Northside Church - Sydney
DNA of the Christian Life – Week 6: Contented
I'm listening to another great message from Northside Community Church. I can do all things through him that gives me strength. You can do anything. You can do anything we hear from Paul, can we really? I mean, just as he, like that guy on the clip, learned the difference between literal and miracle, in that sense, is he out of his mind? Is Paul mixed up with his language? Remember, this is a guy in prison. He's not overly emotional in that sense, and yet he will say to us tonight through the passage that we read, "I have learned the secret of contentment in all things." Now, you and I struggle with that because whether it's uni or social groups or bosses or bank balances, we're discontent and we hear this language from Paul and we say, "How can we be sure? How can we be sure that he's not just being emotional or metaphorical in that sense?" And here's the thing, yet for the past 2,000 years, this is how it's happened. For the past 2,000 years, Paul, into Philippi, we go back to the beginning of this series as we finish it tonight. And in a city that is in modern-day Turkey, he meets a rich fashionista who has a miraculous conversion to God. And then he meets a slave girl who was demon-possessed, and she comes to the Lord. And then he meets an average run-of-the-mill GIJO, jailer who comes to the Lord and things begin to explode. And there we have it, from that point on, you know, what ends up happening is that they mature in their faith. They become stronger in their faith. They go from just making the decision to now beginning to share the gospel, the gospel that God is calling men and women to himself all throughout the pages of history and love. And it begins to grow. And do you know how it got here if we trace it back? Trace it back from Philippi and Philippi out into Europe and Europe into England and England across into America and down into Africa and across into Asia and overboats into Australia and into Sydney and into Crow's Nest. That's how it got here. Paul went in and started communities in Philippi, in Ephesus and Corinth that began to live the DNA of the Christian life. And it exploded. That's our proof that he's not just talking metaphorically, that he wasn't mixed up when he said you can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. You see, Philippians is perhaps, as I said, my hope in this series has been that there would be people here tonight that on one sense were born into the church, came out, smacked on the bum, out of the first word, Jesus, and that was your life, that was your Christian journey and my other hope at the other end of the spectrum of there and maybe a people here tonight who have never heard the message of Jesus Christ for the first time. And yet Philippians has something to say to us in the sense that it's a picture of what a mature Christian looks like, what a mature church should look like, and there's no better way to cap that off than the retreat to read a mature Christian saying I can be content in all things, whether in need, whether in plenty, I found it. And so in that sense tonight, we look at what true contentment is. True contentment is this, true contentment is being at peace with who you are, where you are. And that's what we'll see this passage teach, if you've got your Bibles with you or tablets or any other form of technology that now delivers the Word of God, you may now pull them out. I know you're going to be looking at them anyway during the service, so we might as well read the Bible. Verse 10 of Philippians chapter 4, final chapter of this incredible book, "I rejoice greatly in the Lord at last that you have renewed your concern for me, indeed you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it." I'm not saying this because I'm in need for I've 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've 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 everything through Him who gives me strength. Tuesday sees the biggest lottery jackpot in Australian history, right? There have been figures something crazy like 7 million Australians have run out to go on by tickets to this particular lottery. There could be people in this room who are dreaming of how they could spend that money if they win that on Tuesday night, and I do hope that you remain with us if you do win that lottery. You see, it's quite interesting. Working through S.M.H. in City Morning Herald, it had a story entitled "The Curse of the Lottery Why Winners Are Not As Happy As You Might Think." I don't want to kill your joy here, but although it says he's suddenly coming into a lot of money as seen by some as a key to happiness or contentment, the expert said that such a view could be further from the truth. You see, there was a bunch of teachers in Maryland in the USA, they won $336 million. First thing they said is, it's what you would say, right? I'm quitting my job. I'm out of here. They discovered that later on, they actually went back to their jobs as teachers. They couldn't leave the kids that they were investing in. There was another guy, he won $365 million and says here, but he experienced a series of personal setbacks in the following years, including the death of his 17-year-old granddaughter who had reportedly become a drug addict. He said his ex-wife said that she would rather have lost the ticket. How is it that people can say you can come into spite of such unimaginable blessing in your life, you can still be discontent? Why? I guess we've got to conclude, guys, tonight that there's a difference between the two types of contentment that the world talks of and the Paul talks of here. There's contentment and there's what he calls