More of Less
Philippians 4:10-20
What is the single most important issue on the minds of voters?
-not the war in
-it’s not the threat of
terrorism
-nope, it’s not immigration
policy, not environmental policy, not
foreign policy with nations
like
-neither is it education reform nor
tort reform
-it’s not the plight of the
working poor
-universal health care, Social
Security, nor family values made #1
In 14 nationwide polls taken in the last few weeks, one issue has
always been identified by American voters as the most important
-I’ll ask you to take a
guess...in one word, what do you think it is?
‘Wonder why our economy is consistently ranked #1?
Allow me to give you my opinion, for what it’s worth
-I will warn you, however, it’s not an answer you’ll care for much
--my theory goes something
like this: we typically don’t concern
ourselves with those
other issues because they don’t directly
affect our personal,
financial bottom line
---I realize that
sounds a bit harsh, but let’s be honest with
ourselves for a
moment
--would you vote for
president a man (or woman) who is an
open, practicing
homosexual, who advocates a Constitutionally-
guaranteed right to
marriage for all Americans, who is
not only
“pro-choice” but who will
have the opportunity to appoint
enough Supreme Court
justices to ensure Roe v. Wade is not
overturned in our
lifetimes?
---but...would you vote for that same person if she/he has a
foolproof plan to
revitalize our economy, reenergize the
stock market, and restore the
price of gasoline to $1/gallon?
Makes you think, doesn’t it?
-rather than addressing the
complexities of selecting a president,
this is to make the point
that when it comes down to it, many of us
still struggle with plain,
old-fashioned greed...we don’t like to think
of it in these terms, but we
can still be pretty down-right selfish
-and that not only makes us
miserable, it usually makes us a terrible
witness for Christ and even more horrible at being the church
--God uses the Apostle Paul
and the believers in
us that we don’t have
to live this way
The Scripture reading earlier in the service introduced you to the
church at
refers to in 2 Corinthians
8:1...remember how they were described?
-Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their
extreme poverty welled up in rich
generosity...they gave as much
as they were able, and even beyond their
ability...they urgently
pleaded with us for the privilege of
sharing in this service...
Keep that in mind, ok?
-
class, suburban church...these
believers were suffering a severe
trial and living in extreme
poverty
-still they experienced
overflowing joy, rich generosity, sacrificial
giving, and somehow understood
giving to be a privilege
--let me be blunt: we need what they got
Let’s look at a section of a letter Paul wrote to the Philippian church
Read Philippians 4:10-20
You probably noticed that not once in these eleven verses does Paul
issue a single command, so rather than adding
a couple of items to
our already-full to-do lists, we’re
going to examine the examples set
by both Paul and the church at
-may the Holy Spirit use this
to work in us...continually transforming
us...convicting us of any
greedy, selfish attitudes...and restoring
in us the grateful hearts
of those who have been given so much
Be thankful (v. 10a)
-Paul expresses his gratitude
not to the Philippians themselves, but
to God for the Philippians and their generosity
--the difference is subtle,
but important
---there’s nothing
wrong in thanking the church (he does so in
v.14), but Paul
realizes the ultimate praise goes to God
---you and I tend to
forget that...and when and if we do say
“thanks” we often
leave God out of the equation
-James 1:17 à Every
good and perfect give is from above, coming
down from the Father
--giving thanks to God
recognizes that you and I didn’t do it, earn
it, or deserve it...all
we do is receive it graciously
In Philippians 4:11 Paul
shares a key to maintaining an attitude of
thanksgiving à ...I have learned to be content whatever the
circumstances
-just like we talked about
last Sunday: discontentment leads
to
whining, griping, and
complaining...but contentment leads
to
gratitude, giving, and living
Read 1 Timothy 6:6-10
Verse 8 reminds us that we actually need
very little
-think about it...what do you truly
need?
--the truth is much of what
we have we don’t need...or we don’t
have to own (when we could share or borrow)...or
we could give
away much of what we’ve
accumulated
---instead we have this
insatiable desire to own stuff, to put our
name on it, stake
our claim to it
---but then we feel
like we have to hang on to it—tightly
----our basements
are full, our closets are full, our garages
are
full...so we have to rent extra storage space
-you know, come to think about
it, many of us have less in common
with Paul, and more in common
with the guy in this parable à
Luke 12:15-21
Before you argue that you’re not rich or that you’re not that rich, let
me remind you the key to passage
is found at the end of v. 15 à A
man’s life does not consist in the abundance
of his possessions.
-in other words, stuff does not equal life
--in all the funerals I’ve
preached I’ve never referred to how many
cars a person drove,
how big their house was, how many
acres they owned—none
of that matters in the light of eternity
This all leads to v. 12...we
are content in all circumstances, yes, but
most of us need to take a
proactive step to simplify our lives
-in a Christianity Today article Philip Yancey writes about a spiritual
seeker who decides to get
away from his busy life by spending
some time at a monastery. As he is being shown his room for
the night, the monk says to
him, “I hope your stay is a blessed
one. If you need anything, let us know, and we’ll
teach you how
to live without it.”
