Good morning and welcome to Thursday’s podcast. As this is recorded, I do not know what the latest announcement for the corona virus has been. But what I do know is that today’s passage of scripture has plenty to say to us in the midst of this current crisis.

REFLECTION:

Today’s passage is 1Timothy 6:17-21. Let’s read v 17-19

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.

So, a quick question: Are you rich?

And yes, there are so many ways of calculating this. And yes, poverty is relative… but here are a couple of statistics:

If you earn £30k, you earn over 15x more than the global average wage… and you are in the top 3% of earners in the world today. Ok, so maybe £30k sounds like a lot of money… how about £10,000 a year?

Well if you earn £10k a year you earn over 5x more than the global average wage and you are in the top 15% of earners in the world today.

Or let’s bring this a little closer to home and bring this discussion into our immediate context. Do you have more than 3 toilet rolls in the house? You are richer than most in the city of Sheffield. Do you have paracetamol, rice and pasta? Then you are in the top 5%…

No, I don’t have statistics to back this up – only the evidence of the shelves of most supermarkets today.

If we’ve got a supply of toilet roll… Paul says don’t be arrogant, full of pride! Let’s not put our security in our stockpile of medicine… rather put our confidence in God… It is the only thing that will prevent us from becoming self-centred, self-protective and, frankly, selfish. Putting our trust in God is the only thing that will enable us to continue to look beyond ourselves and see the needs of those around us. Our call is to love others as we love ourselves, not to simply take care of number one.

In the passage Paul goes on to write this, “Command [those who are rich] to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.”

Do good.

Be rich in good deeds.

And be generous and willing to share.

And I have checked the language that the Bible was written in… Do good, be rich in good deeds and be generous and willing to share mean exactly that!

So today in the midst of the Corona Virus pandemic, what does it mean to do good and to be rich in good deeds? What good things can we do for our neighbours, for the person self isolating and for those who are afraid?

Get shopping for a neighbour, or run errands, pick up the phone and stay in touch with those who live alone?

As of this week Natter, our work with the elderly, will no longer run, and we do not know when it will restart again… The team, who are all retired themselves, have collected phone numbers of the people who come regularly and some of them are vulnerable and live alone. For those that want it, the team will phone them each week, provide contact, a friendly voice on the phone and an opportunity to ask for help should they require it or fall ill.

So, what could we do?

And what about being generous and willing to share? What does that mean today? Well how about the toilet roll that we have scoured the city for? What about the paracetamol that we have stockpiled in case our family get ill? Paul commands those who are rich to be generous and willing to share.

As the world shuts its doors and hides away afraid, we have an opportunity to be a blessing to our neighbourhoods. Yes, we need to be mindful that we should play our part in slowing the spread of the virus. Yes, we need to up our game with personal hygiene and be mindful of who we meet and of gathering together. But that doesn’t mean there is nothing we can do.

So let’s get praying, let’s get creative and let’s do good, be generous and let’s be willing to share with those around us.

PRAYER:

Father thank you that you promise to provide for us everything we need. In this pandemic, help us to stand on your promise and continue to be generous with all you have given us. Let us shine in this dark time and bring glory to your name. In Jesus’ name… Amen.

BIBLE READING: 1 Timothy 6:17-21

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.

Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith.

Grace be with you all.