Wednesday, April 15, 2015

"Joy in a Contented Life" - Doug Rehberg


One day Jean Raffaeli, the famous French art critic, was walking near the village of Barbizon when he saw the renowned French artist Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot painting the meadow in front of him. In the foreground were wild flowers and rolling hills. In the distance was a large stand of trees. 

As Raffaeli looked over the shoulder of the artist, he could see that Corot had painted in a small lake that was missing  from the scene in front of him. So he said to the artist, “But Monsieur Corot, is it permissible to paint a pond where there is no pond?” Corot turned and said, “Young man, it is noon and I have been in the field since 6:00 am. I have become very thirsty, so I painted water into the picture to refresh myself.” 

How different from Paul. The scene in which Paul finds himself is more barren than a meadow on a hot summer day. He’s in prison in Rome. He’s shackled between two imperial guards. He has a sentence of death hanging over his head. But instead of asking the Lord to do what He did for him years earlier in Philippi, he declares, “for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.” 

There’s no talk of escape. No discussion of another earthquake. There’s no plea for the Philippians to join him in praying for a loosing of his chains. Instead, Paul focuses on his own contentment. 

In 1970 one of the great thinkers of the 20th century, Abraham Maslow, died in Menlo Park, California. Unlike Sigmund Freud and other practitioners of psychology who oriented their work toward pathology or dysfunction, Maslow focused his work on the psychological health.  He studied those who he called “vitally alive, positive, full-functioning, and radically happy.” In the process he developed a theory that held that one’s mental and emotional health was the product of meeting an ascending list of innate human needs. It’s titled , “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.” 

He described a well-adjusted, fully-functioning person as “self actualized.” In fact, he claimed that such a person lives a life in which all the needs from food and water to love and esteem are met, and therefore, the person has maximized his/her full potential. 

As he studied such people Maslow reached the following conclusion, “Without exception, I have found that every person who was sincerely happy, radiantly alive, was living for a purpose or a cause beyond himself.” Interestingly, he named Jesus as a “fully actualized person.” 

When you come to the fourth chapter of Philippians you find that Maslow could have easily put Paul on that list. Look what he says in Sunday’s text: Philippians 4:10-13. After establishing joy and peace as divine gifts received by all Christians, Paul adds a third: contentment. We will dig deeply into contentment this Sunday in a message entitled, “Joy in a Contented Life.” In preparation for Sunday, in addition to reading our companion text, II Corinthians 9:6-10, you may wish to consider the following: 

1.               What does Paul mean when he says, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me?” (verse 13)

2.               How is this different from William Henley’s famous poem, “Invictus”?

3.               What does the word “rejoice” mean? (verse 10)

4.               How do “happiness” and “joy” differ?

5.               How does Paul use the finished work of Christ to inform his feelings regarding his circumstances?

6.               What can you find out about his word “content” in verse 11? Does he use it elsewhere? (Hint: II Corinthians 9:8)

7.               What is the “secret” Paul mentions in verse 12?

8.               How is fact “the savior” of our feelings as Christians?

9.               How is verse 12 a summary of what Paul tells us in verse 1-12?

10.           What three ways does Paul identify as a means of growing contentment? 

See you Sunday!