true contentment, what we'll call true contentment tonight. You see, contentment, it's a lusive, it's hard to capture you. Verse 12, let's have a look at what he says in here. He says, "I've found it. I've found it." Verse 12, "I know what it is to be in need. I know what it is to be in plenty. I've learned the secret of being content." Why would he say the secret? We all love a good secret, don't we? We love secrets. Secrets are great. Secrets are the sort of thing that not everyone has it, but everyone wants it. Everyone wants to be in on the secret and he says, "I've found it." I think more deeply than that, what Paul is saying is that there is a longing deep inside of us that nothing can ever truly satisfy, a longing deep down that nothing can ever truly, there is something that we're constantly on the verge of finding or sniffing or smelling or tasting every time we go on a new holiday or we've got a new job or there's a new relationship. And is it me or does those things just seem to fade and you just wish it would come back for another five minutes at least and yet it always is constantly fading. Life is full of lots of good things. Power can be a good thing. Power can be a great thing if it's put in the hands of people delivering aid into the middle of Africa. Sex can be a wonderful thing if it's done in the right context in marriage. Power can be a wonderful thing if it's given to the right people. Pleasure can be a wonderful thing. It's rejoicing and experiencing these things. You see, what I'm trying to say is that the good things in life are the god things, but they're just a shadow. They're fleeting. I call it the aspartumane principle or if you want to get more colloquial, the diet coke principle. Some of you might be addicted to this incredible substance as am I, coke zero, my drink of choice and here's the challenge. I don't know about you, but you can drink to your heart's content. This incredible new mixture of coke zero, but if you've tasted the real thing, I mean, it's so different. There's a sweetness there with the artificial sweetener, but it's just a shadow of the real sweetness, right? In that sense, what I'm saying here is that I put it to you tonight, guys, that whether you believe it or not, you can sense, you can taste. You just know deep within you, even if you're not a believer, that there's a sweeter thing and there's a greater thing. What happens is it births a longing inside you that you can't satisfy it. How else do I put it? I stink like chicken. I stink like chicken today. We've had some training on. I went and grabbed a giant box of chicken pieces for everyone there, and lo and behold, some of the trays have dripped the stuff all through me. They're lucky I'm wearing a black shirt, but I haven't had dinner yet, and so every time I'm taking a breath in here up tonight, I'm getting a whiff of barbecue chicken, and I'm getting hungry. Have you ever had that feeling where you get a whiff of something in the other room, and it's just that you start to salivate, don't you? You start to move, your stomach begins to do its job. What Paul is getting at and what true contentment is versus false contentment, false contentment is just the smell of chicken on your shirt, that there is a banquet and a feast and a meal that has been prepared for you that is so mind-boggling and so, it's just going to be so scrumptious, but we're not there yet, it's sent whiffs in from another room, from another world. See as Lewis says this, "If I find in myself desires that in this world I never satisfied then I can only conclude that I was never meant for you." Friend, are you feeling a bit of that tonight? Is it fleeting? Do you ever get that feeling? Look, can you be absolutely sure that all the good things in your life you haven't just been drinking, Coke Zero, can you be absolutely sure? Have you got true contentment versus false contentment? Look how, or how do I know you say, how do I know, and I'm glad you asked. Look, this passage shows us two overflows of the real thing to speak in Coke language. Verse 13, it says here, I should keep my Bible open if I'm going to keep on referring to it, I can do everything through him who gives me strength. Now is it me or is that the most misquoted verse of the Bible in human history? I can do, you can do anything through Christ who gives you strength. I think that's the most misquoted verse of the entire Bible. Some of you might get it, you know, we got Rachel down here, she's American, she's seen it before, but I, Erin as well, she worked at Universal Studios and this is where I saw it. There's a weird phenomenon in America when kids, when they go on camp, they all get made t-shirts for the experience. And so I was over at Universal Studios and you would see all these kids in the most hideous pink t-shirts. And so it was upon one of these hideous pink t-shirts as I was lined up for the Hulk that I saw this poor little kid with googly big thick glasses and he's got hot dog sort of streaming down his shirt and I don't mean to be rude in that sense, but he looked incredibly uncoordinated and everything's half off his face and there's this almost pink t-shirt on this poor 12 year old that said I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. And I'm thinking, really? I mean, like if he was playing cricket with us back home and sort of imagine that the fast bowler from the Knox first 11 comes in and stumps just to obliterate, you know, they just turn into dust. The ball hits him that fast, you know, first ball and he's there quoting himself, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now look, to prove my point that I'm not paying out on 12 year old kids is that I'm only going to give