Put Your Hope in God

Scripture: 1 Timothy 6:11-19

11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen. 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. 18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 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.

When I was a 25-year-old seminary student, a senior who exudes the atmosphere of a monk in a monastery said, “Pureum, we must live a life of poverty from now on,” and I found that statement really cool. I never thought of ‘I want to live rich’ or ‘I want to make a lot of money’, but I never thought about life for the poor, so the word poor sounded mysterious. It seems to have meant something like ‘We are people who are going to follow the Lord’s way, so we have no choice but to live in poverty’.

I also teach counseling, but as a counselor, I often listen to people's stories. However, I often see Christians who have a very negative view of wealth. Being overly attached to wealth is a problem, but I hear stories from people who think it's unchristian to set their minds on wealth, even if it's a legitimate right or something very basic to live on. And I hear more often about family members struggling with these thoughts. In other words, is it a story about suffering because of a spouse, parents, or children who are not interested in money and pursue only spiritual things?

There is one theme flowing through a series of biblical texts read during today's worship service. As the verse says, “Do not put your hope in fleeting things, but put your hope in God.” The Bible tells us not to covet any more riches if we have food and clothing, and furthermore, money is the root of all evil. In today's Gospel verse, Luke 16, the rich man even fell into hell. Conversely, a beggar named Lazarus, who ate the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, was led by angels and carried into Abraham's bosom. Still, whether the rich man does not understand the situation or the subject, he pleads with Abraham to have Lazarus put some cool water in his mouth. Of course it gets rejected. Abraham said, “Unlike you, Lazarus has gone through all kinds of afflictions in his life, so now he is comforted, and you are suffering now.”

Isn't it self-evident at this point, which life is said to be biblical, rich or poor? As my senior said earlier, it is good for all of us to be poor, and it is better not to covet wealth even if we suffer a little from those around us, right? In the Gospel of Luke, like the story of Zacchaeus and the parable of the foolish rich man, the problem of wealth and the problem of giving up wealth are repeated several times, and 1 Timothy also tells us not to rely on wealth.

In the Old and New Testaments, we can see that there are different attitudes towards wealth. In the Old Testament, wealth is both a sign of God's blessing and a reason for his wrath. In the New Testament, attitudes toward wealth are not very different, but the warnings about the dangers of wealth are emphasized more. In the Gospel of Luke, the content of giving up wealth is repeated, Jesus is an advocate for the poor, and 1 Timothy is also repeated several times not to rely on wealth.

But there's something more important here, whether it's subordinate or empty. It was upon Israel's faithfulness that wealth became a blessing and a subject of wrath in the Old Testament. If there is faithfulness, wealth is the subject of blessings, and if there is no faithfulness, it is the subject of punishment. Also, in the New Testament, wealth and poverty were not unilaterally condemned. Rather, the loss of true freedom became a problem, emphasizing the need to live life with the right attitude. In other words, it was a matter of whether or not we put our hope in God rather than whether we had riches or not.

1 Timothy is a letter written to Timothy, who is in charge of the church in Ephesus. Ephesus was a very developed city. There is also a competition between generations for leadership in the church after Paul. As it is, the situation in this area of Ephesus is not so good.

In a crowded city, heresy is on the outside, and apocalypticism is on the inside. Among them, the church is suffering from extreme asceticism and eschatology. Legalists enforced only Jewish traditions and laws, ascetics set extreme norms for food, sex, and wealth, and eschatologists forced people not to marry because even marriage before the end was meaningless.

Religious psychologist Kenneth Pargament says that when understanding God is viewed as excessively punishing, the psychological ability to cope is very poor. When we come to believe that God is the One we can turn to for help at any time, he will be able to deal with us much more positively when we face difficulties. But, on the other hand, if we think that God is the One who does not answer our prayers or the One who will punish us, how can we cope with suffering because we feel fearful, anxious, and left alone?

In today's church situation, where heresy prevails, eschatology, and extreme asceticism are prevailing, the members of the church had very rigid thoughts about food, sex, and wealth. In this situation, they must have been gripped by the anxiety and fear that if they ever broke the rules, they would have sinned and that they would receive the wrath of God. This may have started as an emphasis on temperance, but the situation inside and outside the church has added to the extreme dichotomization. There are only two extreme groups: right and wrong, good and evil, and your side. Here, if you make a mistake, you are committing a sin, and if you commit a sin and do not want to be punished, you have to follow the eschatology of asceticism.

