2019-01-06 PHILIPPIANS 4:10-13 LEARNING CONTENTMENT

LEARNING CONTENTMENT (Phil. 4:10-13) January 6, 2018 Read Phil 4:10-13 – Contented people are in short supply. Understandable in someone who doesn’t know where the next meal is coming from. But what of us who are discontent bc we don’t have what their neighbor has. Or privileged people like John D. Rockefeller, who, when asked how much would be enough, replied, “Just a little bit more.” That’s human nature since the Fall. With 1000’s of trees, Adam and Eve wanted the forbidden one -- “just a little bit more.” Wanting “just a little bit more” is the death knell to contentment. Discontentment not only hurts us, it violates God’s character in the 10th commandment – “Thou shalt not covet” (Exod 20:17). It not only leaves us in perpetual anxiety; it also dishonors the family name. So we have more than one reason to be satisfied with who we are, where we are and what we have. In a “Peanuts” cartoon Schroeder asks Charlie Brown, “Is Snoopy a hunting dog?” Charlie replies, “I guess he is, in a way.” Schroeder asks, “What does he hunt, animals or birds?” Charlie: “Neither. What he hunts mostly is an easier way of life.” That’s a hunt most of us are on. But at the core of that hunt is covetousness. What we need is a more fulfilling life -- contentment. Notice the title of this sermon is “Learning Contentment.” That’s because it’s a learned virtue. It says so right in the text. V. 11b: “I have learned . . . to be content.” V. 12c: “I have learned the secret.” But how do we learn that? I. Contented People Look to God’s Providence (10) 10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Ten years have passed since Paul first came to Philippi. He had a fruitful time there, but Acts 16 tells how he cast a demon out of slave girl whose owners profited from her fortune-telling. With their meal-ticket gone, they got Paul and Silas arrested, beaten, and thrown in jail. An earthquake released them. The jailer got saved and the rulers found out they had beaten and jailed a Roman citizen. Acts 16: 39) So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city” – which they did. Now, Paul notes this latest gift showed “you have revived your concern for me.” That’s bc after he left Philippi, they sent money to help support Paul – at 1 least in Thessalonica and Corinth. Then, apparently, the help stopped. He says, “You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity.” Why no opportunity? Bc they had no money? Bc they lost track of him? Bc they had no means of getting help to him? Maybe. But there’s also another possibility. Maybe Paul himself deprived them of opportunity. In Thessalonica and also in Corinth, detractors criticized Paul for receiving money. To forestall criticism, Paul made his own way. He reminds in I Cor 4:12: “and we labor, working with our own hands.” How? Tentmaking! Acts 18: 1) After this Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2) And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them, 3) and because he was of the same trade he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.” Paul worked to avoid criticism, and probably refused more gifts. But now – in prison – he accepts their gifts – recognizing God’s hand in them. “I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me.” He clearly loved them greatly. But behind their actions, he sees the prompting of God. The ultimate source of any good thing is who? God! It is Paul’s trust in the providence of God that is the ultimate secret of his contentment. He serves a God who “works all things according to the counsel of His will” (Eph 1:11), and in that Paul is content. He know “all things work together for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28). Providence and miracles are the 2 ways God works in the world. A miracle is God’s overriding His own natural laws – a virgin birth, a resurrection. Providence is God’s using natural law to work His purposes. It is no less supernatural; sometimes even more spectacular. What would have been easier to get Mary to Bethlehem where Jesus had to be born – supernatural transport – or moving Caesar Augustus to issue a decree that set in motion a series of natural events that accomplished the same purpose?! Paul looked to God’s providence for every need – whether feeding of 5,000 by creating bread, or feeding of Paul by the gifts of God’s people. Equally God’s work! Believers have a promise – “All things work together for good for those who love God.” All things. Providence. Unbelievers don’t have that promise. So they can never be content. For those who don’t love God it’s every man for himself. The goal of every person is getting their needs – and wants – met by their own devices. But they’re never content – always need “just a little bit more”. But not us. We live under the umbrella of God’s providence. 