BEING CONTENT IN A WORLD OF “MORE”
Never before in the history of humankind has a people had access to so much. We have plenty of everything: food, material things, wealth in general. And yet satisfaction and contentment are rare. Something new is always supplanting the device we already have with new features.
There is a Greek myth that illustrates this tension of having but wanting more. Tantalus, a friend of the gods, commits a heinous crime, and as punishment he is forced to stand waist deep in a pool of water in the underworld for all eternity. Above him is a fruit tree with ripe fruit easily within reach. Yet whenever he reaches up his hand to grab the fruit, the tree branch raises up as well just out of his reach. And whenever he bends down to scoop some water to drink, the water recedes away. He is left forever tantalized by what is just out of reach.
Just out of reach. A little more. A little more and I would be happy. A little more what? A little more money? A little more recognition? A little more house? Then will you be content? Is happiness just out of reach?
Are you aware of the extent to which your joy and contentment in life are tied to what you have or the circumstances of your life?
If I’m honest, I’m not always aware.
Most people are not aware and don’t want to be aware. Doesn’t matter if you are Christian or not, we are often oblivious to the effect of our circumstances on our joy. We might be embarrassed if we connected the dots between where we are in life and how we feel about life. If we did become aware of this connection, we would be challenged to make changes in our lives. Changes we don’t want to make.
Are you content with your life? On the one hand, we should be content with who we are and what we have. On the other hand, we should never be satisfied in our journey to know Jesus better. Paul teaches us that the two are connected.
1. Thanks, but no thanks (4:10; 14-18)
Paul’s letter to the Philippians is really one long “thank you” note. It’s taken till the end of the letter for Paul to get there, but he did want to thank this church for the financial gift that they sent to him.
Paul “rejoiced in the Lord greatly” that they were able to show their concern for him. Something seems to have prevented them from doing so: a lack of funds perhaps, no way to send it…who knows? But he’s glad that they could show concern for him.
That “joy,” Paul says, is more about them than it is about him. Their concern (mentioned 2x in v. 10) is linked to the word “partnership” in v. 15. The Philippian believers had a vested interest in Paul’s ministry, they were concerned that the gospel be preached, because they were committed partners with Paul in the ministry (14-15). So, his joy is rooted in their faith being expressed in action and concern. In other words: “I’m glad for your sake.”
But then Paul says something strange: “I don’t really need the gift.” He says literally, “Not that I am speaking of being in need…” (11a) and “Not that I seek the gift…” (17a). Isn’t Paul in need? He is in prison and prisons were not nice places. The food was barely edible and the conditions were deplorable. Yet Paul says, “I don’t need anything.” Or at least, he doesn’t need things in the way we typically need things. He needed things; he’s not on a hunger strike or radically denying himself. Paul is suffering and has needs.
Suffering, however, changes the way we think about needs. It gives us a perspective on what we really need. When your child is ill or a relationship fails, priorities change and needs become more acute, more refined. You don’t need a bigger house when you need healing from cancer.
In the midst of Paul’s suffering, he experienced the Lord’s sustaining presence. He grew more confident of what the Lord could do in the absence of friends or supply. Paul was grateful for the money, but even if they didn’t send it…
2. I have Learned to be Content (11)
Paul said that he didn’t really have needs because, “…I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content.”
To be “content” may have triggered the Philippians to think of the stoic philosophers. They were known for their self-denial. They were committed to eliminating all external dependence, to detach from all physical needs, and to live without help from anyone. One of these stoics saw a child drinking with her hands and threw away his cup so not to be outdone by a child. Weird stuff!
Is that Paul’s idea of contentment? No, of course not. It is tied more closely to his comment to the Corinthians, “Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,” (2 Cor. 3:5). The key is not self-denial for the sake of some appearance of holiness, it is trust in God. God is the key to contentment. It is not fatalism or laziness – it is a rejection of our natural self-sufficiency and independence.
Jeremiah Burroughs, in his book The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment, wrote, “My brethren, the reason why you do not have contentment in the things of the world is not that you do not have enough of them. The reason is that they are not things proportional to that immortal soul of yours that is capable of God Himself.”
I love that! We cheat ourselves of what is truly fulfilling in life by trying to satisfy our longings with temporary pleasures. We cheat ourselves of God.
Joni Eareckson Tada, who has lived a paralyzed life for decades, commented on “contentment” saying: “For me, true contentment on earth means asking less of this life because more is coming in the next. Godly contentment is great gain. Heavenly gain. Because God has created the appetites in your heart, it stands to reason that he must be the consummation of that hunger. Yes, heaven will galvanize your heart if you focus your faith not on a place of glittery mansions, but on a person, Jesus, who makes heaven a home.” The only way you can learn contentment is by finding Jesus to be enough.
