1 The Wisdom of Contentment Abba s song, Money, money, money goes like this: I work all night, I work all day, to pay the bills I have to pay Ain't it sad And still there never seems to be a single penny left for me That's too bad In my dreams I have a plan If I got me a wealthy man I wouldn't have to work at all, I'd fool around and have a ball... Money, money, money Must be funny In the rich man's world Money, money, money Always sunny In the rich man's world Aha- ahaaa All the things I could do If I had a little money It's a rich man's world A man like that is hard to find but I can't get him off my mind Ain't it sad And if he happens to be free I bet he wouldn't fancy me That's too bad So I must leave, I'll have to go To Las Vegas or Monaco And win a fortune in a game, my life will never be the same... This song captures the desires of many in our society. People want more and more of all the good things this life offers. Advertisements are designed to make us feel dissatisfied, to make us feel we are missing out, that we need this or that to make us happy. If only we had more money we would solve all our problems, we would be truly happy. It is this desire for more and more that the Bible calls greed. But it is the basis of the whole world economic system. The GDP needs to go up; share values must rise; profits need to increase and so on. It is all about more and more. It is this desire that fuels the lottery and betting industries. People spend money to buy their ticket to freedom thinking if only they could win the big one they would have all they need. Life would be so much better! What does God think of all this? Last week we saw that the Bible encourages hard honest work and saving. It is not against increasing wealth and it doesn t say poverty is a virtue.
2 The Wisdom of Contentment 1. Wisdom But the Bible warns us of the danger of greed. Proverbs 15:27 says: The greedy bring ruin to their households. Greed can have disastrous results. 16 Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. 17 Better a dish of vegetables with love than a fattened calf with hatred. (15:16-17) There are things that are vastly more important than money. To focus on wealth is to focus on the wrong thing yet that is what our society does. It is all about dollars on the bottom line. Fracking for coal seam gas takes over from using the land for farming. It is all about the money. Development in the city is not about people but about dollars, profits. Running a health system or welfare system is evaluated by dollars on the bottom line. An article in the Sydney Morning Herald on 9-9- 16 read: The Finance Sector Union has told a key industry inquiry that banks should be required by law to sell retail products such as home loans and credit cards only where it is in a customer's best interests. In a submission to a probe into the incentives facing bank staff, the union also argues that frontline bankers are under such pressure to hit performance targets that this is now the greatest health risk from working in a bank, instead of armed robbery, as was once the case. It says staff are "named and shamed" for failing to hit sales targets, and the pressure takes a heavy toll on many employees' mental health. ABC TV reported that some pensioners where being given credit card limits up to $80,000. To increase profits the banks are harming the health of their staff and selling expensive products customers don t need and can t afford. It is all about profit not people. We can be faced with deciding whether to spend more time at work to earn more or to spend time with the family, or at church activities. Often we can easily focus on the wrong things. As we have seen Proverbs says: 16 Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil. (15:16) One of the key verses in Proverbs is: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. (9:10) Knowing and serving God is what life is all about; making God and living his way main focus of life. To live this way is true wisdom. The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble. (19:23) Rather than constant dissatisfaction and a restless striving for more and more knowing and serving God leads to contentment. Contentment: finding joy and satisfaction in what you have rather than an endless striving for more and more; to be filled with thankfulness for the good things God has given. 2. Contentment How do you see your life? A glass half full or half empty? Do you look at what you have or long for what you don t have.
3 The Wisdom of Contentment Psalm 23 says The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing 5 You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 6 Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. (Psalm 23:1, 5-6) The writer s cup isn t half full, it overflows. He knows that God is his shepherd. He is filled with the sense of God s goodness and love. He may have to face difficulties. He may have to walk through the valley of the shadow of death but even there he knows that the Lord is with him. What about you? Do you have the sense that your cup overflows? That God has blessed you richly? Are you filled with thankful praise? In the New Testament Paul shares his testimony to how knowing Christ is more important than anything else in life. 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ. (Philippians 3:7-8) It is his relationship with God through Christ that means more to him than anything else. He goes on: 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:12-13) He has found that the secret of being content is living for Jesus not for money or for anything else. A life of greed is a life of discontent, a restless life always striving after more; a life of anxiety; it involves envy of those who have more than you; it so easily harms your closest relationships as Proverbs says, The greedy bring ruin to their households. Paul says, 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8 But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9 Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 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. (1 Timothy 6:6-10) But godliness with contentment is great gain. In Jesus we have joy, peace, a way of dealing with anxiety, our prayers are heard by a great and loving God, and we are accepted and loved now and into eternity. Once we have food, shelter and safety our deepest needs are: 1. To be loved - accepted unconditionally for who we are. 2. To be significant - to have a sense of achievement, being worth something 3. To have a secure future People think that money will make them significant; being able to buy the right label on their clothes, the right badge on their car or to live at the right address, or have the latest iphone. They think that having money will make them secure for the future.
4 The Wisdom of Contentment In Christ these needs are fully met. 1. We are fully accepted and loved by God. Nothing can separate us from this love. We are secure in his love now and for eternity. Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5) 2. We have been made God s children. That is far more significant than any worldly achievement. All we do for Jesus has eternal significance. 3. We have an eternal security that money can never give. If we focus on what we already have as God s people we won t be tempted to fulfil our desires through seeking more and more worldly wealth. 3. Idolatry As Pauls says, 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. It is the best way to live for us. However the worst side of greed is that it is an affront to God. Colossians 3:5 says: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. The Ten Commandments forbid the worship of any other god and the making of idols. Israel s most serious failing in the Old Testament was their worship of other gods and making idols. These are the most serious sins. Greed is to worship another god. It is to put money and possessions in the place of God himself. Jesus said, No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. (Matthew 6:24) a) Greed is to love the wrong thing - possessions not God. The shopping mall has replaced the cathedral in our society. People worship the experience of shopping rather than God. It has become the main love for many people. b) Greed is to trust the wrong thing. It is easy to trust wealth to give us security, happiness, health, meaning in life, or significance as a person. We even call some investments securities. But Jesus warns us that money is not secure. There is moth, rust and thieves, not to mention a global financial crisis, inflation and bad investments. If we are trusting in money we are not trusting God. c) Greed is to serve the wrong thing - God is the only master we should have. We have to make a choice. We cannot serve two masters these two are incompatible. To serve wealth is to fail to serve God and to honour him. Greed is so much part of our culture that we may not be aware of its pull on us. We may not recognise greed in ourselves. We need to be prepared to look honestly at our attitudes. What motivates you? What do you long for in life? Do you have the sense that your cup overflows?
5 The Wisdom of Contentment What is it that gives you that feeling of rich blessing? Is it in your relationship with Jesus and his promises? Or is it just in worldly things? It is quite right to be thankful for family and friends and for many other things we enjoy in life but what is at the centre, is it God or material things? Greed is an attitude deep in our hearts. We need to honestly examine our attitudes and decisions to see if we are truly living God s way. We will find that: Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:6). It is best for us. It is also the way that truly honours God.