some read it and are convinced that this letter is one of the later letters of Paul. Others…and I tend to agree with this second group…feel that it is a pseudonymous letter, written by a faithful disciple of Paul’s and in his name. In the ancient world, that wasn’t considered lying or plagiarism. To write a work under the name of your teacher or spiritual master was a way of honoring their name, and it also insured that the message of your teacher continued to be spread.

Whichever way you slice it, 1 Timothy is one of three letters...the other two are 2 Timothy and Titus...which are called the Pastoral Letters, because they’re most interested in telling the new church two things. First, they’re there to guide the church in running it’s own affairs. It talks about what elders and deacons do, for example. Second, and just as important, it tells the church that it needs to live in such a way that the outside world will clearly recognize it as something good. Yes, there are warnings about what not to do, but they are leavened with encouragement about what Christians should do.

This morning’s passage is no exception. With every spiritual danger that is highlighted...like the love of wealth and pursuing desires that crush the contentment from us...there are corresponding notes of grace and hope. He doesn’t just warn us, but gives an indication as to ways we can act that will both bring us more contentment and be a beacon of grace to the world around us.

When the letter warns of the spiritual danger of wealth, for instance, he doesn’t rant and rave about how very evil every one is who makes more money than he does. Instead, he points out the danger, but also makes it clear that there are ways to prevent the wealth you have received from dominating your life.

Do good. Be rich in good works. Be generous. Make sure that whether you are rich or poor, everything that you do in this life serves to build a solid foundation for your eternity. Don’t spend all of your time quaking or being guided by your fears or your anger against the world. Instead, take a hold of the life that really is life, because if those around you see that you are really living the full and joyous life to which God has called you.