Going to the School of Contentment

Philippians 4:11 (ESV)

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.

Introduction

The title of my message is: Going to the School of Contentment.

We have all spent a good deal of time in school, some more than others. Not only have we been schooled in the classroom, we have been schooled by life. Just walking around being human is an education. School teaches us many lessons on many different subjects.

I have spent a good deal of time in school, and still do on occasion. I have been to school to learn how to read, how to write, how to add. I have been to school to learn how to save someone’s life and I have been to school to learn how to take someone’s life.

In this passage we are looking at something that Paul has learned in his particular school. Elijah learned his lessons in the school of Cherith. Cherith is place the Lord sent Elijah to after Elijah had promised Ahab no rain for three years. You see before Elijah could stand on Mount Carmel he had to learn to sit at the brook Cherith; Paul learned his lessons in the school of Christ..

You will not that this forth chapter of Philippians contains some great promises:

Philippians 4:7 (ESV)

7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:19 (ESV)

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

It is no wonder that Paul can express his contentment in all circumstances and situations. For him there was no “winter of our discontent” as there was for Shakespeare.

We are going to look at three elements of this instruction:

The Pupil

The School and

The Lesson

The Pupil

Paul says, “I have learned.” So, we see he is writing from experience, his own personal experience of the goodness of God. Paul’s experience of the goodness of God transcends hardship, privation, and persecution.

He has learned or been instructed in such times to trust God and lean on Jesus. Paul has been “initiated,” just as one who might be initiated into a secret society where you are taught all the secret signs, symbols, and passwords, so Paul has been initiated into this state of contentment in all circumstances of life.

These words show us that contentment is not the natural propensity of man. Covetousness, discontent, and malice are as natural to man as weeds and thorns are to the soil.

We don’t have to sow weeds or thorns. Most of you will recall the wildfires that ran through northern Carter country in 2006. That fire burned many houses including the last one my grandparents lived in the same location where our house is now.

I was in Washington DC at the time of the fire, but when I returned to the property and viewed the devastation it had brought upon the land, the only good I could see in it was that it burned all those thorny vines that grew thick in the wooded areas of the land. You know by the summertime all those thorns had grown back. They didn’t need to be sown back into the ground. They sprang back naturally.

We don’t have to teach men to complain or be selfish, they do that well enough without any instruction. But the valuable things of the earth must be cultivated. If we want a good stand of wheat, or soybeans, or corn, we must prepare the soil, and continually attend it to produce a crop. If we want flowers, we must water and weed the garden or else those flowers will be pushed out by weeds and thorns.

Contentment is one of the flowers of heaven, and if we would have it, it must be cultivated; it will not grow in us by our natural state. It is only the new nature alone that can produce it. In our new nature we must be especially careful and watchful that we maintain and cultivate the grace which God has sown in us.

Paul says, “I have learned … to be content;” this statement of Paul tells us that at an earlier part of his life he did not know how to be content. Paul did not attain to the mystery of that great truth without paying a price for it. It was something Paul had to learn. We think of Paul as a teacher, but before Paul could be a teacher, he had to be a student.

A Christian is, of course, a disciple and the word means “learner” or “pupil.” Early in his life Paul had sat at the feet of Gamaliel, one of greatest teachers in Judaism, now Paul is a pupil of Jesus Christ. All of us must learn how to assume this lowly position, like Mary who “sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word.”

As you recall this account from Luke, chapter 10, Martha was annoyed at Mary because Martha was rushing around trying to prepare a meal for a large group of people while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet to listen to His teaching.

We need to be a little more like Mary and a little less like Martha. We are so much like Martha. Rushing around trying to get so many things done. We get so caught up in our busy lives and endless activities, things that seem so important at the time, that we neglect to take time to be that lowly student sitting at Jesus’ feet in order to listen to His teaching.

The School

Paul says, “in whatever situation I am.” The site of Elijah’s school, Cherith, is uncertain. Paul’s school has classrooms everywhere and we shall look at some of these classrooms.

One is Adversity. Adversity is a classroom that we must all enter at some time or other. In verse 12 Paul says:

12 I know how to be brought low (or) I know how to be abased..., in other words I know how to live when things are difficult.” Paul had plenty of difficult times; In 2 Corinthians he says:

2 Corinthians 11:25 (ESV)

25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;

Paul was also afflicted with what he describes as a “thorn in his flesh” which had a negative effect on his ministry, but throughout all this, Paul is content.

