Contentment

Good morning, everyone! I guess I should say cheerio. I don't know what to say to those who came back from England. I don't know how good you'll have to teach me what a proper greeting is for those who were in England, but that works. It's good to be back. We've had a very enjoyable and exhausting last week. We had 33 people from... We went to college with kids and all, come over to our house for four or five days, and 29 of them stayed at our house. So that's a zoo. That's a serious zoo, but it was a great deal of fun, and I realized this morning how tired I am. So it's good to be back. How many of you are familiar with the cartoon Calvin and Hobbes? Are you familiar? I'll start by reading you a Calvin and Hobbes. It always loses something in translation, but we'll try it. Calvin and his pet tiger, Hobbes, are walking in the woods when Calvin says, I wonder why people are never content with what they have. And Hobbes responds with, are you kidding me? Your fingernails are a joke. You've got no fangs. You can't see at night. Your pink hides are ridiculous. Your reflexes are nil, and you don't even have a tail. Of course people aren't content. Calvin answers, forget I said anything. To which Hobbes responded, now if tigers weren't content, that would be something to worry about. Well, obviously the cartoon is trying to make fun of a basic fact, but I think Calvin's statement is very true. And that is that humans tend to never be content. We all have this nagging pull, something just tugging inside us toward something out there which, if we only had it, life would be better.

And we continue to face it. What would you say if I told you I found an easy way to make you a millionaire tomorrow? Would you be interested? What if I told you that I had a surefire way that by the end of the month you could have a big 4,000 square foot house sitting on Virginia Beach looking out on the water?

What if I told you that I could guarantee you could lose 50 pounds in the next two weeks without changing your lifestyle and doing anything that hurts your body? There's something there for everyone. We could keep going down the trail and we'd find it. And what it's like is that we have this invisible net that goes out there that we're looking for it.

And each of us has a different it. But we're all thinking if only we can get it, life would be better.

And I have no clue where this starts in our life, but I think it starts pretty young. Because you could go back to Drew. He's been chasing its for a very long time. You take him and he's riding his little car around in the driveway and you tell him to go inside. I didn't realize that riding that car was it because he will throw it to you. No! I also ruined my life! Of course, a couple seconds later he has another thing that he can't do, but he's chasing it. When I was growing up, I remember looking out at my older brother and I was, say, three, and he was starting to go to school. And I thought, if only I could go to school, that would be it. It looks so cool. You get your lunchbox, you have your special folders. It didn't take long to realize that that wasn't it. And after a little while, I was thinking, if only I could get out of school, that would be it. Then you get a little older and you see these cute girls out there and you think, if only I could kiss someone, that would be it. And then, of course, you take that to the next stage and you think, if only I could be married, why, that would be it. I love my wife dearly, but for those of you who are married, you know, that ain't it either. And when you get out of school and you're married, you're going through, the next thing you start thinking is, I'm tired of living in an apartment or a condo, a house. A house would be it. Oh, if only I could have that house. But it doesn't take long before there's a bigger house and a bigger house and a bigger house. And that never fills the cup of satisfaction entirely. And we could keep going down this. You could say, if only I could earn, you fill in the blank, $1,000. And I have to say, some of those milestones that I set when I was a young kid, I probably crossed some of them, not realizing what it looked like to actually have that. And I thought, well, that's not it either. Mr. Jordan can tell us about retirement. I'm sure that's somewhere down the road. I can guarantee you that won't be it either. But we have this quest. In a sense, if you look at any TV show, I'll summarize every TV show for you. The plot will revolve around one or more people wishing they were something or had something they don't, and what results from that quest. You could probably fit almost every TV show into that, and it's going to work.

Why? Because it relates to us. It's something that's so internal and so built into us. So the concept of being content in the state we are in is probably one of the greatest challenges mankind faces. And that's why I'd like to talk today. I'd like to talk about contentment, and that search inside us for it.

So what is your end of the railroad? What is that pot of gold that you're looking for? Let's think of that. Put that in front of your mind, and let's think of that as we go forward. I'd like you to turn for the first lesson. Today I have eight lessons I'll share with you. And I'd like you to turn first to Matthew 22, verse 15. Now, the context of what you're looking at is a group of Pharisees that are trying to trick Jesus. It happened a whole lot of times. That's probably a fair context for a lot of things in the Bible, but that's the context we're coming up to here. Matthew 22, verse 15.