you a statement that is going to require a lot of faith for you to believe tonight. And that was that in year seven, I was the reserve representative for the state of New South Wales in high jump. Yeah, Chris, it's always great when it's your wife that's laughing the hardest, isn't it? And I made it all the way through to the regionals and it was quite, it was quite miraculous in that sense. But I never made it back in year eight because I inherited, I caught an incurable disease called shortness. And from that point on, it was just in my DNA that I would never reach my full potential in the sport of high jump. Now look, what I'm, what's Paul saying here, Paul's saying the power of Christ working, the one that gives him strength in all things is the power, the power of Christ in his word to allow you to learn to be a peace with who you are. It's a power to learn to be at peace with who you are. You know, I developed that debilitating disease called shortness and I've lived with it for the rest of my life. And here's the reality, there's things that I can't do. There's things that you guys can't do and this verse is not evidence that Jesus is miraculously going to transform you into something that is just genetically impossible. No, this text is saying, it's not saying, look, you can be a world-class high jumper through Jesus. What it's saying is if you are a world-class high jumper tonight, praise Jesus, good on you. It's fantastic and continuing that training. But if not, you know, then here's what it's doing, here's what it's doing, here's what the strength of Christ does. It silences, there's one preacher that says the inner murmur of self-criticism, it's, you know what it is, it's that you've felt it, it's that deep restlessness that you've got to find some cure for the need to prove yourself to other people. I put it to you tonight that we're all inner high jumpers, we're all little Sam Haddens in your right, there's a bar, there is a bar, there is a standard buried deep within us and unhappiness with who we are, we're constantly telling ourselves that we're never good enough, we're constantly telling ourselves that we're not acceptable, we're trying to prove ourselves, we're trying to prove ourselves to other people and we're trying to prove ourselves to ourselves and we're trying to prove if you're religious, yourself to God. And that's what drives the discontent, that's what drives us within us but look, here's what the power of Christ does, 1 Corinthians 4 verse 3, Paul says it real clear, you know what he says, he says, "I care very little if I'm judged by you or by any human court." Indeed, I don't even judge myself, you know what he's gotten over, the inner murmur of self-criticism, how because Christ the ultimate judge, if you can get that in the gospel that the ultimate judge says to you that you're okay, you can stand before a friend, you can stand before a co-worker, you can stand before a colleague, you can stand before a high court judge in this place and be made to feel as condemned as possible in that moment and yet if the ultimate judge says in me, in Christ you're okay, then Paul says who cares, the murmur has gone, look Paul's saying, one of the signs that you've got true contempt with guys tonight is that you can live in peace with who you are, are you restless tonight, is there an inner standard within you tonight that means you are discontent, you can do it through the power of Jesus, so it's not just a peace with who you are, it's also a piece of where you are, look you think about, look how does the world approach this discontent, this restlessness, this desire for more all the time, the desire for the good things all the time, you could go one of two ways, there's stoicism, someone's stoic, what are they, stoic eyes think those people who walk across nails, they take all the things of this world and they just suck it up, and then the pleasure of this world, we just deny ourselves the pleasures of the world and we're going to walk on some more nails, that's what stoics do, and then on the other side you have the hedonists who says well, what the heck with it, this pleasure thing, let's just turn it up, 150%, let's just fully go into it, Paul's a radical third way to all of this, he says it here, I've learned what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty, I've learnt the secret to be content in any and every situation, what Paul saying is that every day life you guys will provide you to litmus tests, to the chlorine strip principle, you know, you'll dip your life into everyday life and you're going to come out one of two ways when you measure it up to Paul's standards is going to show you really two different tests to determine the nature of your content, whether you've got the real thing or the fake thing, and he says the two ways first of all is when you're in times of need, how do you react when you're in times of need, now look we've talked this through last week so I don't want to labor the point, you know what, what is contentment in that sense, the Greek word talks about it being that you're fully satisfied, that you're satiated, you know, that feeling you know when you've had a really great meal when you sit back and you know what satisfaction is, it's the point in which you have to undo your belt just a notch, when all seems well with the world that there's a woman fuzzy feeling that everything just drifts away and you're content, but he's not talking about that sort of physical satiation, the Greek word autarchus, the first part of the word in that sense is where we get the word auto from meaning self, and what he's saying is it's not a satisfaction with yourself, it's not a satisfaction in yourself