Sermon for 10/9/05 -- Twenty-First Sunday After Pentecost (A)
Sermon-Twenty-first Sunday After Pentecost (A)
October 9, 2005
Our Life in Christ: Contentment
Philippians 4:4-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle appointed for today. Hear again these verses:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Thus far our text.
I am a bit of an addict. If you don’t believe me-and the youth group will tell you that I’m not exaggerating-listen to this list. I have over a thousand CDs, around 500 DVDs, three video game systems and games, a laptop computer, three televisions with a DVD player and a VCR attached to each, and a home stereo system with big enough speakers to wake the neighbors. I’ve always been passionate about music. When I was in North Dakota, there wasn’t much to do when it was 20° below zero, so I started buying and watching DVDs. I used to tell people that I spent all the money I didn’t spend on dates to further my affair with my first love-entertainment. Since I met my wife, I haven’t spent nearly as much as I used to on these things, but every so often I still get that urge to expand my collection. And I doubt I will ever be content with the collection I already have.
In what do we find contentment? That’s a question husbands have tried to answer about their wives since time began. We all seek contentment in many and various ways. Some seek contentment in charitable works and volunteerism. Some search for it in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. Some live reckless lives in an attempt to stave off personal demons. We spend a great deal of time and money and energy seeking contentment. Occasionally, and for brief periods of time, we might even find some small measure of contentment in the things of this world.
Since the fall, man has been pursuing happiness apart from God. The results are predictable. Very quickly we realize that contentment gained through money, security, travel and the good life does not prevent sickness or tragedy from entering into our little worlds. Our temporary contentment turns quickly into confusion and restlessness. And so we ask ourselves, "Where can I find contentment? Is there such a thing as being content which applies to this life and beyond?"
When he wrote this letter to the Philippians, Paul was in chains, imprisoned on account of his faith in Christ. He was torn between the desire to go home to his Father in heaven and the desire to stay and continue to contend for the faith. He was about to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to Philippi, and these were the two men he relied on in the midst of his imprisonment. And he constantly faced the possibility of death. Where in the midst of this could Paul find contentment?
We ask the same question for ourselves: Where in the world is contentment to be found? It is not in money, pleasure, material possessions, family, people, or any other thing in this world. All of these soon vanish. It is not to be found in oneself; all we find in ourselves is a guilty conscience that will not let us rest, a mind that is not always wise, a body that is getting sick and old. None of us know how much of a future we have left in this world. Let's face it-such thoughts do not make us very content! Not even an enormous CD collection can give us true contentment!
But Paul knew the secret. -Have you ever known of a secret that someone wouldn’t share? At the end of the movie “Patriot Games” with Harrison Ford, his character’s wife is pregnant. She’s had an ultrasound, and they receive a phone call from the doctor, who asks them if they want to know the gender of the baby. They decide that they want to know. And then, just as the doctor is about to tell them, the credits roll. The movie ends, and the secret is never revealed. -I don’t know about you, but I wanted to scream at the director!
Paul is not like that. He’s not bragging. He knows the secret, but it’s a secret he can share with us without gossiping. He tells us, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
That’s it? That’s the secret? Have we been gypped? No; Paul knows exactly what he’s talking about. Here was a man who had been imprisoned for his faith. He had felt the 39 lashes of the whip on his back on 5 occasions, was beaten with rods 3 times, stoned, shipwrecked 3 times, threatened by Jews and Gentiles, and adrift at sea for a night and a day. In addition to that, he lived with the fact that he was personally responsible for the imprisonment and death of many Christians whom he had persecuted before his conversion. He had lived the good life, and he had also lived at the mercy of others. His contentment was not in earthly things.
Where can we find contentment? It can be found only where Paul found it: in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God, in His grace, looked upon mankind's hopelessness and eternal destruction and intervened. The perfect Son of God was made man, born of the virgin Mary. He lived to die on the cross so that you and I might be content knowing that our sins have been forgiven for His sake. All of God's wrath was taken by Christ on the cross that we would be totally and completely acceptable to the Almighty. He died so that we would live eternally.
Why should we vainly strive for contentment? God’s peace is able to produce exceedingly better results than our striving. The peace of God is more effective for removing anxiety than any power of ours. Worry has been conquered by Christ! It doesn't matter that you don't know what is in store for you tomorrow; it doesn't matter about your physical condition: better or worse, sickness or health, rich or poor, old or young; it doesn’t matter what you own or what you lack. Christ died and rose for you so that you would be an heir of heaven.
