We're talking about contentment and this beautiful story about Larissa and Ian, this story of unconditional, beautiful love struck me to the core of my being this week. I cried and cried and cried. I read the blog and cried more because this week I'm talking to you about the commandment not to covet. The secret to not coveting, the only way to not covet is by being content. And if you remember Larissa had her board of gratefulness which blew me away, a board of gratefulness to put things that she's thankful for. And as I was watching the video, I thought, are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? You have a board of gratefulness? I'm not grateful for anything. You know you watch things like this and you kind of tend to see to beat yourself up a little bit and I was thinking to myself, how can I be so ungrateful? How can she be so grateful her husband has a traumatic brain injury? And I thought, how shallow am I? That I'm concerned with the little things that I'm concerned with. What I wear, how many people come to church? You know, what kind of car I drive? Whatever it is that I'm concerned with, I just think I'm so shallow and I need Jesus so bad. Because I want what she has. I want that kind of contentment, don't you? I mean, we all want that. We long to be content. We hate our own covetousness. We're so shallow, we hate how much we care about how we look. We hate how much we wish we lived in a bigger, nicer home. We hate how much we care about how much more our friends make. And we don't know how to stop. It's so deeply ingrained in us. And I want to talk to you today about contentment. If you can be content, you won't covet. You'll be happy for people who have more than you. You'll be joyful for what God has given you. You'll be thankful and grateful for how he's made you, how he's gifted you, and you won't long for things that you don't have. You want that and I want that. The text we're going to be looking at today is an Exodus. If you have your Bibles, if you want to flip over there, it's Exodus chapter 20. We're only looking at one verse. Verse 17. It's the 10th commandment. I'll read it for you. Listen to the word of the Lord. You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's. This is the word of the Lord. What I hope to show you today are four things. Number one, where does covetousness come from? Number two, what is true contentment? Number three, why is it so hard to find, and number four, how to find true contentment in Jesus alone? Let's pray that that would happen today. Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit would be here and that He would reveal to us where the true source of contentment comes from and how we can achieve what it is that you've commanded us to do as we fail at it almost every day. God, would you please change us, would you please open our eyes to the beauty and the truth of who Jesus is? We pray in His name, amen. Before we talk about how to overcome covetousness, we need to answer this question. Where does that desire come from? In March, chapter 7, verses 21 through 23, we'll have these verses for you up on the board. Here's what Jesus says as to where coveting comes from. Verse 21, for from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, look at verse 22, coveting, along with wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. And then just to make sure that you got it, He says it again in verse 23, all these evil things come from within and they defile a person. Where does coveting come from? It comes from a place deep inside your soul. Deep down inside every one of us, we long for peace and for contentment. So why it's because you're empty, you're born with it. We're born with this emptiness that only God can fill and we long for something else to fill us. If you've been through the new member of classes here at Redeemer, that's one of Ricky's charts that he talks about where he puts God and he puts man and he makes like the sea shape and he says we have this emptiness and so we try to fill it by being good or by being bad and all if you remember that. That's what I'm talking about here. We are empty and we long for and need something else to fill us. And we think that the key to happiness is to have what they have. And when we can't get it or when we don't get it, we start to become jealous. And that jealousy turns into hate. James talks about this in chapter 4. Where does quarreling come from? Look at this in James chapter 4 verses 1 and 2. He says what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have. So you murder. At least in your mind. You covet and cannot obtain. So you fight and quarrel. We see that our desire for what we don't have starts with a massive battle that's waging deep inside your soul. And it turns into hate and jealousy and everything that we don't want to be about. And the only weapon, listen, the only weapon that is useful to combat this deep rooted deep seeded discontentment is contentment. It comes from deep inside you this discontentment. The only answer for it is contentment. Where do you find it? It's what we'll look at here in a minute. But what is it? It's what we need to answer right now. What is true contentment? Number two, contentment is something that Jesus talked about a lot. If you remember the story from Luke 12, there's a guy in the crowd. And this guy in this big crowd around Jesus yells out to Jesus. And he says, Jesus, tell my brother to give me my share of the inheritance. He's not sharing. Michael Boyd was talking about this this morning. He said they were in the car and Jackson had something that Brody didn't have or something vice versa. And anyone with kids knows the story. Mommy, I want that ball. Mommy, I want that drink. Mommy, I want that book. What do you do? There's only one. You have two children. Who wins? There's this deep rooted covetousness that comes out. This guy says, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me. And he said to them, he said take care and be on your guard against all covetousness. Be on your guard. For one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And he told them a parable. Let me illustrate this. The land of a rich man produced plentifully for 17. And he thought to himself, what shall I do for I have nowhere to store my crops? And he said, I will do this. I will tear down my barns and build larger ones. And there, I will store all my grain and all my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years. Relax, eat, drink and be merry. But God said to him, fool, this night your soul is required of you. And the things you have prepared, who's will they be? So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. And obviously Jesus here is talking about coveting. But as I was studying