There's a good trick. Tell them about this money thing. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? Well, it's not. But what do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? What do you think? It seems like a money thing. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar or not? But Jesus, perceiving their wickedness, said, Why do you test me, you hypocrites? Show me the tax money. So they brought Him a denarius, and He said to them, Whose image and inscription is this? They said, Caesar's. And He said to them, Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's. When they had heard these words, I'll say that again. We're talking about paying taxes. The context and the message of what's being spoken of here is much broader than taxes. I would argue that the relevance of what he's speaking of and the lesson he's sharing fits more to us today than it did for that time. As I said last weekend, we had a bunch of people over, and with that group they represent several different fellowships now. With the 2-hour drive coming down here, it just doesn't make sense to try to bring the group. So we did a Bible study at the house on a book called Money and the Meaning of Life. This first lesson comes from some of the things we talked about in that book. We live in a very materialistic world. In fact, it's probably fair to say this age is more materialistic than any preceding generation. And part of it is that we live in a global economy. And so we're using and relating to things that are made in China, made all over the world, they in America, and the currency that makes it all work is money. And so we have access to things that our forefathers could never dream about. You think of the kings and royalty in Europe would be excited to get a tea from India. That's a no-brainer now. You think, okay, what kind of tea do I want? We have access to so many different things. If you think of what you want to dream about, if you think about what you did yesterday, you went to work. That involved a car. That's making money. If you think about what you hope to do tomorrow, I'd like to lay out. Okay, do you have a lawn you're going to lay out on? You're going to lay out a blanket. Something involves materialism somewhere along the way in there. If you think even about what you would like to do for others, I want to give them some flowers. The money factor is probably part of all of it. And as a result, how we deal with it becomes part of our conscience. It becomes a problem of conscience very often. And that's something we have to keep in mind. The United States is the richest and most powerful country in the world. Some people say it's the richest country in history, and it very well may be. But that makes me ask, are you and I rich?

Well, another thing that you put along that line is you look at how many people in this country talk about, we're having a tough time now. Oh, we're going through a rough period. We have more than our forefathers ever had. We probably have more at this time than we ever had coming in our lives up to this point. Yet it seems that wealth in our society comes with unhappiness. And almost more wealth tends to be more unhappiness.

So again, are you and I rich? I guess that all depends on what scale you look at. Some Americans use the scale of saying, if I'm rich, I can have whatever I want. Now, that's a different scale than a person in a third world country. I can tell you when I was on archaeological digs in Syria that to them, wealth would be to have a 500 square foot mud brick home. That would be wealth. You bet we're wealthy to them. We're rich. But it all comes down to what priority we put toward obtaining material things in our life and how that relates to our spiritual purpose. That's the thought behind the learning the balance of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God. Now, let me use an example from Buddhism and listen to the definition and then let's apply it. Buddhism defines an animal as a being for whom the getting of food is so consuming to daily life that there is no free time to pursue any other aim. An animal is a being for whom the getting of food is so consuming to daily life that there is no free time to pursue any other aim. We are getting this way as people. It's very common to hear people having no time, being too busy, having too much to do to fit in what is humanly important, such as spending time with loved ones, going out in nature, studying an idea, being creative. Human time is, in a sense, conscious time, and we're falling prey to animal time by what we do in this materialistic drive that we have. It's an interesting statement of our world. So again, it's all deep and philosophical. What does this have to do with the quote? And I would have to say, the key is that we have to find the balance between our quest for money and our quest for meaning. That is what Jesus' point was about. Some of us try to find this balance by saying, let me live in a monastery. Let me isolate myself from anything that could tempt me. And I would argue that doesn't take them anywhere anyway, but it's also not what God has in mind. Putting our head in the sand is not the character God wants us to build. So I don't think that's the example that we're to aim for. Now, then, is being successful a good thing? Well, it's certainly not a bad thing, depending on the perspective we have. If you look at Daniel and Joseph, they played key roles in world-ruling empires. And God doesn't condemn them for that at all. We're working to be kings and priests. Is the right way to prepare for that by settling in this age? Whatever settling looks like for you. Is that investing and building on the talents God has given us, or is that burying them in the sand? But again, it's a matter of perspective, and that's what we will talk about today. We must take money seriously. I don't think you can do anything else to build character in this life, because it is just a reality. Spending money is an inescapable part of living. To deny it is to ignore part of being human. But to get obsessed by it, we could never be spiritual. So where is that balance? Contentment is learning the balance of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's.

I think that almost captures the entire challenge of life. It's something that's going to plague us in one way or another. Are we good at balancing that? Do we see it clearly? I think the first step in learning about contentment is to realize where that balance is.

The key area that I would suggest you take and look at is that money is not evil. Money is secondary. Money is not evil. Money is secondary. And that is the proper balance of where to look at it. To refuse to participate in the reality of life is hell. To be obsessed with money is another apartment in hell. It's all looking at where is this balance that makes us be able to live in a way that we can fully be what God wants us to be. And I would encourage you, as this is a starting point, we'll keep building on different things, but if you don't have this one licked, don't worry. It's not a destination, it's a journey. I think contentment can only be seen that way. And as a result, there's a lot of people who walk right by and don't realize it. Because it's something that God, and I think the lessons in life, help us put perspective on, and then we realize it's not out there. We have contentment in front of us right now. So we'll talk more about that. Let's move to the second lesson in our search for contentment. Can contentment come from anything other than God?

My answer is yes. I think that the world offers many alluring things that provide moments of pure bliss. But, let's now go to the second lesson. God is the only thing, or if you want to go to my initial analogy, God is the only it that's out there that can provide lasting contentment. God is the only thing that can provide lasting contentment.

