I’ll start with an important conclusion first and that is that today, Kamiyah and Zaniyah, in God’s gift of baptism, you have received something that is so comforting and rich and fulfilling and enjoyable and we rejoice for you and with you, as consider we have this gift as well.
And that is, in Holy Baptism, you have certainty. You have certainty now. You are God’s child, united to Christ.
And you have certainty later, you will be God’s child forever, united to Christ.
He will raise you up on the last day and gift eternal life to you and all believer in Christ.
This is most certainly true.
Now, how many things, dear saints, are we uncertain about – we don’t really know, we can guess, maybe even have a good guess, but we can’t be certain about it?
How long will we live?
What will tomorrow bring to our family and friends?
What will people think of us?
Today, I want us to consider this specific verse from 1 Timothy about uncertainty and certainty, especially of riches, of stuff.
1 Timothy 6:17 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.
Our Lord calls us to not set our hopes on the uncertainty of riches
Hope is something we have in the present that is always looking to the future.
We are constantly tempted to think that there will be one day coming up when we can enjoy our life.
That’s a part of this text that really catches me off guard.
I expect that God provides all I need.
But here, we are told God richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
When we put our hope in God, that increases our enjoyment in all the things He gives us.
When we don’t put our hope in God, that destroys our enjoyment. It puts our enjoyment of life off, until the day:
We will have enough money.
We will have enough stuff.
Our family, our health, our job will be good enough to finally enjoy.
Those days will never come and if they come, they won’t stay long, when that is our goal. Those things are too uncertain.
And this not only destroys our enjoyment of the now of what God has given us, we might even begin to love things and titles that can’t love us back.
The worst, is that we would begin to forget to love God, who always does love us back and more fully than we love Him.
His love is certain now and later.
Loving Him back in beginning to do what He tells us to do and believing what He tells us to believe and promises us is the foundation of all enjoyment now, even.
But we might even be ignoring people who can begin to love us back a little.
Lazarus was laid at the rich man’s gate and desired to be fed with crumbs.
It wouldn’t have taken much.
We have so many people God has laid at our gates and we might even admit that we don’t have as much to give them as they need, but crumbs help a little.
People in your family and workplaces and church. who are suffering now who could use a little crumb from your table.
People who need to hear again about putting hope in God who is certain.
People we are called not to ignore or seen as inconveniences.
But in fact, as the very objects of our love and the very reason we have things like money, time, and our very bodies and souls.
So we can use what we have now to relieve a little suffering.
And show that we love God who has richly given us those things, and perhaps even be loved back by them.
The sins that we commit in our misplaced chasing, ours sin of what we have left undone, rightly end us into a trap, a pit.
There is a great chasm that separates Lazarus from the rich man. They both have died and none may cross from one to another.
It is a chasm not only between hope and despair, or unhappiness and happiness, but between heaven and
We deserve this great chasm between us and God, between us and true hope and true enjoyment, between us and certainty in this life and in the life to God now and forever.
But it is across this great chasm Jesus crossed to come to us to deliver us from hell and from a life here and now without true life and joy.
He is not a greedy God. He gives and gives and gives, even to the point where He gave of Himself to death to pay what we deserve.
Jesus suffered the torment and anguish we eternally deserve so that we might have His comfort and love and hope now and forever.
Jesus chases us down while we are too often chasing the wrong things down.
Jesus dives into the pit we fall in and rescues us.
Jesus crossed over the chasm you could not have crossed because He didn’t want to see you separated from Him here or later.
And you are not. He is with you now and you will be with Him forever.
Your future is certain and secure. You know where you are going. And you know who is with you now. And you know what He thinks of you.
You are God’s child and an heir and God richly provides for you with everything to enjoy.
So rather than worry or be on a constant greedy count or be on constant search of the money or things or people or the will bring you happiness,
enjoy that God loves you,
and enjoy the certainties of God in this world of uncertainties,
and enjoy that you know you have a full future in a new world and new heaven with no uncertainties,
and enjoy all that God gives you now, including money and family and job and health,
and enjoy that God gives you things in this present age to love Him and love others.