through my sermon this week, I started feeling a little confused about this parable. And I started going, I don't really understand what's going on. And so I walked into Pastor Shane's office. And I said, Pastor Shane, oh wise one. And he said, yes, my son. And I said, Pastor Shane, I am struggling with this parable. And you, O great master, are in seminary. And I went long ago and I have forgotten as you are learning. So will you please help me with this parable? And Master Shane said to me, Master Pastor Shane said to me. He said, well, it seems that when you're looking at this passage, it's about the guy who doesn't give his stuff away, but he hoards his wealth. So how does this compare with coveting and Pastor Master Shane said to me, maybe it's not about that guy, maybe it's about the brother who yelled out to Jesus to begin with. And I was like, aha, the light bulb went off for me. The Holy Spirit worked in that moment to reveal to us that it's not about the guy who's hoarding his wealth. Even though you could probably preach a sermon about that, I'm with you. But, as I've said you're thinking about it, this story isn't about the guy who's storing up his possessions and not sharing it. This story is about the guy who was coveting his brother's inheritance. So the point of the story isn't this guy needs to share. The point is, why do you want what he has? Look, in a second, that can be gone. And it's left to his kids. What's the point? Why are you craving something that's not yours? You haven't been given that. Is that okay with you? Is that okay with you? Jesus was essentially saying, what's the point? Jesus was essentially saying, be content with what you've been given. I looked up, what does content mean? I looked it up on dictionary.com, which is the place that all pastors should go to get their theological training, right? Dictionary.com, but I think it has a great definition of contentment. Being content means this. You're satisfied with what one is or has. Not wanting more or anything else. Contentment is being satisfied in who you are and what you have. And not wanting more. Are you there? Neither am I. Where does it come from? It comes from deep within you. It's deep down in your soul. Well, what is it? It's being satisfied in who you are and what you've been given and not wanting anything else. So why is it so hard to find? Why is it so hard to find? The reason that contentment is so hard for us to understand, especially when we look at Larissa and Ian, is because we put ourselves in her shoes and we think, is it really okay with her that he's not as handsome as he used to be? Is it really okay with her that she has to feed him and probably change him and that physical intimacy is probably nonexistent and that people look at her funny and feel sorry for her when they go somewhere? Is that really okay with her? How could she really be content? It's because she doesn't want anything more. Ian has become her standard of what a husband should be. Look, I do a lot of pre-marital counseling and I tell the couple is over and over again. There's something very important for you to know before you get married. I look at that guy and I say, guy, your future wife, this woman right here, has got to become your standard of beauty in such a way that nobody else compares with her. Nobody else looks like her, talks like her, no one else has her face, no one else's hair smells like hers. No one else has her exact body type. She is your standard of beauty that no one else compares to. And I tell the girls, girls, this guy is your standard of what a husband ought to be. He's got to be. Because if you start comparing him to these other studs over here who do this or that better or make more money or more handsome or whatever, then you are in for a tough road because you're always going to be comparing. Are you okay with what God has given you? Are you okay? Your husband has to be the standard by which you judge all other men. Guys, your wife is the standard by which you rate beauty in everything else because the minute you start to compare, you're in trouble. Let's turn this practical example into a spiritual one. The reason you want a bigger house, the reason you want a prettier face or a better body or a more attractive spouse or a better job or more money or more power is because you are comparing what you have versus what someone else has. And you honestly truly believe deep down inside your soul that that would make you happier. That you would be happier with more, you'd be happier with prettier, you'd be happier with better, you'd be happier with more popular with more money. But what does God say is true about you spiritually speaking? If you're a child of God, what does the Bible say is true about you? It says you're beautiful because God created you just the way you are and it's beautiful because it's made in his image. You're loved because God loves you. God made you the way he wanted to make you. He gave you your talents and your abilities and your spouse and your kids because he loves you. He knew that was what was best for you and the reason that contentment is so hard to find is because we don't believe that what God has given us and how much God loves us is enough. We just don't believe it. We don't believe that it's enough. Our disbelief comes from deep down inside us. True contentment is being satisfied with who you are and what you've been given so that you don't want anything else. The reason that it's so hard to find is because we don't believe that Jesus is enough. Therefore, the only place to find true contentment isn't Christ alone. Every Christian's favorite football player, you guys know who it is. That's right, it's Tim Tebow and I was looking up images for Philippians 4-13. This is one of the ones that came up. He has Philippians 4-13 on his eye-black. That's always been a popular verse for athletes. I played football at Jinx and we had a motto on the bottom of our FCA shirts of this Roman guy who had just conquered or whatever. