18th Sunday after Pentecost
1st Timothy 6: 6-19
9/30/2007
Rev. Philip A. Bouknight
I want to draw your attention to one sentence from First Timothy.
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; for we brought nothing into the world, so that we can take nothing out of it; but if we have food and clothing, we will be content with these.
1 Timothy 6:6-8
In my undergraduate studies, every student majoring in the humanities had to take macro economics and micro economics. Macro economics takes a look at the larger structures such as world economy and then to a lesser extent national economic trends. Micro economics deals with the same structures, but at a much smaller level. For instance, an individual’s approach to their life in an economic sense has an impact upon the family. The family’s economics has an impact upon the community. Communities impact the state, the state, the region, the region, the nation and the nation the world. Ultimately, the decisions we make as individuals can make a difference in the world for good or for bad.
All too often we look at life from a macro economic view. We focus on what a nation could do to change the world. We look at what a church could do to change the community. The danger of this approach is this; though nations can change the world and though churches can change communities, both are futile explorations unless the citizens of those nations and the people in those churches change their lives as individuals. The macro understanding of structure is subject to the microcosm of individuals. Rather than waste time pondering over what our nation can do to eliminate poverty and what our church can do to eliminate poverty, I want to focus on what we can do as individuals.
Of course, there is great gain in godliness combined with contentment; 1 Timothy 6:6
This is a very powerful statement of faith and it has a tremendous impact upon how faith is lived out. It stands on two things; godliness and contentment. In essence, the Ten Commandments focus on the same thing. All of the commandments stand on godliness. When we worship God with our lives, every aspect of the commandments is addressed. Adversely, all of the commandments fall under contentment for covetousness is the root cause for our failure in keeping any of the commandments. Godliness and contentment go hand in hand. For the sake of godliness, we were created in God’s image. For the sake of contentment, the first man and the first woman were given everything that they could possibly need. Their desire for the one thing that was beyond their reach was the cause of the marring of godliness and the birth of discontentment. The whole human race has since struggled with living life in a way that resembled the image of God and it has also struggled with being content with the gifts that God has given us. Life in Christ seeks to restore that image of God and contentment with life.
Rather than expound upon the daunting reality that our nation is a nation of debt and that our churches within this nation are churches which struggle with survival rather than mission, I want to look at our lives as individuals. You, as an individual can change the Church. You as an individual can change the world. We focus on Godliness every Sunday that we gather in the name of Christ. Rarely do we focus on contentment. Contentment is simply being happy with who you are and what God has given you. It is a lack of contentment that drives us as individuals to rack up huge debts as we purchase things that we do not need. It is a lack of contentment that makes us slaves to the economy. Our lives become dedicated to paying off mortgages and buying cars on a larger scale, but on a smaller scale, it is discontentment that makes us procurers of items that do nothing to improve our quality of life.
The advertising world depends on our state of discontentment. If a company can convince us that our life would be better with a certain product, then they have us. The reality is that we could get along quite well without that product. As a matter of fact, we probably had been doing so for a long time. Advertising seeks to skew our understanding of reality. It creates a new reality whereby we are convinced that because this commercial implies that we shouldn’t be content, we become discontent. This reality will not be challenged as long as we can look around at others and see that they are also discontent and that they end up purchasing items that they do not need. It is called “Keeping up with the Jones’” This skewed reality is challenged the moment that we look beyond our microcosm to see the world in a larger picture. For instance, I could justify the amount of stuff that my family has and the desire for bigger and better things, until I took a trip to another part of the world where there was a lack of trust in things and where families lived without stuff. I found that people who barely had the necessities for life; those who lived without amenities, were by in large happier than those who had tons of things and filled their lives with meaningless stuff. I also noticed that they were content as long as there was food and clothing. Even a roof over their head was considered an amenity. For those who believed in God, I found that their faith in God seemed to be stronger than ours as a whole and that their lives seemed to reflect the image of God in a way that our lives did not. Now I am unable to look at my house full of stuff without remembering that there are those who go without. I am unable to stuff myself full of food without the image of gaunt men, women and children who just happen to live in a different part of the world or another part of the county.
I still struggle with this dichotomy every day and as I do, I try to change my life. The more that I change my life so that I rely less on stuff, the more I have to give so that others can have the basic necessities of life. The more that I give up, the more I learn to appreciate what God has given me. The more I appreciate what God has given me, the less I am compelled to be convinced that I need to buy a certain product to make me happy. The more content I become with the necessities of life, the more I reflect the image of God in my life. I may not be able to change the economy of a developing country, but I can change the way that one person lives within that country. That person can then change the reality of their family. Their family can change their village, their village, their nation and their nation the world. This isn’t accomplished by some macro economic view of our nation. It is done by taking a look at my life as an individual, realizing that I can stop purchasing the things that I can live without so that a person that does not have the things needed for life can have the things they need. In this process I become more content and a better reflection of Christ within me. At the same time, a person who is content and who reflects the beautiful image of Christ in their life, gains the things they need to live. It really is as simple as that. One person can change the life of another. One life can change the life of the family; the family the community, the community the nation, the nation the world.
We have a new reality in Christ. It is a different reality than that of the world. We can choose to be formed by the world or we can choose to be formed by Christ. Until we as individuals seek contentment in what God has given us, we will struggle every day with the reflection of God in our lives. If we change our lives as individuals, we will change the life of our church. Our church will change the life of our community; the community the state, the state, the region, the region the nation, the nation, the world. It all begins with us as individuals. If you want to change the world, change your life. If you want to change the Church, change your life. God changes the world one person at a time. Strive to be content with who you are and what God has given you. Then you will live a life that is a better reflection of the image of God. Contentment and godliness go hand in hand. We came into this world with nothing. We will leave it with nothing. How we live our life in between is everything.
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