Christian Contentment in 2009

Briefly this evening, I would like to consider in a rather devotional way the fact that this is the last

Sunday evening of 2008. I had seriously considered pursuing another discussion of the reliability of the

Gospels, in this case the letters of Paul. I think I will hold that off until next

Sunday morning in Bible study, so if that's something that you particularly find useful,

I would encourage you to be there. But this evening, I would like to consider Christian character in light of the coming of a new year and why we may look forward to what

God is going to do with us before we open God's Word and let us pray together. Indeed, our

Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for this opportunity to open your Word, especially on this evening to consider your promises, to consider your commands.

We desire to live in such a way as to bring honor and glory to you. So be with us now. Open our hearts and minds.

We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Well, unless you live in the proverbial lead mine, you are probably aware of the fact that starting just a few months ago, there has been a lot of discussion in the media about the economy.

A lot of people are describing it as an economic meltdown, certainly a recession, and some people are using the

D word as well, the depression word. The predictions made for 2009 are not very rosy.

If you are a person who is especially susceptible to the modern media and its presentations, there are a lot of reasons to be rather gloomy at the beginning of 2009.

If you are big into the markets, well, you're probably not nearly as big as you once were.

And, of course, there are all sorts of other concerns. Obviously, here in the United States, there is going to be a change of administration, and a lot of folks are very concerned about the direction that is going to be taken by the

United States, not just economically, but in the world as well. This is a dangerous world in which we live.

We learned, it seems like a long time ago now, on September 11, 2001, that there are many people who are willing to give their lives to promote radical

Islam, which is really nothing more than old -time Quranic Islam. But there are many of those people.

I don't know about you, but when I read about Pakistan and India rattling sabers at one another, knowing that both have nuclear weapons, and that Pakistan is filled with madrasas, where the only education, in essence, that people receive is memorizing the

Quran in Arabic, and being turned into jihadists, there's reason to be concerned about things like that, especially since there are nuclear weapons floating around that part of the world.

And so, if we were people who did not believe that there was any purpose in the future, we did not believe that there was a plan that was being worked out, if I was a man who thought as the world thinks,

I'm not sure that I would come to the conclusion that I might as well go out and get drunk on New Year's Eve, because eat, drink, and be merry, tomorrow we may well die.

I would have no reason to really rejoice in any type of in -depth way.

I would want to engage in the world's amusements. We know what amusements are.

Amuse is to think. Amuse is to stop thinking. And so I would want to stop thinking.

I would not want to be considering these things. I'd want to be distracted, to get my mind off of these things, because, well,

I would have very little hope that the future is all that rosy. Now, the average

American, who has been taught from childhood, at least in our generation, that one's happiness is directly related to what one possesses, how many things one possesses.

A time of economic downturn means unhappiness and even suffering. We hear about this all the time.

Again, all you have to do is turn on the news, and we hear all about suffering, which is another word that people use for actually having to have fewer gadgets than you had before.

I'm not sure that most Americans really understand what suffering is, along those lines.

This generation has never really had to do without, has it? It's never had to make do.

And as such, it is trembling in fear of the future, and wondering, whatever am

I going to do, especially if my current video game stops working? Christians, however, should be wise about the future.

We should have a different attitude toward 2009 than the world does. We should certainly be ready to work hard to make it through tough times.

We should be ready to help each other, pull together. All those things are very, very true. But the fact of the matter is that there is a part of Christian character that, if properly cultivated, would in essence make us to stand out tremendously from the world.

And it would also, at times, difficult economic times, make us to be a very different people.

What do I mean? Well, clearly, in Luke chapter 12, if you want to turn there,

Luke chapter 12, when Jesus is approached by a man, someone from the crowd, no one even identifies him, but someone from the crowd just cries out,

Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. Luke 12, 13. And so here is a man who is coming, and since Jesus has moral authority, maybe his brother has talked about how he finds

Jesus to be a good teacher, something along those lines. The man cries out, probably because his brother is around somewhere to listen.

Tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And Jesus' response is,

Man, who may be a judge or arbiter between you two? But then he says these words in verse 15.

And he said to them, Take care. Be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

Take care. Be on your guard. Literally, it's look out and be like the person who is in the military and is put on guard duty.

Now obviously, we've all read stories about how someone who fell asleep on guard duty, this resulted in the destruction of a city, the destruction of an army, the death of many people, because one person failed to give the warning.