I started the sermon by talking about the search for it, and the different it's that I struggle with growing up through life. And I think we all go through life believing that if we can attain or achieve something, our lives will have a lasting meaning. It'll have a big, long-lasting difference. But what happens? Because I've had several of those things throughout the course of my life, and you have too. What happens? You obviously enjoy it in a moment, but the difference is how long that feeling lasts. It's always short-lived. It's always temporary. And if we think any experience will provide a lasting pleasure, then we have a huge misconception, and that will plague us for the rest of our lives. If you'll turn next to Matthew 6, verse 24. As we mentioned in the first lesson, money is not evil, it just has to be secondary. There's only one source of lasting contentment. And with that background, I'd like us to go to some of the teachings of the Sermon of the Mount. In Matthew 6, verse 24, Jesus spoke to this very issue, and he said, No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon or money.

So this talks to... the fear and the passion for which we put toward filling in these needs and the perspective we need to have. Turn next to Ecclesiastes 9, verse 7. Because the lesson that this is showing is that if we can overcome worrying about physical elements that make up our lives, we're missing out on what's really important. But the flip side is, then, is it wrong to seek any pleasures physically? Is it something that we should avoid that, too? Because that's certainly been the way that a lot of people's convictions have taken. And there's groups now who keep that as a vision of Christianity. Well, I think Solomon realized that there's a balance point in Ecclesiastes. There are many verses in Ecclesiastes I can go to, but I'll pick one here. In Ecclesiastes 9, verse 7, it says, Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart. For God has already accepted your works. Let your garments always be white, and let your head lack no oil. Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life, which he has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity. For that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, don't just do it partially, do it with all your might.

For there is no work, or device, or knowledge, or wisdom in the grave where you are going. We are given life to enjoy. But again, go back to the lesson, fulfillment comes from God. God is the only thing which can provide lasting contentment. Let me tell you a little bit about Napoleon. Napoleon achieved goals that millions of humans have spent their lives striving for. He had power, he had fame, he had riches and glory.

His name is familiar to every student who has ever looked at history. Yet Napoleon stated that all you really wanted and craved was satisfaction in life. And when he was held captive at St. Helena, he wrote, I have never known six happy days in my life. That's Napoleon. So how can this be? Isn't attaining goals satisfying? Well, he found that achieving goals alone didn't bring satisfaction. Because that comes from within, from attaining things that are free from fear, from frustration, from anger, from resentment and bitterness. And that mindset only comes from spiritual satisfaction. Napoleon would never get that by conquering the world. And he got pretty close to that. And that's what Jesus offers.

That's the reason you can read in other scriptures. We're not going to turn there, but the things like, His load is easy to carry, that He is a bringer of peace. Those aren't just physical peace. Many of times that's mental peace.

He is the only source of lasting contentment. And so the issue is one of perspective. There is only one source of lasting hope. And when we allow any other desire in life to replace God with mammon, we've lost our priorities. Let's finish this point by turning to Philippians 4 and verse 11. And this is one of the most amazing scriptures for several reasons and at several levels. But Paul shows an example of what living with true balance looks like.

And I think if we need something physically to make us content, we'll never be content. And if you look at all that Paul suffered and what he went through, he's the poster child of that not being the source of contentment that comes from God. In Philippians 4 and verse 11, it says, "...not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content." Those are heavy words.

Man, that's... You talk about nirvana, that's probably nirvana. "...and whatever state I am in to be content. I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Amazing verse, just by the words, but put context on that. Remember Paul's background. Paul is writing this in Rome, where he is waiting to learn whether he will be let go or killed. If you look back in chapter 1 and verse 7 in Philippians, it says that he is in chains.

This is the person who couldn't remember how many times he'd been whipped or faced death. Yet Paul realized the true source of contentment and could say those words. I think it's important that we keep in mind that God is the only thing which can provide lasting contentment. Let's go on to the third lesson. The third lesson is this. Don't compare yourselves with others. A simple one, but easy to do. Don't compare yourself with others. Paul Faulkner in the book Making Things Right When Things Go Wrong tells of a small university that was having trouble keeping CPAs.

A small area in what was happening, all the CPAs who they tried to hire, could make twice as much in the world of business. And so they struggled with it and kept churning these professors, and finally they figured they had to raise their pay scale. As soon as that happened, other instructors started getting disgruntled. Rather than saying, isn't it great that our school can finally keep quality teachers in the business program, they started to grumble because they compared themselves with others. Another example. Several years ago, the firemen in New York City successfully negotiated a contract with the city. Big wins, success, they're all happy, and until they found out that the new contract they had wasn't the same as what the policemen had negotiated, and their offer had better benefits.

What made them happy suddenly made them angry, and they were disgruntled. Why? Because they compared themselves with others. Have you ever done this? Have you ever gotten a pay raise at work, and you're happy about that until you hear the next person over got more money? Fill in whatever the pieces are. It's amazing how this can impact our attitude. Surveys have found that people tend to look at those who make exactly double of what they make as being rich.

