Text: I Timothy 6:6-12

Today I am going to talk about our search for contentment.

Within each of us there is a great longing for contentment. This contentment is not the spiritual opium Marx accused the church of pushing -- a religious kind of narcotic that makes us insensitive to injustice, and incapable of outrage against what is wrong. The contentment I am talking about is not the tranquility of non-involvement, nor is it the absence of conflict. It is not the contentment that ignores reality and avoids curiosity.

Contentment is being at peace with ourselves while we are actively engaged in living. This contentment is not to be confused with the tranquility of death; it is contentment experienced in the midst of vitality. It is the contentment of knowing who we really are, and not only making peace with who we are but even being able to celebrate who we are. It is the contentment of loving ourselves with a wholesome, non-egotistic love. This is not a self-centered, selfish focusing on ourselves as the center of the universe. This contentment is the kind of love of self that sets us free to love others and God. This contentment sets us free from thinking the only way to matter in life is be “king or queen of the mountain.” Rather than seeking satisfaction in controlling others, we find joy and fulfillment in serving others. Contentment is being so at peace with ourselves, we are not only able to give of ourselves for the good of others, but we experience joy and fulfillment in doing so.

This basic, profound contentment is a byproduct of who we are and the way we live. Contentment is a byproduct of the way we face life and deal with life. It is a byproduct of our attitude and actions.

In the passage we read today, Paul has something to say about the kind of living that leads to contentment and about the kind of living that leads to discontent. Although he was writing to a young friend 2000 years ago, his wisdom is relevant for us.

Then, as now, there was a widespread assumption that having money and the things money can buy was the way to contentment. Paul was not anti-money. He was very aware of the importance of money. And I think a case can be made that money is even more important in our day that it was in Paul's. We do not raise our own food; we purchase it with money. We do not raise and shear sheep, spin wool into thread and weave cloth to make our own clothes. We purchase clothing with money. We do not make our own tents; we rent or purchase places of shelter. Our medical care is not family handed down remedies; we seek professional medical help, and pay for it with money. Education to be an effective, productive person takes money for schools and books and teachers.

Money is important, and Paul was aware of that. He spent significant energy trying to raise money for those in need in Jerusalem . Money matters, not simply because it enables us to obtain food, clothing, shelter, health care and education, but also because money is a power for doing good. The money Paul raised helped feed the hungry. Money you have given has provided clothing and school supplies for needy children here, in Austin . Money you have given has purchased shoes for orphans in Russia . Money you have given has made it possible for this church to offer a wide variety of opportunities for persons to grow in grace and deepen their faith. Money you have paid in taxes provide the protection and services all of us need to live in a healthy, secure society. Money does matter. It can be a power for good.

But as powerful as money is, there are obvious limits to its power. Money does not have the power to make us happy. Money cannot provide us with contentment. To some extent, this message goes against the grain in our society. We live in a materialistic society. We tend to limit reality to what our five senses can verify. Without making a conscious choice, we drift into assuming that our worth as persons is verified only by things we can observe and measure -- salaries, houses, gadgets, financial assets, and the like. And so we become like gerbils on a treadmill, running and running but in truth, going nowhere. We accumulate; we accomplish; we achieve; and we tell ourselves we will finally be contented when we have accumulated, accomplished and achieved just a little bit more.

To our secular ears, Paul's language may sound “churchy,” but the wisdom he expressed reflects a clearheaded view of reality. Listen again to his words: “ …we brought nothing into the world, (and) we can take nothing out of it …. 9 … those who want to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. (At this point we might talk about all that the name “Enron” has come to symbolize.) 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.”

Who of us cannot tell stories about persons we know whose personal lives and family relationships have been “pierced with many pains” because they were seduced by our culture into believing that contentment and happiness come from the acquisition of money and the things money can purchase?

Again, I want to emphasize, Paul was not attacking money and its appropriate place in life. But he was being very blunt in calling part of reality to our attention. As important and necessary as money is for us in our society, it does not have the power to make us happy. Money cannot purchase contentment.

In the passage we read, Paul told Timothy (and us) that the way to true contentment is to “ … pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness”

In telling us to “pursue righteousness,” Paul was telling us to strive to live in a right relationship with God, seeking God's will and striving to do what is pleasing to God. And what is God's will and what are we to do that is pleasing to God? No one can tell any of us exactly what God's will is for each of our own, unique situations. But no one really needs to tell us because each of us knows enough to be able to discern what is pleasing to God. We may not know all we may know someday, but we already know enough about loving God and neighbor to take the next step we ought to take. Paul says contentment is a byproduct of striving to live in a right relationship with God.

Paul told us to pursue godliness. This is a “churchy” way of saying we are to strive to be our best selves. We are to live as God intends us to live, in God's image. And what is it to live in God's image? This is what we Christians discover in Jesus Christ. In him we see the way to live. To live in the image of God, to be our best selves, to live godly lives is for us to love others as God in Christ has loved us. Paul says contentment is a byproduct of living in pursuit of godliness. Paul told us to pursue faith. We are to place our confidence in God. We are to live trusting God and God's love. Faith impacts our living because when we live trusting God and God's love we live with the confident assumption that regardless of the way the world views us, God sees us as persons of infinite worth. Faith in God and God's love leads to contentment because it leads us not only to self-acceptance but also to a wholesome self-appreciation. Faith in God leads to faith in ourselves, and this leads to contentment.

Paul also tells us contentment is a byproduct of endurance. We have to keep on, keeping on. Even after we have been hurt, even after we have stumbled, even when the going is tough, even when we cannot see that what we are doing makes much of a difference, we are to endure and keep on, keeping on. Contentment comes a byproduct of faithfulness that will not be neglected in good times or abandoned in bad times. Contentment is a byproduct of endurance.

And in all this, we are pursue gentleness. Certainly this means we are to be gentle with others, resisting the temptation to be arrogant, pushy, or domineering. But it also means we are to be gentle with ourselves. Our living is not to be characterized by tense, teeth-gritting tenacity or a self-righteous sense of duty, but by a sense of confident joy and hope. Contentment is a byproduct of the gentleness that is rooted in faith and love.

In the passage we read today, Paul warns us against placing our hope for contentment in money and the things money can buy. This is not because money is evil. Money has its own appropriate importance. But when money and what money can bring us becomes the organizing principle in our living our living becomes distorted. As important as money is, it cannot buy contentment, that special peace with ourselves regardless of our circumstance. The kind of contentment Paul wrote about is the byproduct of our pursuing righteousness, pursuing godliness, pursuing faith, pursuing love, pursuing endurance and doing all this with a gentleness that is rooted in faith and love.

God, help us live in such a way that the contentment Paul wrote about is ours regardless of our situation. Amen.

Pastoral prayer:
God, thank You for Your love that is at work in our lives whether we are aware of it or not, whether we believe it or not. Thank You for Your tough love that makes us face the truth and gives us the possibility of change by holding us accountable. Thank You for your tender love that gives us the strength to face what we must face and the power to move on. Thank You for the gift of forgiveness that frees us from the burdens of regret and guilt, and for empowering us with grace to forgive others so that we can be set free from resentment, anger, and self-pity. Thank You for the gift of memory that enables us to learn from the pain and problems and from the successes and joys in our yesterdays. Thank You for Your love that comes to us through our family and friends. For all the ways Your grace comes into our lives and is at work in the world, we give You thanks. Most of all, thank You for Your son, Jesus Christ who has shown us both who You are and who we are meant to be. Keep us focused on him so that the dreams and goals that shape our living will be shaped by what we see in him. All this we pray as we offer to You the prayer he taught us; “Our Father…”.