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me on the bottom. I had this buddy of mine who was a big time Christian guy, FCA president and all that. He would always quote it like before he benched press. Before he maxes out and he's sitting there on the end of the bench and he's like, I'm trying to find a seed, I guess I don't have one. He's sitting down and he's like, come on, he's psyching himself up and he turns his hat around and he goes, he turns his hat around and he goes, I can do all things. He strengthens me and he goes, whoa, you know, and he gets it up and he gets off and he's high five and everybody. Or before we ran out on the football field where we do the huddle thing and we're like, oh yeah, we're going to kill him. Yeah, how could you do all things with strength? We run out, we're studs. Christ is going to give us the strength to go take somebody's head off in sports. There's passage, though, there's a problem with using that passage in that way that has nothing to do with the passage in Philippians 4, 11 through 13. Here's what it says in context. I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low and I know how to abound in any and every circumstance. I learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. This verse would be so much better if it was utilized after a loss rather than before a supposed victory. Can you imagine how powerful it would be if after a loss, after a heartbreaking championship loss, if the team could come off the field and say, you know what? Whether we win or whether we lose, I've learned the secret to being content because I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Now we're using that verse in context, you see. If Jesus isn't our ultimate source of contentment, if He is not our source of joy, then we will never, ever be truly satisfied. Unless Jesus is enough, you'll never have enough. You'll never be satisfied. Listen, you'll never be satisfied until you have everything. Do you understand that? If you don't have everything, you'll always want something more because you are made to want everything. You'll always want more if you don't have it all. And in Jesus, we can have it all. Jesus became nothing so that you could have everything. Before you were converted, all you could do was to look to stuff to make you happy, relationships, money, power, control. You were enslaved to it. But when Jesus came and died for you, anyone who puts their faith and trust in Him alone for their salvation is released from the slavery to that kind of mentality. And those of you who have put your faith and trust in Jesus, He has freed you from that so that you might obtain everything you've ever wanted, which is true peace, true joy, and everlasting life. Jesus gave up His life so that you might have abundant life. Do you remember the story of Jesus at the well in John chapter 4? Show it up on the screen here. A woman from Samaria came to draw water and Jesus said to her, give me a drink. Verse 9, the Samaritan woman said to Him, how is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria, for Jews have no dealings with Samaritans? Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked Him. And He would have given you living water. And the woman said to Him, sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? And Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water right here will be thirsty again. But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. How do you find true contentment? You have to drink deeply of the living water. What is the living water? It's Jesus. Some of you are dying of thirst. Maybe you're coming to church, you've been coming to church, but you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus alone for your salvation. You've never truly repented of your sin of always being discontent, always looking to something else to satisfy you. And you're desperate for the living water that only Jesus can offer you. I think it's pretty clear that Larissa is looking to Christ alone to fill her. She gets it. I want to read to you a journal entry that she wrote on her blog. She says on Friday after work, it was warm in the 70s. The end of the day was on my mind followed by two more work less days. Driving home with the windows down, I watched as people were jogging, playing tennis, sliding down the homemade slip and slide outside their college apartments. My desires to do something were growing and I was so glad to be leaving work. But then I got home and I saw Ian sleeping so tired from his cold and not able to go for a run with me or even a walk. My disability, again, freshly became mine and I had to try to fight to let my desires to go out and enjoy something die. This is what it's like to be married to someone with a traumatic brain injury, she says. I imagine it's the same for someone who's chronically sick or has special needs or who is dying. Their sickness becomes their spouse's sickness. She says, I have a brain injury just like Ian because when we became one flesh, I gained his sorrows. Just as Jesus was a man of sorrows and has shared in them with us, I share them with Ian. And while it is a gift of marriage, it is painful and sad. And then she says this, we could probably write a whole book on this topic alone because it changes everything about our life, even mine. But Jesus knows it more deeply than us and if we can just rest there will be filled. Thank you always, Larissa. She gets it. If we can somehow figure out how to rest in Christ alone, if we can somehow figure out how he can be our everything that we ever needed and ever wanted, if we can truly begin to repent every single day of our deep-seated belief that something else is out there to make me happy and I just need it. The more we repent of that and the more we believe that Jesus is enough, the more we'll be content.
Larissa is not the only one that suffers. Like I prayed earlier, we have many people in our church who are suffering. One of our elders just lost his mother to cancer. A couple lost their three-year-old to cancer a couple of years ago. We have a couple who miscarried a few weeks ago. It's unspeakable suffering. But if Christ is your treasure, if He is your living water, then even when suffering comes, even when life gets hard, even when someone you love dies or has a terrible illness, if Christ is your treasure, you will be able to say God is enough. In the midst of the most horrifying, desperate circumstances which cause you the most unspeakable, unquenchable anguish, will you be able to say God is enough, I am deeply joyful and deeply satisfied because that's what He's offering me. Is that something that you'll accept today? Those of you who have never drank freely from that living water today's the day. Today is the day to believe, to repent of your idolatry and to believe. You'll never be content until you have everything and you'll never have everything until you have all of Jesus. Let's pray. We pray this morning, Father, that we would be people who drink deeply of the living water that only Jesus can offer. Lord, we pray that you would give us the grace and the hope that can only be found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. No matter how much we have rejected this command in the past, Lord, I pray that today would be the first day that we would begin to have our own gratefulness board. That we would somehow learn what it means to be content whether being given little or much. Lord, satisfy us. We pray in Jesus' name, amen.