And that's regardless of what income level you're at. So if you make $30,000 a year, $60,000 would be considered rich. If you make $100,000 a year, $200,000 would be considered rich. Billionaire Ted Turner struggles with the dissatisfaction at his income. He said to People Magazine in 2000, I sit down and say, I've got $10 billion, but Bill Gates has $100 billion. I feel like I'm completely failure in my life. It's all perspective. If you'll turn to 2 Corinthians 10, if we compare ourselves with others, we will always be frustrated and discontent about circumstances. If I have more money than someone else, they probably have a prettier wife.

No matter where you look, there is something to envy. No matter what's going to grab you, your source of satisfaction is something that somebody else is going to crave, but they have something, whatever it could be. Drew will get excited by somebody having a ball, and he'll be like, never mind, he'll be playing with a big thing. They have a ball. I want that ball. They'll have the box that a toy came in, and a kid's craving the box. It starts at a young age. There's always something to envy, something to crave after.

We can't compare ourselves with others. Even Ted Turner, with $10 billion, felt a failure when compared to Bill Gates. I think that's what Paul is teaching in 2 Corinthians 10 and verse 12. He says, For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves, but they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. God gave each of us different gifts, different capabilities, and we're dooming ourselves to being unsatisfied if we compare.

We also really mock the gifts that God gives to us. Don't compare yourself with others. Lesson 4. Get your life in order when you need to and before you fear you have to. Again, that search for it isn't just in this lifetime that covers the entire Bible. The Israelites at first thought true contentment would be to leave Egypt. That didn't work. Very quickly, they were muttering and they needed manna. Manna wasn't good enough because they very quickly needed meat instead of manna or on top of manna.

And on and on. In time, they figured out that the problem to all their children was that they needed meat instead of manna or on top of manna. And on and on. In time, they figured out that the problem to all their worries was that they didn't have a king. That wasn't it. And on and on it went. But the interesting thing is, any time God zapped them, any time God put in front of them their sins and they realized the suffering, whether it was through wars or through God putting tests on them, suddenly those physical cravings didn't mean much and they were really pendant.

We can't wait on these things that are in front of us. What are you putting off facing?

I know a lot of people, for example, who put off pursuing baptism. I'll call that second generation Russian roulette. Second generation Christians love playing this whole game of thinking, I know what the Bible says the end times are like, and therefore when I start seeing the signs, I'll come back to church and I'll be baptized. That's terrible logic from a whole lot of points of view. The one thing, when you put off something like that, you lose sight of the real importance of it and that will have an impact on God and take toll. The other thing, you don't know how long you're going to live. You can die unexpected at any time. And that's just one example. Israel let their cravings blind them from what's really important. Do we do that? One of my favorite books is Tuesdays with Morrie. You may have read the book or seen the movie. Great book, I recommend it. But the story is about a person who learned that his favorite college teacher, Morrie, was dying of Lou Gehrig's disease. And so he began spending Tuesdays with him to learn life's lessons. And one of Morrie's chief teachings was, When you learn how to die, you will learn how to live. There's a lot of wisdom to that. When you learn how to die, you will learn how to live. Most people try to get their life in order when they know their days are short. And that's totally backwards. What Morrie taught was that, when we get to the point where our actions give us peace with dying, we have then learned how to live. Different perspectives. Have you ever noticed how people's priorities change when they face death? And so that's where we get to the point that we need to get our lives in order when we need to, and before we fear we have to. Irma Baumbach, well-known writer, when she realized that she was going to be dying from cancer, she wrote a fascinating list of things, if I had my life to live over again. And I'll just give you some excerpts. She said, I would have gone to bed when I was sick, instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren't there for the day. I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage. I would have talked less and listened more. I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained or the sofa faded. I would have eaten the popcorn in the good living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace. I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather rambling on about his youth.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed. I would have cried and laughed less while watching television and more while watching life. Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I'd have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderful growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle. When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, Now go get washed up for dinner. There would have been more, I love yous, more, I'm sorrys. But mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every moment, look at it, and really see it, live it, and never give it back. Stop sweating the small stuff. Interesting perspective of somebody when they face death. So what are the things we're allowing ourselves to be distracted from that would become secondary if we knew our life was short?

