September 20-22, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19 “GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

PENTECOST 15

September 20-22, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: 1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

 

“GOD WANTS YOU TO BE RICH!”

 

As part of the second lesson you heard Paul warn, “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin.” and so perhaps it surprised you to see the title for today’s sermon, “God wants you to be rich!” Maybe you wondered if I got converted by the prosperity Gospel preachers. If you are unfamiliar with that term prosperity Gospel preachers are false prophets who say that if you live the right way and if you give a full tenth of all your income to God (through the prosperity preacher) then God has to make you wealthy by American standards. You will be rolling in the dough. Now, of course, if that does not happen, it is your fault. You have not given your heart fully to the Lord, shame on you. Next time give me more and God will respond! Shameful false teaching. All of us know plenty of people who are quite wealthy by American standards who live in open defiance of God. All of us know plenty of humble Christians who give even beyond their means and are not wealthy by American standards. As I said, false teaching.

          So how can I look you in the eye and tell you God wants you to be rich? Because it’s true--as long as we are talking the right kind of riches. Let’s start with what does not have to be, but can be, the wrong riches. “But godliness with contentment is great gain. ⁷ For we brought nothing into the world, and we certainly cannot take anything out. ⁸ But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied.” Some strong words when you live in a country like America. Do you think you could be satisfied if all you had was food and clothing? Pretty tough with what we are used to. Now let’s talk money. Not looking for a show of hands but how many of you bought a lottery ticket when it was up to $1.8 billion? Do you think the two winners were disappointed when they found out they had to share? True confession. I thought about buying one. In my mind I thought about how much good I could do if God put me in charge of that much of His money. I could fund more missionaries in countries where the door to the Gospel appears to be open. I could help all our schools update their campuses. I could help the truly poor and needy. I could support all the wonderful veterans groups. I could buy K 9 officers for every department that wanted one. So much good I could do. Just thinking about that gives me joy again. But then I read about what has happened to most big lottery winners. Most often their lives became no fun. Divorces happened. I don’t want that. You get targeted by scammers. Some have had home invasions. Others have had their children or grandchildren targeted. People come out of the woodwork looking for a reason to sue you. Could I still serve as your pastor? Or would you think I could not relate? Would my money be more important to you than the words of God I point you to? Would you be able to find joy like you do now in generously supporting St. Jacobi’s ministry or would you be led to think, “Let billionaire boy take care it.” Helps us understand the Apostle Paul’s warning. “Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. ¹⁰ For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.” No, there is nothing wrong with money itself. And if the Lord has blessed you with money riches, thank Him for that, because money is not the problem, love of money is. All of us need to watch out for that.

          And still it is true, God does want you to be rich, just rich in the more important blessings. “Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment.” If you visit my wife, Chris’ room over at our school you will find it filled with frogs. Not live ones. Despite growing up on a farm she has become fully citified, which of course, is my fault. She no longer enjoys slimy squirmy creepy crawling things. No, the frogs are inanimate, in all shapes and sizes and in different mediums. Pictures, clay, stuffed, you name it. A good challenge for you students is to see if you can find and count all of them. Not while she’s teaching you though! You might wonder why she has a room full of frogs. It’s what they stand for. Years ago when she had something to deal with a kind soul gave her a frog and told her what it meant. Fully Rely On God. F.R.O.G Every time you look at a frog remember you can always fully rely on God. This is what we want to be rich in. Rich in faith. Rich in trust in God. Living in wealthy country when standards of living are high it is so easy to do the opposite that Paul warned us about. We can become arrogant that our self sufficiency is our own doing. We can gladly proclaim trust in God but really have it in the fact that we have no debt or we have a full savings account. That’s not what we want. What we want is the be rich in faith like Job was when he said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away, may the name of the Lord be praised. And later when he said about the Lord “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in Him!” God wants you to be rich in that kind of faith and He has given us what we need to have it. His word. Faith comes from hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ. There is no limit in how often you can visit the gold mine of God’s word! Go often. Daily devotion and Bible reading. Weekly worship. Rack up the riches of faith.

