Contentment: the Lost Value

“But godliness with contentment is great gain.” 1 Timothy 6: 6

There once was a rich industrialist who was disturbed to find a fisherman sitting lazily beside his boat. "Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked.
"Because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman. "Why don't you catch more fish than you need?' the rich man asked. "What would I do with them?"
"You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish, and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."
The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?" "You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist. "What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied.

Can you relate to that fisherman? Or do you find yourself on the rich man’s side? Today we have the chance to think about one of the lost values of the Christian faith. That “lost value” is contentment.

In our Epistle lesson, Saint Paul is writing to a young pastor named Timothy, and near the end of his letter, the topic turns to money—specifically, those who think godliness is a means to financial gain. In direct opposition to such a mindset, Paul writes that “Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.” So writes the Apostle Paul.

“Godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that.” Paul holds up contentment as a key value for us to live by. God would like for us to be happy with what we have and to enjoy the blessings we’ve been given. But are we happy— do we enjoy our blessings—or is there something always pulling towards more, more, more?

When you live in a culture that issues slogans like: “He who dies with the most toys wins,” you know you’re going to have a hard time living a contented life. You know you’re going to be challenged when you get e-mail like I got this week. The subject heading read: “The more you buy, the more you save.” The more you buy, the more you save. You are being asked to believe that you are saving money as you spend more and more. Contentment is counter-cultural. Have you ever heard an advertisement or a sales pitch that begins by saying, “You know what? What you have right now is OK. You don’t really need anything else”? Of course not! We are immersed and submerged in a consumer culture that is constantly trying to convince you that you won’t really be happy, you won’t really be fulfilled, you are just going to be the world’s biggest outside-looking-in loser if you do not buy this product immediately. What you’ve got isn’t good enough and people will think you are way behind the times (and what could be worse) unless you purchase this item as soon as you possibly can. Keeping up with the Joneses. Chasing the “American Dream”. All are clichés and all are absolutely real forces that influence our thoughts and motivate our actions. We have been trained to want more and our sinful human nature happily complies.

In today’s Old Testament lesson, Amos was warning Israel, but it’s like he was thinking of 21st century America when he said: “You lie on beds…and lounge on your couches. You dine on choice lambs and fattened calves. You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph.” God is crying out through Amos, “Do you realize that you are teetering on the edge of spiritual ruin? Or are you too busy eating, shopping, and entertaining yourself to care?” Who’s he talking about? Israel? Or us?

Contentment may seem like a totally foreign attitude to you, and if it is, you’re not alone. To simply be happy with what you’ve got is like swimming upstream, it’s like refusing to play the game. People just won’t understand if you say, “I like what God has given me.” If your car costs more than my house, the culture of man says: “You’ve got the juice. You are the coolest. You’ve got it made.” But all you have to ask is: “Is that God’s culture? Is that what God values in a person?” The answer simply is “No.”

God knew that we needed to be saved from ourselves and our own out-of-control desires for more. That’s why Jesus became one of us. That’s why he lived perfectly (and remember: his perfect life was totally devoid of huge houses, fancy cars and a mountain of junk). That’s why he sacrificed his life on the cross—because no bigger and better payment we could come up with would work to pay off the debt of sin. That’s why he came back to life—to give you real life—life that never ends—life that is free from the exhausting, ongoing chase after more. In Christ, you truly have all things. Through the adoption of baptism and the gift of faith you become a family member and friend of the Almighty God. He shares his riches with you, and unlike worldly wealth, his are eternal. His riches do go with you out of this world when nothing else does. He gives you identity. He defines you as His own child. You no longer have to define yourself by what you buy and how new it is or how expensive it is. Instead of running after those things, you are free to run after Christ! Content with what you have and who you are, you can run after godliness and faith! Content with the identity God has given you, you can pursue love, endurance and gentleness. It is good and right for you to want more of these things, because they will actually fill you up! Pursue the way of Jesus, and you will find a peace that the world, with all its “bling,” has no ability to give. Let Christ break the cycle of more that controls your thinking. Enjoy the life that flows from Him, and you may just learn that contentment is right under your nose.

Take, for instance, the man who became envious of his friends because they had larger and more luxurious homes. So he listed his house with a real estate firm, planning to sell it and to purchase a more impressive home. Shortly afterward, as he was reading the classified section of the newspaper, he saw an ad for a house that seemed just right. He promptly called the realtor and said, "A house described in today's paper is exactly what I'm looking for. I would like to go through it as soon as possible!" The agent asked him several questions about it and then replied, "But sir, that's your house you’re describing."

In God’s great design, you may already have what you thought you wanted. Let him take off the “more goggles” and take a new look around at your life. What riches you have! What love you’ve been shown! What forgiveness you’ve been given! All of it given in hopes that you will be drawn to the Giver—that you will be overwhelmed by his generosity—that you will be awestruck by a God who pours out blessing after blessing on people who don’t deserve it. That’s grace, my friends. That’s your Father, Savior, and Friend. Can you not be content with Him?

To be sure, contentment is not always easy to maintain. Paul calls the pursuit of contentment and righteousness—the pursuit of God’s way of life—“the good fight of the faith.” And it is a fight. It’s a spiritual struggle and a war of the will. We will sometimes lose the battle and surrender to the current of more. When that happens, don’t hide it; don’t deny it; return to the Lord, be honest in repentance, and be refreshed by God’s forgiveness, bought and paid for by Jesus. Then, recharged and content in Christ, take up the good fight again.

For God himself fights by our side with weapons of the Spirit.
Were they to take our house, goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be wrenched away, They cannot win the day.
The Kingdom’s ours forever!

September 29 and 30 + Pentecost 18