--while it’s not
specifically biblically-based, there’s
an interesting
little movement
called the “100 Thing Challenge”
---it’s essentially
a quest to reduce the number of things
we’ve accumulated down to 100,
thereby reducing the
stress of
maintaining all of our stuff
----it’s not
merely throwing away, donating, or garage-
sale-ing our junk...it’s an intentional choice to quit
buying all the junk we don’t need in the first place
----too many
Christians are controlled more by what
Madison Avenue tells them than by what Matthew,
Mark,
Luke, and John tell them
-we are consumed by our
consumerism...and it makes us whiny,
frustrated, greedy, and
even more discontent than ever
--how can we even imagine
living without a 5-bladed razor?
--we are an embarrassment
to humanity if we have last year’s
edition of John
Madden’s video game
--someone just might call
DFS if our children aren’t dressed in
name-brand clothes
that were bought new from a store
--and it goes on and on
and on...and we’ve got to make it stop
So what is Paul’s secret to
learning contentment and simplicity?
-be incredibly dependent
upon God for everything
--we usually interpret Philippians 4:13 as a promise that God
will
make us some sort of
superhero...but that’s not quite right
---in this context, it’s
clear Paul’s claiming he relies on God for
everything...regardless of how much or how little he has
-C.S. Lewis à One of
the great dangers of having a lot of money is
that you may be quite satisfied with the
kinds of happiness money
can give and so fail to realize your need
for God. If everything
seems to come simply by signing checks,
you may forget that you
are at every moment totally dependent on
God.
--that’s important enough
to say again: you may
forget that you
are at every moment totally
dependent on God.
I’ve already discussed the almost unbelievable generosity of this
church...how they gave out of
their extreme poverty
-isn’t that rather odd?
--often the most generous
people are those who have the least
-many who fill church
buildings around the country this morning will
give out of their surplus...which
is what the rich people in the
her last two coins
--I’m going to resist the
temptation to “get to meddlin’”...but the
next time you say to
yourself, “I can’t give to church or to
someone in
need”...ask yourself, “What have I spent money
on that has prevented
me from giving generously?”
---then ask yourself, “Is that a legitimate
need?”
----remembering
all along that what we claim is a need
often
didn’t even exist 20 years ago (and somehow
we
survived just fine)
---followed up by,
“Could I be content without it?”
----if the answer is “no”...the
most important question,
then,
would be “Why not?”
Brandon O’Brien shares a poignant
childhood memory that hits us all a little too close for comfort à I’ve
given several lousy gifts in my short lifetime, but an especially bad one
stands out from among the rest.
When I was in first or second grade, my school hosted a gift shop that
offered us the chance to buy Christmas gifts for our parents. The school sent a
catalog home with us a couple of weeks before the sale, so I looked it over and
found the perfect items for my parents.
On the appointed day, I pulled some birthday money out of my piggybank
and headed to school. My class filed
down the hall to the room where all the merchandise was kept. I walked in with
great intentions; I walked out with a bag full of stuff for myself. I remember
vividly that all I could afford for my dad by the end of my shopping spree was
a package of miniature screwdrivers, each less than an inch long (but
fully-functional, according to the tiny label), attached to a key chain.
I felt guilty that I’d skimped. My dad’s gift was an afterthought; I
gave him the leftovers after I bought what I wanted. What really stung, though,
was that Dad displayed those screwdrivers proudly from the rearview mirror in
his truck for years. To me, they served as a monument to my selfishness. But as
far as I know, my dad thought the screwdrivers were a gift from the heart, so
he loved them because they were from me.
In one sense, God is just like my father. He is always thrilled by my
gifts, however meager, as long as he knows they are given from the heart. In
another sense, though, God is quite different from my dad. He knows when I’ve
given poorly because I’m selfish; he knows when my gift is an afterthought—a
leftover—and such gifts are an affront to him. In other words, God is not
concerned primarily with the gift, but the giving. He is grieved when I give
reluctantly from my surplus, but He celebrates the pittance given from my
poverty.
The attitudes of Paul and the generosity of the church at
stand as remarkable examples for
us...and that’s the challenge
-because they shouldn’t be
seen as anything extraordinary...we
should read about them and see ourselves...thankful, content,
living simply, depending on
God, and giving generously
-earlier I expressed my prayer
that the Holy Spirit would use this to
work in us...continually
transforming us...convicting us of any
greedy, selfish
attitudes...and restoring in us the grateful hearts
of those who have been
given so much
This passage points us to an amazing promise in v. 20...when a
church sacrifices in order to
give to missions and ministry like the
Philippians have, then God, who
has unlimited resources, will
ensure that church’s needs are met
The question is, are you willing to trust God with your “stuff”?
Are you willing to trust Him with your future?
Are you willing to trust Him with your eternity?