What does it mean to be rich?
The First Coins
Did you know that the very first coins to be used as currency were in Lydia, modern day Turkey.
The Lydian coin came into existence around 610-600 BC. They were minted by King Alyattes and were made from a mixture of gold and silver called electrum. The Lydian third stater or trite, which was worth about a month’s wages in its day, had the buying power of about eleven sheep or ten goats.
Before this, you know how ancient economies worked, without any kind of currency you simply traded or bartered for what you needed. You took what you had that you were willing to trade and you had to find someone who both had what you needed and needed what you had.
Maybe it was grain or an animal. Maybe it was a tool or a beaver pelt. Whatever it was, you and the person you were doing business with both had to agree on the value of the things you were trading. There was no real standard until currency came along.
Before currency, your wealth might be measured by the size of your flock of sheep or your herd of cattle. Or how many acres of farm land you owned. Or something like that.
But with the invention of currency, those things still mattered, but the economy began to change. Wealth was more portable, reliable, and the way you measured your wealth and valued your wealth was more consistent.
Before long, other countries adopted the use of coins as currency and then, in the world’s economy, the exchange rate was set. You not only knew how much your money was worth and what you could get for it, you knew how much it was worth in different places.
Less? More?
Whenever we give a certain amount of money for something, we know exactly what we should get in return.
We know how much things cost. What they’re worth. And we know when we’re at the store and we make a purchase, we know what we should get in return for our money.
Have you ever given an amount of money for something and gotten LESS back in return than you expected?
Maybe you paid someone for a service and either what they did or the quality of what they did was painfully short of what you expected. Or you bought something and the ads for it looked amazing but when you got it, whatever it was, it wasn’t nearly as good as advertised.
Sometimes, that happens. We get LESS than what we expected for what we GAVE.
But have you ever given an amount of money for something and gotten MORE back in return than you expected?
That’s how life works in God’s economy! And it’s the key to what I call the Double Blessing.
Whenever you GIVE to God you get back MORE than you EXPECT.
Money Problems
You can see this all throughout scripture, but this morning I want us to lean into something the Apostle Paul once wrote to his young protege, Timothy. If you have your Bible or your YouVersion Bible app, open to 1 Timothy 6 this morning.
Timothy was like a son in the faith to the Apostle Paul. He was a young minister who Paul was mentoring. Paul knew one of the tough topics Timothy would have to address in the churches he worked with was money.
How do followers of Jesus live in relationship to money? Are we as Christians to take a vow of poverty? Is money good? Or is it evil? Is it wrong to be wealthy as a follower of Jesus? If we are going to be all in with God, what does that mean when it comes to money and possessions?
These were important questions 2000 years ago and guess what, they are important questions today!
So Paul writes this letter to Timothy and listen to what he says…
1 Timothy 6.17-19
17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.
Paul begins with this instruction to Timothy to teach those who are rich in this world. Paul understands that there are people in the church who will be rich.
You may wonder sometimes, “Why do we need to talk about money in church?” And here’s the number one reason, because we have a responsibility to teach how we, as believers in Jesus and followers of Jesus, live in relationship to money.
The Root of all Evil?
Contrary to popular belief, money is NOT the root of all evil. You’ve probably heard that. You may have even said that. Someone might have told you that is what the Bible teaches. But actually, it’s not.
In fact, if you back up just a few verses, What Paul says to Timothy is this:
10 For the LOVE of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Money in and of itself is NOT evil. It’s the LOVE of money. It’s the pursuit of money over the pursuit of God. The reliance on money over our reliance on God. The desire of money that exceeds our desire for God that is the root of all kinds of evil.
Whenever we elevate anything over God, or allow our lives to revolve around anything other than God, we have created an idol that becomes the object of our worship, our devotion, our attention, and our longings.
And money is masterful at capturing our hearts and turning people away from God.
So Paul tells Timothy, you have to teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.
What does it mean to be rich?
And when you hear that you may be thinking… Well, I guess it’s a good thing I’m not rich!
It’s easy for us to think that because we can always point to someone else who has MORE than we do and think, I’m not rich compared to him, or to her.
But let me ask you again, What does it mean to be rich?
Did you know that if you make between $60-70,000 a year, that you are among the top 1% of income earners in the world?
Think about this, 1.3 billion people currently live on less than $3 per day. That cup of coffee you bought at Starbucks this week probably cost more than most people have to live on for 1 day. I don’t say that to make you feel guilty, I say that to give us perspective.
When we ask the question, Are you rich? For most if not all of us, the answer has to be a resounding yes in comparison to most of the people in the world who are living in unimaginable circumstances.
It’s easy for us to think, I’m not rich. It’s easy for me to think, I’m not rich. But many if not all of us are rich according to the world standard and we have all been blessed beyond our wildest imaginations.
The Pride Problem
So these words from Paul to Timothy are words we need to lean into. Paul says… “Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud …”
What does it mean to be proud when it comes to money? What does pride say?
