Money Talk

Father, it is only by your grace that we are able to open up your book, for on account of your grace you have made yourself known. And it is only by your grace that we can speak of it or hear from it in a way that will be life changing. So our confidence is in you. Our look is to you. Our minds are for you. Speak, then, in the stillness as we wait upon you.[1] For Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Now, we’re probably just one study away from the conclusion of our studies in 1 Timothy. I invite you to turn there—1 Timothy 6:17:

“Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.”

Paul in this letter is providing practical instructions for the conduct of God’s people within the framework of the church. It is therefore no surprise to us that very quickly he addresses the matter of money, because money is inevitably one of the barometers by which we might be able to gauge the temperature and strength of our own Christian experience. He addresses it in relationship to those who are called to leadership in the church when, in 3:3, he makes it clear that the person who is going to be an elder must not be someone who loves money. Deacons, in verse 8 of the same chapter, are to be individuals who are “not pursuing dishonest gain.” In the matter of family care, in 5:8, an individual who “does not provide for his relatives … has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever”—a quite staggering statement. If we were to put a test out for people and say, “How would you determine who was an unbeliever?” I doubt whether this would even appear on most of our lists. And yet it is right here on the list. Why? Because in the use of resources, we either declare our affinity to Christ and our obedience to Christ’s Word or the very reverse of it. When he gives instruction concerning the payment of pastors in verse 18, he is quite categorical: “The Scripture says, ‘Do not muzzle the ox while it[’s] treading out the grain,’ and [you should notice that] ‘The worker deserves his wages.’”[2]

So, throughout the six chapters, there is quite a bit of instruction regarding wealth, riches, resources, money. But it takes until the sixth chapter before he gives any kind of sustained treatment of the subject. And it crops up in relationship to false teachers in verse 5. And he identifies these individuals in part as those who regard godliness as a means to financial gain, letting us know that in the first century, they were also confronted by the circumstances that we face in the twentieth century. How often has it been that your neighbors or your friends or your work colleagues have said to you, “But I saw Mr. So-and-So on the television, and it would appear to me”—although the individual would say, “I don’t know, obviously, their motives, but I just get the feeling that somehow or another, what it is they are conveying is more tightly linked to their ability to accrue to themselves riches than ever would be countenanced in the New Testament.” And the unbelieving world often has a keener sense of smell in relationship to this than some who are in the family of God.

Now, it is in that context that Paul then gives instruction to Timothy concerning the nature of godliness as being, in contentment, a “great gain,”[3] and he provides instruction in verse 9 for a particular group of individuals. In point of fact, it may be a very large group, but it is a group—namely, the “people who want to get rich.” And he says, “People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap” and so on, and we considered that in a study past.

Now, in identifying this group, he warns Timothy as a pastor to stay away from it. And he is urging him not simply to keep his life clear of a preoccupation with money and with wealth but also from all of the dishonesty and all of the false teaching which is so much a part of it. And I think it is at least possible that we might regard verses 11–16 as a parenthetical statement, insofar as he is addressing the issue of finance. In seeking to give directives to Timothy, he moves away from it marginally only to return to it once again in the seventeenth verse. So his subject in verse 6 and following is money, finance, wealth; in verses 11–16, he gives this special charge to Timothy not simply in relationship to wealth but also in relationship to false teaching; and then he returns to the matter at hand in this seventeenth verse.

His concern this time is not to deal with those who want to get rich but to give a word to those who are rich. And Timothy must remind these people of the dangers to be faced and of the duties to be fulfilled. Those are the two headings under which I’ll gather the rest of this instruction. For people who are rich, there are peculiar dangers to be faced, and there are significant duties to be fulfilled.

The Dangers to Be Faced

Now, in noticing, first of all, these dangers, let’s not miss the obvious which confronts us in the text—namely, the presence of rich people. There are folks that you will meet from time to time who say, “Well, churches shouldn’t have rich people in them.” Well, you have to say the New Testament church has already made a hash of that, because they clearly had rich people in them. Otherwise, there would be absolutely no point whatsoever in Paul giving instructions to the pastor of the church in Ephesus to give a warning to rich people. If there were no rich people to warn, no need for a warning. Jesus moved amongst the poor, he slept outdoors, but he also entered the house of rich men. Paul moved in his ministry throughout the whole gamut of human experience and was the beneficiary of the kindness of others, was in the homes of those who clearly were exceptionally prosperous, and yet at the same time was unprepared to make much of it.

