Contentment

Well, I'm going to start on being content. The actual title of the sermon is contentment. It's something that the Bible speaks on. It's something that many people long for, that many people desire.

When you think about it, Paul actually wrote to the church in Philippi a very religious church, a very solid church. I don't have my thing, do I? It's right here. Very good. If I had my remote, I'd be content, wouldn't it?

So, I ask you, as Paul says in Philippians 4 and verse 11, that I have learned to be content in whatever state I am in.

I learned that six years ago. I've had to learn to be content in Florida, different than Tennessee, different than more content than in Alabama. But that's not what Paul is talking about. He has learned to be content in whatever state. So, are you content?

Hmm. We don't have to think about it, right? Hopefully, we would say we are, but are you totally content? I wanted, at age 13, I grew five inches in one year, in my summer, and I became at 13, five foot, ten inches tall, the same height as my father.

And I thought at the time, man, this is going to be great! I'm going to be 6'3", exactly what I want to be. Maybe 6'4". I'll have 220 pounds of muscle. I'll be exactly what I want to be. Well, it didn't happen. I'm not 6'3".

Thankfully, I'm not 220 pounds, either.

But also, I wanted blonde hair, like I had when I was five years old. And then it all just turned brown. Now it's good.

But to me, that's what I wanted. And I'd be content if I had blonde hair. But I didn't have. But I did get a 5'6'' tall, blue-eyed, blonde wife. And thankfully to Jeannie, she can stay blonde.

My wife's hairdresser on the second row.

So I got what I wanted.

My wife? I was content. Perhaps you would say you're content. Or would you say, I'm satisfied. Satisfied? Maybe at peace. Most of us want peace, right?

Or do we sometimes just look at it when we have been tempted and say, I just settled?

Then we become, have a state of discontent, don't we?

Over the years and decades, we, as we grow older, of course young people are out of the room.

As you get older, you just don't even worry about the stuff you worried about when you were younger. Am I going to have this? What am I going to be doing?

And it can just consume you as a young person, and sometimes it carries over into the adult life.

But isn't it amazing that we will sit there and think as we've gotten older that the things that were so important at age 20 are not very important at age 50? Right?

And that things change. You change. And those things that we thought were so important at different times in our lives, we actually get them and it's not, after we obsess over them and we get them and then it's like, what?

It wasn't a whole lot there. I thought it was going to be. I remember I was 20 something years out of 2021, went to this store, didn't have much money to spend, but they had this leather jacket on sale.

I just thought, I have to have, I tried it on and it just fit, and it was on sale. But I didn't have the money to buy it, even on sale.

But you know, amazing thing was, when I got home at night, oh man, all I could think about was that leather coat. You know, it was going to make me complete if I had the leather jacket.

But I didn't have the money. So I waited till the end of the week and I put off paying my rent and went and got the jacket.

Had to pay a late fee, but I figured I'd come up with the money later on. Put that jacket on and it completed me. For about 24 hours.

And then it's like, okay, wow. Now I'm in the hole the rest of the month trying to dig out because this jacket, the coat that looks so good, wasn't all that much.

I remember that because that's happened to me many times over the years and I'm sure it has happened to you too, where you really thought something.

You know, it's like this house, you know, had a big house and it would be just right. And then we were that way with our house.

And then it's like, now we want to smell the house. We don't need a lot of stuff.

Our car that was so important, now it's a means to get us somewhere, right? But it used to be, ah, I had to have the right color.

The job. Remember how if you had this, if you got this job, then you would be totally content because boy, that's going to be the best job ever. And it was for a couple of weeks, wasn't it?

So how do we find this life of contentment?

You know, it can be bad to be content. Spiritually. I've known people who, I've actually known ministers, who were content spiritually.

They thought they knew the Bible because they had done this for 20 years and so very seldom did they actually sit down and study and read anymore.

It happens to members too. I got the Holy Days, got the Sabbath, got 10 commandments, I'm good!

So being content spiritually can sometimes be an issue or a problem, can it?

But then there's the other ditch. The other ditch, it can be bad not to be content with anything.

And some people are that way.

My first job at school was working for a company that had a building near the railroad tracks. And there was a guy by the name of Willie Ashford there. He was known as the town drunk.

Derelict, if you want to use a better word. And Willie walked up and down the street in front of our building, would sometimes find him laying in the grass beside our building. Everybody else would find him laying somewhere because he was usually inebriated by the time he went to bed. And he didn't really have a home.

