Phiippians 4 4-13 2008
Pentecost 22
October 12, 2008
Philippians 4:4-13
“The Secret of Contentment”
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.
We are living in tough times, at least the press and the politicians say so. Some people say that we are on the verge of a depression…like the great depression. Is this really the case? Maybe we should talk to our older folks and see what they have to say about it. What was the great Depression like for them? It is true that for the first time in a generation the standard of living has gone done. Children are not doing as well as there parents did with regard to the standard of living being raised. Our times as bad as they say? I don’t know. One thing I do know, whether times are tough or not so tough, all of us suffer trials and tests. Whether it is spiritual, physical, mental or emotional, we will have difficulties in this life. That is easy to understand. We live in a fallen world, a world that is in the strangle hold of sin and death. The question is do we get crushed and overwhelmed by the circumstance of life, or so we rise above them. As Christians we understand that 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 so.
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 church at Philippi, 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 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.
The apostle Paul once wrote, “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). Here in Philippians’, in vv 11 and 12 he states that he has learned the lesson of being content. He writes, “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” This is a twofold acknowledgement. The first is that he was not always able to be content. The second is that when he believed in Jesus 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 is based on earthly and material things and lasts only for a moment. At some point in the future, unless the Lord comes again, will have to lay this earthly body to the ground. It is the curse of sin, for God said to Adam after the fall into sin, “19 By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Gen. 3:19) That is why Paul states, “Rejoice in the Lord" (v 4) -not in ourselves, not in material gain, not in the things of this life, 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. This is not always easy to do. But if we try, with the help of God, He will open our eyes to see that even in the worst of times God blesses us. There once was a farmer who had grown tired of living and working on the same old farm all his life. So he listed the farm with a realtor who at once began to write an as for the newspaper, advertising the sale of the farm. Before he turned in the copy, however, he showed the add to the farmer. It was a glowing description of the farm. IT spoke of the excellent location, its fine equipment, fertile acres and well-bred stock. “Wait a minute!”, said the farmer, reading the add. “Just wait a minute! I’ve changed my mind, I’m not gonna sell. All my life I’ve been looking for a place like that!” That farmer realized how blessed he was. While he was not content he possessed the very thing from which his contentment was to be found. It is the same for us Christians. We may be restless and not content as we see the circumstance around us, and yet we posses the peace that surpasses all understanding. We have peace with God because our sins have been forgiven for the sake of Jesus Christ suffering and death on the cross. We have peace even in death because we know the resurrection of the dead. We have the hope of heaven where every tear will be wiped away, where death is dead and we live forever at the banquet table of our heavenly home. For this reason we can sing as the old hymn says, I am content…because of Jesus and what He has done for me.
Still in this present life we need help keeping our minds right and our hearts focused on Jesus Christ. In this God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. 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.
In the midst of it all our God even gives us joy! The apostle Paul speaks to us in this day even as he spoke to the church at Philippi, 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.”
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. after CPH 2002 John Ortberg, "Waiting on God," PreachingToday.com #199.