so to speak, but it's a satisfaction by yourself, that regardless of wherever you might be, Paul says I'm satisfied in need and so true contentment guides is the ability to have a peace regardless of your circumstances, we talked about it last week and I'll stop it there but really, you know, contentment in times of need is to say that we insist to view the world through the manifold mystery of God's wisdom and love, we see the world through God's glasses even though we might be screaming that we are in need at the moment, and we somehow rejoice in that, that's what we talked about last week, but look, what happens when you go the other way, what happens if you go the other way with it all, you know, there was a pastor who talked about his story on Smoky Mountain in Manila, anyone heard of Smoky Mountain? It's literally an entire city that's built on a rubbish tip, thousands of people live in this place, and he talked about the situation where he went and dealing with all the people there and he asked one man, he says if you could be anywhere else in the world right now, where would that be, like I looked him in the face and he said, right here, and he walked away, he got smacked, but someone in such squalor and such poor living standards compared to what he experienced, wouldn't move, you see, the Smoky Mountain principle shows us guys something that's far more concerning I think for us in our circumstance here, there's a more dangerous place for us here tonight, not necessarily on the need side, but it's finding true contentment when we're in plenty, the Smoky Mountain man, he was in plant, that's all he'd ever known, as far as he concerned God had provided for all his needs, and yet this man, this missionary, had a view that was so much greater and more wonderful and he couldn't believe how he got it, and so Christians know that we've got to work hard in need, we know that it's tough in need, we know that it's tough when the resources are there, but it's more of an issue when we've got plenty, and like that man on Smoky Mountain, you know what, we can't walk away, and yet Paul did, right, Paul did go back to Acts 16 with me, you know, Paul's, you know what he was saying, imagine that first night, the fashionista decked out in all the purple robes, all the great garments that she had, goes back to the crib, water views of Philippi, you know, nice glass sort of retro thing, one of those cool chairs that you didn't have to buy a replica of, it's the real thing, you know, the Hardy Aims chair, she had a real one of them, the stuff was just dripping in gold there, and Paul walks into that context, and he's saying through the scriptures, I could live, this is crying out from prison, right, he's saying I could live with Lydia in that hour, in that hour of opulence, and that hour of abundance, and that hour, and still know the love of God and walk away from it, because of this, he's saying I could walk away that because he's saying, look, I've learned to live, he's not saying I'm learning to live like a wealthy man, he's saying I've learned to live for Christ in and amongst wealth, he didn't seek out for the wealth, wealth didn't become his God, her house, he didn't hold tightly under that, her comfort, he didn't hold tightly under that, and in fact, here's what he said, you know, it goes in and he says guys, you've got no idea, Lydia served up the most beautiful and succulent scotch fillet with the melted garlic butter over the top, and I mean the thing melted in my mouth, it was incredible, and slave girl tried to put tomato sauce on it, and I spec to hand it out of the way, this thing was a work of art, and I savoured that, and I treasured that, and hit the next day, because of what I did, because of the way that God's power worked in that girl, I went before the authorities, and they sought me out, and they beat me, and they threw me into a prison, and they tortured me, and I could leave it all behind, and friends can't you see the bigger issue for you and I tonight? Paul's secret in contemptment, the secret contempt that he'd found, it gave him the power not just to still endure hardship, you know, that's what we talked about last week, but it gave him the ability to walk away from plenty, to not get caught up in the things of this world, to continue to preach and teach and call people to the glory of God in Jesus Christ. What would have happened? I wouldn't be preaching this message tonight if he had been stuck on the stake. If he had never left that house because of the comfort that they've provided, we tonight are the recipients of that principle, so he learns not just the principle of contour contentment in having a peace in just who he is, but also where he is, whether it's in need, or whether it's in plenty. And so in that sense, guys, he says verse 13, I can do all things through Christ, but he says in verse 11 and 12 through there, I've learned, he says it twice, I've learned, I've learned, I've learned, and this is a picture of a man who just didn't do this automatically. He's not crazy. What's the real driver of his, of our discontent in that sense in the world? What is it for us tonight that drives our discontent? You see, you can still have incredible worldly success and not find love and be incredibly discontent. You could find love and not have the success that you're after and still be incredibly discontent. You can be an incredibly, you could be a high jumper. You could be a high jumper that's thin and lanky and tall and all the things that high jumpers should be and still not be content. And you're saying, look, wait a minute, are you one of these guys who's hitting us up about, you know, poo-poo the money and the success and all that