And Willie was content. I talked to him a few times, and he always just was nice. All he wanted was some change.

And Willie was totally content with a little change and a bottle. He almost always had a bottle.

What is contentment to you? Anybody?

Okay. Peace. You said the kingdom. You'll be content in the kingdom. Can you be content before them? Okay. What makes you content? I'm going to head three or four in. Anybody else? Yeah, Bill? I'm wondering that you have the important things that you need. That's the things that are really important. You have. You have what's really a peace of mind. Yes, sir? Finding the true church. Finding. On a daily living, we have food and clothing. Food and clothing. Right? Yeah, William? To be right with God. To be right with God. Okay. I bring this out because that's where we're going to go, but there was an incredible story I read about. True story. About the Allied forces at the end of World War II. The months after, in Europe, after the war was over, the Allied forces went through trying to piece things together as they knew this devastated part of the world would have to be rebuilt.

One of the things they did is they were trying to find people, relocate people. They went to all these towns, and many of them had been totally destroyed. So they were gathering things and giving reports back before the Marshall Plan was actually enacted. And they found one thing. They found in all these towns, once the shooting stopped, once the bomb stopped, the airplane stopped, there were a bunch of kids from about age 5 or 6 to about 10 or 12 that were scattered out through all these towns. They had gone through the last months, 6 months of the war.

Families separated or killed or destroyed. And these children were running around at night trying to find food, trying to survive. Most of them emaciated so bad. But then when the forces brought them together and would set up a base there, they brought them food, water, and everything, and began to bring these hundreds of children in together. And it amazed the commander as he sent his report in. Because he was walking by one night and there was the problem that every night they couldn't get the kids to go to sleep.

They just wouldn't sleep. And so he wondered, how can we do this? I don't want to give them something to make them sleep, but they're up all night just wandering around or just couldn't go to sleep. And so he saw a soldier walk by where the children were keeping an eye on him. And the soldier had a candy bar that was given to the soldiers at the time.

And he took the candy bar out and he took a bite. And then a little child looked at him and he noticed that all the children were looking at him. And so they gave him an idea. So that next night, before they, after they had fed them, they gave them all they could eat and so forth. And the night when they all went to bed, he went in and gave them all a piece of bread to take to bed, to which everyone fell asleep.

For you see, all those months before, they had just been worried all night if they were going to be able to have food the next day. And that consumed their thoughts to where it was a state of mind. So now, knowing that they would be able to eat the next day, they were content. To me, it's an amazing story of the humanity that exists in all of us.

Like you'd turn to Proverbs. Proverbs, if you will. Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20, verse 13. Do not love sleep lest you come to poverty. What? Do not love sleep lest you come to poverty. I wondered why in the world my father at a very young age said, Get out of bed! Sun's up! Sleep? Contentment? What does that do with it? Well, here Solomon is telling some things. And go over to verse 15 of chapter 20. There is gold and a multitude of rubies, but the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

He's laying out because Solomon had it all, but he was not content. It's like Chris bringing out about David's wives. He had eight wives, and we don't know how many they think about 15, 16 concubines.

He wasn't content. And Solomon, 700 wives and 300 concubines. God knows what's in our minds. As humans, he created us. He knows. And he knows that we sometimes can get off track. That we can allow a spirit of discontent to enter us, even those who have his truth, even those who acknowledge God as their Savior. It's a weakness we all have. It's a weakness part of being human.

Isn't it amazing? It's written about being satisfied. Actually, it's written, Let the wife of your youth breast satisfy you. Let the wife of your youth breast satisfy you. Why do you think that is? God knew men were visual. Right?

No, but you see, this is part of what God is trying to teach us about learning to be content, because you can't tell me that Solomon had 1,000 women and 1,000 different sizes and shapes of breasts. And he wasn't content. Obviously. It's something that we have to work on. You have to learn to be content.

Because if you don't, you're going to learn not to be content with anything. And haven't you met those people? They change jobs because the job is going to make them happy. They change wives because they think that's going to make them happy. God is trying to point us so that we can have true happiness. And it starts with this little thing called contentment that we as humans have control. Now, chapter 20, Proverbs 20, let's go on to verse 29.

The glory of young men is their strength. The glory of young men is their strength. And if you don't believe so, go to UFit, go to Platas Fitness or whatever, and look at all the mirrors on the wall. And the young guys who they could be working out at this wall, you know, oh, no, they're standing in front of the mirror, right? Because they're, you know, they can see it growing.

