Bible Passage: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: September 21, 2025

Bulletin – September 21, 2025

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

Everyone eventually learns some “economics.”  Maybe you took a class in high school called “Economics 101” or “Home Ec.”  You learned practical lessons about budgeting and credit cards and interest rates and mortgages.  Such classes introduce students to concepts such as “supply-and-demand” and the basics of investing.  Even if you never took a formal class called “economics” you live “economics” every day.  All of you who must purchase household items and put gas in a car know all about “inflation” and what that does.  “Economics” is all around us.  One political adviser a few years ago became famous for summing up what every election is really about:  “It’s the economy!”

Economists tell us there are four types of economies in this world.  There are traditional, command, market, and mixed economies.  I would like to suggest a fifth.  “Kingdom Economics.”  This is wealth management in the Kingdom of God.   And wealth management in the Kingdom is very different from what worldly economists will advise.  So let’s settle in this morning for a class on Economics 101 in the Kingdom.

The first lesson in Kingdom economics really has nothing to do with money, but with the human heart.  You see, God tells us something about ourselves that is going to have a huge impact on the way we view wealth.  Jesus once said, For from within, out of men’s hearts, come[s]…greed…All these evils come from inside. (Mark 7:21-22) We sinful human beings have this evil desire within called “greed.”  We always want more!  When we have none, we want some.  When we have some, we want more.  When we get more, we want still more!  It doesn’t matter what economic system you put man into.  Put him in a free-market economy.  Put him in a command economy like communism.  Man’s heart will be the same.  He will be greedy!  So pervasive is this greed in the heart that in the verse just before our text begins, Paul has mentioned men…who think that godliness is a means to financial gain. (1 Timothy 6:5)  Imagine, people thinking, plotting, scheming to somehow use the cross of Christ to make a buck!

This kind of greed is not “the coin of the realm” in the Kingdom of God.  On the contrary!  Paul begins, But godliness with contentment is great gain (v. 6).  “Godliness” is an interesting Bible-word.  The best definition I ever heard for it is “right living that flows from right teaching.”  “Godliness” is the quality of life that comes from knowing Jesus Christ as Savior and then living a life of grateful service to him.  Paul says THAT life is “great gain!”  Paul said it this way to the Philippians:  Whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.  What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. (Philippians 3:78)  Paul says everything can be written off as “loss.”  Christ is the one great “PLUS” in life.  Christ is profit.  Christ is gain.  And so Paul would write later in Philippians, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. (Philippians 4:11).  Paul was content because he had Jesus!  In a few moments we are going to sing the hymn “I am Content!  My Jesus Lives Again.”  It is that simple!  Having the crucified and risen Christ you have everything!

In the economics of the Kingdom, we also understand the FUTILITY of wealth.  Paul writes, For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.  But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. (v. 7-8)  We came with nothing; we leave with nothing.  You did not come down the birth canal clutching a “stack of Benjamins.”  Your casket will not need a little compartment for your wallet or purse.  So Paul gives us a little checklist.  “Got food?  Check!  Got clothing?  Check!  Got Jesus? Check!”  You’ve got all you need!

In the Kingdom, we also recognize the DANGERS of greed.  Paul says, For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. (v. 10)  He describes the sad trajectory of the person who falls in love with money.  It starts with the goal to get rich (v. 9)  And then Paul speaks of temptations and traps, and foolish and harmful desires a person falls into trying to get rich.  Temptations come to lie and cheat, to deceive, to steal, to use people simply to profit from them.  The end is almost in sight!  Some have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (v. 10)  The breakup is complete.  Their heart belongs to another.  Not Christ.  Money.  They are pierced through.  The word means “to be run through with a spit.”  They are cooked.

Kids, don’t fall in love with money!  It is fine to work hard and be paid for your work.  And if the work you do is generously compensated, that’s fine!  Just don’t love fall in love with the money.  You will be lied to in this world.  You will be told that the more money you have, the better, more important human being you are.  That’s a lie.  You are not valuable because you can buy stuff; you are valuable because you have been bought with the blood of Jesus!  Period!

Up to this point in the text, Paul has been addressing those who aren’t rich, but might want to be.  In the last verses of our text, he addresses those who are already rich.  Here again, the economics of the Kingdom differ from that of the world.  The rich in this age are not to think money makes them better people.  They are not to hope in their wealth; it cannot buy them forgiveness, or a clear conscience, or a ticket to heaven.  They are to hope in God.  He is the rich one, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment! (v. 17)  They are to be generous.  Their wealth is to be a means they use to love their neighbor.  Such a one has treasure in heaven, and life that is truly life (v. 19).

There you have it!  Economics 101 in the Kingdom of God!  It’s an other-worldly economy that tips worldly economics on its head.  It is an economy that has at its core the most wonderful, unexpected transaction ever!  It has at its core Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for your sakes became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9) 

Amen.