November 16, 2014FBC Vancouver

Text: Philippians 4:10-23 Title: Secrets of Contentment

(Series: Living As Citizens of the Land Called ‘Gospel’)

In the Scripture reading for this Lord’s Day,the apostle Paul concludes his letter to his cherished friends

living in the Roman colony of Philippiin the part of the Empire known as Macedonia.

As we read the text,remember the context from which he is writing.

He is in prison, in Rome.

The words we read …words that have impacted millions of lives

throughout the centuriesin every conceivable life-setting …

were written from prison.

When he was first brought under protective custody

to the capital city, Paul was allowed to live under house arrest

in his own rented quarters.

He then spoke metaphorically of “being in chains.”

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But apparently as the date for his trial

before the mad man Caesar Nero was approaching,he was moved into an actual prison cell,

further into the heart of the city, closer to Emperor’s headquarters.

He then spoke literally of “being in chains.”

Day and nighthe was guarded by soldiers of the Praetorian Guard,

the sons of the Empire’s elite.

Prisons in that day were inhumane places.

As many prisons are in our day.

In Paul’s day prisons did not even take care of basic human needs.

So prisoners, if they were going to survive the ordeal,

counted on family and friends to bring food and water,

blankets and clean clothes.

Which Paul’s cherished friends in Philippi,hundreds of kilometers away,

did for him.

They sent him a “care package,” if you will,apparently quite substantial.

Sent with one of their members,possibly one of their leaders,

a man named Ephaphroditus.

While visiting Paul in prison,Ephaphroditus became very ill, almost dying.

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Thankfully, he recovered.

When the time came to return home,Paul took the opportunity

to write a letter to the church in Philippi,sending it with his trusted

co-worker in the Gospel.

Our text today – Philippians 4:10-23.

The conclusion of one of the most deeply personal,autobiographical letters the apostle wrote.

If you would like, you may stand for the reading of God’s Word.

Read

Pray

….

As we read the text,especially stood out to you?

What word or phrase or claim especially spoke to you?

You can tell by the title I have given to the conclusion of Paul’s letter

what especially speaks to me.

Contentment.

The secret of contentment.

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Chapter 4, verse 11 –

“… for I have learned to be contentin whatever circumstance I am.”

Chapter 4, verse 12 –

“… in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry,

both of having abundance and suffering need.”

A number of times throughout our studies in Philippians,I have used the word, “miracle.”

For so much of what Paul shares about himself is “miracle.”

As I live in the conclusion to PhilippiansI have to use the word again.

For what Paul speaks here is pure “miracle.”

That a human being in this broken world can say,“I have learned to be content” is a miracle.

That a human being can say it in the circumstancesfrom which Paul writes … a huge miracle.

A miracle I want to be worked in me!

And I assume you would like worked in you!

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Webster’s Dictionary defines “content” as “satisfied.”

“I have learned to be satisfied in any and every circumstance.”

The Dictionary defines “contentment” as “freedom from care.”

“I have learned the secret of living free from care in any and every circumstance.”

Although he is not directly speaking about “contentment” as such,I think J. I. Packer gets to the heart of it with his phrase

“unfettered-ness of spirit.”

In his classic book, Knowing God,he writes what has “haunted” me for decades.

He says that the clear marks of a life that knows God are“goodness, gaiety, and unfettered-ness of spirit.”

Paul has learned the secret of “unfettered-ness of spirit”… even while fettered in chains.

As one commentator says:Paul “was not pacing his cell,

inquiring of the guard every five minuteswhether the mail had come.”

[Fred Craddock, Philippians, 78]

“I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am.”

“I have learned.”

I am so glad Paul says that – “learned.”

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For it says that contentment was not his natural disposition.

He was not naturally inclined to be content in whatever circumstance

he found himself.

Neither am I!

If I were to “pass through” to the other side soon,at my Memorial Service,

my family and friends would not use the word in their eulogy of me.

Should I die at this point in the process of maturing in Christ,

no one would say,“The thing that stood out to me about Darrell

is a deep contentment no matter the circumstances.”