They're just like, hmm, you know? Because they're, this is what they want to be because once they get a certain size, then, yeah, then they're going to be just content. Now, I can't get any bigger. I need to take something to help me get, what? Bigger. Right? Because I remember joining a gym, and I remember I was 19, 20, first time I benched 250 pounds. It was like, oh, man, I walked out of there with my arms.

It was like, you know, did anybody care? No. Was I content with it? No. Because then I start thinking, yeah, I can bench 300 pounds. But it says, the glory of the young man is their strength, and the splendor of old men is their gray hair. Okay? I got gray hair. You got some gray hair? Everybody here?

A little bit of here? You got a little bit of gray hair, right? We, for all of us who have this, and even those who put something on top of it, so you can't see it, we have mostly earned every single one of them. Right? I did, because of everything we've gone through. Show's experience. I was over at Humberto's this week, and it was like talking it here, you know, here is this man in his 70s.

But yet, we reflected back to when he was a young man, and he said he used to play football or soccer from 7 in the morning to 7 at night, running, running all day, 10, 15, 20 miles in a day, playing soccer, and never got tired. Oh, and that felt so good, and I could see in his eyes he was reliving it the other day. Right? Because he can't do that now.

But what he can do, as he has given to me and to many of you in this church, the knowledge and wisdom that comes with that gray hair that he has of living life, he has learned to be content and satisfied. Go over chapter 21. 21 verse 17. He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. He didn't say you might be.

He who loves pleasure will be a poor man. Have you met a poor man or a poor woman that all they thought about was entertainment all the time? I knew some guys in Tennessee, and it was college football on Saturday. Had to have season tickets, you know, had to have good ones, and then it took money to travel up to do that.

And then on Sunday, the Titans played, so then you had to go to there and spend the money, and even if you wanted a beer, you didn't mind paying $10 for a beer, because this was what life was all about. Football, right? Or maybe it's something else.

But then it says, he who loves wine and oil are talking about eating olive oil. He who loves wine and oil will not be rich. Will not be rich.

Seen, people just want to go out and eat every meal, or as much as they can, and they can't go in, and they want to have this or this.

Solomon knew all this. He's trying to explain or get us to see what this is all about.

Chapter 23.

And verse 4, Do not overwork to be rich. Any of you guilty of that?

I guess I'm the only one, and I'm definitely raising my hand. I was younger, man, I gotta have this. I could work 15, along my body, hold out, man, I could get this, I'm gonna make, you know, a time and a half, I'm gonna get this, I'm gonna get that.

Except I really didn't have much relationship with God.

The God of money, and that's not God we know.

But here it says, Do not overwork to be rich because of your own understanding. Cease, cease, stop it, stop it.

You're not gonna find contentment in work, in money, in everything that you're looking for.

He says, Will you set your eyes on that, which is not?

Because in reality, it's not really what you think it is.

Nothing is really as big as what we think it is, is it?

That grand car, you get a brand new car.

You want to go back every year and spray that new car smell in it, don't you?

So it feels like it's worth paying those payments.

Because what was really big really isn't. And he said, Will set your eyes on that, which is not? The riches certainly make themselves wings.

It flies away, doesn't it?

You couldn't have told me this when I was 20 years old?

At all!

Because it didn't make sense. Everything was ahead of me! I could see it! All I had to do was grab it!

And you grab it, and you pull your hand back, and there's nothing there. That's what Solomon is saying.

They fly away like an eagle towards heaven. They come and they go. Come and they go. Let's go back to the beginning, Philippians, when we started this journey about contentment. And let's read this, because this is such a powerful, powerful, awesome understanding.

Philippians 4, verse 11. Not that I speak in regards to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am in to be content or to be humble.

I know how to be a based, and I know how to abound. That means to live in prosperity. Paul had done both, and most of us, in one way or another, have lived both really good and had some hard times.

All of us in who have lived for a little while, you've had some hard times, and you've also had some good ones.

But he said, everywhere and in, let's take that huge, huge, huge word, all. A-L-L. When God uses all, he means all.

Okay?

Everywhere and in all things I have learned, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need, because I can do all what? Things through Christ who strengthens me. You see, we're true contentment. See, you can be content. It's not you. It's not about you, what you can accomplish.

But so many of us think it is. It is or it was.

I can. I can do all things. That means I don't have to worry. If I can do all things, I don't have to worry, because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Okay?

