Sermons
A Message by the Rev. Harvey G. Throop
Palisades Presbyterian Church
San Diego, California
May 3, 2009
The Way to Contentment
(Philippians 4:8-14)
"… for I have learned to be content with whatever I have."
(Philippians 4:11b)
If you could use only one word with which to describe your present state of mind, what word do you think you'd pick?
I've been asking folks that question recently. Some answered, "Tired." Others used such words as, "stressed," "anxious," "disillusioned," "frustrated." A couple said, "broke!" One person answered, "Empty." Still another said, "Lonely." It was kind of an eye-opening poll -- to say the least. How would you answer?
One word I heard only once and, actually, did not expect to hear at all is the word I have chosen to make as the focus of my message this morning. It is the word "contented." How few people there are, it seems, who would use the word "contented" to describe their present state of mind.
Contentment is a state that many people equate with material or physical wellbeing. For many people, it has to do with there being adequate financial resources at one's disposal, having a fulfilling position or job at one's work, experiencing relatively good health that is free of any obvious problems, enjoying a satisfying life -- things of that nature.
John M. Buchanan, senior pastor of the Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago, IL and editor of the Christian Century magazine, wrote the following in his editorial entitled, “Wilderness of Uncertainty” in the April 7, 2009 edition of that magazine (page 3):
“The recession we are currently experiencing is a new place for most of us. We had come to assume uninterrupted economic growth and the safety and stability of our investments and of the institutions we treasure and support …
I do not believe that God is in the business of correcting a misdirected global economy. But, because I am a Christian, I do believe that God comes into the wilderness and because of that, I believe there are always redemptive outcomes and things to learn. No good, of course, comes from losing your home, your job and your health insurance. But God can make good things happen in the midst of bad circumstances. Maybe what this crisis can teach us is the relative value of things, the true value of what you treasure most.
…If there is anything redemptive about this crisis, it is the possibility it offers to learn again the virtues we may have forgotten – modesty, frugality, responsibility, community – and to learn again who we are.”
I was interested to find that Webster's Dictionary says that contentment means "having or showing desire for nothing more or different."
William Barclay, the well known New Testament scholar, once suggested that contentment comes from an inward attitude to life and that if contentment is not to be found within ourselves, that there is no object or possession that can suddenly bring it to us!
It comes as no surprise to us that many people never seem contented. People who are discontented when they have very little will usually be no more contented with very much. It's a strange phenomenon! But it's true!
Whoever wrote this verse was right:
"The poor man would give his soul,
If only he had the rich man's gold.
The rich man would give all his wealth,
If only he had the poor man's health!"
How many are the people who will never know what it is to be contented. They will never appreciate the present for what it is: the good health, the beautiful day, and the moments of togetherness with loved ones or friends. They will never know that they can experience contentment right now. What a shame it is that most of us have never learned how to be contented!
The Apostle Paul would have been the exception in our day. He was probably that in his own day! No one ever had more adverse things plague his or her life than Paul. The same things that make you and me discontented happened to Paul, as well. And yet, Paul wrote to the Christians in Philippi, "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of contentment in every situation, whether it be a full stomach or hunger, plenty or want!" (Philippians 4:11-12 -- Living Bible )
Even in his painful and crippling physical condition, he was able to be contented. He learned how to be contented in prison -- to the point of eventually leading tough wardens and rough convicts in singing songs of praise to God!
What was the secret of this man's contentment among such discontenting circumstances?
Paul had learned never to allow his own peace and joy to be dependent upon material possessions or physical comforts. He knew that contentment was not dependent upon outward circumstances being ideal. Contentment isn't dependent upon an ideal marriage, upon perfect circumstances at work, or ideal conditions at school, or upon robust health, or popularity, or a prospering economy, or even freedom to come and go as you like. Contentment is not dependent upon having money and all the things money can buy.
Rather, Paul learned that contentment is dependent upon what we believe and upon what we are! It isn't dependent upon what we have in our pockets but Who we have in our heart. It isn't dependent upon material things but upon spiritual things.
Paul recognized that contentment doesn't come naturally to anyone, and so it has to be learned. Paul wrote, "I have learned to be content."
One of the things we mustn't do is to equate contentment with indifference. That isn't what Paul was talking about! Contentment, for Paul, meant untying oneself from things. Contentment meant discovering life's true value system -- finding wealth in love … discovering the richness and worth of friendship … realizing the preciousness of faith and trust in God!