          Because when our faith account is fully funded so we can get rich in another way. “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share.”  God wants you to be rich, rich in good works. This is why the riches of faith are so important. When someone has no faith in Jesus nothing he does is pleasing to God. It might be pleasing to people. It may accomplish a lot of earthly good but God has clearly spoken, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” That means people like us, with faith, can. So let’s get rich, rich in good deeds. Good works are those things God has told us are pleasing to Him. Things we do out of love and thankfulness for what He has done for us. Things like being kind and compassionate. Things like helping those in need, like an elderly neighbor, someone needing a ride. Things like being a friend to all the kids at school. Things like being a faithful dependable worker. Things like being generous and willing to share. Parents, you have enormous influence on helping your kids get rich. You know how? By the questions you ask you are teaching what is important. So if after a game you ask how many points they scored you are teaching them that is what matters and what you care about and what you want to be rich in. If you ask them were they a good sport, did they help the team, listen to the coach, got your homework done, were you nice to someone today, that is what they will want to be rich in. And that is what God wants all of us to be rich in, good deeds.

          See, it is true, God wants you to be rich. He wants me to be rich, but not just for now. Look at what He tells us happens for those who are rich in faith and good deeds. “In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.” Being rich in faith and good deeds is followed by being rich I heaven. What that means exactly God has reserved for Himself. We will have to wait to find out. So, as we’re waiting, might as well spend our time getting rich in the ways that matter to God. Amen.

September 13-15, 2025 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “JOY TO THE LORD!”

 

PENTECOST 14

September 13-15, 2025

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV)

 

“JOY TO THE LORD!”

1.     This happens when sinners repent.

2.     This happens when I repent.

 

School years have started all over the nation. One concern on the minds of both students and their parents is friends. Students want to have friends. Parents want their children to have good friends. A piece of advice to those who want to have good friends. Be one. Be a good, loyal friend to others and you will attract good friends to yourself. The same thing can be said for joy. Joy is something all people want to have. When it is missing from your life, you know and probably everyone around you does as well. How can I get more joy? Be a joy giver. And today in God’s Word the Lord Jesus reveals to us an astounding truth. People can be a source of joy for the Lord and the holy angels.

          Let’s see how. “Joy to the World” is a Christmas favorite for many Christians. Sometimes we can get so caught up in our joyful singing of it that we forget the words. They tell us there are reasons for all people to rejoice. Verse 1, the Lord is come. Verse 2, the Savior reigns. What are the reasons that bring joy to the Lord? We don’t have to guess. He tells us.

 

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10 (EHV) “All the tax collectors and sinners were coming to Jesus to hear him. ²But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” ³He told them this parable: ⁴“Which one of you, if you had one hundred sheep and lost one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that was lost until he finds it? ⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶and goes home. Then he calls together his friends and his neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my lost sheep!’ ⁷I tell you, in the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who do not need to repent. ⁸“Or what woman who has ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, would not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? ⁹And when she finds it, she calls together her friends and neighbors and says, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the lost coin.’ ¹⁰In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

          Five times joy or a form of it is written in these words of God. But not everyone was joyful and happy. There were some grumpy, angry people, joy stealers that Luke writes about. The Pharisees and experts in the law. What was making them so grumpy? Jesus welcomed repentant sinners. That needs some explanation. What they were really saying is Jesus welcomed people the Pharisees and experts in the law had decided were sinners who should never be forgiven. Likely the targets of their anger were Jewish men who worked at collecting taxes for the Roman government to support their families and perhaps used that position to extort money. No matter how badly they felt about what they had done, the Pharisees said there was no return. Likely this also included mothers who, in order to feed their children, in weakness or desperation, had offered their bodies in prostitution to earn some food money. But once that was found out, there was no coming back. No return to respectability. Until Jesus came along. He turned the false teaching of the Pharisees and teachers of the law on their head. He told God’s truth that He was sent to be Savior for all people, to pay the sins for all people, and that all people who believe in Him, no matter who they have been or what they have done, receive forgiveness for sins in Him. Whoever believes is not condemned. The Pharisees and experts in the law didn’t think God should be happy about that.