Now, I say don’t let’s miss the obvious, but it should be obvious to us that we do not have here something which I perceive certain people might like to have—namely, a denunciation of rich people. There is a perversity amongst some people who feel that it is incumbent upon them simply to denounce anybody who has done well or who has prospered. And they may try and clothe it with doctrinal principle; I fear that it has more to do with jealousy than it has to do with theology. Because the Bible is very clear. In the Old Testament, God tells us that it is he who gives a man or a woman the ability to get wealth.[4] In 1 Samuel chapter 2, when Hannah prays that glorious prayer, in part of her prayer she says, “The Lord sends poverty and wealth; he humbles and he exalts.”[5] He is master, sovereign over the affairs of time, and over the affairs of individuals, and over the affairs of governments, and over the affairs of businesses, and over the affairs of our personal investments. He sends poverty, and he grants wealth.

And when we read our Bibles with open eyes, we discover that there is no sin in wealth if it is acquired honorably and if it is used wisely. Otherwise, how could Paul ever exhort the Corinthians, in his second letter, to be generous in their disbursement of funds for the well-being of the churches elsewhere were they not the recipients of God’s generosity to them in the provision of financial resources?[6] So don’t let’s miss the obvious in going past.

When we read our Bibles with open eyes, we discover that there is no sin in wealth if it is acquired honorably and if it is used wisely.

But let’s come to this matter of the dangers. What are these dangers to be faced? Well, there are two—maybe more, but two I want to suggest to you.

Number one: arrogance. Arrogance. The approach which regards others with a haughty spirit. The perspective which becomes used to throwing its weight around and getting the better of those who are less well-off. There is a peculiar danger and a unique temptation which attaches itself to those who have become the recipients of significant financial resources, because money opens all kinds of doors that do not open to those who do not have the money. Money will buy you a thickly padded, wider seat on an airliner. Money will mean that you no longer have to stay out with the ruck in the terminal but may go through those sliding glass doors into the other kind of ruck which is in there. But it is money which opens the door, essentially. It is money which allows individuals to gain access to places that others are denied access to.

And if those who then have that access—and we’re thinking now of Christian people—if the believer who is the beneficiary of those things doesn’t look out, then he or she will fall foul of the notion that their intrinsic worth is directly related to their financial status, so that my monetary value becomes the determining value by which I assess my place in society, which is what pagans do. But the Christian does not have to say, “Oh, I do not have this money. Oh, I do not want this money.” The Christian is to say, “I have this money; therefore, I have a unique responsibility, and I face a pressing danger. And the danger is that I will now try and treat people as though somehow or another they are less significant because they do not have what I have.”

Now, you can follow that through in your own study in Romans chapter 12 and in James chapter 1 and in other places, but time forbids me from going any further with it. The first inherent danger is the danger of arrogance. And money doesn’t bring with it discernment, and money doesn’t bring with it class, and money doesn’t bring with it kindness. Because we all know people who have a lot of stuff and they’re obnoxious. If securing a certain financial platform made you a certain kind of way, then, of course, they would be the best people always to be around. But in point of fact, it can do the very reverse. And that’s why to be entrusted with financial resources is a peculiar challenge. And those of us who always would be looking to others who have and assuming that if that were our condition, then we would be in tremendous shape, and we wonder why these poor souls are the way they are, it’s largely due to the fact that we don’t have much concept of what would be involved in such a responsibility.

Danger number one, then, is that we treat other people with contempt; we are arrogant. Danger number two is the danger of misplaced security. The danger of misplaced security. You see, the rich individual faces the temptation to count on what they have accrued. No such danger confronts the individual who doesn’t have a savings account. That individual does not lie in his bed and say to himself, “Well, I can go off to sleep, because I have x amount of dollars in my saving account, and I can put my head on the pillow,” because there is no savings account, and there are no dollars in it. “Well,” you say, “but I would like to have one.” That is a different problem. That’s not this morning. The problem we’re addressing this morning is the person who has a tremendous amount of resources. They are rich. They are wealthy. By any standards, they are rich and wealthy. They are identifiably rich and wealthy within the local congregation. It’s virtually impossible to conceal it. And the temptation is to say, “Well, I have all this; therefore, I’m okay.” And they place their confidence in wealth.

Now, it’s straightforward, isn’t it? The danger of misplaced security; the danger of arrogance. How, then, are those individuals to confront these two dangers? Well, there are hints here in the verses, I think, that are a help to avoiding the dangers.