We had a friend, a family in Tennessee. They had the business behind mine, and they had a Greek restaurant, and it was De Sarno's family. And we got to know them as they started their business. Same time I started mine, and De Sarno's had children, and they were Greek.

And they came all from off the boat, from Athens, and got a job, and started this little Greek restaurant. So as we spent time over the years, they got to know us well, and so then they had a grandbaby, and it was to be christened in the Greek Orthodox Church. And so I learned a lot, because we were invited as they invited all the Greeks from the southeast when this comes up. I mean, they just make a big deal out of this. So we went, and here was this big church, and they just spoke Greek, which I couldn't understand very much of it.

Blah blah blah blah blah blah. But we got to know them. We were only, what, six, maybe six of us that were not Greeks that were there. Of course, they set all of us at one table, you know, because after the baptism, which they take the baby at this time, and it's one year old, and they take this baby, and they have this big gold or bronze bow, and it's filled with olive oil, and they actually baptized or don't immerse this baby in this olive oil. Okay? That's what they do, which I found interesting. But what I also found interesting is that baby has no name in a true Greek society.

That baby is not named until that day, until it's one year old. And then the parents don't even name it. When that baby is born, there is an appointed godfather. Yeah, just like the Mafia, I guess the Greeks, I tell you, the Sicilians get it from the Greeks, I guess. But there is a godfather, and that godfather then accepts the responsibility that in one year he will name that child, which seemed odd or strange to us, but that's part of their culture.

But the amazing part was, because Tula, who was actually there, she had a godfather when she was, you know, the grandmother did, when she was born. And this man named her, and he became her godfather. And the amazing part was that no matter what happened to her family, he would always take care of her.

Feed her, clothe her, educate her, be able to come to him if there were problems with the family. The thing was, he had her back. He had her support. He was always there, even though she didn't see him, unless she needed him.

Do we have that mindset? Would you be fairly content if you knew somebody had your back like that? Wasn't even a family member? Do we not? It says, we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. We have a backup parachute. Okay? Backup parachute. Which is great. Let's go with me to John 15. We read it at the Passover. But I think this has an incredible meaning for us in John 15 and verse 5. John 15 and verse 5, New King James, says, I am the vine, and you are the branches.

He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit. For without me, you can do nothing. But with him, you can do what? Anything. What God said? With God, nothing is impossible. But here, he's saying, if we do not have him, we can really do nothing. So, will you ever be content without Christ? No. Will you ever be content without God? Go with me now to Colossians. Colossians 1. As much as I want to say this keynote scripture, Philippians 4.11 is, but I want us to feel this because it's one of the most empowering scriptures in the entire Bible.

For us, if you grasp what is going on in our lives, Colossians 1 verse 16. For by him, all... Here we go. We're going back to all. By him, who? Christ. By Christ, all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All, all things were created through him and for him. This is Christ, everything. He owns it all. He created it all. It's all His. He can do anything He wants with all of it. And we worry.

We worry about things when He is our Godfather. Wow. All things. This scripture, these verses are put in here to show that Christ did everything. He created it all. It's all His. It's for Him. By Him. So, we can do all things with Christ. All things were created through Him and for Him, and He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.

All things exist, really, because of Him. And this is a power we have because we're part of the family. And He is the head of the body, as New Living Translation says, Christ is the head of the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and that in all things He may have preeminence. Or as the NIV says, supremacy.

There is nothing higher than Him. So when we say, in Christ's name, the prayer, guess what? It's done! You can't go any higher than that. We ask this in Christ's name, our elder brother. 1 Timothy 6. Many of you know this verse. 1 Timothy 6. 6-6. But godliness with contentment is great gain.

There we can have that understanding in the New Living Translation. I'll read that. It says, Yet true godliness and contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into this world, and we can't take anything out when we leave. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. Let us be content. See, we have to work for food and clothing, don't we? And most of us are not afraid to work. We work for that. Be content with that because your Father knows. Jesus Christ knows whatever else you need.

He just wants to hear it from you. Right? It's why. Go back to Philippians 4. Go back to Philippians 4 because he really addresses this in 4. Because Philippians 4 verse 6-7, but it actually says, Don't worry about anything but pray for what? Everything. Don't worry about anything. And yet, what do we do? We worry. Ah, well, what about that? Don't worry about anything but pray for everything. It's that simple.

When we worry, we're taking the everything out. Why are we even praying? Why are we even praying? Now, it's part of the human condition. And this is something... what did Paul say? I have learned to be content. It's a learned state. I've had to learn it. I'm still learning it.