2 Paul knew providence. In Acts 23 Paul is jailed in Jerusalem. His accusers plan an ambush to kill him. Acts 23: 16) Now the son of Paul’s sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. 17) Paul called one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the tribune, for he has something to tell him.” The tribune, hearing this, moves Paul by night under a guard of 470 Roman soldiers! Providence. It wasn’t Paul’s time to die. In Acts 28, Paul survives the bite of a deadly serpent. Miracle. Wasn’t his time to die. So Paul looked to God’s providence. And we have the same God -- the same privilege to look to Him and be content, or look to ourselves and be anxious. But whatever your need this morning, He’s already acting to fill it. II. Contented People Live Above the Circumstances (11-12) 11) Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12) 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.” When I read this, I always think of Solomon’s prayer in Prov 30:8b: “give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me.” Just park me in the middle, Lord, where I don’t have to worry about either side. That’s a good prayer. But Paul’s goes deeper than that. He’s saying I’m content not just to be in the middle. I’ve learned to be content with either extreme. That’s impressive. A. Content With Little 11) Not that I am speaking of being in need.” Did Paul have needs?. Chained to his guard. Responsible for his own housing, food and clothes. Imprisoned by enemies, envied by fellow-believers. Humanly speaking, he had needs. But he had learned a secret of contentment – to be satisfied with little. Know why Paul could say that? Because he knew the chief end of man is not to have his needs met, but to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So he was content with whatever God provided. When asked a sign of true repentance, John Baptist told some soldiers: “Be content with your wages” (Lu 3:14d). Paul said in I Tim 6:8, “But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.” Contentment was like a switch that unleashed spiritual power in his life. II Cor 12:10 written after God resfused ot heal him: “For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 3 Too often we don’t know the difference between needs and wants! An old miner, Jack Wade Creek lived in Alaska. He had done pretty well but still lived in a rustic cabin and cut his wood by hand. A visitor noted, “Jack, if you’d get yourself a chain saw, you could cut ten times the wood in half the time.” Jack replied, “But I don’t need ten times the wood.” Discontent comes from not knowing need from want. I need a new car. I need a bigger house. I need a better job. I need new furniture. Listen – we may want all of those. And God may graciously provide them. But we don’t need any of them, right? And if we can’t get them, can we still be content? Contented people have learned to live above the circumstances – they’ve learned to live with little. Paul sat in jail with nothing and say, “I’m not speaking from need.” Could we do that? If the bottom fell out tomorrow and you’re in a shack outside of town, could you be content? The truth is, we need very little to survive in this life. And at a deeper level, we don’t even need to live. What we need is eternal life, freedom from guilt, justification before God. What we need is what we have in Christ. The rest is gravy. Contented people know and live in the good of that. Heb 13:5: Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” If you’ve got Jesus, you’ve got all you really need – for now and eternity. Paul had learned to be content with little which is what he got most of the time! B. Content With Much But Paul could also say, “. . . I know how to abound . . . I have learned the secret of facing plenty.” (12). When did Paul abound? Don’t know. Not often! But he could handle it. He could handle plenty graciously. He knew “the secret of facing plenty.” Knew it as God’s, not his! Not many Xns do. So it’s a constant problem for Americans! Little as we think we have, we have more than most of the people who ever lived. So learning to abound is critical. God gives so that we can share. Heb 13:16) Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” I Tim 6:18) They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share.” That goes against human nature. We’re wired to horde, not give! Like the guy sitting on a park bench sobbing in despair. A policeman asked what was wrong. The guy replied, “My uncle died three days ago and left me $1 million.” The policeman raised his eyebrows as the man continued, “Two days ago, a friend died and left me $500,000. Yesterday, Dad died and left me a business with assets of $10 million.” Then