Interesting. Interesting to reflect on. What would fear of death make us change in the order of priorities? But that's part of contentment. Those are the things, almost all the things you identify there are probably going to be fit under the words of things that are stopping you from contentment. It's all about perspective. Another thing Irma Bombach wrote, when she was talking about, when she was reflecting on these things, the differences in how people view the world over their lifetimes. She used a girl looking in a mirror. She said, age three, she looks at herself and sees a queen. At age eight, she looks at herself and sees Cinderella. At age fifteen, she looks at herself and sees an ugly sister. Mom, I can't go to school looking like this. At age twenty, she looks at herself and sees too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too straight, too curly, but goes out anyway. At age thirty, she looks at herself and sees too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too straight, too curly, but decides she doesn't have time to fix it, so she's going out anyway. At age forty, she looks at herself and sees clean and goes out anyway. At age fifty, she looks at herself and sees I am and goes wherever she wants to go. At age sixty, she looks at herself and reminds herself of all the people who can't even see themselves. In a mirror, goes out and conquers the world. At age seventy, she looks at herself and sees wisdom, laughter, and ability, and goes out and enjoys life. At age eighty, she doesn't bother to look. She just puts on a purple hat and goes out to have fun with the world. We see life differently based on the pulls that are pulling against us and the things that are distracting us. Do we have to wait until we're 80 to find balance in our perspectives? Don't worry about who has more or who's doing what. Instead, I say focus on what's really meaningful in your life, whether that's physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. Keep those priorities. Let's go on to the fifth lesson. The fifth lesson is this. We'll find the good life when we stop wanting a better one. You probably accept the things that I've set up to this point, and you say, I understand that God is the only lasting source of contentment. I understand that money has to be secondary. We need to find balance. But that's tough when you're in the moment. When you have this special deal on whatever you can get from 50% off, and, oh, that would really be nice to have. Where do we find that balance? If you'll turn to second, you'll find that balance. Where do we find that balance? If you'll turn to second Corinthians 9 and verse 8, and while you're turning there, let me read you a fun story. A Russian woman lived with her husband and two children in a very small hut. Her husband's parents lost their home, and she had to take them in. Unbearable, she said. And in desperation, she went to the village wise man. And she went in and described her problem. What should I do? She said. Do you have a cow? Ask the wise man. Well, yes. Then bring it into the hut, too, and come back to see me in a week, said the wise man. So, a week later, she comes in and says, This is utterly unbearable. And he said, Do you have chickens? Yes, I have chickens, but what about them? Bring them into the hut, too, and come back and see me in another week. Now, you've completely lost your mind. But because of respect for the wise man and his reputation, she did it.

A week later, she returned, This is absolutely impossible. The house is a mess. All right, she said to the wise man, Take out the chickens. The next week, she reported that without the chickens, it was definitely better, but she still was in a miserable situation. All right, said the wise man. Now, take out the cow, and it will settle your problem. And it did. Without the chickens and cows, the woman, her husband, the children, and his two parents got along quite peacefully. Everything is relative. Sometimes we don't know how well off we really are.

Interesting how it works. She didn't appreciate her situation until it got worse. I think we can get caught in that trap. If you look at 2 Corinthians 9 and verse 8, it says, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency and all things, may have an abundance for every good work. God is able to provide everything we need in abundance, so that you always will have enough of everything, and sometimes you'll have an abundance. But what are we to do with that abundance? We are to go ahead and do good works. That's the reason we're given abundance. If we keep it, we're definitely going down the wrong path anyway. We can trouble when we stop being thankful for what we have and think having more is something that will bring us happiness. That's that slippery slope of every commercial advertisement that's out there. It's what's trying to pull at us. So the key to contentment is appreciating what we have and looking for ways we can share our abundance with others for good works. If you'll turn next to Hebrews 13 and verse 5, and while you're turning there, I'd like to read a very thoughtful quote by a woman named Mariah Mains. It says, The it we're looking for is really being content in this state we're in. And let's read Hebrews 13 and verse 5. It says, What can man do to me?

There's a cancer to contentment, and that's the things you have or the things you need to acquire. It's not in them, but it's the desire for them. And that desire for more, that compulsive feeling, is the cancer of contentment. That's what eats it up. And Hebrews says, We should be content with such things as we have. And I'll tell you, I struggle with this all the time, but it's an area that I keep trying to reflect back on. My house is not it. But if I sit back and enjoy my current life in my house, with my wife, with my kids, that is it. It's the combination of things and the perspective with which we look at them, that we find contentment. Now, another thing that tends to struggle along this point is, we start getting frustrated by the day-to-day grind of life, whether it's your work, whether it's your chores, whatever. Now, I think the same lesson applies. And my suggestion for that one would be, stop and think of the attributes you have which help you do whatever task you have upcoming. And it can help with your perspective of it. Let's use an example. You have to put in extra hours to complete a job at work. Okay. You have a job. That was once and it. If only I could get a job.

You are needed. How many people in this world long for that? And you have skills and talents and abilities that are special. That's why you were chosen for the job. That's why you're needing to stay late. It's all perspective. It's how we look at the things that are going on, even the tough times can be things that can make us be grateful. Let's go on to the next point. Lesson six is, constantly grow in spiritual humility and don't fall prey to spiritual contentment. Constantly grow in spiritual humility and don't fall prey to spiritual contentment. So work with me. I've changed tasks on you a little bit. We've been aiming for physical contentment. I am now saying there's a part of contentment that we need to avoid, and that is spiritual contentment. And we need to think on them both. Let's turn to Luke 7, verse 36. We can have all the physical contentment in the world, but we can still greatly disappoint God if we're spiritually content. And I think it's important to start thinking on this topic by looking at a story in Jesus' life. And there's a phrase in here, and there's an example, an analogy he uses that's really intriguing, but I think it fits into this lesson. So work with me a little bit. I'm going to walk you through something that I read in this scripture here. In Luke 7, verse 36, it says, Then one of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went to the Pharisee's house and sat down to eat. And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil, and stood at his feet behind him weeping. And she began to wash his feet, and anointed them with fragrant oil. Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he spoke to himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, would know of what matter of woman this is who touches him, for she is a sinner. Now, just the start of this story is fascinating, because clearly this woman had a reputation. She had a rep out there. We're all sinners. That's a given. But the fact that he could flag her in this way in the story would refer to this. And the fact that Jesus didn't even try to second-guess this way of referring to her, means that she was a sinner. She was like having a scarlet egg branded on her. Let's go ahead and continue. And Jesus answered and said to him, Simon, I have something to say to you. So he said, teacher, say it. There was a certain creditor who had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii and the other fifty. Tell me, therefore, which one of them will love him more? Simon answered and said, I suppose the one who he forgave more. And he said to him, you have rightly judged. Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, do you see this woman? I entered in your house, and you gave me no water for my feet. But she has washed my feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head.

