163 Wealth, discipline, and character in 1 Tim 6

The epistle for Trinity 15 in Year C is 1 Tim 6.6–19. Once more, the lectionary cuts the reading in an odd place, starting half way through an argument of Paul, and finishing two verses short of the end of the letter.

There are some important issues to address in terms of Paul's language and argument. He appears to make use of Stoic philosophical ideas—but he retools them by rooting them in the wisdom tradition of Scripture, and in particular in the 'wisdom' elements of Jesus' own teaching.

Indeed, there are multiple connections with the teaching of Jesus—but these are expressed in a way which makes clear connections with the local context, in particular Ephesus as a centre of wealth and banking. In all of this, he exhorts Timothy to struggle and fight for the cause, motivated by the grace of God.

The gospel lectionary reading is Luke 16.19–31, Jesus' parable of 'Dives and Lazarus'. Commentary on this will be posted on the blog www.psephizo.com, but we do not have a discussion on this. Sorry!