Thursday, December 1, 2016

“To Be Content- Four Options” Phil. 4.10-13 Thanksgiving Nov. ‘16





1.        Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  The message from God’s Word for us this day we give thanks to God for all the good gifts He’s given to us comes from Philippians 4:10-13 and it’s entitled, “To Be Content:  Four Options.”  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.       Many years ago a woman from the former Soviet Union visited New York. She was not too impressed by what she saw. She said Moscow also had a large airport and subway system. But when she was taken into a supermarket, she stopped, looked around, and simply broke down and cried.  I think of that woman and people in other countries of the world where there is a shortage of food. Then I think of how discontented I sometimes feel when I can’t find the exact brand of food I want in the supermarket. It makes me feel ashamed, to say the least. I feel even worse when, though living in the land of plenty, I become envious of what others have.
3.       Here it is Thanksgiving. We all want to be happy, but too often our joys are tinged with apprehension. Will our happiness end before the day is out? That phone ringing—I hope it isn’t an accident; I hope they’re just late. I wonder if someone here today won’t be here next Thanksgiving. I would truly be happy if only . . . Are we so dependent on circumstances that we can’t be content for longer than a short while?
4.       In today’s Epistle we are looking at part of a thank you letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippians. Believe it or not, he was in prison or under house arrest when he wrote, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty” (vv 11–12). If we are to be content, we have to be prepared to accept both good and bad. How do we do that?
5.       A woman came to her pastor with a problem. Her husband had bought a small business. After the first ten months, business grew beyond their expectations. “I have a strange feeling. Don’t smile at me, but I almost think I should feel guilty.”  “Why?” asked the pastor.  “I don’t think that we deserve it,” she answered, “and I don’t think we have earned it.”  He thought for a moment and counseled her, “If business is up, thank God. You could sing ‘Now thank we all our God.’ And when business is down, you could sing the Kyrie, ‘Lord, have mercy on us.’ God walks with you in both situations.”
6.       There are three common ways I have observed in which people try to be content.  First, “If I make enough money and invest wisely, I should have more financial security, so at least I won’t have to worry about money. Then I can be content.” Few people would argue with that, but financial security isn’t a secure foundation for contentment. In the parable of the sower, Jesus warned about the danger of “life’s worries, riches and pleasures” choking out our relationship with God (Lk 8:14).  When you think of the pressure of always wanting more, you can understand the popularity of a book like When All You Have Is Not Good Enough. It’s by a rabbi, Harold Kushner, based on his understanding of Ecclesiastes.
7.       The second way a person tries to be content is this:  If I could think more positively, improve my self-image, be more assertive, and learn how to get other people to do what I want, I would be able to take control of my life, feel good about myself, believe in myself, and achieve what I want. Then I’ll be content.” But if this is your way of seeking contentment, you must ask, “Can I really change myself for the better?” And other questions arise: “Am I seeking happiness at the expense of others? At what price is contentment?”
8.       And the third way people try to be content:  Some people think they’ll be content if they can just escape the whirl of activity and responsibility. “Stop the world; I want to get off.” There’s too much competition. Maybe they’re exhausted. They seek contentment by sitting on the sidelines. But doing so reduces the possibility of sharing God-given gifts and talents with others who need them, and finding the joy that comes from helping others. There’s no real contentment in being passive, is there? 
9.       I suppose we all have experimented with these options from time to time. But discontentment is a spiritual problem. It afflicts rich and poor alike. We may not want to admit we suffer from it. We may ignore it. But for most of us it is a recurring problem, robbing us of joy.
10.   But, there’s a fourth option—another source of contentment, which is described in our text. Where did the apostle find contentment? In the fact that he was forgiven, justified by God because of Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to forgive all his sins. For this reason, the apostle Paul had peace with God—a peace that surpassed all human understanding, a peace that didn’t depend upon his circumstances in life.
11.   If we’re discontented, it may mean that we have become disconnected from God, that we’re not at peace with him. We’re connected to God through faith in his Son. “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom 5:1).  We heard in the first part of the Epistle for today, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (v 7). This peace isn’t just a mood or something we talk ourselves into. It’s the forgiveness from God that Jesus has provided at great cost. This peace protects us. We all need a guardian of peace to accompany us through the twists and turns of life.
12.   Here is what Paul wrote to Timothy about peaceful contentment: “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim 6:6–10).  The apostle was content because he had learned the sufficiency of God’s grace. Do you remember how Paul felt about his “thorn in the flesh?” Three times he pleaded with God to take it away; but the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9).
13.   The power of God to save is found in the weakness of Christ crucified for us. Paul learned to be content even though he often suffered, because he trusted in the Savior who suffered for him. So Paul could say, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:9–10).
14.   This contentment, this inner peace, lead him to say, “I can do everything through him [Christ] who gives me strength” (Phil 4:13). Certain of Christ’s gracious presence, his strength enables us to resist temptation, overcome anger, forgive, reach out, make peace, outlast evil, to be renewed, survive, and to love again. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances,” we heard from the apostle Paul.
15.   One of the most beautiful expressions of Christian contentment came from the pen of the hymn writer Horatio Spafford. He lost his family in a sailing voyage across the Atlantic to Europe. It must have taken great determination and love for him later to make the same voyage. But he came to terms with his God and his grief when he wrote these lines (The Other Song Book [Edina, MN: The Fellowship Publications, 1987] 106, stanza 1):  “When peace, like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, It is well, it is well with my soul.”  When the soul finds rest in Christ, there is peace, contentment, and strength to deal with anything life may bring. Having Jesus, we have all we’ll ever need. Peace be with you this Thanksgiving.  Amen.


No comments:

Post a Comment