I find great comfort and encouragementin the great apostle,

one of the greatest disciples of Jesus to ever live,saying,

“I have learned to be content …”

“I have learned the secret …”

In saying, “I have learned the secret,”Paul is co-opting

the language of the mystery cults of his day.

The word he uses is literally, “I have been initiated.”

Which I think suggests that Paul was still learning.

“I have been initiated into the secret of contentment. I have learned to be content …

and am still learning.”

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So, I say to Paul, “teach me. Teach me what you know.

Teach me the secret of contentment.”

And the Spirit of God, Who taught Paul,says,

“OK, I will. I will teach you.”

The actual word Paul uses is the word the Stoic philosophers of his day used.

The Stoics worked hard to achieve “a state of contentment.”

And by the term they meant “self-sufficiency.”

They sought to so live that they did not have to count on others …

who would invariably let them down.

So in order to achieve contentment they practiced “detachment.”

Not unlike some of our Buddhist friends.

The way to live “unfettered in spirit” is to detach one’s self from everything

that could possible disappointment you.

Detach one’s self from things.

Detach one’s self from other people.

Detach one’s self from desire.

And in the extreme, detach one’s self from the sense of “being.”

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In using the Stoic’s word, Paul completely detaches it,

so to speak, from all that detachment.

For Paul found contentment not by detaching himself.

For Paul contentment is not passion-less detachment.

In the opening of his letter he speaks of longing for his friends

with the affection, the bowels, the guts of Jesus (1:8).

He later shares his wrestling over whether to stay on in this world

or to depart and be with Christ, which he says is “very much better” (1:20).

He decides he must stay on to keep workingfor his friends’ progress and joy the faith (1:25).

In the middle of the letter he speaks of “pressing on”to “seize that for which Christ Jesus seized me” (3:12).

No, Paul did not find contentment in detachment.

Rather, he found it in attachment.

He found it by attaching himself.

Yes, as we will see in a moment, he detaches himself from wrong

understandings of the meaning and living of human life.

Paul clearly has stopped hankering for all “the stuff”a world out of touch with the Living God

says we need in order to live flourishing human lives.

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We are soon to enter the season of the yearwhen we will be intentionally manipulated

to think we need more “stuff”in order to be content.

We will be intentionally manipulatedto FEEL we need more “stuff”

in order to be content.

Paul detaches himself from such manipulation.

But he then attaches himself to right understandings of the meaning

and living of human life.

He attaches himself to THE Human.

He attaches himself to the One Who is Life Himself.

In the season of Christmas,he attaches himself to the “reason for the season,”

to the One Who is born that we might findtrue contentment.

Who does not pace the cell,asking every five minutes

if the mail has come.

Paul attaches himself to Jesus Christ.

As I live in the conclusion to his letter to the Philippians,I hear Paul teach us “secrets to contentment.”

Not simply “the secret” … but secrets.

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I hear Paul teach us four secrets to contentment.

Each involving attachment, not detachment.

First secret:attach yourself to the larger narrative of life.

Attach yourself to Jesus and His Gospel,to the Lord Jesus and His Gospel of the Kingdom.

Most people in the city of Philippihad attached themselves to lord Nero

and his gospel of the Roman vision of life.

Paul learned to be contentbecause he learned to narrate his life in light

of Jesus’ narrating of life.

Paul learned to be contentbecause he learned to see his story

in light of Jesus’ story.

The story in which Jesus wins!

And where do I find this in the text?

In Paul’s final greeting.

4:21.

Listen again.

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“Greet every saint in Christ Jesus.”

Paul loves to call the followers of Jesus “saints.”

For in Jesus that is what we are.

“Saints.” “Holy ones.”

“Set apart by God for God.”

He continues.

“The brothers and sisters who are with me greet you.”

Apparently others have come to his aid.When Ephaphroditus leaves Paul will not be alone.

And then he says:

“Especially those of Caesar’s household.”

“The brothers and sisters who are with me greet you,especially those of Caesar’s household.”

The Gospel has penetrated the power structures of Rome!