Number one—hint number one—is by noticing that little phrase there in verse 17, “in this present world.” “In this present world.” In other words, our bank balance is significant only “in this present world.” It does not have, ipso facto, an eternal dimension to it. It may have, which is the point that Paul is making to Timothy: riches well used will have eternal significance. But riches simply hoarded and abused are only of significance in this present world. And how long are we in this present world? A very short time. And indeed, we may be in it a lot shorter of a time than any of us understand. And in a moment, ours may be the obituary, and the people will be rustling in the drawers of our desks, looking for those jolly things that we told them were there so they can find out whether they have any resources left to them at all. And all that we have attached significance in, if we have; all that we have put our head on our pillows with, if we have; all that has made us the person, as we drive around, that we consider ourselves to be will be a flat-out, total irrelevancy. And once again, as when we emerged from our mother’s womb, we will be naked and even more helpless[7]—in an instant! I was there for the birth, and I’ve been there for death. The birth is a wriggling mass of humanity; there is life, and there is hope. In the death, there is nakedness and nothing. And you could wrap yourself in dollar bills if you want, but they will rot with you.

And so he says, “If you just think for a moment that all that you have is only in the frame of this present world, and the present world is not all the world, because there is eternity to face, then if you can grab a hold of that—if you can ‘turn your eyes upon Jesus’ and ‘look full in his wonderful face’[8]—then it will help the proclivity that is part and parcel of wealth to arrogance and to misplaced security.” It’s why Jesus says in Luke chapter 12, “A man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”[9] That’s the baseline in verse 7 of this same chapter: “We brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.” Naked in, naked out. It’s hard to hide stuff on your person when you’re naked.

That’s the first hint: because our bank balance is significant only in the present world. The second hint lies in the fact that life itself, wealth itself, is so uncertain—there in the same verse: “wealth, which is so uncertain.” That’s why people on Wall Street jumped out of buildings. You see, if you’re flat, bust broke, you don’t have to worry about a Wall Street collapse. That’s not something you have to think about. You can check that off your list. I mean, you can go through your days worrying about where you’re going to buy a hamburger, but you don’t have to worry about whether the market’s up or down 45 or 150 points. It’s not a concern to you! But if that becomes the fixation, if that becomes the security, if that becomes the dependence factor—if you forget that in an instant that may all disappear—then you’ll be tempted to say again and again, “This is what really matters.”

And God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah, and he says, “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the strong man boast in his strength. Let not the rich man boast in his riches”[10]—the three things that sell magazines in the airport. I was in the airport in San Antonio and Houston yesterday, and in both cases I did a pirouette round the magazines when I was looking for a newspaper. And let me tell you what they are all about: bodies and bucks. What it’s all about. It’s about the right body and the right amount of cash.

Well, so what is the Christian to do? To go around saying, “I’m such a poor person; I’m such an ugly person; I’m such a poor, ugly, wonderful Christian”? Well, you may be a poor, ugly Christian, and we can talk about that afterwards. But no, that’s not our posture. That was monasticism. That was hair shirts. That was beds of nails. That was “Live your life in a closet” time. That was one attempt at dealing with it. The real challenge, it would seem, is to have it and not be held by it, is to be entrusted with it and not be bombastic. And how will we be prevented? By realizing, number one, the currency is only good here. Soon as you cross the border, it doesn’t mean a thing.

“Well, I have a lot of dollars in my pocket.”

“Well, tough! We take kroner here.”

“Oh, we do? What’s a kroner?”

See? “Hello, I’m so glad to be up here in heaven. I brought quite a stash with me. I’m sure we’ll be able to put it to good use somewhere.” Don’t be ridiculous. It’s for the present age! And it’s so uncertain.

And also, we will be corrected by learning to trust in the Giver rather than in the given—“to put their hope in the God, who richly provides,” not to put their hope in what he richly provides; to put their hope in the one who gives, not in what is given. And the reason that we can enjoy this, and we should enjoy it, is because we’ve learned to recognize that everything, including one’s wealth, is a gift. It is the expression of God’s gracious generosity. And this kind of enjoyment, loved ones, is legitimate enjoyment.

You see, the ascetics in chapter 4 were teaching that you couldn’t marry, that you had to abstain from certain foods, that you weren’t allowed to enjoy this, and you couldn’t enjoy that, and so on. And they gave the impression that austerity was a synonym for godly. And Paul says—with a glance, as it were, to these folks as he gives them a jab in the ribs going past—he says, “You know, God gave us all these things, and we can enjoy them.” And the enjoyment of them does not have to be illegitimate. This kind of enjoyment does not necessarily have to be self-indulgent.