Our life in Christ is marked by contentment, for we can be content in knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we will have life in Christ for all eternity. What could make us more content than that? In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
October 9, 2005
Our Life in Christ: Contentment
Philippians 4:4-13
Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Our text is the Epistle appointed for today. Hear again these verses:
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Thus far our text.
I am a bit of an addict. If you don’t believe me-and the youth group will tell you that I’m not exaggerating-listen to this list. I have over a thousand CDs, around 500 DVDs, three video game systems and games, a laptop computer, three televisions with a DVD player and a VCR attached to each, and a home stereo system with big enough speakers to wake the neighbors. I’ve always been passionate about music. When I was in North Dakota, there wasn’t much to do when it was 20° below zero, so I started buying and watching DVDs. I used to tell people that I spent all the money I didn’t spend on dates to further my affair with my first love-entertainment. Since I met my wife, I haven’t spent nearly as much as I used to on these things, but every so often I still get that urge to expand my collection. And I doubt I will ever be content with the collection I already have.
In what do we find contentment? That’s a question husbands have tried to answer about their wives since time began. We all seek contentment in many and various ways. Some seek contentment in charitable works and volunteerism. Some search for it in the bottom of a bottle of Jack Daniels. Some live reckless lives in an attempt to stave off personal demons. We spend a great deal of time and money and energy seeking contentment. Occasionally, and for brief periods of time, we might even find some small measure of contentment in the things of this world.
Since the fall, man has been pursuing happiness apart from God. The results are predictable. Very quickly we realize that contentment gained through money, security, travel and the good life does not prevent sickness or tragedy from entering into our little worlds. Our temporary contentment turns quickly into confusion and restlessness. And so we ask ourselves, "Where can I find contentment? Is there such a thing as being content which applies to this life and beyond?"
When he wrote this letter to the Philippians, Paul was in chains, imprisoned on account of his faith in Christ. He was torn between the desire to go home to his Father in heaven and the desire to stay and continue to contend for the faith. He was about to send Timothy and Epaphroditus to Philippi, and these were the two men he relied on in the midst of his imprisonment. And he constantly faced the possibility of death. Where in the midst of this could Paul find contentment?
We ask the same question for ourselves: Where in the world is contentment to be found? It is not in money, pleasure, material possessions, family, people, or any other thing in this world. All of these soon vanish. It is not to be found in oneself; all we find in ourselves is a guilty conscience that will not let us rest, a mind that is not always wise, a body that is getting sick and old. None of us know how much of a future we have left in this world. Let's face it-such thoughts do not make us very content! Not even an enormous CD collection can give us true contentment!
But Paul knew the secret. -Have you ever known of a secret that someone wouldn’t share? At the end of the movie “Patriot Games” with Harrison Ford, his character’s wife is pregnant. She’s had an ultrasound, and they receive a phone call from the doctor, who asks them if they want to know the gender of the baby. They decide that they want to know. And then, just as the doctor is about to tell them, the credits roll. The movie ends, and the secret is never revealed. -I don’t know about you, but I wanted to scream at the director!
Paul is not like that. He’s not bragging. He knows the secret, but it’s a secret he can share with us without gossiping. He tells us, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
That’s it? That’s the secret? Have we been gypped? No; Paul knows exactly what he’s talking about. Here was a man who had been imprisoned for his faith. He had felt the 39 lashes of the whip on his back on 5 occasions, was beaten with rods 3 times, stoned, shipwrecked 3 times, threatened by Jews and Gentiles, and adrift at sea for a night and a day. In addition to that, he lived with the fact that he was personally responsible for the imprisonment and death of many Christians whom he had persecuted before his conversion. He had lived the good life, and he had also lived at the mercy of others. His contentment was not in earthly things.
Where can we find contentment? It can be found only where Paul found it: in the person and work of Jesus Christ. God, in His grace, looked upon mankind's hopelessness and eternal destruction and intervened. The perfect Son of God was made man, born of the virgin Mary. He lived to die on the cross so that you and I might be content knowing that our sins have been forgiven for His sake. All of God's wrath was taken by Christ on the cross that we would be totally and completely acceptable to the Almighty. He died so that we would live eternally.
Why should we vainly strive for contentment? God’s peace is able to produce exceedingly better results than our striving. The peace of God is more effective for removing anxiety than any power of ours. Worry has been conquered by Christ! It doesn't matter that you don't know what is in store for you tomorrow; it doesn't matter about your physical condition: better or worse, sickness or health, rich or poor, old or young; it doesn’t matter what you own or what you lack. Christ died and rose for you so that you would be an heir of heaven.
Our life in Christ is marked by contentment, for we can be content in knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we will have life in Christ for all eternity. What could make us more content than that? In the name of the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.