3. Learning the Secret of Contentment (12)
Contentment cannot be achieved in a day. It is something to be learned over time. That’s what Paul says, “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,” (12).
Contentment is not natural to our minds. We aren’t born content. We have to learn it since we are born discontent and dissatisfied. As Sam Storms noted, to learn this lesson we must experience life and its ups and downs. Note that Paul said that he learned to be content even in abundance. As a child starts out in school learning her ABCs, then learning to read and to write and eventually to research difficult subjects, we also need to grow, mature, move from one stage to the next until we find Jesus to be sufficiently beautiful, powerful, and sweet so that even in the face of great loss, the loss of everything hardly registers on our hearts.
How do we cultivate contentment like Paul’s in our own hearts?
First, we must believe that God is a good, caring Father. Burroughs again wrote, “Christian contentment is that sweet, inward, quiet, gracious frame of spirit, which freely submits to and delights in God’s wise and fatherly disposal in every condition.” Contentment is knowing that God is with us in all situations, good and bad.
Second, contentment is a gift from God. And we must ask for it. Jesus Christ died to make us holy and holiness includes contentment. To be content is to yearn after Jesus and receive what his blood has purchased for us.
Third, we must learn to practice self-denial in a world of more. Our culture is all about self-indulgence. Get as much as you can. Enjoy as much as you can. But the Christian life is a life of intentional denial of self for the sake of the gospel. We don’t deny ourselves because something is bad, but sometimes “good things” distract us from the love of God in Christ.
Truly, the only way you can learn to be content is by finding Jesus Christ to be enough. Paul wrote earlier in Philippians, “…whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ…I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…” (3:7-8).
4. I can do all things? (13; 19-20)
This provides the context for us to understand what Paul says next. Lest we misunderstand this popular verse and I begin to sing a solo for you because I can do all things, let’s pause.
Paul has just said he could face hunger, deprivation, and extreme need because he has Jesus. He has learned contentment in those situations. So, what has he learned? What is his secret? That it is through an intimate relationship with Jesus who gives him strength that he can do all things and face all things.
He has in mind the beauty and glory of Jesus, the wonder of his saving work on the cross, the power and energy of his resurrection life, the consistency and constancy of his intercession on our behalf, and the hope and expectation of his second coming. In that frame of mind, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”
A small boy was trying to lift a heavy stone but could not budge it. His father saw this, stopped to watch, and finally said to his son, “Are you using all your strength?” “Yes, I am,” the boy cried. “No,” the father said calmly, “You’re not. You haven’t asked me to help you.”
We can say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,” but if you are like me, you forget to ask for that strength. My nephew’s son used to say, “Me do it!” But he clearly needed help.
What do we need help with? The ability to remain free of bitterness and envy and mistrust when circumstances take a turn for the worst. The ability to resist comparing my stuff with the stuff others have. The ability to rejoice in the Lord when life is one trouble after another. In all things, Jesus gives me the strength to be content in him when all the world falls away from me.
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though it waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling,” (Ps. 46: 1-3).
What does true contentment look like?
It looks like a heart of peace. Remember the peace of Christ that guards your hearts and minds in 4:7? He gives us the ability to be content in the middle of the storm.
It looks like a heart full of grace. When we are content, we are able to see and enjoy God’s grace in our lives. We have the vision to see the smallest gifts from God. And as we freely receive in grace, we are able to freely give. We have open hands because we do not cling to our “stuff.”
It looks like a heart ready to submit. When we are more firmly rooted in God’s presence – knowing he is with us and never abandons us – we are set free from our anxieties and can give up worldly pursuits to rest fully in the love of God. Then anything can happen because I have Jesus.
It looks like a heart flowing with worship. The greatest gift of true contentment is sincere worship. We receive all things from life with thankfulness to God for the good and always patient through the difficult. We can say with Joseph, what was meant for evil, God meant for good.
We close with a challenge: Answer this…
I will be content in life if only __________.
I can experience genuine and lasting fulfillment in my life when I have ______________.
Life is worth living if and only if ____________.
What would you write in those blanks? How would you respond?
My prayer for you and for me is that we fill in the blank saying: I will be content in life if only I have Jesus. I can experience genuine and lasting fulfillment in my life when I have Jesus. Life is worth living if and only if I have Jesus.
AMEN
Credits: I read and adapted some of this material from the following writers
Sam Storms, sermon “Independence through Dependence on Christ” Samstorms.org
Andrew Hess, “How to Find True Contentment” Boundless.org January 30, 2023
Marc J. Sims, “The Secret of Contentment” marcjsims.com
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