You gave me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss my feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint my head with oil, but this woman has anointed my feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Then he said to her, your sins are forgiven. And those who had sat at the table with him began to say to themselves, who is this?

This is really a profound incident, because we all are sinners, but this story gives the impression that she really had done a lot of awful things, and Jesus, in just the context, treated her in a way probably nobody else ever had. Rather than condemn her, he gave her hope, and that's one of the things that God does. But what message was Jesus trying to tell us with this story? Because in verse 31, he mentions the difference between a person owing 500 denarii and someone owing 50. That is a huge amount of difference. Do you consider it similar if I say, okay, rather than making, you can either make 50,000 or 500,000? I mean, that's like, whoa, they're not even the same ballpark. There's a huge spread of numbers here. Why did he use that example? And it's easy for us to relate to, I think, with money, but the point was not about money. The point was about sin.

So it's like comparing Hitler with a nice little lady in Charlottesville. When you put this big polarity that he's putting here, why would he use that? Well, I think one of the lessons is clearly that none of us has anything to pay for our sins. And that's a fair area to go. We're all equally unable to pay, whether it's small or large debt.

But still, why compare such a large difference? And I think that goes to the area we're talking about. Because otherwise, you could play this real slippery game of saying, well, is it better to sin more then? Hmm. You know, you could go down this whole mind game, and obviously that's not the path we're going to take it.

Turn next to Matthew 6 and verse 9. I'm going to build on what Mr. Winn took us to when he was talking about prayer. Let's look at what's been termed the Lord's Prayer. This is Jesus' example of how we are to speak to the Father and where we are to put our priorities. And I want you to look for something in there. I'll come back and I'll bring it out to your attention. But there's two words that are linked together by Anne that we usually don't relate together.

And I want us to come back and reflect on that. In Matthew 6 and verse 9, it says, In this manner therefore pray, Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And do not lead us into temptations, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen. Now, we've heard this a lot of times. The person is able to say it 37 times or 36 times or whatever it was when they were sick. But what's being listed here is Jesus says, Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our sins, as we forgive our debtors. This example is showing just like we... How often are you hungry? I'm always hungry. I'm hungry now. Just like we're wanting regularly and wanting God to provide food for us, we need to just that consistently ask for forgiveness.

Do we do that? Or is that something that we don't look to in that same pull, that same frequency that we would look at toward hunger? They're equated. There's an and in there, looking with the same passion toward our bread for substance as our forgiveness. And I think that's the lesson that Jesus was showing to the Pharisee. Now, I'll keep explaining that more. But let's turn to 1 John 1 and verse 5. How often do you and I realize our need for Jesus as sinners?

Is that something that we look past? I know how we were when we approached baptism, but do we keep that same realization? Because ideally we're growing in God's Spirit. Ideally, we're growing in the fruits of His Spirit and growing closer to Him. But spiritual contentment is when we feel like we only owe God fifty denarii and not five hundred. If we think back to the times when you've really, really screwed up, that forgiveness means a ton. It means, you know, you're on the ground and sprawled out as pennant as you could be, and you're saying, God, please forgive me. Do we keep that passion, or do we have that's only fifty denarii?

And we get spiritually content. I think that's a lesson that we have to learn. It's a very dangerous area to play. Far more dangerous, actually, than the physical contentment, or the living with physical possessions and feeling we need nothing physically. If we ever get to that spiritual contentment, we've lost the purpose of life. In 1 John 1, verse 5, it says, This is a message which we have heard from him and declared to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to clean us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. Those are scary words. But there's this thing called spiritual contentment. In a good time, it's easy to forget that we owe this constant debt. We can overlook our vulnerability to sin.

Do we fall prey to that? Sometimes having trust and faith in God while in green pastures can be difficult. So it's an interesting way to look at Psalm 23, if you want to go back there and look at that Psalm. But what do we do when we're going through those areas? I think there's an area where when we really screw up, we can look to God and say, Thank you, God, so much for getting me out of this mess. It is so great to be in a better situation where now I can go and do this, and I can accomplish that.

