Good morning and happy 233rd birthday to America! No other nation in the world has given, bled, and shared more for the sake of the rest of the world than this land. Someone said, America will remain great only as long as America remains good. Goodness isn’t automatic. It requires humility, submission and obedience before God. May God have mercy on us.
We are in a sermon series called the 7 virtues of an authentic Christian life and I can’t think of a better time to focus on the virtue of contentment than 4th of July.
I have a question for you, what’s the difference between the word “content” and the word “content”? Listen up, I don’t want you to miss this – they are the same word. We pronounce them differently, but their root is the same. They both refer to that which fills or satisfies.
The only way to be content, is to be filled, satisfied with the right content. Believe it or not malnutrition remains a huge problem in America. But its not primarily because people don’t have enough to eat. It’s because we eat the wrong stuff. We try to be content by filling ourselves with the wrong content that cannot satisfy our real hunger.
If you want to be content – you must fill yourself with the right content. Let me give you an example. Paul is in prison, writing to his friends in Philippi. It would appear the content of his soul would be empty and that he would be anything but content. Instead, he says, “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.” Phil 4:12
The secret Paul refers to is Jesus living in me, providing for me, protecting me and leading me. David learned the same thing as a shepherd boy 1000 years earlier in the fields outside Bethlehem. “The LORD is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” Ps 23:1-3
David is making the claim, “Because the Lord is my shepherd, I can be content – I can rest assured that the Lord will supply everything I really need. And when my content is filled with the Lord and his supply, I will be content regardless of my circumstances.”
Here’s the problem. I so easily get taken in by things that cannot satisfy my deepest need. I try to fill the content of my soul with things that have no power to make me content. In fact, some of the things I try to fill my soul with, do just the opposite. Instead of making me content – they make me sick, anxious, jealous, envious, bitter, unforgiving, guilty, full of shame.
A nutritionist once told me a simple way to tell the difference between food that is good for you and food that is not. Eat it - then check out how you feel half an hour later.
If you feel great it’s good food, if you feel worse, don’t eat it anymore. The same is true for the stuff you pour into your mind and spirit. 30 min later do you feel better, or do you feel worse? Does it produce guilt and shame? Does it maker you feel closer to God or farther away? Some content produces contentment, some makes us spiritually, emotionally, relationally sick!
Think of your soul as this water glass – you control what you pour into it. Your can pour filthy water in, or you can let God pour in the good stuff. The quality of the content will determine the quality of your contentment. (demonstration)
The LORD puts it this way in Isa 55. “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and mild without money and without cost. Why spent money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy: Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.” Isa 55:1-2
Here’s another way to say it. The secret to contentment is not found in the quantity of things we stuff into our lives. It is found in the quality of things we pour into our soul.
In our Gospel, we read the story of Jesus multiplying the loaves and fishes. He took a small boy’s lunch - five buns and 2 dried fish and fed 5,000 men and their families. Matthew saw it happen. He writes, “They all ate and were satisfied and the disciples took up 12 basketfuls of leftovers.”
What was Jesus’ point? Remember Jesus didn’t do anything to glorify himself but only to point to his Father in heaven. So what was he saying? The contentment we seek will never come from the stuff of this world. No matter how much we stuff in, it won’t be enough.
Our souls will only find contentment, when we feast on God and the things he supplies. When God satisfies our emptiness, we will be satisfied and content regardless of our circumstances.
Because of our sinful nature, contentment doesn’t come naturally. Paul said he had to learn to be content. Learning to be content in whatever circumstance we find ourselves is a spiritual exercise that usually happens only when we come to the absolute end of ourselves.
It’s at that point that we finally submit to placing ourselves under the authority of God’s Word and under the direction of the Holy Spirit. Godly contentment involves patience and learning to wait on God to supply. We Americans are not known for our patience. We want it right now!
Paul gave this advice to Timothy. “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with all kinds of grief.” 1 Tim. 6:6-10
The secret of Godly contentment is the content-ment of our heart. You will only be as healthy and content as the quality of content that you pour into your heart.
One last thought. When God grants you his contentment, you will always have more than enough to share, regardless of your circumstances. Your heart will overflow - just as that young boy did as he gave his entire lunch to Jesus to use how ever Jesus chose. A heart that is contented in the Lord is fearless.
That’s not the case with a heart that is sick from being filled with unhealthy stuff, or a heart that is spiritually starving. A heart that is starving and filled with discontent will find it impossible to share for fear of not having enough. No matter how much you have, scarcity will rule your life.
For those who chose the way of greed, eternity will be filled with eternal discontent and bitterness. They will never be satisfied, they will feel eternally cheated. They will stew forever in their own jealousy and sourness. What a tragic way to spend eternity.
It doesn’t have to be that way. Everything you need is in Jesus. He can cleanse away the foul things you have poured into your heart. He can set you free from the chains of bitterness, resentment, un-forgiveness. (Pour clean water into dirty glass)
Fill your heart and life with Jesus and his will, and wherever you find yourself, regardless of your circumstances, you will not only have enough, your life will be like a wellspring of blessing overflowing to others.
No matter how meager your cupboard may be, like the boy who shared his whole lunch with Jesus, you will always have enough to share. And like that young boy experienced, the ripple effects will amaze you.
Your eternity will be filled with abundance and like those who Jesus fed on the hillside - you will taste and see that the Lord is good! You will eat and be satisfied! AMEN
