AN EVIL THAT CAN DO YOU A LOT OF GOOD

“THE EVIL THAT CAN DO YOU A LOT OF GOOD”

ACTS 16:11-24

11 So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis,

12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days.

13 And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

14 One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.

15 And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

16 As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.

17 She followed Paul and us, crying out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”

18 And this she kept doing for many days. Paul, having become greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And it came out that very hour.

19 But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.

20 And when they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, “These men are Jews, and they are disturbing our city.

21 They advocate customs that are not lawful for us as Romans to accept or practice.”

22 The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates tore the garments off them and gave orders to beat them with rods.

23 And when they had inflicted many blows upon them, they threw them into prison, ordering the jailer to keep them safely.

24 Having received this order, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.

It’s a question that ministers get from time to time. People will say, “Pastor, how can I strengthen my relationship with God?” How would you answer that question? You could strengthen your relationship with God by reading the Bible and taking time every day to pray. You could also do it by going to church regularly and taking time to communion with God while walking along a beach or by hiking through the woods. You could also do it by working in a soup kitchen or by helping Habitat for Humanity build a house for a needy family.

Here’s another suggestion. There’s another very good way to strengthen your relationship with God and some of you are sitting on it right now. For some of you it’s right beside you. You’ll find that other very good way to strengthen your relationship with God in your wallet or purse. That’s right. It’s called money.

Now that may come as a surprise. After all how can money strengthen your relationship with God when money is the root of all evil. Well, money isn’t the root of all evil. What the Bible actually says is that the “love of money is the root of all evil.” (I Timothy 6:10) The love of money is the root of all evil. You won’t get any argument from me on that one.

Money can bring out the worst in people. A paramedic saw that one day when he arrived at the scene of a serious car accident. When the paramedic got there ran over to help the driver of the car who was lying in a ditch along the side of the road. The driver was absolutely hysterical. He looked over at the twisted wreckage that used be his car. “Oh no,” he wailed. “My BMW. My BMW. My poor BMW!” The paramedic couldn’t believe it. “Hey buddy,” he said, “Forget about the car. You’re lucky to be alive. You’ve lost an arm and you’re worried about your BMW?” When the driver heard that he looked down to where his arm used to be. “Oh no.” he wailed. “My Rolex. My Rolex. My beautiful Rolex!”

Yes, it’s true. Money can bring out the worst in people and when that happens it weakens your relationship with God. Just look at what happened to Paul and Silas while they were in Philippi. It all started when Paul cast that spirit of divination out of that slave girl. When he did that it made the owners of the slave girl furious. That’s because they were making a lot of money off of her ability to see the future. So, what did they do? They accused Paul and Silas of disturbing the peace and they accused them of encouraging people to break the law. They got people all riled up by pointing out that Paul and Silas were Jews. In other words they were liars and bigots.

So, with that in mind let me ask you this question. We see in the slave owners men who were greedy and hateful. We see men who were devious, deceitful and despicable. Are those quality that will strengthen your relationship with God? The answer is absolutely not. So, it’s true. Money can weaken your relationship with God.

Money can make you do all kinds of unhealthy and unholy things. As a pastor I can tell you that I’ve seen a families ripped apart because of money. It happens when a parent dies and everyone ends up fighting over who should get what. Here’s another one for you. Do you know young couple fight about most after their married? That’s right. It’s money. How many friendship have ended because one person loaned the other person money? That’s just the tip of the iceberg. Over the last few years we’ve also seen money bring out the worst of many people on Wall Street.

All of this shouldn’t come as a big surprise. Money can weaken your values and your priorities and your sense of right and wrong. The end result is a weaker relationship with God, but there is a but and it’s a very important but. Money can also strengthen your relationship with God.

Just look at Lydia. Lydia was a woman of great wealth. We know that because she was a merchant who sold purple cloth. Now that might not sound like a big deal to us today but back then it was a very big deal. It was a very big deal because purple cloth was very expensive. It was very expensive because the only way you could make a purple back then was with a a pigment that came from a rare seashell.

So, Lyida was a woman with a lot of money and what did she do with her money? She used her money it to help Paul spread the Good News. She invited Paul to stay with her and she provided him with food and lodging and gave him the means to do God’s work.

When you give more to God it will strengthen your relationship with God. It will do that by strengthening your values and your priorities and your sense of right and wrong. It will lead you away from the abundant life that you find in the shopping malls and closer to the abundant life that can only be found in Jesus Christ. It will lead you away from the things that Madison Avenue wants you to want and closer to the Jesus who said, “I have come that my joy might be in you and that your joy might be complete.” (John 15:11)

All of this is why Jesus shared those words of wisdom with us in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus said, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)

Money weakened the relationship that the slave owners had with God. On the other hand, money strengthened the relationship that Lydia had with God. The question that every person of faith needs to ask from time to time is simple. Is my money weakening or strengthening my relationship with God? Many years ago I made the decision to offer God a tithe of everything I earned. I share that with you not to boast because I want you to know that it has strengthened my relationship with God. I can also tell you this. I can’t remember a single instance where I felt that I was deprived of something because of it.

Many years ago a woman in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania went to apply for a job as an administrative assistant at a soup kitchen. She was a graduate student and was looking for a part-time job to help earn money for school. She had big plans for her future. When she arrived at the soup kitchen she knocked on a door. A voice inside side said, “It’s unlocked.” So, she went in and immediately found a line of people in front of her. As she stood there in her dark blue business suit she suddenly realized that the people in the line weren’t there to apply for the job. The people in the line were there to get a hot meal. Suddenly she began to feel self-conscious. A woman wearing a moth-eaten sweater in front of her sensed that she was nervous. So she smiled and asked, “Is this your first time here?” “Yes, it is,” the graduate student replied. “ “Don’t worry,” the other woman said, “It gets easier.”

The young and ambitious graduate student later wrote, “The scales feel from my eyes that day. I went there looking for a job, and that woman thought I was there for soup. As far as she knew, the world had been as cruel to me as it was to her. But in the kindest way she could, she welcomed me as a fellow human being. She saw me as someone equally in need, which I was and still am. I didn't realize it at the time, but that was the day when God began to convert me." That young graduate student went on to graduate from school and after she did she established a half-way home for recovering drug addicts.

She could have used her talents for a career that would have made her lots of money. Instead of doing that she used her talents to raise lots of money to minister to the least among us. There’s a saying that goes like this: You make a living by what you earn. You make a life by what you give – to God.

So, there is another way of strengthening your relationship with God and you’re either sitting on it or it’s right beside you. Amen.

Rev. Dr. Richard A. Hughes May 16, 2010