God, I needed you. Is that all parable of walking in the footsteps of the sand and thinking we're the ones who are walking in tough times and God carrying us? Same concept. Spiritual contentment can take place. The key to contentment is always asking God to be in the driver's seat and trusting him with every situation. If you'll turn next to Luke 18 in verse 9. You're familiar with a common phrase in Christian music, in fact, that's overused by many forms of Protestant Christianity.

But it's a very true statement. That is, that we are only sinners saved by grace. That is very true. There's context needed around, but it's absolutely the truth. We are saved thanks to God's mercy and His grace, and we need God's forgiveness. If we're trying to live a life with clean garments, we can't lose sight of our sins and our indebtedness to Jesus. Because that's where spiritual contentment is at. And it's really a very interesting, it's a huge oxymoron, if you think of what that is, where the world looks through the definition of contentment, and the world's philosophy is to feel good about yourself.

Spiritually, we can feel so good about what God has done for us, that we no longer appreciate the sacrifice He gave us, and we walk away from God. It's ironic. It's like this big twist along the way. So we have to look differently, where we can be happy with what He's doing in our life, where we can never be spiritually content. But physically, we need to be content. It's two different sides.

In Luke 18, verse 9, it says, Sound like spiritually content?

And the tax collector, Standing afar off would not so much as raise his eye to heaven, but beat his breath, saying, God, be merciful to me as sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. It goes back to the lesson of constantly grow in spiritual humility, and don't fall prey to spiritual contentment. Because if you look at this example, Jesus never faults the person's claims.

This person, when he claims, he says that not like the other extortioners, he probably was exceptionally honest.

Unjust, he probably treated people very right.

Adulterous, he probably was very faithful.

Fasting twice a week, anybody can claim that one?

Tithing on everything. I don't think anything he claimed was a lie. The Bible never says that.

But the difference is that he was looking at this, this 50 denarii, verse 500 denarii. He'd gotten spiritual contentment by his own doing rather than looking for his need to God.

And that's what's important to keep in mind. For concluding this one, let's turn to one more scripture and go to Hebrews 12 and verse 1. There's a huge danger in feeling self-worth.

And if we fall prey to that, we'll ultimately fail when we're truly tested by God.

Because that's when we make ourselves vulnerable. Because if we feel we can do it on our own, you know that we're just primed for the pick and buy Satan.

In Hebrews 12 and verse 1, it says, Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endure the cross, despise the shame and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

Our only real value is in the fact that God gave his Son for us. And that's where our strength should come from.

Because the sacrifice is not based on the action of a group. God didn't save the church. God is your personal Savior. If everybody up till today had not sinned and you sinned, Christ would still need to have come to give in his life to sacrifice. He is our personal Savior. And that's something that we can't lose sight of.

Otherwise, we fall prey to spiritual contentment.

Let's go to lesson 7.

Lesson 7 is, commit to the source of lasting contentment, and let our actions support what our mind says is our priority. I'll say that again. Commit to the source of lasting contentment, and let our actions support what our mind says is our priority.

Now, the difference between this and the second lesson, you must say, they're the same, and they're not. The second lesson was that God is the only thing which can provide lasting contentment. That's awareness. That's knowledge. Now, what do we do with it?

There are actually three things. When I was thinking about this sermon originally, I was thinking about going down the path of thinking of the three poles, in the sense that we struggle with. But I wanted to go down the area of contentment.

But there's this area of conviction and commitment that also play into it. And I'm going to talk to them a little bit at this point. Because people also struck about, you know, I know something's right, but I'm not really willing to be convicted to it. I'm not really willing to lock in and to make that, whatever it is in life. And the other one is how much, then, if we're convicted to something, are we willing to be committed? You see a lot of people, is a marriage a commitment, or is it just a little promise we make? Is a loan a commitment, or is it a little promise we make? Those are other areas where we really tease ourselves. But let's look at this spiritually. We have to commit to the source of lasting contentment, and let our actions support what our minds say is our priority.

Solomon urged us to live life to the full, and that's fine, but he also reminded us that we would be held accountable. When I gave you the point, I'd like you to turn to Matthew 6 again and go to verse 30. Earlier, I read up to a certain point in Matthew 6, and I stopped intentionally before finishing the point. I want us to read one of the best-known verses in the Bible, really. But put it into context of this. In Matthew 6 and verse 30, it says, Now if God so clothed the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

Remember, we came through this point. Let's keep reading. Therefore, do not worry, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. We talked throughout. Learning and intentment is about learning priorities.

Money is not evil. Money is secondary. What do we seek first? And Jesus said it must be the kingdom of God. We've talked about how that it of contentment is elusive. Well, looking for satisfaction is going to be that way. But what do you believe in? Let's go. We talked about, as I mentioned, conviction and commitment. Let's start with conviction. Conviction is like belief. What do you believe in? What do you really believe in? If you say you believe in being honest, is there a situation where you'd make a white lie?

