The story is told about this man
who went hiking back in the wilderness one time. This wasn’t just a nice little pleasant hike,
he wanted to do some real backpacking.
You know, the kind where you load up your backpack with the tent, with
several meals, and you head off into the wilderness for a week or so. As he was hiking along, he saw all different
kinds of animals in God’s creation. Even
better than a zoo. Each of them was out
there in its native habitat. Deer. Moose.
Rabbits. All the different birds.
He was constantly being amazed at the great variety of wildlife.
All of that changed early one
morning. He woke up, struck his tent,
ate his breakfast, and then kept on his way.
He had climbed to the top of the side of a mountain, and was standing on
the edge of a cliff. From that
viewpoint, he could see for miles. He
saw the vastness of the forest and the mountain range. He stood there, soaking in the beauty of
God’s creation.
All of a sudden, he heard a sound
in the trees behind him. It sounded like
something big. And then, a huge black
bear appeared, crashing through the dense undergrowth of the trees. The bear looked right at him, no trace of
fear in his eyes. It started approaching
him, slowly, but confidently.
Now, the man was a devout Christian
man. He knew he was in a great deal of
trouble, so he quickly approached God in prayer. With not much time, and as a last gasp way of
saving his life, he quickly asked God to make this bear a Christian bear.
All of a sudden, the bear
stopped. It dropped to its knees on its
hind legs, and folded its two front paws together. And the bear began to say a prayer. Dear God, thank you for this delicious meal
that you have just sent my way. Please
bless it to the nourishment of my body.
Amen.
A moment ago, we heard some words
from St. Paul. In verse 11 of his letter
to the Philippian Christians, he said that he had learned to be content in
whatever situation he found himself.
Now, you might say that he might have a bit of a challenging time if he
put himself in the place of this hiker. But
for a moment, let’s just think here.
Let’s say that you found yourself in that situation. How could you possibly be content there? And yes, I’m asking you to try to throw a few
answers my way.
Okay, that one probably isn’t very
likely for most of us here. Or maybe I
should say it’s not likely now that you’ve thought about it, and probably won’t
be going hiking anywhere that a bear could come up and eat you, right? So let’s think about the drive home. You get into your car at the end of the
day. It’s been a long day at work or
school or wherever, and you’re ready to get home for the evening. As you begin to pull out of the parking lot,
you notice the long line of cars coming.
It looks like you’re going to have to wait for a break in the
traffic. After a few minutes, you finally
are able to pull out into your lane. That’s
when you discover why traffic is moving so slow. There’s a stalled vehicle in your lane up
ahead. Now you are stuck as everyone has
to creep their way around.
As you finally clear that car, you
get on the road and going. Only now,
there’s an accident on the side of the road, and all the rubber neckers are
checking it out. Traffic slows down
again. You’re getting impatient. It’s been a long day at work, and you want
nothing more than to get home. But now
you’re being slowed down again, and you aren’t even to the places where traffic
regularly slows down. So now, same
question as before. How could you
possibly be content here?
Since you are here tonight, you
know that tomorrow is a celebration day for us in our nation. Thanksgiving day. A day to sit down, eat a bunch of turkey and
all the sides along with it. A day to
get together with family. A day to sit
down and watch some football. A day to
lay back on the couch, close your eyes for a few minutes, and catch a few zzz’s
that you’ve been missing out on for a while.
If you’re like most people, you
probably enjoy the time together.
Perhaps it’s with family that you haven’t seen for a while. You spend some time catching up on what all
has been going on in your lives. You
remember previous thanksgivings, like the one where the food didn’t turn out
right. And even in the midst of all that
good remembering, you find a few other thoughts entering your head. You remember how so and so can really get on
your nerves, and maybe they are already doing some of those things that drive
you crazy. You remember how Auntie Dear
keeps going on and on with her stories, and she sure doesn’t seem to mind if
they embarrass you or others in the family.
Uncle Chatterbox keeps going on, because he has a comment for pretty
much everything that gets said. And you
remember why you love your family, but why your family is also good in small
doses.
So same question. How can you be content here, especially among
people that you know so well? How can
you be content with them, even when they get on your nerves a bit?
“Not that I am speaking of being in
need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” Contentment sounds so nice, doesn’t it? In a way, we all wish that we could be a lot
more like Paul in this instance. How
nice it would be if we were content with what God had already given us, rather
than striving to have more. How nice it
would be if we could be content with the people in our lives as they are,
rather than trying to form them into something else (mostly unsuccessfully,
too). How nice it would be if we could
be content with the place we are in life, rather than seeing what may be “better”
out there and having a yearning desire for it.
That’s the kind of contentment that
Paul is speaking of here. And sure, we
could point out why Paul would feel that kind of contentment. But it basically boils down to the fact that
Paul knew that He was in God’s hands, no matter what. It might not be the most enjoyable thing in
the world to be shipwrecked, but Paul could be content there because he knew he
was in the Lord’s hands. Being stoned
for speaking up about Christ Jesus might not be pleasant, but he could be
content because his life was in the hands of one who had given himself up for
Paul. Enduring want and need might prove
to be a little tough, but Paul could be content because he had God’s promise in
Christ, that he would be cared for, no matter what this life brought at him,
and even if it meant hunger or starvation, his life was still in the hands of
that same God.
That is contentment at its utmost,
and it’s the hard kind of contentment that we have a difficult time
grasping. And yet, that is the promise
that is yours in Christ Jesus. You are
in the hands of the God who has loving created you, knitting together every
single cell in your body. You’re in the
hands of the God who knows the very number of hairs on your body, no matter how
many or few. You’re in the hands of the
God who feeds the sparrows generously, and who regards you of much greater
value than sparrows.
You’re in the hands of the God who
also knows that your needs extend beyond the physical needs of this life. You’re in the hands of the God who creates
community because He knows that it’s not good for you to try to go this life
alone. Though you may be reluctant at
time to share your life, your burdens, or your joys with your brothers and
sisters in Christ, that’s the very reason that God has brought you into the
community. You can be content with one
another because you’re part of a community that God has created. God cares for your community needs and
provides for ways to be cared for in your emotional and spiritual needs through
this body that we call the Body of Christ.
You’re also in the hands of the God
who knew that you need hope beyond what you experience in this life. You’re in the hands of the God who gave up
His own Son, who would go through the doorway of pain and death to prepare the
way for a place of eternal contentment.
Jesus would purchase your place there through His suffering, death, and
resurrection for you. Your hope as you
live in this world isn’t merely that you would occasionally find contentment
here, but that you have hope for a place in which you will be eternally
content.
Just so we’re clear on this, you
aren’t going to find that place tomorrow.
Even your well-deserved nap sometime in the middle of the afternoon isn’t
God’s intended place of your contentment.
Sure, it might be a bit of a preview of what God has in mind for you
someday, but even as you discover some degree of contentment tomorrow, always
remember that God has much more in store for you. Thanks be to God for that, in Christ our
Lord, and have a most blessed day of giving thanks to the Lord, for He is good,
and His mercy endures forever.
Amen.
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