I Timothy 6:7 — For we brought nothing into the world, and it is certain, we can carry nothing out.
—————–
Two old friends were visiting. Tony said to Stan, “Why don’t you retire, Stan? You know your wife wants to do some traveling, you never have time for your grandchildren’s ballgames, and I know you have enough money.”
Stan said to Tony, “Yes, but I want to make more money.”
Tony said, “Why? You are seventy-five-years-old, and can’t take it with you, you know.”
And Stan replied, “Well, if I can’t take it with me, I am not going to go.”
There are two wrong statements in that little exchange. The first one is obvious. Stan says, “I’m not going to go;” but of course, he is. We are all going to go someday. That much we know for sure.
The second wrong statement is not as obvious. Tony said what we have all heard before, “You can’t take it with you.” But actually, you can. Did you know that? Even though it doesn’t look that way, and even though Paul said to Timothy ‘we can carry nothing out,’ I have it on very good authority that you can take it with you. Who is my good authority? Well, it is Jesus Christ himself. Jesus said: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Right there, Jesus said, we can store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. Paul says we can’t carry anything out, and that’s true enough. However, you can take it with you in another way.
How does that work? I will tell you what I mean with three stories.
STORY #1: In my earliest days of Sunday School, our dime and nickel offerings were sent to do mission work in Madagascar. I could probably locate Madagascar on a map before I knew where to find Wisconsin. That is because on our classroom wall in the church basement, there was a huge world map, and that large island off the east coast of Africa was circled. We heard about Madagascar all the time. We were told how our offerings went to missionaries who taught little African children about Jesus. And I can remember, it felt good to be a part of something important like that.
Forty years later, I was at a church conference, and one of the speakers was a pastor from Madagascar. He was about my age. Later in the day, I had the opportunity to speak with him, and I told him that Sunday School memory. He replied, “Oh, how great to meet you, my brother; I went to one of those schools taught by Lutheran missionaries, and I became a Christian there, and then, so did my whole family. Those Lutheran missionaries were great people.”
STORY #2: When I was in Rapidan, Minnesota in the 1980’s, the American Lutheran Church had a project by which congregations could give $3,000 to build an entire church in the African nation of Cameroon. The local people could cut wood and make bricks, but they needed money for hardware, doors, windows, and a tin roof. We raised the money in no time at all, and sent a check to the ALC mission headquarters in Minneapolis. About a year later, we received a photo of the completed church in Meiganga, Cameroon. Everyone felt good to be a part of that, and it became an inspiration for our entire mission effort in that congregation.
Later that year I was at Luther Seminary for a continuing education class, and I met Adamou, a pastor from Cameroon, here getting a Ph.D., so he could become a seminary professor back home, along with continuing to serve as pastor of his congregation. I told him how my congregation gave money for a church in Cameroon. He said his congregation just built a church with an ALC mission grant, and wondered if I knew which church we sponsored. I said the one in Meiganga, and Adamou said, “Oh, brother, thank you. That is my congregation.” We became friends, and he and his family visited our church in Rapidan. He preached, we had a big potluck dinner, and our children played together all afternoon.
STORY #3. My favorite missionary organization these days is The Timothy Initiative, an organization that specializes in training local people to start congregations in remote areas where there is still no Christian witness. On the average, they start one of these congregations, somewhere in the world, every four hours, every day, all year, every year. These are not all large congregations with big buildings. Many are small fellowships that meet under a tree, in an apartment, or by a river, as these new Christians establish a presence in a place previously unreached by the Gospel.
Two years ago, I went to one of their Global Partner Weekends, where Americans who provide financial support, are given the opportunity to meet some of the local leaders who receive that support. There are no salaries for the local leaders (they all have other jobs), but support is given in the form of extensive training, excellent books, and ongoing contact with mentors. There, I met Gideon, a pastor and mentor of newly trained leaders. Persecution of Christians in his part of the world has been increasing dramatically, but is still sporadic. Gideon’s congregation had not yet been bothered, and they were able to build a new and bigger church. Then, when it was almost done, it was attacked and burned to the ground. At the time of the attack, Gideon had been out in a remote rural area, visiting some of his satellite congregations. He returned to find his church destroyed, and, his entire family missing. He did not know if they had been killed, kidnapped, or were hiding. A few days later, they did return. They had been hiding in the jungle. So… time to leave, right? Not for these courageous Christians. Gideon and his family did not flee, but began working to build a new church. The arsonists were not found, nor did the authorities make much of an effort. Persecution of Christians, including the killing of Christians, is often not even investigated in that part of Gideon’s country.
A few weeks after the church fire, a man came to see Gideon. He confessed to being one of the men who destroyed his church. Then he said, “There were four of us, and in the days since we burned your church down, the other three have all had close loved ones die. I don’t want that to happen to me. Tell me about Jesus, and tell me how I can be forgiven, and I will come to your church.” And the man followed through, became a Christian, and is now a member of Gideon’s congregation.
I talked to Gideon several times that weekend. When we said good-bye, he said to me, “Thank you for being a part of our work.” Again, that felt good.
So what does any of that have to do with ‘taking it with you’ when you die? (continued…)
Related Posts
