“O Man of God, Flee These Things”
Eighteenth Sunday After Pentecost
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev. Michael J. Moffitt September 22, 2024
SCRIPTURE: 1 Timothy 6:11-19
As many of you know Teresa and I drove to Roanoke on Tuesday to attend the memorial service for our longtime friend and brother, Brian Zimmerman. The service was on Wednesday afternoon. Before and after the service we spent time with many old friends that we hadn’t seen in a long time. When I say “old friends” I mean that in every sense of the word. Many of us came to faith at around the same time in the early 70’s which is ironic because that was the average age of most of the old group. Quite a few of us are now follically challenged, some have put on a few pounds, and some were not well physically. Although we had gathered to remember our brother in the Lord there was the reality that we would all be together again from time to time but in the end we would be together with our Lord with no more sickness, pain, suffering, sorrow, or regret.
One of the things I thought about was all those who were are part of our Christian community long ago but who were now gone on to be with the Lord. It was sobering but a glimmer of anticipation came with it too. We will be together again, if we are in Christ.
All in all it was great to see one another and to catch up and there were quite a few stories to tell and quite a few laughs and tears to be shed.
For the past 3 ½ years our intercessors at Light of Christ prayed regularly for Brian and Karen, his wife of 50 years. I remembered that 17-year-old young lady that was so full of life and laughed so heartedly even though she had known many hard times while growing up. I introduced her to Brian, and they fell in love and were married in October 1973 just 5 months after Teresa and I were married. Before the kids started arriving on the scene we shared a house together which became “Grand Central Station” where all the other new Christians came and hung out, daily if I remember correctly. It really was quite wonderful.
Of course, often time removes the reality of those times in the past when we struggled to find our way.
The one thing that we all had in common was our love for Jesus Christ and our hunger for his word. All of these memories came flooding back last week. Over the years all of us had gone in many different directions and various occupations, many if not most now retired. You know what? Once again as we gathered together (for some I hadn’t seen in 40 years or more) we still had that one thing in common, our passion for Jesus Christ and his word. Once again we gathered to worship the Lord as we dealt with the pain of the loss of our friend, and once again we found that God was with us just like he’s always been.
The service was wonderful, and the message preached by Brians best friend, the Rev. Doug Hart was amazing. Doug put into words something that most of us were thinking. “Brian taught us how to die.” For the past 3 ½ years Brian maintained a blog entitled “dyingman.org.” We’ve printed a few in our monthly newsletter “The Beacon.” Some friends asked him to chronicle what was going on with him medically, which he did. For a while he gave a medical update every week, but he also began to share from the scriptures how God was enabling him to see the process through God’s grace and mercy. He knew that we live in a fallen world where disease and suffering are a reality. One way or another we all will have to deal with the suffering and death of friends and with ourselves. How we do that matters a great deal. No matter what is happening God is present with us in the good and the bad. As Christians we should be intentional in seeking God in every situation both for our comfort, to model for others, and above all that God might receive the glory that he deserves. Brian Zimmerman did that very well.
I want to share with you the last paragraph of Brian’s last blog entry #108 dated July 25, 2024, 43 days before his passing.
“Meditation: I hope you don’t mind, but Bach’s cantata is a favorite of mine (I’m writing like a drunken man, and I hope my typing is a little better!). He was after the Reformation and so was a staunch Lutheran. He was moved to hear the “Sleepers, awake” cantata in the Lutheran’s pastor’s repertoire. He moved that song into the (virgins’) call for the sleepers’ awake. But, I’m reminded of the 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 passage: “Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.
What a great hope we have! That trumpet will sound, and those asleep will awaken. We will be changed; we brush off the perishable and put on the imperishable. The brain tumor, the lung metastases, the esophageal CANCER mean nothing to me. What matters is that statement: “We shall be changed”! “Sleeper, awake” is our cry, our hope, our joy! And, a great joy it is!”
I wanted to share that story with you this morning because, death is inevitable. Admittedly, it’s not usually a subject that we want to dwell on for long periods of time. I agreed with Doug Hart’s conclusion that Brian showed us how to die, but I believe that he was able to do that because first and foremost he knew how to live in the hope of the resurrection.
Years ago I visited with a man who was dying of a brain tumor. He was a doctor, and a skilled surgeon so when he heard the diagnosis from his oncologist he knew what it meant and what to expect. On one of my visits with him before he passed away, he told me about all the things that he had. He was very wealthy and owned multiple houses, stocks, and a whole list of things that were in his portfolio. It added up to quite an impressive list of things. I once saw a bumper sticker that read, “He who dies with the most toys wins.” It’s a lie, he who dies in Christ wins.
I’ll never forget what he said next, “None of those things have any importance to me right now. All of that will not buy me one more day of life.”