Be on guard, Jesus says. That means you have to be looking out.

You have to be putting forth effort. It's not just something that you can hear something about once and go, Okay, fine.

But Jesus says, Take care. Look out. Be on your guard. This is something that can sneak up on you from so many different angles.

And in Western culture, I think we are exposed to such constant, constant pressure to be covetous.

We are told by our society, If you do not have the latest and the best of everything, you're a failure.

Your success is based upon what you wear, how you look, where you live, what you drive.

Everything's external. Nothing's internal. And everything that we look at as we drive down the road, the advertisements that we hear on the radio, what we see on TV, is meant to create covetousness.

It is never, ever meant to create an idea of thankfulness to God and that one element of Christian character, contentment.

Contentment. In fact, I don't think anyone could really argue with me that right now, there are many people in our nation that are basically saying,

If you try to cultivate contentment, you're being unpatriotic.

I mean, I don't know, but I'm hearing that the next administration wants to stimulate the economy.

Sounds like they're doing CPR on a dead body, personally, but they're trying to stimulate the economy.

And I think there's dial -up that thing on them. You know, the thing that gives somebody a shock, you know, get something going again. And I hear they're going to turn that thing all the way up past a trillion.

But what's the one thing they don't want you to do? If they, oh, give you a tax break, stop taking your money.

And if they, you know, send you a check in the mail, what's the one thing you shouldn't do with it?

Save it. You gotta spend it. You gotta go out and buy stuff. You save it.

You're not helping the economy. You're not being very patriotic. But what if I'm content with what

I have? You shouldn't be. Oh, really? Lord Jesus Christ warned us all that we are to be on our guard against all covetousness.

You see, it's one thing to be on guard against some types of covetousness while you're indulging in others.

So often we will say, oh, I'm very good at resisting covetousness in that area.

I don't covet my neighbor's wife. And I'm happy with my old jalopy.

And yet in other areas of our life, we are consumed with grasping after and trying to obtain and competing with others.

You know how you can tell if I'm talking about you? Give yourself a little test.

Think back over this past week. All of us have times where in a down moment between tasks or something, we're sort of daydreaming.

We're just thinking about the things, the things that fill our hearts. What did you think about?

What possesses your thoughts at times like that? Are you wanting this, wanting that, desiring this, desiring that, hoping to get this, hoping to get that, finding a way to get that?

Christian contentment. Jesus said, one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

In fact, I think there is one verse in the New Testament that might be downright un -American these days.

Because Jesus is the only one who addressed this. Notice what Paul said to Timothy in 1

Timothy 6 .8. If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.

If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. This term contentment,

I don't know how it could be defined outside of an attitude of thanksgiving. A person who does not see where their blessings have come from, where their food, where their shelter, where their ability to work, where all those blessings have come from, how can they ever be content?

See, contentment includes having as a part of one's thinking the idea that God has given to me exactly what

I need. He's the one who has met my needs. There is wisdom in what

I have. If you don't think God is treating you fairly, you're never going to be content.

Oh, but God gives more to some other people. Is God out of line?

Maybe that other person can handle that to his glory better. But God gives a lot of unrighteous people all sorts of things.

Yeah, they're going to be held accountable for every single one of the things they possess. Ever thought that some of the great riches that the ungodly have will be the greatest stone around their neck in their judgment?

That the last thing in the world staying in their judgment that you're going to want to have to do is answer for all those things

God gave to you when you never used them to His glory? The only person who would ever have any grounds for discontentment is a person who is using everything

God's given him right now perfectly for God's glory, and that means there's nobody who has any grounds for contentment.

Discontentment. Nobody. Because we all, we all can think about how we could be doing better.

We all know there are times that we're not thankful. That we just accept God's blessings and never even give thanks for them.

We have food and covering, but these we shall be content. One's life does not consist of the abundance of His possessions.

As Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12 .10, Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties for Christ's sake, for when

I am weak, then I am strong. That's the secret to Christian contentment. The secret to Christian contentment is to see that what

I am receiving, even when it is difficult, even when times are difficult, even when

I've experienced insults and weaknesses, which probably had to do with His own physical weaknesses, with distress, with persecutions, how can a person in the midst of all that be content?

He can be content because he receives them for Christ's sake.

I recognize that I am the servant of Christ. I have died.

