Good Morning Friends,
Honestly, I get a little irritated when people are not satisfied with what they have and always want more and more. Part of me wants to be kind and please people. Another part does not want to risk being taken advantage of. But given the balance of things I think it is wise for everyone to address the issue of how to be both compassionate and satisfied. And it is more than sharing a Coke so that everyone in the world would know but it is similar for as Christians we are not to be content until the whole world has tasted the experience of Jesus. But maybe I am missing something here because today’s passage from Paul’s letter to Timothy is about slavery too and Paul must have had a bit of an ethical dilemma regarding the practice of people owning people. Undoubtedly Christianity has played a role in the abolishment of slavery only to show that the work is not completed until we are completed in Christ. So, this morning I ask you to ponder the challenge of continuous improvement and the opportunity imbedded in today’s question about being godly in an ungodly world.
So, Where Does Wealth And Contentment Lead You In An Imperfect World?
Scripture: Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are members of the church; rather they must serve them all the more, since those who benefit by their service are believers and beloved. Teach and urge these duties. Whoever teaches otherwise and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that is in accordance with godliness, is conceited, understanding nothing, and has a morbid craving for controversy and for disputes about words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these. But those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains. But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.
1 Timothy 6:2c-12 (NRSV)
Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.
Luke 8:1-3 (NRSV)
Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have; for he has said, “I will never leave you or forsake you.”
Hebrews 13:5 (NRSV)
For he (Abraham) looked forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:10 (NRSV)
Whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them; I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it, and again, all was vanity and a chasing after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (NRSV)
Message: The answer friends, rests in the gifts of God shared not the achievements of people horded. Throughout human history, people have been searching for contentment and satisfaction, but when they think they have found it, the feelings have been fleeting and temporary. Some have found financial wealth in being good and others in being bad. The desire to be rich is a problem for it pits others wellbeing against one’s desire to have more. Mostly people have been looking in all the wrong places. What Abraham, Solomon, Luke, Paul, and the faithful disciples of Jesus all discovered was that contentment must always to be paired with godliness. They had in common the experience, that following one’s own desires ends up being an empty practice. But being faithful to something greater than oneself is the way to a lasting contentment. When we put God first, fearing to displease Jesus and seeking to please the Holy Spirit always, we are on the way to true and eternal satisfaction. Socrates put it this way when he said, “Contentment is natural wealth, luxury is artificial poverty.” Think about that for a moment. The reality is that there are several verses directly from literature and more specifically the Bible that connect to this lesson. Solomon in today’s scripture from Ecclesiastes tests this out by trying all sorts of ways to be happy. Owning slaves, eating and drinking, building gardens and palaces that ultimately never increased his level of satisfaction. Having great wealth never made him happy. But this is not to say we are not to have some ambition. Now, I have learned to be content while tent camping, but if I were living in a tent for years in the desert like Abraham I might have developed the ambition to look forward to something better protecting me from the elements. But scripture indicates that Abraham was content with a tent for a dwelling. And I wonder why that was for he had the money and knowledge and manpower to change that, but I doubt it was a lack of motivation that deterred him. Something else is at play here. The key is found in Hebrews where there is a listing of the great heroes of the faith. And here it is explained that Abraham had faith to leave when God told him to leave and to stay where he was told to stay but that in the end he was really looking forward to a city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God. Friends, it is always right to have the ambition of a stronger relationship with God. We are to fight the good fight, but it is never to be about us in our striving, but about God and the divine plan. Here, contentment is a feeling that envelops us when we are truly thankful for what we have and are no longer seeking to acquire more for ourselves but more for God’s purposes.
And So, friends, do not let negativity affect your walk with God. We are to help transform the world to help it reflect the mind of Christ while living in the Spirit. So, realize that you came into this world with nothing and will leave it with nothing of earthly substance but perhaps with the joy of knowing the importance of people’s freedom to use their God given gifts. So, put the will of God before your own and in doing so find contentment balanced with creative ways of attacking social wrongs. Never prioritize personal wants before Kingdom needs.
Pray we realize that the path of true contentment must always be walked with God. Pray we are content with what we have but never with who we are. Pray we become more grateful and more generous… more holy. Pray we take control of our attitude. Pray we realize the potential social, financial, and relational costs of being discontent. Pray we realize that each of us is unique and important to God so we can stop comparing ourselves to others as a way of gaining contentment. Pray we begin to understand the incredible satisfaction gained through a relationship with Christ. Pray we have the fearless heart of contentment balanced with an unending desire for the gifts of God in the people of God to be fully discovered. Pray our contentment and desired are molded by God to leads us on a path of love. Pray we fight the good fight. Pray we heed the call to a new kind of victory.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 