As he says in the opening of his letter,1:13 –“my imprisonment in Christ has become

well known throughout the whole praetorian guard.”

In his imprisonment, Paul has been able to bear witness to Christ.

And many in Caesar’s household have come to know Christ.

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Servants, soldiers, sons of elite,

who would one day take up leadership roles in the

Empire.

They were all finding Christ.

Or to be faithful to Paul,Christ was finding them.

As he had been “seized” by Christ (3:12)so had members of Caesar’s household.

Christ had “seized” them too!

Paul had prayed that Christ would always be exalted in his body (1:20).

And Christ had answered the prayer.

“Whether by life or by death.”

Even Paul’s death would somehow glorify God.

For even his death would be about Christ,and people would know it!

Attached to Jesus and His storyPaul’s life has meaning and purpose

in any and every circumstance.

He cannot loose.

Nor can we.

“To live is Christ, to die is gain” (1:21).

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Attached to His story means we can stop fretting about the meaning of our lives.

He is our life.

And He will exalt Himself in any and every circumstance.

It turns out that Paul’s great desire to win the world to Christ

was better accomplished by him being in prisonthan what he had dreamed for himself.

He had wanted to spread the Gospel to the whole world,going from city to city

planting more and moredisciple-making communities.

[The term the PAOC is using for ‘church’].

But Jesus had a different plan … as He often does!

For it was from the jail cellthat Paul would write letters

Jesus has usedto change countless lives.

Although Paul himself would not see thiswhile living on this earth.

As we may not see the full storyof how Jesus is using us on this earth.

But Paul saw enough to be contentthat his story,

attached to Jesus’ story,mattered.

“Those of Caesar’s household greet you.”

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Second secret:attach yourself to the true friendship.

This is a bit more complex; let me try to show you what I mean.

As I said in the introduction to the reading of the text,Paul’s friends in Philippi had sent him a substantial gift,

a “care package” to minister to his “affliction,”as he puts it (4:14).

And he writes the letter carried by Ephaphroditusin part to express gratitude for the gift.

But we need to note that he never actually says, “Thank you.”

This has puzzled commentators throughout the centuries.

Paul does, in the opening of the letter,express how grateful he is for the Philippians themselves.

1:3 – “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”

But in the conclusion of the letter,where we expect him to finally say,

“and thank you for the care package,”Paul does not.

There is no direct, “Thank you.”

Why not?

Because he is protecting and practicing true friendship.

Or to be more precise,he is protecting and practicing

friendship as it now protected and practiced

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in friendship with Christ.Here I am indebted to the work of Stephen Fowl,

in his superb commentary on Paul’s letter.

Fowls helps us understand the “conventions”involved in friendships in the first century world,

both Jewish and Greco-Roman.

Notice the little phrase in verse 15 of chapter 4.

“In the matter of giving and receiving.”

Paul commends his friends that no other churchhad shared with him

“in the matter of giving and receiving.”

Here is the cultural background.

As Stephen Fowls makes so clear,there were well understood “conventions”

for “giving and receiving gifts.”

Giving gifts was a way of attaining and keeping status.

The giver of a gift is of higher status than the receiver of the gift.

And to receive a gift,to say, “thank you, ‘

is to acknowledge this hierarchical relational dynamic.

Taking a gift and saying, “Thank you,”meant saying,

“Yes, you are the superior, I am the inferior.”

There was the axiom:“To grow in status one must exceed in giving” (190).

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Furthermore, giving gifts was a way of obligating the receiver.

To not take a gift was an insult.

But when one took the gift,especially when saying, “thank you,”

one was then obligated “to reciprocate in word or deed” (190).

The receiver was obligated to now express gratitudeby giving the giver a gift.

This happens in many cultures represented in this room.

Right?

If I give you a gift, you then feel obligated to give me a gift.

In some cultures, if I give you a gift,

you will then feel obligated not only to give me a gift,

but to give me a gift better than the one I gave you.

And then if I receive your better gift,I will be obligated to give you an even better gift.

And on it goes,until the indebtedness is almost oppressive.

Continuing for generations,families obligated to keep

the better gift giving going.