My life is hidden together with Christ in God. Nothing touches my life, but God has allowed it to do so.

And so, when I experience these things, when I experience weaknesses and insults and distresses and persecutions,

I do so for Christ's sake, in His name, for His glory, for His kingdom, therefore

I am content. I am well content with these things. I do not have reason to complain.

The world cannot begin to understand that attitude. Sadly, most of evangelicalism cannot begin to understand that attitude either.

So much of what passes for Christianity today has lost this attitude.

And as Pastor Frey has said for years, what you win them with is what you win them to.

When you win them with a prosperity gospel, a gospel that says God will make you even prettier and younger and richer and healthier and give you a bigger house and everything else, if you just sign up with Jesus, well, you can't exactly expect someone who got in on that particular plan to read 2

Corinthians 12, verse 10 and go, oh yeah, that's me. No.

That same apostle said to the Philippians, it's not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances

I am. He had learned it. It's not something that happens overnight. We learn contentment.

We learn it as we learn to be more thankful. We learn it as we learn to see God's hand in our lives.

And that takes time. I know we're the microwave generation. We want instant spirituality.

But it takes time and it takes meditation. It takes thinking back over your life.

It takes us turning off the sounds of this world and in silence considering, look at what

God has done for me. Pondering what

He's taught us. Growing in that wisdom. And when we do, we learn to be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in because we know that God is in charge of our lives.

God is working out His purpose in our lives. And we can either choose to glorify

Him in that, we can either choose to rejoice in that, we can either choose to be happy in that, or we can choose to be miserable in that.

The older I get, the more I find that's the type of people there are in the world. Those who have chosen to be happy, and those who have chosen to be sad.

And it really boils down to what a person wants to do in life. Paul had learned, we need to learn, to be content in whatever circumstances we find ourselves in.

So Jesus commands us to be on the guard against all forms of covetousness. One's life does not consist in the abundance of one's possessions.

The writer of the Hebrews said the same thing, Hebrews 13, 5. Keep your life free from the love of money.

And be content with what you have, for He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

Do you see why? Do you see the grounds of the command in Hebrews 13?

What's the command? Be content with what you have. Live your life free from the love of money.

Why? Because you already possess the greatest treasure anyone could ever have.

For He has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

How many times, think back to your childhood. It's just the

Christmas season just passed. Well, in America anyways. The Christmas season historically was 12 days long.

That's why there's that song. It goes through January 6th, but we Americans, our attention span is long enough.

What was I saying? Anyway. And so the Christmas season just passed. Maybe you can think back, if you're young enough, to a particular thing you wanted for Christmas.

And man, you were just consumed. You were just, you figured it was in that one box because you knew your parents were trying to trick you, and so they put out the other box and looked like it, but you knew it was in that one.

And you just couldn't help but look at it and watch all the parents look at their kids going, remember when you guessed that?

That's not going to get you from that young. Anyway. And you were just consumed with it.

Christmas morning comes, and you rip open those packages, and you got exactly what you wanted.

And you were so disappointed. Now, you didn't want to admit that, but the hoping for it was a whole lot better than the actual getting.

I mean, yeah, it was great, but now that you had it, it was just sort of like, and pretty soon, you were on to other things.

I mean, I remember times we'd get the kids' stuff, and by the second day, they were far more interested in the boxes than they were what was in it.

We could have got the boxes a lot cheaper, too, I hear. Getting it, that desire, that consume, that was the most important thing, and then you get it, and something else comes along, and then something else comes along.

If we already possess the greatest treasure, if we just took the time to recognize that God's promises,

His presence with us by His Spirit, His giving to us of His Word, is the greatest treasure, it's a treasure the world can never take from us, it's a treasure the world cannot begin to understand, if we really treasured what we have, would we always be looking for something new?

That's one of the things that's always concerned me about the kind of evangelicalism we see, where people are church -hopping, you know?

Go to this one church, it's got something new, and that's nice for a while, then they're over here, then they're over there.

There is something seriously wrong with the person who's always looking for something new.

They don't seem to really understand how valuable the old is.

That would indicate a lack of understanding of the Gospel itself. Keep your life free from love of money, be content with what you have, for He has said,

I will never leave you nor forsake you. That is a promise, that is something of value, far beyond anything this world would ever have.

And if there's anything in your life that takes you away from rejoicing that, get rid of it.

Get rid of it. 1

John 2 .15 is one of the most sobering verses I know of all time.

Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the

Father is not in him. Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. How do you live that out?

I mean, aren't there things, aren't there beautiful things in this world that we can say that we love?

I mean, I was recently doing some scanning. We've got a real nice scanner at the office.

And I pulled out this old book that I have of the paintings of Monet.

Claude Monet. I don't know if any of you have ever seen Monet, but back when I was, I think, 18 years old, 17 years old, they had a display of some of his paintings at the

Phoenix Art Museum. And I went and saw them, and I was hooked. Just beautiful.

And is it wrong for me to say, I love that painting? Well, I don't think that's what

John's talking about. I think I can appreciate beauty. And we can look out at these sunsets that we have here in the desert.

Oh, it's beautiful. For people who say, I love the mountains, or I love the desert, or I love the snow, et cetera, et cetera.

We use that term in a certain way. But what John is talking about is that love that causes attachment.

That love that consumes the heart. And we are either going to love the author of all things, and see everything in light of His having given them to us, and be consumed in our love for Him, and be willing to be unattached from anything if He so calls us to.

If He calls us to serve Him, if He calls us to give up what we have to serve

Him, that's when we find out where our love really is. And when our love for things results in our saying to our

Lord, the One who gave Himself for us, I'm not willing to go there, then 1

John 2 comes into play. The love of the world. That's all the world has.

If you need a motivation for evangelism, if you need a motivation for speaking to people about the

Gospel, imagine what it's like to look into the future and all you have is love. This changeable world.

This world that can be taken, all the possessions one has can be taken away from one in an instant.

That's all you have. What a pitiful state to be in. We know the author of all things.

We know the Creator of all things. We are not left with just the things of this world.

But those in the world, that's all they've got. When we give ourselves to love something, we open ourselves to the dominion of that thing.

Sometimes you see people just go completely off the edge. It's sports season. And you see people doing just amazingly absurd things for their team.

I can understand that 30 years ago, but when your team is going to be staffed by a completely different group of people next year,

I don't get it anymore. There's no connection there at all. We see people who just give their lives to fandom.

And their lives become imbalanced. And when their team loses, the sadness on the face.

Their team wins! Happiness! But then the next year they're in last place. Sadness. Happiness. Sadness.

Unless you're a Cardinals fan. That's just mainly sadness. We see that, and most of us can step back from that and recognize, wow, that's so sad.

But in almost everybody's life, there is that controlling passion. It might be a football team, or a basketball team, or a baseball team, or a hockey team, or whatever.

It might be one's looks, one's possessions, one's house, whatever it might be that becomes an idol.

It controls us. It dominates us. If we love the world, the world will dominate us.

If we love the world, the world will control whether we will be happy or sad in 2009. Whether we will be fearful or confident in 2009.

If we love the world. If the world is the object of our love in that moment. If we love

God and his kingdom and his gospel, that love will dominate and direct our lives.

It will order our priorities. It will change the way that we see what's going on in the world.

It will change the way we perceive things. That's the secret to Christian contentment.

We can be thankful because we know God is sovereign. He is in control. He is giving to us what we need.

We can pray or write. We can see difficulties as challenges to be met by his spirit and his power, not just things that are negative, negative, negative, dragging us down all the time.

How will we enter into 2009? Much of the world would really rather go back to early 2008.

They don't want to move forward. There's too much uncertainty. But Christians, if we would but listen to our

Lord, if we would but listen to the Scriptures, we can enter into 2009 with contentment, peace, a happiness and a joy the world cannot begin to touch because the world is not the source of it.

We need to enter into 2009 with Jesus' words echoing in our ears. Take care, look out, be on guard against all covetousness for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.

We keep that in mind. We will face this year in a very different way than those around us.

Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we do ask that by Your Spirit You would cause us to hear

Your Word, that though the world yells loudly in our ears, that we must be covetous.

We must desire more and more of the world's goods that Your Spirit calls us to contentment and peace, the building up of an eternal inheritance through service to Christ.

Help us to turn a deaf ear to the world, to stop exposing ourselves constantly to that drumbeat of be unhappy unless you have more.

May we hear the Spirit's call. May we hear Jesus' words. May we be alert and watchful against covetousness.

May we take as our precious treasure the promise, I will never leave you,

I will never forsake you. May we hold that promise as our greatest possession.

May it give us peace and true joy in Christ's name.