sort of stuff? No. I'm just saying, don't take the good things and make them ultimate things. The good things are God things. They're God's things. Don't turn the good things into God's in that sense. And so Paul has been shouting that throughout the whole book. There's one answer to it all, this whole book, every sermon, every passage, every word of this letter that he's been getting to, he's been shouting this. Verse 1, chapter 1, whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the message of Jesus Christ. Chapter 2, each of you should not look not only to your own interest but also to the interests of others by having an attitude that should be the same as Jesus Christ. In chapter 3, verse 8, he says, what is more? I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Jesus Christ. In 3, 14, he says, I press on toward the goal for the prize in which God has called me heavenward in Jesus Christ. Have you got the message of what he's saying here? It's about Jesus. It's about Jesus. And for all the hardship that he went through, he says, and he said tonight, he says, I do it through all things through Jesus who can give me strength. Philippians is not some, self-help book. How does it work? Let's get practical here. If you're at a group in school, I don't know about you, you've felt and you've sat in a playground, you've looked across, you've wandered, you've said to yourself, if only I could be in that group. Finally, I could be one of the cool group. If only I could have that, I'd be someone. We think that we grow out of it and we sit at open-plan desks and we look at the glass offices and we stare at that boss that frustrates it so much and we think, if only I could sit there, if only I could have that, then I would be someone. And we look at couples all the time and it's sweet, almost nauseating talk all the time, and we say, if only I could have that, then I could be someone and we're discontent. And yet, the story of the gospel is this. The power to know who you are, you know who you are at a cross in a city in Jerusalem that you can look up. In Google Earth, someone died for you. That's who you are. And when you understand that you were the ultimate things, ultimate thing in that sense, the very thing, you know, you're worried about these things, if I've got to have them, then I'd die to have that thing. I'd die to be in the cool group. I'd die to be in the office. I'd die for the relationship. If I could just have that one thing, when you understand that Jesus Christ looked at you and said, you're that one thing that I would die for, then it explodes your heart and the desires of this world funneled back up into the desire of the only thing that can ever fully sound. He's a chicken sandwich. That's what he is. He's a chicken sandwich. He's a nice big fat piece of chicken in that sense. You get what I'm saying? No, no need friend to continue to just sniff the shirt all evening. I guess what I'm saying guys, is to learn that the secret of true contentment is to come to realise that the things that you're after actually after you and they'll enslave you and they'll trap you and it's caught you by the neck and unless you understand these things, unless you see them for what they are, artificial sweeteners, aspartameen, shadows of the real thing, then friend, your desires will always be unsatisfied. You know, how do you taste the real thing? Look at Karen's story tonight from the map history. Don't take my word for it. You think and he's the preacher. That's what he gets paid to do. Paul said it. Paul's just trying to punk us. Ashton Kutcher of the first century world. There are some of you here tonight that I know I've been sitting through this whole thing. You've been wondering what a Christian is. You've been sitting outside smelling the barbecue chicken and friend I'm calling upon your night tonight to come and taste the real thing in that sense. I can do all I can to argue the truth of the gospel to you tonight that it really works but only until you come into this wonderful community and see stories like Karen and people who have been searching and searching and searching and they find and they taste and see only then and then we know that it works. And so in that sense guys for 2000 years or roughly about since a guy walked into a town in modern day Turkey, had a chat with a fashionista, got bit frustrated with a slave girl that was hounding him for days, decided to stay in a prison so he could save the life of the jailer that was torturing him that night. That's how it works and it filters down and through a life of following this Jesus Christ Paul had been to the heights of opulence and to the depths of despair and he says I've found it, I've found the secret and friends you can too tonight by placing a faith in Jesus Christ. Don't stand outside of the kitchen smelling any longer there is desires within us that just will never be satisfied and we can only conclude that we're not meant for here. Step into that life tonight and as it's filtered down throughout all the years my hope and prayer for this place if you're on the other end of the spectrum of their Christians may we see that the most incredible complexity the church emerged out of simplicity. Things like the worthy life, humility and the example of Jesus Christ, a holy discontent in who we are rejoicing in the midst of tough circumstances, secret contentment, these things are the DNA of the Christian life and I can only hope that in each and every one of us whether we've been doing this church thing for the first time tonight or we've been doing it for 50 years that we might live out the DNA of the Christian life and that legacy might continue through us as it did in Paul.