Who was it who said, "To be contented with what we have is the greatest of all riches!"
One of the interesting things to discover when one looks back through history is that some of the truly greatest people who ever lived were contented with very little.
I read some interesting facts recently about some of them. Ghandi , for example, died possessing a pair of sandals, a robe, a staff, a spinning wheel, a pair of glasses and a prayer book … but India was free! Mozart was buried in a pauper's grave. Socrates cared more about good conversation than he did about where his next meal was coming from. Rembrandt ended his life in poverty. So did Beethoven, Bach and Van Gogh .
Jesus owned nothing of value and when he died, the soldiers rolled the dice for the only thing he had that was worth anything -- a seamless robe.
Someone whose identity I do not know put Jesus' life into this context:
“The stable in which He was born
was borrowed.
The food with which He fed the five thousand
was borrowed.
The little boat in which He sat to teach
was borrowed.
The colt on which He sat to ride into Jerusalem
was borrowed.
The Upper Room wherein He ate the Last Supper
with his disciples was borrowed.
The tomb in which he was laid in death
was borrowed.
Only the cross was not borrowed.
That was his own.”
Throughout his adult life, Jesus had no place to lay his head. He had no money of which we know. He often went hungry. And yet, he spent his time preaching "Good News" to humankind. He told people how to be happy … contented! How little, indeed, he had and yet how contented he was!
Look at our lives! Do you really believe that contentment comes from things? If that was true, we should be the most contented people in the world!
Look how fortunate we really are! We have an abundance of the necessities of life -- food, clothing and shelter. We have a peaceful land in which to dwell. The homes we live in are more than adequate -- however much fault we may find with them. We wouldn't know what to do without plumbing or electricity. Stoves, ovens and microwaves, refrigerators, freezers, clothes washers and dryers, dishwashers, radios, televisions, VCR and DVD and CD players, furniture galore, computers -- most of us have them all!
Our yards are beautiful -- drought or no drought. Recreational opportunities abound! The mountains and ocean and lakes we all but take for granted. Families who need them all have at least one, two, three or even more cars or recreational vehicles. We have stores, shopping malls, schools and churches. And we could go on and on.
If -- as we would like to believe -- contentment came from things, we have every reason in the world to be contented!
And yet, how many are those among us who are not content. We aren't making enough income. We aren't saving enough money. We sound like broken records (or whatever the 21 st Century equivalent of that is!). We all want more! What a pity that we are so rich and don't know it! What on earth would we ever do if we had to live in real poverty!
Benjamin Franklin was right when he observed: "Discontentment makes the rich poor, while contentment makes the poor rich!"
The Apostle Paul wrote: "I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content."
The Christian faith has always tried to bring people to the realization that it is never in the power of things to bring lasting contentment. Oh, things may bring what appears to be a sort of temporary contentment, but that it all it is. What we really need most of all is that source of contentment that is permanent. That is what Jesus was encouraging when he said, "Provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that will not fail." (Luke 12:33)
What is the secret of contentment? I suppose thousands of pages have been written in answer to that question. But perhaps all the words would boil down to two suggestions or ideas.
The secret of contentment, in the first place, lies in the discovery by every person of his or her own abilities and limitations, and an awareness of those things he or she can do and goals he or she can reach. How much restlessness there is in our world that can be blamed on people who refuse to be realistic when they look at themselves and their abilities! The contented person is a realist in his or her outlook on life.
But in the second place, perhaps even more than being realistic about one's life -- the secret of contentment may lie in the words of Paul when he wrote: "I can do all things in Him who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
Everything we read in the Bible tells us that God intended for you and me to be contented. God has made every provision for our contentment.
The Bible tells us that contentment comes from God and that no one finds it apart from a real and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. With Christ, we get on top of our problems. The person who walks with God and lives in Christ can cope with anything. That is why we must continually work at nurturing and increasing our faith. For when one gets with Christ, one becomes God-controlled and God-sufficient. Then, even if a person loses everything, he or she still has Christ. The person who doesn't have Christ has nothing!
Paul wrote: "I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content!" What a confession! What a milestone to reach! For to be content -- to be satisfied with the life that belongs to us -- to be content whatever our state -- that is truly the greatest of all riches.