          Jesus set them straight with the two parables that everyone could easily relate to. If you own 100 sheep and find one is missing you leave the 99 who are safe where they are and look for the lost one and if you find it, if you get it back, you rejoice. In the same way if you have 10 coins and realize you have lost one you try to find it and if you do, you rejoice! Now it’s not like you stop valuing the ones you have. I still remember wise Dave Hackmann saying when he was still active as principal, “You know a mother is only as happy as her saddest child.” Wise words to guide teachers who need to talk with a Mama Bear and every mama is a mama bear. It’s not that moms don’t care about all their children. Her heart hurts for the hurting one. In the same way the Lord has ongoing joy for every believer who is quietly living their life with faith in Jesus, going to bed every night sadly aware of where they have let their Lord down and waking up every morning happy that His mercy is new, it’s a brand new day with no past and no guilt.

          At the same time when any soul that He died for repents, recognizes their need for a Savior and looks to Him for mercy there is great joy. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. It brings Him no joy when sinners defy Him, say His rights are wrong and His wrongs are right. It brings Him no joy when people march for their right to sin or when our country passes laws that allow sin like it has done with abortion and same sex marriage. It gives him no joy when people think they don’t need Him as Savior. It brings joy to the Lord when sinners repent. That is why Jesus became man, to live perfectly in place of sinners who cannot and to pay the Hell all sinners deserve so that sinners would see His kindness and be enabled to repent. It brought joy to the Lord to do this. It brings joy to the Lord when people see His kindness and repent.

          Does it bring joy to you? Every part of Scripture we turn our hearts toward with the humble prayer to the Holy Spirit to teach us, demands that we see ourselves in the text. The Pharisees were grumpy, angry that forgiveness was granted so freely to tax collectors and prostitutes who were ashamed of their sin and wanted that better way only Jesus could give them. It’s very easy to think that we are not that way. That we will accept every repentant sinner. And we are probably pretty good at that until it hits too close to home. When someone has hurt us or worse, hurt our child, Mama bear? “And they are going to communion?” How easy it is, brothers and sisters, to think that some of us are more deserving of the Lord’s forgiveness than others. How easy we find it to be joyful that someone caught in drug addiction or alcohol abuse or some sexual sin that can grab a hold of your life like tax collecting and prostitution repents…as long as I don’t have to deal with them, forgetting how we would want to be treated if it were us! This does not bring joy to the Lord. Repentance does.

          And not just other people’s repentance. Our repentance. That’s thing about repentance. It’s personal, isn’t it? I can’t repent for you, and you can’t repent for me and just so we are clear what this means here are four signs that I am repentant the way God proclaims repentance. 1. I own my sin without making excuses. “I have sinned against you O Lord.” 2. I am ashamed of my sin. No laughing. No minimizing offending our holy God. 3. Knowing God is merciful and gracious I trust the forgiveness Jesus won for me. “Thank you, Jesus!” 4. And in thankfulness to Jesus, I want to do better. I want to be done with whatever sin I got caught up in. This is why Jesus lived for us. This is why Jesus died for us. This is why Jesus lives for us. So we can live each day a life of repentance. And it does not matter what you have done. In every age and every society there will be sins that some people say make you irredeemable, tax collectors, prostitutes, certain sexual sins, the drug addict or alcoholic. And it may be true that some of those ongoing sins irretrievably ruin relationships with people. They don’t with God. Jesus makes that so. No matter how far we have fallen or whatever we have gotten caught up in we can always run back to God and find forgiveness. This brings joy to the Lord! Amen.