Phiippians 4 4-13 2005
Pentecost 21
October 9, 2005
Philippians 4:4-13
“The Secret of Contentment”
after CPH 2002
Philippians 4:4-13 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus…I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
Introduction: The apostle Paul sounds so positive and confident in these words that we might be led to think that everything was going well for Him. At the time of this writing, though, Paul was probably in prison facing a death sentence. In spite of his circumstances, he is able to find contentment and peace. The Apostle Paul knew where true contentment and peace was to be found. And he tells us that true contentment is found in Jesus, no matter what the circumstances and the trials that we face.
Only in Jesus can we find contentment enough and peace enough to carry on through life even when it seems like it is impossible to do. In the wake of Michael’s death and as we remember Cory and Daniel, and the many trials that we go through, there is an oppressive weight that we carry on our shoulder’s. But even as we feel the weight of it we can have peace.
Paul looks beyond his circumstances and he looks at the people that God has placed in his life that shared in his suffering. Paul takes time here not only to identify good things done by the Philippian church, but also to thank them for their support and all that they were doing on his behalf.
He could have easily dwelt on the time frame when he had not heard from them and raised the question "Where were you?" Instead, Paul chooses to encourage the church, thank them for their support of him and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They might not have done all they had the ability to do, but Paul thanks them for putting some actions to go with their words of faith. James 2:16-17 says, "If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead."
The words of the text bring a firm reminder that God has already supplied our needs through Jesus Christ. "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus" (Phil 4:19). "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace" (Eph 1:7). "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the 44. Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). We live in the world, but we are not of the world. Therefore our peace of mind, contentment, and joy can only be found in that which is outside of ourselves.
He saved us that we might rest in him. He saved us that we might be at peace in him. He saved us that no matter what circumstance or situation we find ourselves in, our soul’s can be at rest.
"When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me" (I Cor 13:11). Paul in vv 11 and 12 states that he has learned the lesson of being content. This is a twofold acknowledgement. The first is that he was not always able to be content. The second is that when he received Christ, he came to understand he would never be in want for anything else. For nothing else could compare to the gift of God in Jesus Christ. The more he learned about Jesus, the more peace, contentment, and joy he gained.
Paul learned what we can learn-that true joy is found in the kingdom of heaven and is based solely on that which is spiritual. Earthly happiness <6, is based on earthly and material things and lasts only for a moment. That is why Paul states, "Rejoice in the Lord" (v 4)-not in ourselves, not in material gain, but in the Lord! Again Paul states, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" (v 13), not by any power of my own--only through Christ.
The power of Christ has saved us and is still at work in us today, providing peace in the midst of storms and contentment in the midst of turbulence. It is a sanctifying and cleansing reality-the strength of Christ-and it continues until we enter by faith into the kingdom of heaven.
Conclusion: When Paul says God "Gives me strength", he denotes a present and continued act. In other words Paul says, "Through Christ, who is strengthening me, and continually strengthens me, I am enabled to act in everything. I wholly depend on him for all my power." That's why Paul writes in Eph 6: 10, "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power." In his power lies the secret of our contentment. "You then, my son [my daughter]," Paul wrote in 2 Tim 2: 1, "be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."
At times like these we need a power greater than ourselves. We need the power of God and he gives us what we need and more. Not long before his death, Henri Nouwen wrote a book called Sabbatical Journeys. He wrote about some friends of his who were trapeze artists, called the Flying Roudellas. They told Nouwen that there is a special relationship between the flyer and the catcher on the trapeze. The flyer is the one who lets go, and the catcher is the one who catches. As the flier swings high above the crowd on his trapeze, the time comes when he must let go. He arcs out into the air. His one task now is to wait as he flies through the air for the catcher with his strong hands to grab him. One of the Flying Roudellas told Nouwen, "The flier must never try to catch the catcher. He must wait in absolute trust that the catcher will catch him."
God indeed catches us in the free fall of life. This knowledge is called faith. He catches and carries us with a grasp that will not be broken. . He took our burdens upon his shoulders when He died for our sins on the cross. Through Him, by faith the weight of God’s anger and the weight of guilt for our sins is removed. As we struggle through life the weight of hopelessness is taken away from us be cause we know that all things work to the good for those who are in Christ Jesus. So even now we can rejoice in the Lord always. And we can say it again – rejoice. For the Lord is at hand. He hears our prayers and thanksgiving, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guards our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen
1.-John Ortberg, "Waiting on God," PreachingToday.com #199.