The reason that we can enjoy wealth, and we should enjoy it, is because we’ve learned to recognize that everything, including one’s wealth, is a gift. It is the expression of God’s gracious generosity.

He’s already addressed the issue of self-indulgence in verse 6 of chapter 5, where he says, “The widow who is really in need and left all alone puts her hope in God.”[11] Verse 6: “But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she lives.” See, that’s the distinction. The person who lives for pleasure has no notion of the provision of God. The person who understands that all of this is a gift from God is able to take it as from his hands.

Now, loved ones, do you understand this? Is this making sense to you? Because there is so much confusion about this. Over 50 percent of the marriages that end in divorce are on account of arguments about money. And in a significant number of disruptions and declensions amongst the people of God, the issue is also money, because people do not come to a biblical understanding of money! So we either regard it as some horrible thing that we’re to stay away from, or we regard it as the very apex of everything we can enjoy. So we find ourselves running from it or running to it.

And Paul says, “Listen, Timothy, tell these folks—the folks who have been given resources, financial resources—give them this warning: tell them there’s a couple of dangers they need to face. Danger number one: that they end up being arrogant. Danger number two: that they misplace their security. You’ll help them if you confront them with the fact that the currency’s only good for a very short time, with the fact that the currency itself is liable to go away in a moment in time, and also when they realize that the focus should be on the Giver rather than on the things he gives.”

The Duties to Be Fulfilled

Well, those are the dangers, and then he comes to the duties. To the duties. In this further direction, which comes in verse 18, you will notice that it begins again with the word “command.” “Command.” You notice that the pastor is directive. It’s interesting how many times he’s told to tell people things. He’s to “command certain men” in 1:3; he’s to point things out in 4:6; he’s to “command and teach these things” in 4:11; he is to “command [the] rich” in verse 17; he is to “command them” again in verse 18. Where do we get this idea of the pastor being some weak-kneed little fellow who sits in a corner waiting for somebody to think up bright ideas, or being a nondirective counselor? So you go to the pastor, and you say, “Well, I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about this,” and the pastor says, “Well, you know, I don’t know what you’re supposed to do about it either. Tell me how you feel about it, and I’ll tell you how I feel about it.” It’s just absolutely pathetic cluelessness.

The pastor—the spiritual leader—is to listen, is to care, is to pray, but is to teach and is to lead. And the guidance, the framework, that prevents that individual from autocracy or from domination is the instruction of God’s Word, which he teaches to the people so the people will know the Bible so they will know if he tells them wrong, and is protected by the plurality of leadership, so that such an individual, who has the awesome privilege of teaching the people the Word of God, is held in check by his brethren. But the pastor must lead, must teach, must warn, must guide. It’s the job. Do you want it?

Dangers to be faced; duties—or as you would say, “doodies.” I can’t say that. I just can’t. I’m sorry, I can’t say that. Duties to be fulfilled.

Okay, duty number one: “to do good.” “Command them to do good.” What’s your immediate reaction to that? “Nobody commands me to do good. I’ll do good if I feel like doing good. I mean, you don’t get commanded to do good. Doing good is something you just do if you feel like doing good. If you don’t feel like doing good, you don’t do it.” “No,” says Paul, “you’d better tell them, ‘Do good.’ Because the temptation is that they won’t do good.”

Now, what they need to do good with is their money. So, you’re going to have to tell them, “Listen, there’s a lot of good things you can do with this money. Don’t hoard it. Don’t sit on it. Don’t stick it under your bed. Don’t hide it away. Because you’re only here for a very short period of time, and you really ought to be making an investment in eternity, not an investment in time. So I’ve got to tell you: start doing good.” Quite striking, isn’t it?

James 4:17: the individual who knows to do good and doesn’t do it sins. “Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.”[12] You go back and read the whole of James for your homework. James 2:24: “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” “You see that a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.” Who made that up? That’s not supposed to be in the Bible! What in the world does that mean? Aren’t we constantly saying “by faith alone,” “sola fide”? And James says a person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone. What’s the key word? “Alone.” He doesn’t say, “So a person is justified by what he does and not by faith.” He says, “A person is justified by what he does and not by faith alone.”

