A few years ago Sabine, my wife, and I were watching a Christmas movie and one of the songs caught our attention. Here are some of the lyrics;
“You can keep your peace on earth
You can keep your holy birth
Keep your frankincense and myrrh
Christmas cheer, whats that worth
I want something I can use
Designer clothes or groovy shoes
I want diamonds, big and rough
All I want is Christmas stuff”
The world we live in might not communicate it in exactly those words, but that’s the sentiment in many people’s hearts and minds today, isn’t it?
We live in a world of Black Friday sales, Christmas deals, half-price off, buy one get one free and it’s so easy for us to get sucked in to the material bingo game.
However, especially at this time of year where there is a focus on material possessions, we would do well to learn more about being thankful. We have have so much to be thankful for – a place to lay our head at night, family, friends, church family, etc. A lesson we could all use this Christmas is that we need to grow in our thankfulness and learn to be content like Paul did I’m Philippians 4:11-13
“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 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. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Paul had received support from the church in Philippi and he wrote to them thanking them for their renewed partnership in the gospel.
In v11-13 Paul tells this church 3 things about contentment.
1. Contentment is unconnected to our circumstances
Paul says that his contentment didn’t increase or decrease based on the stuff that he had. Instead he had learned to be content in any circumstance, whether well-off or wanting.
There are naturally things that we need in life (clothes, food, water, etc.), things that we need on a daily basis, Paul needed those too. Through the support of the Lord’s people, Paul had those things at times some more or some less, but he had enough.
However, material possessions weren’t what brought Paul contentment, but his contentment came from there being a constant in His life. There was something, or someone, that never changed and so He was content in all things, whether in need or in plenty. That constant was Jesus.
In the storms of life (and there were plenty of those in Paul’s life!), the ups and down, Jesus was the one that kept Paul content and anchored.
It doesn’t matter what we have at home under the Christmas tree, toys, gadgets, the latest new trend on the market. Whatever it is will one day be obsolete because its temporary and the joy that such possessions bring is also temporary. True contentment, lasting contentment, is found in fixing our hope on Jesus because He never changes and Christmas is all about Him.
2. Contentment is learned
Twice in these few verses Paul says that he learned contentment. Contentment wasn’t zapped into him, he didn’t get a fuzzy feeling one day and never wanted for anything again, it was a process.
The process of learning contentment was through the lessons of hard knocks, of persecution, of trials, of suffering, of pain, that all helped Paul learn that in every and all circumstances Jesus is enough.
Paul knew what abundance looked like, he probably grew up in a wealthy family, he was taught by a prominent teacher of his day before he followed Christ, and he was hosted by Lydia a rich woman in Philippi when he ministered there.
But Paul also knew what hardship was, take a look at 2 Corinthians 11 where Paul lists some of the troubles he faced (shipwrecked, hunger, fear, sleepless nights, no clothes, etc.)
Paul learned, in all the ups and downs, that Jesus was enough. The lesson of contentment is often learned through hardships and trials that push us to run to Jesus for help, strength and the endurance to keep on going.
It’s often in our darkest moments in life, that we realise the truth that Jesus is all we really need. Corrie Ten Boom said, after being in a concentration camp during WWII “You never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have”.
3. Contentment flows from our relationship with and reliance on Jesus
In v12, Paul tells us the secret of contentment, but he isn’t whispering it in our ear, he isn’t hiding it from the world. This is a public secret, it’s an open secret and it’s a secret that he wants every person alive to hear.
The secret is this; Christian contentment is rooted in Jesus and flows from our relationship with Him.
Paul says in V13 “ I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” This is probably one of the most quoted verses in the Bible by Christians, but sadly it’s often out of context (tea towels don’t normally allow space for context).
Paul is saying that there is nowhere that we can go, and nothing that we can experience in this life that will ever take us far from the loving care of Jesus. Paul’s contentment in based on his union with Christ!
It’s the realisation that Jesus paid the ultimate price by dying on the cross for the sins of the world, so that all those who put their trust in Him can be forgiven and be in a right relationship with God and that no circumstance can ever undo Jesus’ work.
That’s what we celebrate at Christmas! We celebrate that God took on flesh and became one of us. Which means that we can celebrate Good Friday as Jesus, the Son of God, died for us, and we rejoice in that Easter morning as Jesus was raised to life again.
True and lasting contentment is found only in Jesus and it flows from being rooted in Him.
As we go into a time of year where the material world is often brought more into the centre of our attention, let’s learn to be content and to remember that the constant person in our lives, who helps us grow and learn contentment is Jesus.
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