That's why I'm up here teaching. I have had to learn to be content in whatever state I'm at. I have to be learned to be content with my health. Okay? Do what I can, but I'm... Because God's already heard this. What about money? Financial problems you might have. Don't worry about it. Pray about it. This is what he's saying. He's asking us to open up this big old box called faith in him. And then we don't have to worry.

Then we can be content. Chapter 4 and verse 6. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God and the peace, peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through what? Christ. It's simple. All we have to do is follow this, and we can have contentment. Do you worry? Most do.

Do you know what the Bible says? Stop it! Stop it! I have to tell myself that many times. Stop it! Why are you worrying about this? Why are you thinking about this? I have the controller and the creator of the universe. A total access to it. Let's wrap this up. If you will, the last verse with me is Ecclesiastes. Ecclesiastes. Well, one of my favorite chapters in the Bible. But we're going to get into some verses here, because you know it as there's a time for everything. In fact, I played a video or a song one time that was a time to kill, a time to live, time for this, time for that.

Notice it's Solomon who says this, because he had done everything. But then he gives us what is one of the most prolific revelations in the entire Bible. You may say, wait a minute, it's not in the book of Revelation. No, it's right here. It helps us to understand the human condition as no other. It helps us to understand why contentment is so important and why godliness with contentment is a great gain. Let's go to verse 11. He said, he has made everything beautiful in his time.

You remember, what was that guy? Everything is beautiful. Who is it? Ray Stevens. You remember that little song? Yeah, you remember? This is where he got it. Everything is beautiful in its own time. 11. Ecclesiastes 3 and verse 11. He, Christ, we already saw, he made everything. He created everything, right? He made everything beautiful in its time. Also, here it is. You want this revelation? Mark it in your Bible. Also, he has put eternity in their hearts. He has put eternity in your heart. He has put eternity in all creation's heart.

They know. We know. You know. I know. People on the street know. And atheists know there's got to be more to life than this. And God has put it there. Why are they searching for the fountain of youth? Why is everybody saying, oh, I got to have this?

God has put it in that there's more to existence than just this life. And he put it in his greatest creation, us. Right? A cow's going to walk through going, are they worried about next week? Are they worried about next year? When they might be on somebody's table?

No. A dog's just kind of walking down the road. Not even worried. Cars buzzing by. He's just like this. Right? But God didn't make us like dogs. We are the apex of his creation, the greatest creation in his own image. And so, what does God do? He lives forever. What's he promise his family? Those who will just follow him live forever. He has put eternity in everyone's heart.

That's why we have a booklet called, What is Your Destiny? Wow! Also, he has put eternity in their hearts. Brethren, you have the answer. You know what he promises. How content should you be? Pretty content. Except that no man, no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end. Because we couldn't even comprehend what he's done. What he can do. Everything. He's so much greater than we are. But he's wanting to raise us up from the dirt to divine. That's it. And live for eternity. Verse 12, I know that there is nothing better for them than to rejoice and do good things in their lives.

And also that every man and woman should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor. It is the gift of God.

It is the gift of God.

We worry way too much. We stress over way too much.

We have the back-up parachute. We have the Godfather. And it's not Tony Soprano. It's not Marlon Brando. But it's the highest power of everything. But too many times we stress, even in the church, even over church stuff. I don't understand this. Wait a minute. What about? No. God's in charge. Christ is the head of his church.

He's got everything.

I want to finish this sermon about contentment because I found it very poignant as we began with a song. We will end with a song, a video. So this video is unique because it was actually written by a friend of mine. It used to be a friend. I haven't seen him in 20 years. But we went to high school together, played ball together, and I thought he would amount to nothing because he never worried about a thing. Just chilled out, playing basketball. I was all over everybody. He was just like, okay. So I only thought he would amount to nothing.

But he did. He actually became a songwriter, as many people in Nashville do. I want to play now his first number one hit that he wrote for Toby Keith many years ago because once I heard it, I was impacted because I knew the writer. I also knew he wrote this in 2001. He wrote it just before the Twin Towers where we had the attack on America. Toby Keith was recording this and he recorded it and was making a video of it when the Twin Towers fell. So they actually changed the video to put part of that in here because of the way that the country was, the way people were stressed out, the way they didn't understand. I want to play it now because it was actually released in January of 2002.

Because whenever you think, what's the big things that are important in life?

Big thing is your God and next is your family. And try to be content with what God has given us. So I'll finish this with this video. It's called...