I’m disappointed to have missed last Sunday with you when you read from 1 Timothy the recommendation to drink more wine. That’s not what you expect from a religious text! While 1 Timothy 5:23 does read, “No longer drink only water, but take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments,” it is suggesting alcohol for medicinal purposes. So I suppose that’s not all that exciting. Still though, I’m surprised no clever person have ever figured out how to twist that into a clever t-shirt and wear it to justify going on a bender. I did find on Amazon that there is a t-shirt with that quote, but it is a really boring shirt.
Why
though, would this show up in scripture?
While 1 Timothy pretends to be written by Paul to Timothy, his younger
assistant, it is not. So why include
such a detail? We’re back to something
we have to remind ourselves of every time we read from these pastoral epistles
– context. What is going on in the world
around the writing of the text that we have to know?
In
the case of ‘take a little wine’ the background is other religions of the time
who required complete abstinence of alcohol.
A number of religions were very austere, requiring giving up of just
about everything that could be considered pleasurable. At the same time, a number of religions were
quite the opposite – allowing and encouraging all sorts of things. It is wrong to say that Christianity took a
middle of the road approach.
Christianity does not teach, “all things in moderation,” although that
can be a wise way to live. No,
Christianity is built on an entirely different premise. And that takes us to our reading for today.
Once
again, there is a lot there that we could dig into. And if there is interest in exploring these
books of the Bible in more depth I’m willing to lead Bible studies on
them. However, intriguing as these texts
are, I doubt there’d be much interest in that.
But I think we can get at the heart of the passage by looking at the
phrase, “…imagining that godliness is a means of gain.” (1 Timothy 6:5)
Again,
we need to understand the context.
Although this time we will discover that the context hasn’t really
changed all that much. What has not
changed is that we live in a merit-based society. We measure, grade, and judge people all the
time. You have a measurable IQ, a
measurable net worth, and all sorts of measurable things about your physical
health. You also have some sort of
social status based upon your wealth, your looks, your work ethic, and your
connections.
If
you work in a factory it is safe to say that your employer has some means of
measuring your productivity. If you earn
a higher paying position you are more likely to get it over others. If you work in an office and you ask your
boss for a raise your boss is likely to ask you why. Have you increased your education, your
credentials? Are you willing to work
harder, more hours, or take on more responsibility. Why should you merit higher pay than you are
currently getting?
Throughout
our productive lives we work hard to earn our way up – to merit more. The same was true in 1st century
Rome. And that also went for
religions. There were loads of
religions. Christianity was a new kid on
the block, although not the only new kid on the block. Pretty much all religions were merit
based. You have to do what pleases the
god (or gods) – you have to earn it, merit it – and then the god would favor
you, protect you, or do something you wanted.
Religions were often connected to your trade or economic status. A sailor would probably not be of the same
religion as a farmer.
And
then there is Christianity. What made it
stand out in this world where there were more religious choices than there are
paint shades in a home improvement store?
It
wasn’t merit based. It was grace
based. And it wasn’t rooted in a
specific trade, or economic class, or geographic area. It had no temples, no buildings
whatsoever. Getting in was easy –
baptism. That was simple enough. It sounds great, and it sounds perfectly
ordinary to our ears today. But at that
time – a religion of equality among social classes – that was unique… and it
led to problems. Problems the likes of
which we have a hard time grasping in our world today.
Many
people considered themselves to be followers of a number of religions. It was probably easy to add Christianity to
your religion portfolio. And Christianity
had a couple big benefits.
One
we got a hint of last week. Christians
were generous. They were highly
supportive of each other. And they had
the idea that everyone should get in.
Foundational to the faith was the exclusion of no one. Again, that’s normal to our ears- but that
was radical in those days. And that,
plus generosity, let to problems.
Last
week we read the widows role. Widows
were powerless and struggled to survive.
I don’t think Christianity was unique among religions that offered
significant aid to its widows. But
again, it was an easy religion to get in to.
It appears as if the love and kindness of the early Christians made it quite
attractive if you were in need. Capable
and able women were apparently exploiting the church’s support. Hence the teaching that make sure widows
really qualify as widows before you put them on the official list of
widows! Yes, it is an odd teaching to
our ears today, but remember that much of the Christian writings from that time
period deal with the church’s message of love and grace being exploited. Again, a religion based on love and grace,
not merit. From a purely academic
standpoint it was then, and still is today, unique among religious belief
systems.
Christianity’s
desire to attract all people of all backgrounds and classes led to other
problems we wouldn’t understand today. It's
impossible to tell, but what we read today suggests that some people were using
Christianity as a means of getting ahead – godliness leading to personal
gain. If you were a slave or a laborer a
gathering of Christians will be a great chance to network with people of much
higher economic status than you. Be
cooperative, behave well, impress the right people, and being a Christian might
be the easiest way up the social ladder for you. So, our author says, “Of course there is
great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into
the world, so that we can take nothing out of it.”
In
other words, Christian faith is not to be a means of personal advancement in
the world. It can make you a more
authentic and whole person, and there is certainly great value in that! But it is not a strategic path to get
ahead. I think that helps us to
understand the sentences, “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. For the love of
money is the root of all kinds of evil.”
(1 Timothy 6:9-10)
Some
of the final advice from the chapter is, “But as for you… pursue righteousness,
godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness.”
1 Timothy 6:11) And then the
final phrase, “Fight the good fight of the faith.” Or maybe better translated, “Contest the good
contest.” The point being that living
faith requires the energy and discipline of a good athlete.
And
I think that image summarizes the whole of what the author is trying to get
across for his readers. It is a message
for that day and today.
Yes,
Christianity is not merit based. We are
all sinners in need of God’s grace. And
yes, initiation into Christianity is quite simple, cheap, and painless. It’s hard to get any easier than
baptism! And people being people, they
will quickly learn to exploit God’s generosity.
It can seem like a cheap and easy path to eternal life and maybe earthly
prosperity as well. But, that just
misses the point of the whole thing.
It's
Reformation Sunday and so we’ll wrap up with Martin Luther’s way of explaining
it. God’s love is free, unlimited, and
unconditional. You are saved. No doubts.
No fears. But that should never
lead to laziness. It should inspire us
to work – work hard – harder than we would have worked before. What is the life of a Christian? It is like an athlete in training for a
competition: growth, hard work, practice, training, discipline. Overcoming obstacles with perseverance. Good athletes know that they will not win
every time. In fact they may lose over
and over again. But for the love of
their sport they keep at it. Win or
lose, they will do what they do at the absolutely very best that they can do
it. That is the attitude we want to have
for our faith. And fortunately, life is not
a game or a sport. There isn’t only one
winner, or only one team that wins the championship. God desires all. So whether we are weary from a lifetime of
work, or excited by the new possibilities of this very day, we give thanks to
God for the love and the inspiration. We
get to live authentic valuable lives, and ultimately eternal life with God.
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