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    Oct 22, 2017

    Cultivate a Life of Contentment

    Passage: Philippians 4:1-13

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Series: Enough

    Category: Stewardship

    What is essential to contentment? Money? Possessions? Not according to scripture!

    Paul was in prison in Rome when he wrote his “Joy Letter” to the Philippians. He obviously had an especially warm place in his heart for the church in Philippi: you make me feel such joy, fill me with such pride. The Philippian church had sent offerings to Paul and the Macedonians when they needed them the most, so Paul’s gratitude ran very deep.

    As always, Paul was also keenly aware of how the fledgling church could get caught up in regular human drama. He wants Euodia and Syntyche to get along – and he wants Syzygus to help them work it out and to get past it so they don’t hold a grudge. I will confess that I am not usually so patient when adults behave that way!

    One of the wonderful things about this letter is where Paul focuses his attention. He doesn’t dwell on the drama – just a couple of sentences and he moves on to the important stuff. He goes directly to the heart of the matter to encourage these disciples in their walk with Christ.

    Pray. Shape your worries into prayers. Fill your minds with what’s important: things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse. Put into practice what you learned from me, what you heard and saw and realized. Do that, and God, who makes everything work together, will work you into his most excellent harmonies.

    Now, all of that would seem like a normal, every-Sunday type sermon, except that Paul was sitting in prison. And not just any prison. I learned this week that the prison was actually a hole in the ground into which Paul had been lowered – a cavernous, damp pit, as it was described.

    And what did he say?
    I’ve learned by now to be quite content whatever my circumstances. I’m just as happy with little as with much, with much as with little. I’ve found the recipe for being happy whether full or hungry, hands full or hands empty. Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

    Are you content? Or are you always looking for the next best thing? Adam Hamilton describes how we often get something and become discontented with it within a very short time. We no sooner find our dream home and barely have the boxes unpacked before we want something better. We buy the newest, bestest phone and dang if the very next week they don’t come out with exactly that feature I REALLLLLLLY need!

    Even our relationships suffer from the perils of discontent. That gorgeous gal or guy we married? Turns out they aren’t perfect! Oh – and that perfect pastor or perfect congregation? Daggone it! That pastor has feet of clay and those church people are – well, they are people just like those other ones in the last church I left!

    You know, don’t you, that our environment pushes us in these directions. Advertisers are experts in making us think that we NEEEEED the next best thing.

    Our guidebook for these few weeks offers Four Keys for Cultivating Contentment.

    Key Number One: Remember that it could be worse!
    Adam Hamilton quotes John Ortberg, a Presbyterian pastor in California on this one:

    Ortberg suggests that when you are getting into your five-year-old car in the parking lot, says, “It could be worse.” As you walk into your apartment or condo or house that is in desperate need of repairs, say, “It could be worse.” When you go to work and are faced with problems and difficulties and disappointments, say, “It could be worse.” And when you’re frustrated and disappointed with your spouse, say, “It could be worse.” Actually, Ortberg suggests [that when it comes to your spouse] you think the words rather than say them aloud!

    This is essentially the practice of looking on the bright side or finding the silver lining. It is recognizing that no matter what we may not like about a thing or person or circumstance, we can always find something good to focus on if only we will choose to do so.

    I would add only one thing. Both Ortberg and Hamilton are suggesting that we say this to ourselves. Imagine going to a friend to share your woes and all they tell you is “it could be worse!” This is an internal conversation – a personal course correction – not instructions for your best friend!

    Key Number 2:  “How long will this make me happy?”
    Ever buy something and find it just wasn’t what you thought it would be – or you thought it would give you pleasure only to find that it was a colossal waste of money?

    I bought Eggies. Yes, Eggies. You know – those plastic egg-shaped things that are supposed to make it easy to hard-boil eggs. I not only bought one set, I bought 2! I mean, when I make deviled eggs, why make just one dozen when my family devours them like potato chips!?!

    They were awful. For a mere $30 they were supposed to be the be-all and end-all of culinary convenience. I didn’t even bother with sending them to Goodwill. I finally put them directly in the trash after trying for months to convince myself that I was just doing it wrong!

    Hamilton tells of wanting a particular kind of car. He said, “so I decided I would rent one before buying it.” Which he did – and he found that it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. He says, “I dropped the car off at the rental car location content to continue to drive my old car for a few more years. That $100 (rental fee) saved me $20,000!”

    Slowing down the purchase or perhaps trying someone else’s may give you new perspective – and save you a boatload of money!

    Key Number Three: Develop a grateful heart.
    Gratitude has one of the most grounding, overwhelmingly positive effects on human beings possible. Have you ever had a time when you got stuck in a negativity cycle? When you just couldn’t stand your spouse or your kids were really getting on your nerves or nothing was good enough?

    Perhaps the best antidote to being stuck in negativity is to begin focusing on what we are grateful for.

    I was going through a particularly difficult time with someone I loved. I could barely stand to be in the same room with this person. It was the last straw – whatever “it” was. Then on day in my morning devotions, I was put back on track by a simple story of looking for what I was thankful for.

    I began – at first – forcing myself to look for my loved one’s good qualities and thanking God for them. It took awhile. But once I got past the first couple, it didn’t take long to generate a long list. My prayers changed. My heart changed. We began spending special time together – something my loved one loves to do. Pretty soon, things were back to normal – in my heart and in our relationship. And no, I’m not talking about my husband!

    In another of his letters, Paul encouraged his flock by saying, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” 1 Thess.5:18.

    Key Number Four:  Ask yourself, “Where does my soul find true satisfaction?”
    Of course, this is the crux of the matter. All around us, the world proclaims that we will only be satisfied with more and better stuff, while within us, the still small voice insists that’s not the way.

    Scriptures and giants of faith have very clear answers to this question: 

    • As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee. Ps. 42:1
    • O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you. My soul is satisfied as with a rich feast, and my mouth praises you with joyful lips when I think of you on my bed and meditate on you in the watches of the night. Ps. 63:1, 5-6
    • Saint Augustine had lived a life of excess before he felt called by God. He was never really satisfied. Yet, when he came to know God intimately, he wrote this: Thou has made us for thyself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in thee.”
    • And in the reading before us today, the Apostle Paul shared how he had come to find contentment. He knew that as long as he had his mind and heart fixed on Christ, he had everything he needed – even when the going got really tough. He wrote: Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. Or, as it is rendered in the New Revised Standard Version: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phil 4:13.

    Beloved, life is pretty simple. Kind of like that little book – Everything I Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. Jesus put it this way: Love God and Love your Neighbor. Don’t be greedy.

    Okay. Thanks be to God!