he looked up, eyes filled with despair and said, “But today – 4 nothing!” So human, isn’t it?! But get on that bandwagon and you’ll never be content. But that’s where most of us live. Looking for the next dollar, the next accolade, the next thrill – and when it’s not forthcoming -- dicontentment. Concerning his success in the news business, Ted Turner said: “Success is an empty bag.” He should know. Contented people know how to deal with much, by realizing it’s not theirs; it’s not permanent, and it’s there to help others. Contented people live above the circumstances – whether they are much, little, or in between. III. Contented People Lean on Christ Look back at 11b: “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content” -αὐτάρκης) used only here in the NT. It’s borrowed from the Stoics who considered it the essence of all virtues. For them it described someone who was independent of all things and all people. The Stoic idea was, “man should be sufficient unto himself for all things, and able, by the power of his will, to resist the force of circumstances.” Self-impowered. Think Tony Robbins on steroids. Find your inner strength and you find serenity and power to succeed at whatever you choose. But Paul takes this Stoic idea to a whole new level. He is not content for what he finds in himself. Only a fool would be. While humans have enormous powers of self-sufficiency, there are boundaries. And, human achievement rarely brings contentment for more than a day or two. It always leads to the desire for “just a little bit more”. Whatever I have achieved is never enough. But Paul transforms the term by giving it a Christ-centered orientation. 13 I can do all things by tapping into the inner me.” Is that it? No. He says, “I can do all things through him [Christ] who strengthens me.” It’s not selfsufficiency that brings contentment, it is Christ-sufficiency. Paul is not content because he is independent; he is content because he is totally dependent – on Christ. That’s a good place to be since He is all powerful, all good, all loving and in your corner. We’ve got a champion on our side! “I can do all things through him who strengthens me” is one of the most frequently quoted verses of the Bible. It has been taped on the ceiling over bench presses in weight rooms, affixed on the edges of bathroom mirrors to supply inspiration to face the day’s challenges. It’s embroidered on countless needlepoints and wall plaques. And that’s okay. Don’t take yours down! But this is not a blanket promise to turn us into a Superhero! There’s a context. 12c: “I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and 5 need.” Paul is saying, “In Christ (literally “in”, not “thru”) – in Christ, I have all the strength I need to overcome any circumstances life has dealt me – good, bad or indifferent. After all, Jesus has been thru it all Himself. He’d never ask me to do what He hasn’t. So in Him – not in me –in Him, I can handle whatever comes my way.” That’s a wonderful place to be, isn’t it? Nothing can touch me that Christ hasn’t allowed; nothing can touch me that He hasn’t experienced; and nothing can remove me from His presence. We have the same Christ Paul had. So, let’s learn to lean on Him. Conc – A simple example. A woman named Alice Gray was sitting in a restaurant one night talking with a friend about how God would want them to handle a painful challenge in their lives. Eventually Alice noticed a radiant smile from the woman at the next table. She remarked that she couldn’t help but overhear and just wanted to encourage them that God cared about their heartache and nothing could separate them from His love. The words refreshed the two ladies. But later, when the smiling woman left, Alice noticed she wore clunky shoes, and walked with a cane and a severe limp. The waitress told Alice the woman had been in a near-fatal car accident the year before. She’d been in and out of the hospital and rehab. Her husband had divorced her. They’d had to sell their house. She’d just moved into an apartment and had to use public transportation because she couldn’t drive. She was still trying to find a job. Yet this was the woman offering encouragement. Alice commented, “This young woman’s conversation had been filled with the delights of the Lord. There had been no discontent about her. We never would never have suspected that storms were raging in her life. Even as she stepped outside into the cold winter wind, she seemed to carry God’s warm shelter of hope with her.” Listen, Beloved. That’s not natural. It’s not humanly possible. But that is the contentment of those who Look to the God’s providence, Live above the circumstances, and Lean on Christ. It’s a learned virtue. No better time than now to start practicing – contentment! Let’s pray. 6