Because the person who says, “I’m a Christian! I heard the Bible. I read the Bible. I do these things. But I don’t do good. I hoard my wealth. I lay up treasure for myself on earth. I don’t care about heavenly treasure.” “Oh,” says the Bible to that individual, “you’d better be very careful, because a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of what he possesses. You’d better be very careful, lest you’re not like the rich fool, who tore down his barns, and he built bigger ones, and he says, ‘Now let’s see what I can do with the things that I have prepared for myself.’”[13] You see, it is faith alone that saves, but the faith that saves is not alone.

And that’s why earlier on, he uses this wonderful picture in 2:10. He says, “I … want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, [and] not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive [jewels].” What should they be dressed with? He says, “With good deeds.” “With good deeds.”[14] Are you wearing your good deeds this morning, ladies? Your husband may be wearing his good duds, but are you wearing your good deeds?

Now, he actually piles it up. He says, “Command them to do good. In fact, I want them to be rich in doing good”—“to be rich in good deeds.” In other words, don’t be going around asking the question, “What’s the minimum amount of good that I have to do?” Rather, he says, if you want to be rich, be rich in kindly actions. If you want to be known as being rich, don’t take the haughty approach, which demeans people on account of the absence of their resources, but rather take the humble approach, which blesses people by the use of your resources.

Command number one: “Do good.” Command number two: “rich in good deeds.” Command number three: “Be generous.” You see, wealth is a responsibility, is it not? It’s a responsibility. It will ruin those who hoard it. It will ruin those of us who use it to our own pride and to enrich ourselves. There is no question about this. That’s the parable of the sower; that’s what Jesus was saying: “Some seed fell on the ground; the birds came and picked it up. Some fell on rocky ground; it was instant bloom and instant fade. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it.”[15] Now, when the disciples then asked Jesus for an explanation of the parable, he said, “The first group are those who hear the word of God, and the devil snatches it away before they can do anything with it. The second group are those who, when they hear the word of God, say, ‘Sign me up for that,’ and within two weeks they have gone who knows where. And the third group are those who appear to make a good beginning, but as they go through the journey of their lives, a preoccupation with riches and with the cares of life squeeze and constrict and restrict the good that they might be. And they do not,” he says, “go to maturity.”[16] In fact, there is no category in the parable of the sower with which we can speak with conviction regarding the reality of faith except the fourth category, the good soil.

If you want to be known as being rich, don’t take the haughty approach, which demeans people on account of the absence of their resources, but rather take the humble approach, which blesses people by the use of your resources.

So our generosity is going to be an indication of the fact that we are prepared to view what we’ve been given as from God to be used for the well-being of others. And that’s the final command: that they are to be “willing to share.” “Willing to share.” Willing to take that which has been given to them and use it to sympathize with others who are distressed by their inability to meet their needs.

Okay? Danger number one: arrogance. Danger number two: misplaced security. Duties: do good, be rich in doing good, be very generous, and be willing to share.

A Gift, Not a Taboo

Now, is it not interesting to you—it’s certainly interesting to me—that when we think about people’s gifts and resources, we don’t have any difficulty exhorting them, do we? We say to them, “You know, I think that you have an ability with children, and we would like you to serve in children’s ministry.” And you can’t hardly walk around this building at the moment without somebody grabbing ahold of you and going, “Children’s ministry!” Which is fine! It’s a good thing! The little blue things are everywhere, going, “I’m going to get you. I’m going to get you.” Someone comes to you and says, “I heard you. I was sitting next to you, and I heard you singing. You have a wonderful voice; you can hold a tune. Don’t you ever consider using your gift in the ministry of music?” Someone else says, “You know, I’ve seen you have such a selfless spirit. Have you ever thought of using your gift to enable our care ministry here in the church?” Someone says, “I have observed the fact that you have just a heart of generosity. Have you ever considered taking a significant chunk of your money and using it in this direction?” The person says, “Excuse me? Did you mention money?” Yeah!

How about we have tables up out here with little signs beside them? So it says, like—instead of it says “0–6 Months” and then “6 Months – 1 ½ Years,” it says “$0–$5,000” and then “$5,000–$20,000” on the next sign. And you just go up to your little sign, and then you make a contribution—of your money—to whatever it is God has called you to do. Say, “No, we’re not going to do that.” Why not? Why is it, if everything we have is the gift of God, including our money, we can ask everybody, exhort everybody about every other manifestation of giftedness—vis-à-vis leadership, “if it is in leading, let him lead; it if is in serving, let him serve; if it is in hospitality, let them show hospitality; if it is in giving, let them excel in giving.”[17] Now, why are we so backward about that? I’ll tell you why: because more than any other thing that we regard as our own prerogative and our own concern and our own private issue is our money. And I speak for myself; I can’t speak for you: “Don’t go looking there. Don’t go pressing there. Don’t go asking about this. That’s mine.”