He believed in God, in that he gave mental assent that there was a god, but even though he had been a member of different church’s it didn’t have any influence on how he lived. Apparently it had been a long time since he had attended worship, maybe Christmas and Easter. When he first came to me it was because he had just been diagnosed with cancer and he thought he needed to make plans for his funeral. Possibly he felt like if he could have a service at a church maybe that added points to what he was sure was a low score in religious things. A chaplain at the hospital gave him my name so he called me on a Saturday afternoon wanting to see me that day. He didn’t feel he could wait because he was checking into the hospital on Monday to begin aggressive treatment and he wasn’t sure that he would even live through that. I asked him if he knew Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. Remember here was a very accomplished surgeon, a skilled investor, and a member of various churches yet he said in answer to my question: “I’m not sure how to answer that because I don’t know what that means.” As it ended up he did make it through the treatment, but it didn’t accomplish what he had hoped, so they sent him home and into hospice. I met with him and his family weekly for 4 months before he passed away. During that time he invited Jesus Christ to be his Lord, as did one of his sons. He had made a lot of plans to enjoy retirement but that’s not how things worked out.
This mornings Psalm says it perfectly. Psalm 146:2-3,
“Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.”
This morning I want us to consider Paul’s words to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:11-19. Listen again to verse 11, “But as for you, O man of God flee these things.” The things he was warning against and encouraging Timothy to run away from are found in verses 6-10,
“But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.”
Perhaps you have noticed that a moving trailer never follows a hearse. Everything one might take with them to the world beyond is left behind. The value of anything is best determined by how useful it is when measured against the goal of bringing glory to God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. Revelation 21:21 tells us that gold is a precious commodity on earth but in heaven God uses it to pave the streets.
Jesus once told a parable that was confusing at first glance. Most of you will recognize the parable found in Luke 16:1-14. Jesus spoke of a dishonest manager who was about to be called to account for misusing his masters wealth. Knowing he will be fired, he began to settle accounts with his master’s debtors at terms favorable to the debtors, so they would treat him kindly when the master fired him. The master ended up complimenting the manager for his shrewd tactics (although he still fired him). The manager was considered shrewd for two reasons. First, he knew he would be called to account for his life, and he took it seriously. Secondly, he took advantage of his present position to arrange a comfortable future. The point being that we can use our material resources right now for eternal good — even though we can’t bring them with us.
It's important to note that being poor doesn’t mean godly and being rich doesn’t mean ungodly. Quite the contrary there were many very godly men and women in the Bible who were very wealthy. Remember Abraham, David, Solomon, The Shunammite woman, Lydia, and Phoebe. Apparently it was wealthy women who supported the ministry of Jesus. The warning that Paul is speaking of is the desire for riches that can be more dangerous than riches themselves.
But the godly rich should have the heart like the Psalmist in Psalm 62:10: “If riches increase, do not set your heart on them.”
The desire to be rich can really only be satisfied in Jesus Christ and satisfied with spiritual riches rather than material ones. Everything else falls short, and is an illusion.
Before I go any further let me be clear about the reason for bringing this subject up today. As you know I have been the rector of Light of Christ for almost 9 years. In that time I have never preached a sermon on tithing because in all these years I have found the members of this church to be amazingly generous and willing to give even large sums of money to support this ministry and to help others in ministry elsewhere. My reason for preaching this sermon is because of what I see coming and our need to focus our attention upon the call of God on us as individuals and as a church. So with that in mind let’s read 1 Timothy 6:11-12,
“But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
Paul exhorts Timothy his protégé to focus on those things that keep the call of God upon his life in clear view. In case he had forgotten Paul reminds him that he is a “man of God” which means that he must intentionally focus on who he was in Christ, for the love of Christ, for the glory of the name of Christ his Lord. He must understand that this was a spiritual battle where there would be casualties.
When Teresa and I lived in Roanoke we hiked a lot in the mountains around us. We spent many weekends with our children beholding the beauty and serenity of the many trails that were available to us. On the Appalachian Trail there is a beautiful outlook called “Dragon’s Tooth”. It’s a moderately difficult hike that is 4.6 miles round trip from the parking lot. At the top there is a panoramic view of the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains on the horizon. However, getting there is not so easy. At one point you have to cross a very narrow rock outcropping where the ledge you’re on is not more than 18 inches wide. If you lose your balance there’s a 30’ drop to the rock below. At this point it is vitally important to focus on what your doing. It demands your rapt attention.
It thought of that as I considered what Paul was conveying to Timothy. He knew that the enemy would do everything he could to distract him from the path that God set him on. So he must pursue the goal understanding that the enemy would like nothing better than to take him out in any way he could.