It’s so easy to become prideful when it comes to our money, isn’t it? You hear it all the time. Pride says things like… Look at what I’VE done. Look at what I’VE earned. Look at the results of MY hard work.
Pride is such an easy trap to get caught in. I’ve said things like that and I bet you have, too! But you can easily hear the difference in how someone views their relationship with money by the words they use.
The antidote for pride is humility.
What does humility say?
Look at what GOD has done! How HE has blessed me. Look at how HE has multiplied everything I’ve done in HIS name and everything I’ve placed in HIS HANDS!
Paul tells Timothy, Money should be handled with humility.
Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable.
Why should we not be proud when it comes to money? Why should we not put our trust in our money? One reason rises above the rest… Money is unreliable at best!
If you’re going to take pride in something, if you’re going to put your trust in something, if you’re going to pursue something above and beyond everything else, make sure it is reliable. Make sure it is trustworthy. Make sure it will never let you down.
What could you possibly put your hope and trust in that would never let you down other than the almighty dollar?
How about the ALMIGHTY!
Trust in God
Paul says…
Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
Don’t miss this…
The gifts God gives us, including financial blessings, are for our enjoyment.
BUT… they are not JUST for our enjoyment.
Every good and perfect gift we have comes from God! And like a good Father, he gives us everything we need not just for our survival, but for our enjoyment.
Sometimes I give my kids things they don’t need just for their enjoyment! That’s what a good father, a good mother, a good parent, a good grandparent does!
But the gifts that God gives us are not JUST for us. They are not JUST for our enjoyment. Keep reading!
18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
Use your money to DO GOOD!
Be RICH in good works and GENEROUS to those in need!
In other words, use your time, your talent, and your treasure to bless others!
We are blessed to be a blessing!
You are blessed to be a blessing!
God has lavishly poured out His blessings on you but they are not just for you! His intention behind His decision to bless you was for that blessing to pass through you to those around you!
Experiencing True Life
And as amazing as all that is, and it is pretty amazing, today I want to ask you to dream about this question, “What if we gave just a little bit more?” If everyone gave just a little more of their time, talent, and treasure, think about the exponential impact that would have in the church, the community, and this world!
The reason I want to suggest that today isn’t because we need more. In fact, let me remind you… you should feel no pressure to give or to give more than you are currently giving. That’s because God doesn’t want or need anything FROM you. It’s all about what God wants FOR YOU!
Paul writes, 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
And then just listen to what Paul says next…
19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE RICH? THIS IS IT!
This is the Double Blessing! This is how life works, this is how giving works in God’s economy.
When we use our money to do good, when we are rich in good works and generous to those in need, we experience the double blessing!
We store up treasure in Heaven beyond our wildest imagination AND we experience true LIFE!
The Double Blessing
Have you ever experienced the double blessing?
I know I have. One of the times I ALWAYS experience the double blessing, and I would guess a lot of you have as well, is when I go on a mission trip.
I’ve been on more mission trips than I can count over the years. Whenever you go on a mission trip you always have the same idea in mind. You want to go to be a blessing. You want to go love as many people as you can love. You want to help as many people as you can help. You want to give away everything you have that you can give away. Your goal is to come home exhausted and empty handed. You want to “leave it all on the field,” as they say!
I’ve done that more times than I can count. I’ve had that intention every time I’ve gone on a mission trip. But you know what happens EVERY SINGLE TIME!?
Ask anyone who has ever gone on a mission trip and they will tell you, you always come home having been the one who was blessed more than you could have imagined.
That wasn’t your intention! You went to be a blessing. But when it was all said and done, you realize that you were the one who was blessed!
How does that happen?
This is the way it works in God’s economy. We are blessed to be a blessing. And this is the double blessing.
Whenever we do this we are storing up treasure as a good foundation for the future and we experience true life.
Where is Your Trust?
Those Lydian Coins made from gold and silver in the 7th century, do you know what they had engraved on them?
Each coin had a LION imprinted on one side.
Our money doesn’t have a picture of a Lion, but it does have these four words: In God we trust.
And I wonder what would happen if that were true. If our TRUST really was in our great God, the Lion of Judah? If we realized that every blessing we have is for us, but it isn’t just for us. That we are blessed to be a blessing. And that when we get our hearts and minds and lives around that truth, what happens is that we experience the double blessing.
This is what it means to be RICH!
BUT…
The only way to experience the double blessing is to put your trust in God.
So if I could encourage you to do one thing this week, that would be it. Find a tangible way to put your trust in God, whatever that means for you, and just see what happens.
Trust in Him
We are blessed to be a blessing. As we close this series let me say it just one more time, God doesn’t want or even need anything FROM you, but He does want something FOR you.
Maybe today you’re realizing just how little you trust God, or how little trust you’ve put in God. It’s easy to fall into the trap of self reliance. It’s one of our enemies favorite traps. The remedy for self reliance is to put your trust in God in a tangible way.
God wants you to experience true and everlasting life that is only found by putting you trust in Him.
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