For once I can say,
“This is mine, you can’t take it.”
Long as I know I [got] love, [we] can make it. …
For once in my life…[18]

“For one thing in my life.” For my business, for my statements, for my resources—hey, “I did it my way.”[19] You fool! Don’t you realize that tonight your soul could be required of you?[20]

Well, you say, “Well, is this a new departure for Parkside Church? We’re now going to have booths at which you go and give money?” Absolutely not! No, that would be horrendous! I can’t think of anything worse! The point I’m making is that it would not be illegitimate to do so. Because if it’s right to ask people to use their giftedness vis-à-vis serving, leading, guiding, caring, cooking—whatever it is—why is it not legitimate to come up to somebody and say, “Hey, listen man, you got a pot of cash. I mean, don’t give me that ‘No, I don’t.’ Yes, you do! You’re stinking rich! Now, what are you going to do with this?” You say, “Well, that’s none of your business.” Well, it’s as much my business as you can come and say to me about my preaching. ’Cause maybe if I didn’t preach, then I’d have what you have. Then you could preach, and you could come to me and say, “Hey, what are you doing with your money, smart guy?” But you think you can just come to me, and I can’t come to you? Where did we get that? See, “every breath we take, every move we make”[21]—it’s all God! It’s all his stuff!

Well, I should stop. Augustine, in addressing this issue, he says,

From the goods which they distributed to others and so placed in greater safety they derived more happiness than they incurred sorrow from the goods which they anxiously hoarded and so lost more easily.

Nothing could be really lost on earth save what one would be ashamed to take to heaven.[22]

“There once was a man they said was mad; the more he gave away the more he had.”[23] At the end of the day, when we reflect upon it, we will be forced to say, “What I kept I lost; what I gave I have.” It is incumbent upon those who are wealthy to realize that if they will conduct themselves in this way, they will become richer and not poorer, because the ultimate investment security is the bank of heaven. And it’s real hard for us to believe that. But believe it we must.

The pagan looks on and says, “Here is a young man. He is a graduate of a fine university. He’s got a good mathematical brain. He has the potential, by dint of human personality, to make a great gain in the world. Why would he waste his time and waste his life in going into the obscurity of Macedonia?” There is no reason—unless, of course, you see the real investment is in the bank of heaven. “You better take care of business, Mr. Businessman … before it’s too late.”[24]

Let us pray:

O God our Father,

Take our lives and let them be
Consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take our moments and our days,
And let them flow in ceaseless praise.

Take our silver and our gold;
Not a mite would we withhold.
Take our intellects and use
Every power as thou dost choose.

Take my life; O Lord, I pour
At thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and let me be
Ever, only, all for thee.[25]

For Jesus’ sake we ask it. Amen.

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[1] Emily May Grimes Crawford, “Speak, Lord, in the Stillness” (1920).

[2] 1 Timothy 5:18 (NIV 1984).

[3] 1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV 1984).

[4] See Deuteronomy 8:18.

[5] 1 Samuel 2:7 (NIV 1984).

[6] See 2 Corinthians 9:6–12.

[7] See Job 1:21.

[8] Helen Howarth Lemmel, “Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus” (1922).

[9] Luke 12:15 (NIV 1984).

[10] Jeremiah 9:23 (paraphrased).

[11] 1 Timothy 5:5 (NIV 1984).

[12] James 4:17 (NIV 1984).

[13] Luke 12:15–21 (paraphrased).

[14] 1 Timothy 2:9–10 (NIV 1984).

[15] Matthew 13:3–7; Mark 4:3–7; Luke 8:5–7 (paraphrased).

[16] Matthew 13:19–22; Mark 4:15–19; Luke 8:12–14 (paraphrased).

[17] Romans 12:7–8 (paraphrased).

[18] Ronald Miller and Orlando Murden, “For Once in My Life” (1966).

[19] Paul Anka, “My Way” (1969).

[20] See Luke 12:20.

[21] Sting [Gordon Sumner], “Every Move You Make” (1983). Lyrics lightly altered.

[22] Augustine, City of God, trans. Demetrius B. Zema and Gerald G. Walsh (1950), 1.10.

[23] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, part 2 (1684). Paraphrased.

[24] Ray Stevens, “Mr. Businessman” (1968).

[25] Frances Ridley Havergal, “Take My Life and Let It Be” (1874). Lyrics lightly altered.