So, in our times of adversity, whatever it may be, problems at work, strained family relationships, illness, and all the rest of those things which beset us, adversity is the classroom in which we learn much.

Anxiety is another classroom of learning. In verse 6 Paul says, “Be careful for nothing,” This means don’t worry be happy.

How can we reduce that anxiety? One way is to change the content of your thought life. In chapter 3, verse 7, Paul says:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Paul tells us that if you are going to experience peace your thought life must follow certain patterns. He is saying that the content of our thought life effects the peace that you experience.

If what we feed our mind impacts us there may be certain things that Paul would encourage you to cut back on or even eliminate from your life. One example would be your news intake. We need to be aware that part of the goal of the news industry is to get you anxious enough by the reporting of their slant on the news so as to keep you engaged in following their stories.

The more people they get to tune into their version of the news, the more advertising they are able to sell and the more money they make. Don’t ever think that the people that are producing the news are doing it so that you might be a more informed individual. They are producing the news so that they might make more money.

Necessity is a third classroom. “Not that I am speaking of being in need,” writes Paul. He knew what it was, like his Savior, to have just the bare necessities, not the luxuries, of life. God promised to supply all his needs, but not all his wants.

Earlier in the chapter Paul recounts all the things he had going for him as as a Pharisee. Paul lost his position in the Jewish hierarchy, he probably lost a great deal of personal wealth, he lost respect and standing in a community that he was integral to, but in verse 7 he says:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Perhaps you have heard God described as “Jehovah-Jirah.” That name means “The-Lord-Will-Provide.”

The Old Testament Israelites should have learned that lesson well.  For forty years they roamed the wilderness, while the Lord wonderfully provided precisely what they needed. However, they soon forgot that the Lord was daily providing their needs. Every morning God dropped the equivalent of 240 freight cars of manna upon the ground to sustain them. When they needed water He miraculously provided it from a rock.

Still, it wasn’t long before the Israelites got their needs confused with their wants:

Numbers 11:4–6 (ESV)

4 Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic. 6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.”

Prosperity was also a room in Paul’s school. He writes, “I know how to abound.” When we hear this we tend to think, yeah, let me try that one on. I want to know how to abound. I want to know how to live with prosperity and success and luxury. But you know, each of these bring there own special problems.

Johnny Cash once said, “Being rich means you get to worry about everything except money.”

Numerous studies have been made that show that people who have wealth tend to think differently that people of lessor means. People with wealth tend to rely less on God and more on their wealth. Not only does their attitude toward God change, but their attitude toward others do as well.

A study conducted at the University of California at Berkeley found that in San Francisco, where the law requires that cars stop at crosswalks for pedestrians to pass, drivers of luxury cars were four times less likely than those in less expensive vehicles to stop and allow pedestrians the right of way. They were also more likely to cut off other drivers.

Why do you suppose that is? It is because people who consider themselves rich also consider themselves privileged. The rules that apply to you and I do not apply to them.

So, Paul knew what he was talking about when he said it was important to know how to abound. Most of the world has no idea how to abound. An affluent society, with an abundance of money, luxuries, and leisure, is a society with mounting problems.

Charles Spurgeon said, “We should expect some danger nigh when we receive too much delight.”

The Lesson

The lesson Paul learned as a pupil in this school “to be content.” The Greek means “to be satisfied completely.” Paul is not writing of mere resignation with one’s lot but complete satisfaction because of conformity to God’s will. No wonder he wrote to Timothy:

1 Timothy 6:6 (ESV)

6 But godliness with contentment is great gain,

William Matson, a nineteenth century hymn writer, echoed Paul’s words when he wrote:

“O blessed life! the mind that sees,

Whatever change the years may bring,

A mercy still in everything,

And shining through all mysteries.”

John Newton, the author of Amazing Grace, was in perfect agreement. Newton said, “Since all that I meet Shall work for my good, The bitter is sweet, The medicine food.”

Conclusion

So, what does it mean “To be content.” With us, some days we feel content and some days, not so much. But that was Paul’s constant state, not his passing mood. Every day he attended Christ’s school and every day he learned from the divine teacher, the Holy Spirit, how to be content in all circumstances.

We must develop that mindset of the student sitting at the feet of Jesus taking in what instruction the Master has for us. Only if we do that will we learn to be content no matter what our circumstances.