What is the area where you're going to fudge the truth? Abraham faced that with his wife on a couple of situations. What do you believe in? You say you're convicted to obey the rules at work. Work says don't accept a gift from your clients. It's a good rule until you're offered box tickets to play off games of your favorite sports team. They're never going to know. What do you do? You say it's okay to return $20. What if you happen to stumble across a bag that had $1,000,000? And you knew it's drug money. It's not going back to the owner.

What do you do? What do we really believe in? What are the things that stand inside? I think the lesson really builds from the last one that we talked about, because we must commit or believe in something. We're not at church for our health. It's nice to come here, but it's not for this spiritual good-feeling shot that we get.

We have to take it to the next level, or we're being hypocritical. So, what are our true convictions? And are we willing to be convicted by what we have intellectually been made aware of? Because church every day is making us intellectually, or every week, making us aware of things. What do we do with it, then? That's what God's asking us. That's what God's looking for in our lives. And it's a tremendous blessing for us to hear and understand His Word. But that's not enough. Because if hearing is enough to make us content, then we're not where God wants us to be. And that's something we have to keep in mind.

So, is conviction enough? If we firmly believe it, is that enough? Even when we've come to understand God's truth and His plan, it can be lost. You know people who have believed and left the faith. And that's where commitment comes in. What are you completely committed to? You may say, your spouse. Okay, so, pick you're the most beautiful, wealthy person in the world, comes and starts hitting on you.

What do you do? You may say, God, is that commitment something you're locked into, no matter what? Would you be willing to suffer like Paul? Would you be willing to lose everything like Job? Be wrongly condemned like Joseph? Could something separate you from God? And I'll mention an interesting thing along this line that one of my professors at AC said, and I've learned the wisdom of it through time.

When we were about a student sitting there, bright-eyed in class, he said, be prepared that every one of you who's married expected that your spouse may leave the faith. Are you prepared to commit? Is that going to shake your faith? And I've seen it happen enough times along the way that I was very good at advice.

If you're thinking, well, my spouse is something that I can rely on, no, it does not. Your commitment is to God, not to a relationship that two people share. It's a beautiful thing when it's together, but what are you really committed to?

So I leave you with a lesson again. Commit to the source of lasting contentment and let our actions support what our mind says is our priority. Is our conviction firm? Well, turn next to John 14 and verse 26. Because Jesus came to help overcome our physical pulls, and he came to make this whole challenge that we face easier. One of the reasons he said he needed to leave was because he was going to provide something that would assist us.

If you look at the words that are chosen, it actually fits very well into the topic of contentment. In his final teachings, he showed us how we could find balance. And I think that can be shown in John 14 and verse 26. He says, But the Helper, and depending on your translation, it says, The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will be your Teacher in all things, and will put you in mind of everything I have said to you.

May peace be with you. My peace I give to you. I give it not as the world gives, let not your heart be troubled. Let it be without fear. Whole lot of words dealing with contentment in there. Comfort, peace, not being troubled, not having fear. The Holy Spirit God said to help us with these things.

And again, it's whether we look to Him for assurance, or whether we look to something that needs to be secondary. I'll leave you with one final thought, and it's a brief one. My final lesson is this. Help others stop and appreciate the good about the place they are at in life, or their state of it. Because we are not in this life alone. And while we are all facing this obstacle course that's set before us to build and grow Godly character, we are ultimately to be outwardly focused. There's a quote that's by a person named Donald Hall that said, "...consentment is work so engrossing that you do not know that you're working." And I think that's probably a very fair way of referring to contentment.

God is the source of contentment. We've already talked about that, at least last in contentment. But he came and described himself and set the example of love, which is outgoing. And for us to truly be living in a contentment, there is... I think we can get that way, but the more we focus outwardly, the more we're trying to help each other.

And we can do that by helping people appreciate their state of it. Especially when you see people getting pulled away by the challenges that we face, because there's plenty of them out there. There's a lot of times when we can help people smell the roses and show them what's in front of them. So I hope today has been interesting. I hope it's helped you reflect on something that we all struggle with. In conclusion, I'd like you to turn to 1 Timothy 6, and I'll review the different points that I shared from the beginning.

First one is, contentment is learning the balance of rendering to Caesar what is Caesar's and to God what is God's. Secondly, God is the only thing which can provide less than contentment. Thirdly, we need to avoid comparing ourselves with others. Fourthly, get your life in order when you need to and before you fear you have to. Fifthly, we'll find the good life when we stop wanting a better one. Sixth, constantly grow in spiritual humility and don't fall prey to spiritual contentment. Seventh, commit to the source of lasting contentment and let our actions support what our mind says is our priority.

Walk the walk. And finally, help others stop and appreciate the good about the place they are in life, their state of it. Let's read 1 Timothy 6 and verse 6 to conclude. It says, But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, and to snare and into many foolish and harmful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. It is not evil, it is secondary. For which some have strayed from the faith, because they lost their priorities, and in their greediness they pierce themselves through with many sorrows.

But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. Those are what's first. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life to which you are also called, and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I'd leave you if we learn to put God first, and money and personal drives as secondary, we can truly experience the contentment that God has planned for us. That balance comes from perspective.