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It is how some of the powerful leaders of the worldkeep their positions.

They give gifts that obligate others … even if the others

do not like the policies of the leaders!

So, Paul does not say a direct, “Thank you,”to avoid the oppressive conventions of friendship.

Some scholars even suggest Paul does not say a direct, “Thank you,”

to subvert those conventions of friendship.

Paul is grateful;and he makes that clear.

But he carefully avoids the traps.

Verse 10-

He says he “rejoices that you have revived your concern for me.”

Verse 14 –

He says, “you have done well to share in my affliction.”

Verse 17 –

He says, “I seek for the profit which increases to your account.”

He points his friends to the fact that God takes our giving seriously,

and that it matters to God.

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Verse 18 –

He says, “I am apply supplied” – by their gift.

Verse 19 –

He calls their gift “a fragrant aroma,an acceptable sacrifice,

well-pleasing to God.”

He calls their giving to the ministry of the Gospelan act of worship

in which God Himself talks pleasure.

He is reminding them that in giving to Paul they were really giving to God.

And they were serving Jesus.

For as Jesus says in His parable of the sheep and goats,“You visited Me in prison.”

So he is very grateful.

But he does not say, “Thank you” directly.

And thereby is protecting and practicing a new form of friendship,the form of friendship we experience with and in Christ.

Where the giving and receiving of gifts is not about attaining and keeping status.

Where the giving and receiving of giftsis not about reciprocity and obligation.

Where the giving of gifts is simply what friends do.

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Paul has recast friendship in light of “the mind of Christ” (2:5).

It is about imitating Christin choosing not to use His divine status

to enhance His status; but choosing to accept the status of a household slave.

It is about Christ willing to empty Himself for otherssimply that they might have His life.

True friendship imitates the Divine Friendship;the eternal Friendship of the eternal self-giving of

the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

True friendship,liberating friendship

lives in and from friendship in the Friendship of the Trinity.

And Paul rejoices because his friends in Philippi are getting it!

They gave the gift because that is what friends in Christ do.

They were not seeking status or honor.

They were not seeking to put Paul in their debt.

They gave because that is what friends in Christ do.

And in that friendship Paul found contentment.

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Third secret:attach yourself to truly sufficient strength.

4:13 –

One of the most well known sayings in all of Paul’s letters.

“I can do all things through Him Who strengthens me.”

Through Christ.

“I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.”

Better,

“I can do all things IN Christ Who strengthens me.”

“Through Christ” could suggestthat He gives us strength to live apart from Him.

“IN Christ” says the strength is only experiencedin intimate relationship with Him.

IN Him.

Living IN Him.

Now, here we need to be careful,for what Paul says has often been mis-applied.

“I can do all things.”

From everything else he writes,we can be sure he does not mean,

“I can do all things I want to do.”

And from everything else he writes,we can be sure he does not mean,

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“I can do all things other people want me to do.”

“IN Christ.”

Meaning that the “all things” refers to what Christ wants us to do.

“I can do all things Christ wants me to do.”

“In can do all things Christ wants me to doIN Christ Who strengthens me.”

When He calls us to do somethingHe gives us the strength to do.

When He calls us to give ourselves for others,He gives us the strength to do it.

When I was 29 years old,the Lord called me to serve as Senior Pastor

of a church near the campus of UCLA;the Sanctuary was right next to

the married student housing complex of the University.

One Thursday afternoon,after finishing the first draft of my sermon for the coming Sunday,

and feeling very exhausted,an older saint came by the office.

Art Smuts was his name.

About 85 years old at the time.

He and his wife Irene had taken me and Sharon,the new young couple,

under their wings.

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Art asked how the sermon was coming.

I said, “ok … but, boy,

I sure do not feel I have the strength to preach in three days.”

He asked me,“Have you ever heard of ‘dying-grace’?”

Have any of you?

I said, “No. What is it?”

Art responded,“Dying-grace is the grace you need when you die.”

And went on to say that in his experiencehe has witnessed God giving that grace

when a person in Christ is dying.

“But not before,” Art said.

“I do not need dying-grace today because I am not dying.I only need it when it comes time to go.”