Recently, I heard of an example that is becoming all to common. A man who is a well-known pastor, teacher and Christian leader has been removed from ministry due to an inappropriate relationship with a woman. He’s married and has children. I have enjoyed his teaching and will continue to benefit from them because they’re really good. I would surmise that he took his focus off of the call of God upon his life. Perhaps he once said, “I would never do such a thing.”
Paul was exhorting Timothy to pursue righteousness and godliness continually. At no point could he let down his guard or assume that he had arrived at the place where he was free to relax. As a man of God he was to live a life beyond reproach and to be a model for others who were taught by him. He was leading the church of Ephesus which was a center of pagan influence and the location of the Temple of the goddess Artemis. The battle was ongoing and there was no place for spiritual arrogance.
Paul instructed Timothy to pursue things that had little or no value in the eyes of the unbelieving world but were of great value to God. He's instructed to “Fight the good fight of the faith” which put him in opposition to the ways and values of the unbelieving world. This fight will not end until the war is over, Jesus returns, and we take hold of the promise of eternal life. Paul reminded Timothy that he made his confession of faith in the presence of many witnesses. Paul makes his charge, his exhortation “In the presence of God who gives life to all things”. Since Paul called Timothy to a difficult battle, it was good for him to know that the orders were given under this great God. Timothy had an obligation to serve the Creator who gave him life.
One of the most serious results of the mindset of our culture is that there is a denial of God as Creator. If there is no creator then there is no one to honor and be accountable to. Timothy was to be the witness and model to those around him just like Jesus Christ gave testimony before Pontius Pilate. Jesus knew what it was like to follow a difficult command, which meant that in giving up his life for our sins he was submitting to the will of the Father.
When Timothy was told to live up to the good confession he made, he was simply told to do what Jesus did and continue until, “Until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ”. This was how long Timothy was supposed to fight the good fight.
Paul knew what it was like to grow weary and to feel that he couldn’t go on any longer because he had nothing left to give. Timothy would at some point come to that same place and it would be vital that he remember who Jesus is. Knowing who Jesus is would equip Timothy to fight the good fight. History is filled with examples of armies that have been led to spectacular victories because the men knew and loved their leaders. Therefore, here Paul described Jesus to Timothy.
He is the blessed and only Sovereign — the One who alone has all power and strength, who rules over the universe from an occupied throne in heaven.
He is the King of kings and Lord of lords; the majesty of man fades in comparison to the glory of Jesus. The richest, smartest, most influential persons on earth are as tiny babies next to King Jesus.
He alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see: He is holy. Jesus is not merely a super-man;
He is the God-man; truly immortal without beginning or end; with a glory which if fully revealed would strike any human dead.
“To whom be honor and eternal dominion”: Knowing who this Jesus is should bring forth a response — not primarily, “what can He do for me?” but a response of simple and profound worship, declaring honor and everlasting power towards this great God. Amen!
Finally there is the final charge to the rich of this present age in verses 17-19,
“As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”
I believe that many think the main reason for giving unto the Lord is because the church needs money. That isn’t the point at all. The most important reason to give is because you need to be a giver. It is God’s way of guarding you against greed and trust in uncertain riches. God will provide for His work even if you do not give; but what will happen to you?
I have found that what I am afraid of losing reveals where my security and hope lie. One of the central themes of our 1 Timothy passage is that we should invest in those things that last and have eternal value.
Right now we have an opportunity to invest in something that promises to bring lasting results for the kingdom of God and match up with the two greatest commandments that we are reminded of every week at the beginning of the service--- love God with everything we have and love our neighbor as ourselves.
Our nation has become a bastion of lies told by leaders who are liars. Our educational system is feeding our children lies preparing them to be committed to their own fleshly desires and is producing a culture of youth who often come to the place where they have no hope and nothing of substance to stand upon.
I often think that we give people tasks that far exceed their ability to conceptualize. We say things like, “You should feed the poor.” That’s to big a demand for me to consider, but if we say, “will you feed him, or her?” That I can do.
It’s to much to cry out that the children of our nation are not being taught or given the tools to reason and discover. I can’t do anything about something so large, but I can invest in the Christian education of children in our community because I know about Northern Neck Christian School. For those children who are to old to attend NNCKS, we can support Young Life/ Wyldlife here in our area. I believe that we should be very intentional in keeping these opportunities at the forefront of our thinking.
I can’t personally think of a more laudable goal than to make sure this opportunity before us continues to grow into a ministry that has eternal rewards. Within these opportunities children are being taught truth that is conformed to the Word of God. They are given the tools and the love that can form them into disciples and disciple makers of Jesus Christ. These kids will one day be the adults who have the training and passion to see God glorified in every area of life.
It's simply the visible and doable way of people investing in people for eternity. As we make the best effort that we can, God will take what we offer and make it into something of greater value than we could possibly imagine. The time and opportunity is here, the need is now.
Let’s pray.