A wonderful God appears in such a closed front and back situation. 6:17 says: “Command the rich people of this world not to be arrogant, not to put their hope in fleeting riches, but to put their hope in God, who gives us all things richly for our enjoyment.” What kind of God? The Greek word απόλαυσις is used for a God who makes us enjoy. In other words, it is a God who makes us “to enjoy”. The image of ' is a little strange, but is it really?

The God shown in Genesis is definitely the God who makes us enjoy. He allowed everyone to actively enjoy everything except the tree of knowledge, and it is clear that God enjoyed it when he created the heavens and the earth. “It was good to see” “It was very good to see.” The history of human sin begins with good and evil and events. However, the history of God's enjoyment can be found in the Bible after that.

Deuteronomy excludes the following when recruiting soldiers to go to war; Those who have built a house and have not been inaugurated, those who have built vineyards and have never eaten fruit, those who have been engaged and have not yet been married. They feared that those who did not see the fruits of their labor and did not enjoy it would die. Come to the New Testament, not to mention Jesus. Because he was “a glutton and a drinker of wine, a friend of tax collectors and sinners” (Matthew 11:19).

As I was preparing the sermon, I looked up some materials related to the text and found that many scholars had a hard time understanding this “God who makes us enjoy.” A biblical editorial critic also said that the sudden summoning of “a God who makes enjoyment” seems to have been misplaced when the Bible was edited, and another scholar said that the content before and after is important and that “God who makes enjoyment” is not so important. I also saw it.

However, “God who makes us enjoy” is a very important image of God that has not been mis-edited and should not be overlooked. Because that's how they managed to balance their extreme heresy, asceticism, and eschatology. God's image and work do not always appear to be "enjoyable." Because God is loving, but He is also clearly wrathful.

More importantly, God is much bigger than we think, so we shouldn't define God as just one image. In hymn 304:3, we sing, “Even if the heavens were made a scroll and the seas were used as ink, they would not be able to write down all of the great love of God.” God is not something we can know all about by attending church for a long time, reading the Bible a few times, and fasting a few times. This is a precious attitude of faith, but those who have done this will know even better that God cannot be defined in a single image.

Then what should I do? It is to be contained in such a great God. Don't put it in my thoughts, obey the system and rules, but let's be free without being too strict about it. “The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17). He is the God who makes us rejoice, the God who sets us free. Meditate on that God enough and enjoy the freedom He gives you.

Because God's children want to live according to God's will, I always wonder if this is my personal opinion or God's will. It's not just us today, but in the long Christian tradition, you must have wondered about God's will, right? So there is a long tradition of Christianity to discern the will of God. Among them, there are many references to what attitude to discern rather than how to discern. Also, it must be accompanied by the desire of the heart to really seek God's will. Another requirement here is indifference. Indifference means a mind that does not lean to the left or the right. This means moderation.

When we talked about the God who makes us enjoy and the God who sets us free, we tried to emphasize the importance of balancing our faith without being overly biased. But balancing out here can't be the only goal. Of course, that is also difficult. What does it mean to emphasize freedom in a God who makes you enjoy it without being biased toward extreme asceticism or eschatology? It was meant to emphasize putting hope in God. What's the use of being in balance and being free? Trying to balance and be free should help you achieve your goals.

The text tells us to put our hope in God. The focus is here. Keep the commandments, fight the good fight, be no one to be reproached, do not be arrogant, do not hope in fleeting riches, do good, give, share... process. If you do not put your hope in God, keeping the commandments, being blameless, doing good, and doing good in itself may be complacency. To reiterate this text, remember when you keep your account, when you fight the good fight, when you try to be impeccable, when you do good. The beginning and end of this is to put your hope in God.

I hope you will live your daily life with a heart that puts hope in God. When you come to church, come with all your heart. When you worship, give with all your heart. When you have lunch after worship, please enjoy it with all your heart. When you drink coffee, savor it and enjoy it with all your heart. When you have a conversation, listen and communicate sincerely. Put your hope in God as you read a book, listen to music, take medicine for being sick, go for a walk, all of that. To think that I have hope in God means that I am contained in God, and thus I am connected with God. These thoughts will fade and be forgotten. Then, don't focus on things that have faded and forgotten, and whenever you remember, put your hope in God again and connect with God again. And humbly pray to God for help. When we put our hope in God and live our daily lives, I earnestly pray that all our lives will enjoy the blessings that become our prayers to God. Let's meditate on these words together.