And then he said what I have never forgotten.

“Darrell, I think there is such a thing as preaching-grace.God gives a preacher preaching-grace.

When it comes time to preach.Only when it comes time to preach.

But not before.The preacher does not need before.

It is only Thursday.You do not need preaching-grace today.

You need it Sunday. And on Sunday the Lord will give you preaching-grace.”

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Isn’t that good?

There is dealing-with-little-children grace.

There is facing-a-financial-decision grace.

There is time-to-fill-out-income-tax-forms grace.

There is walking-through-the-Dementia-of-a-loved-one grace.

There is standing-up-in-court-to-argue-the-case grace.

There is needing-to-confront-a-problematic-employee grace.

There is dealing-with-terrorism grace.

Paul found contentment,unfettered-ness of spirit

in any and every circumstancebecause there is a any-and-every-circumstance grace.

“I can do all thingsChrist calls me to do

because Christ will grace me withHis strength

to do what He calls me to do.”

Paul found contentmentnot because he learned the self-sufficiency of the Stoics.

Paul confound contentmentbecause he learned the Christ-sufficiency of the saints.

So E. Stanley Jones could pray:“O Jesus, my Lord,

not my responsibility,but my response to Your ability.”

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Strength comes by being attached to Strength Himself.Fourth secret:

attach yourself to inexhaustible resources.

4:19 –

Another saying of Paul that has ministered to countless believers.

“And my God will supply all your needsaccording to His riches

in gloryin Christ Jesus.”

Not, “all your wants.”

Paul does not say,“My God will supply all your wants.”

“All your needs.”

“My God will supply all your needs.”

Paul is believing what Jesus says.

In the parable of the Friend at Midnight.

Luke 11:8 –

“He will get up and give you all you need.”

In His Sermon on the Mount.

Matthew 6:32-33 –

“Your Father knows you need these things.

Seek first His Kingdom and justice,and all these things will be added to you.”

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“According to His riches in glory.”

Paul loves the word “riches.”

Ploutos is the actual word he uses.

Which comes into English in words like plutocracy,the rule of the super-rich.

Ephesians 1:7 – “according to the riches of his grace.”

Ephesians 1:18 – “the riches of the glory of His grace.”

Ephesians 2:4 – “God Who is rich in mercy.”

Ephesians 2:7 – “the exceeding riches of His grace.”

Ephesians 3:16 – “the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

1 Corinthians 1:5 – “you are enriched in Him in every way.”

Romans 9:23 – “the riches of His glory.”

Romans 11:13 – “Oh the depth of the riches bothof the wisdom and knowledge of God!”

The God to whom we belong is uber-rich.

Inexhaustibly rich.

And delights to share His riches with His people.

“My God will supply all your needaccording to His riches ….”

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“According to.”

Not just “out of.”

Not just, “My God will supply your needs out of His riches.”

Two people are walking down Burrard Street today Robson.

One of average means.

The others of pluto-means.

They meet a person in legitimate need.

They give the same amount to the person.

$150.

They both give “out of” their riches.

But not “according to” their riches.

The pluto-means person could give a lot more.

Like a new apartment for the person!

[I got the idea for the illustration from Raul Rees,The Adequate Man].

Our God will supply all we need to live the life He calls us to liveaccording to His inexhaustible riches in Christ Jesus.

It is why we have printed on our new sign the words“immeasurable more.”

Jesus Christ has immeasurably more

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than all we can ask or imagine.“My God will supply all your needs

according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.”

And our greatest need?

God.

Our greatest need is God.

And God will give us Himself!

When we go to God in any and every circumstance,God will “get up”

and give us as much of God as we need!

Paul lives content in any and every circumstancebecause he is attached to inexhaustible resources.

Is it any wonder then that Paul as he concludes his letterhe breaks out in a doxology?

4:20 –“Now to our God and Father be the glory forever and ever.”

“I have learned to be content.”

“I have learned the secret …”

A miracle.

A pure miracle.

And I want it to be worked in me.

And I think you want it to be worked in you.

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So, let us pray.

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