NOOMA Rich 013 Rob Bell

NOOMA Rich 013 Rob Bell Copyright 2006 by Flannel, P.O. Box 3228, Grand Rapids, MI 49501-3228, USA. Published by Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Avenue SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49530, USA. Scripture quotations marked as NIV are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked as TNIV are taken from the Holy Bible, Today s New International Version. Copyright 2001 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked as NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible. Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked as NKJV are taken from the New King James Bible Version. Copyright 1979, 1980, 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc. Scripture quotations marked as MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. Scripture quotations marked CEV are taken from the Contemporary English Version. Copyright 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission. Scripture quotations marked as HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy or any storage and retrieval system without permission in writing from Flannel. Printed in the United States of America 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07

I keep seeing this bumper sticker that s popular where I live. It says, God Bless America. Every time I see one, I think God has. God has blessed America. Do you feel blessed? Why or why not? 001 002

Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, 1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV) 003 004

Now I always assumed this verse was for somebody else, I mean, specifically somebody rich. What do you generally associate with someone who s considered rich? Do you consider yourself rich? 005 006

Maybe you have this sense, you look around and you have this sense that you don t have that much because you see people that have even more. But it s a dangerous thing when we start to think that our world is the world. We re bombarded with all of these images of the newest models and the latest styles and, after a while, our stuff, it starts to seem kind of average, outdated, not-good-enough. Is what you have, your stuff, outdated and not-good-enough? Compared to what or who? 007 008

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. 1 Timothy 6:17 (NIV) 009 010

That phrase, the God who richly provides us with everything all that we have is a gift. Food gift. Clothes gift. Roof gift. That breath that you just took it s a gift. Do you believe everything you own is in some way a gift from God? Everything? 011 012

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. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 1 Timothy 6:17-18 (NIV) 013 014

So the first Christians picked up on this in a letter called Ephesians. One of them wrote that we re saved by the grace of God through faith in Christ in order to do mitzvoth, in order to do good deeds. We re saved to do good works. And so we re commanded to do mitzvoth and to be generous and willing to share. Are you generous? With your money? Your time? Your stuff? 015 016

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. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 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. 1 Timothy 6:17-19 (NIV) 017 018

Now, when some hear the phrase laying up treasures, they start to think of money and wealth and mansions, but Jesus never even used the word mansion. Nowhere in his teaching is it about, or is the point about getting more stuff. It s not the goal here on earth and it s not the goal someday in heaven. For Jesus, it s about being content. Are you content? If not, what will it take? Do you think it s possible to live out the kind of generosity Jesus talked about without being content? 019 020

Let s be honest. It s easy to go to a church service, it s easy to read the Bible, it s easy to discuss who believes what and who s right and who s wrong. It s easy. But when Jesus talks about his followers, he talks about people who are generous, people who clothe the naked, take food to the hungry, take water to the thirsty, people who visit the prisoner, people who invite the stranger in, people who give their time, people who give their energy, people who give their money. Do you consider yourself a follower of Jesus? Do you live the kind of life that Jesus described his followers would live? 021 022

The best question isn t, What can I get? To take the way of Jesus seriously, is to realize that the best question is, What can I give? Because all of us can give something here, now, today, and then tomorrow and then the next day. What can you do to be more generous? What is the next step for you? You have been blessed. What can you give? Who are you going to bless? What can you give? Who are you going to bless? 023 024

May you come to see that you re rich. And your possessions, they re luxuries that most of the people in the world don t have. And may you do what Jesus says, may you step into your divine responsibility to give, and when you do, may you take hold of the life that is truly life. 025 026

100% of the proceeds from Rich will be donated to charitable organizations that clothe the naked, take food to the hungry, and take water to the thirsty. 027